Shu Uemura's Cleansing Beauty Oil Premium A/O

Cleansing oil sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, but mostly like something that is really scary and would not work. But, really it does! Run back to my cleanser post and read about cleansers and how they work. Really, it won't take long.

So, remember that part about surfactants and their long tails that love dirt, oil, etc? Well, those ends are basically the same as oil. Like goes with like, so they are attracted to water and oil, but don't mix well with water.

When you are cleansing with oil you basically are emulsifying the oil and dirt on your face. Take a peak at the directions below, you'll note that Shu wants you to put it on your dry skin, this will really help the oil to penetrate into any makeup, dirt or oil on your face. You'll get better results with massaging the oil around your face a bit.

You then need to get it all off of your face. While that can be pretty easy with a regular cleanser due to the water-loving ionic end of the surfactant, you don't have the luxury with an oil cleanser. Once again, massaging the water into the cleansing oil a bit will be very helpful, and then lots of rinsing!

Step 1. Place 4-6 pumps of cleansing oil onto dry hands.
Step 2. Gently massage oil onto a dry face and neck with dry hands.
Step 3. Dampen hands, and emulsify oil by massaging a small amount of warm water on top of the oil.
Step 4. Rinse well with lukewarm water.
Step 5. Follow with a shu uemura toning water and moisturizer.

Overall, how did I like this cleanser? Shu says that this cleanser is both a cleanser and makeup remover, and that it can even remove waterproof makeup. It did remove pretty much everything on my face, though it wasn't too great with mascara (I had to use my normal eye makeup remover still). It does take a bit longer to rinse off than a "normal" cleanser, but I had no oily residue and even if I skipped my moisturizer my dry cheeks had no afterwash dryness. None! My oily t-zone? No worse than usual. As for my drier "winter" skin, it did help fight off some of the usual winter dryness, restoring to a level of moisture I usually have in the summer.

This formulation does contain green tea derivatives (giving the cleanser a nice green tea scent that I enjoyed), and it is likely that some of the antioxidants are left behind on the skin in an oil cleanser.

I think if you have dry skin, definitely check out this cleanser. If you have oily or combination skin, don't cross this product off of your list, as I had good luck with it and I have combination skin. Especially during the winter, changing over to an oil cleanser may help with your dryness! Overall this was a great, gentle cleanser.

Shu Uemura's Cleansing Beauty Oil Premium A/O