COSRX Low-pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser

For the second double cleansing review, I’m gonna rant about the gel cleanser I’ve been using as my second step for two months now.

The COSRX low pH good morning cleanser is a super gentle cleanser that’s great for your morning wash. This low pH gel formula cleanser doesn’t strip your skin of it’s natural oils and contains purifying botanical ingredients and mild acids to gently cleans your skin. It’s also formulated to remove makeup and other oil-based residue with a skin-pleasing pH of 5!

As previously mentioned I’ve been using this for something around two(or maybe three) months now, and it’s kinda my first meeting with Korean cleansers. I’ve been using both Bobbi Brown and Kiehl’s for some years on and off, and to be honest this might be the best gel cleanser I’ve tried so far! When it comes to Bobbi Brown I used to use their Extra Balm Rise (this is more of a oil based cleanser than a foam based one).  However, it did not remove any makeup perfectly, my face would always be streaky and stripped for oils. From Kiehl’s I used to use their  famous Ultra Facial Cleanser. This worked better for me than the product from Bobbi Brown, but it did strip my skin too! And price wise, the Bobbi Brown product is super expensive and eh.. not my cup of tea, but the one from Kiehl’s isn’t that expensive.

I combine this gel cleanser with my oil-based cleanser (that you can read about here) in the evening. When it comes to my morning routine, it kinda depends if I use the oil cleanser or not. But the low Ph Good Morning Cleanser is my one and only holy grail every morning. Yes, I know that it’s called a Good morning Cleanser but it doesn’t hurt you to use this every night too! I’m kinda curious why they call it a good morning cleanser?? If anyone knows, let me know! This is a single-step gel cleanser designed to clean sunscreen, makeup, dirt, and oil from the face without requiring a second cleanser to remove residue, but as mentioned – this is my second step in my double cleanse regimen. However, let’s dive into the product itself before I give you guys my honest opinion.

*yet another super professional picture*

But first – fun fact! This cleanser was actually a product of crowdsourcing feedback from their customers. Many of their fans had expressed that the number one thing they look for in a cleanser is one with low pH, and bam! A few months later COSRX formulated this cleanser with a pH of 5! Okay, thats enough fun for now. Do you know what pH is? And why it’s important for your skin? Well, our skin’s pH is naturally a little acidic (pH 4.5). Most cleansers tend to be more on the naturally level, so something around a pH of -12, because this is what helps to remove dirt and other nasty stuff. pH stands for “potential alkaline” and is used to describe the acid-alkaline ratio of a substance, which ranges from 0 (the most acidic) to 14 (the most alkaline). But why do we care? Our skin barrier is known as the acid mantle & this is responsible for keeping in lipids and moisture while blocking germs, pollution, toxins, and bacteria. Because of this, the acid mantle should be slightly acidic. When it’s too alkaline, the skin becomes dry and sensitive & cause that tight, unpleasant feeling that I had with the Kiehl’s cleanser (not to hang Kiehl’s out, but its a fact).  Okay, let’s stop with the facts and talk about the product.

This cleanser is a gel, but it does foam up pretty well and it takes away makeup, but you do have to add a bit of effort here. It also lather up quite good, not super foam-y but enough foam. However it has a stiff scent, it smells a lot like tea tree oil, and a bit sterile. There are no added scents here, so what you get is the natural scent of the product. To be honest, it could smell a bit nicer, but I do prefer a natural scent over a heavily fragranced one, and theres something good about it – the scent doesn’t linger. You wont notice it when you wash it off!

As you can see it has a watery-gel consistency, and this is the actual amount I use on my face.

The cleanser is suited for all skin types, but sensitive, dry, dehydrated, and/or acne-prone skin types may see the most benefit because of the ingredients. However, if you are sensitive to tea tree oil or other plant extracts, be careful. I won’t go deep into the ingredients, since this review is getting longer than what I had planned for, but the cleanser contains; Saccharomyces Ferment, a fermented yeast that is found in some essences and is partly responsible for the bright, hydrated, glow we want. It also contains Tea Tree Leaf oil, that is a great antiseptic and can soothe and treat breakouts, AHA and BHA acids, while Betaine Salicylate (a natural exfoliant) keeps your pores in check and free from dead skin cells.

So how do I use this? I take a pea sized amount and massage it onto my wet face (note, I have already washed it once with my oil-cleanser). I continue massaging the product onto my face for some seconds, and sometimes I also use my Clarisonic Aria brush with it (I spent a lot of $$ on it a year ago, so I decided to start using it again recently). When I’m done, I pat my face dry and continue with the rest of my regimen.

The result
It does a great job for removing whats left on my face and also making it fresh in the morning. However, I don’t use this as a makeup remover around the eye area, first because I use the oil-cleanser and second because it does sting a bit when it gets into the eyes. The best part, it doesn’t strip my face for oils and makes it a bit plump and I’ve got bright, clear skin ready to soak in the rest of my routine! Also, it works as a preventive treatment against acne!

Ps, I get mine from this eBay seller and it’s 150 ml of product!