Cleanser Cream

• No detergent of any kind: Nothing here strips. That is the appeal of a deep cleansing cream over a foaming wash for dry skin.
• Kojic acid dipalmitate is first on the list: Which only matters if you leave it on. Used as a wash, it goes down the drain.
• PEG-100 stearate makes it rinsable: Without it this would be a wipe-off balm. With it you can use water and be done.
• Aloe vera gel and tocopheryl palmitate soften it: Two comfort ingredients that make a petrolatum-based cream tolerable on the face.
• Three sizes, and the 7gm answers the question cheaply: Two weeks tells you whether you want it as a cleanser or a treatment.

Kojic acid dipalmitate: The oil-soluble ester, first on the list. Oil-soluble is why it sits happily in a petrolatum base with no water to destabilise.

Petrolatum and isopropyl myristate: The dissolving pair. Oil lifts oil, which is how a cream cleanser removes makeup that foam cannot touch.

PEG-100 stearate. An emulsifier: It is the difference between a cream you rinse off and a balm you have to wipe away with a cloth.

Beeswax: Gives the cream its body so it stays on your fingers long enough to be massaged in rather than melting immediately.

Tocopheryl palmitate: A vitamin E ester chosen for an oily base. It protects the petrolatum and the kojic ester from oxidising in the jar.

Aloe vera gel: Sixth, and the only water-loving ingredient high on the list. It is what stops the cream feeling purely greasy.

Aqua is printed last, which cannot be right for an emulsion containing aloe gel. Read this list as a declaration of contents rather than an order of concentration. How kojic acid works has the background.

Full ingredient list (INCI) — verbatim from the catalogue

Kojic Acid Dipalmitate, Titanium Dioxide, Bees Wax, PEG-100 Stearate, Tocopheryl Palmitate, Aloe Vera Gel, Propylene Gloycol, Isopropyl Meristate, Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben, Petrolatum Fragrance & Aqua.

1. AS A CLEANSER — massage a small amount onto dry skin for a minute, then rinse with lukewarm water.
2. Follow with a foaming wash if you wore heavy makeup or sunscreen. Cream cleansers work best as a first step.
3. AS A TREATMENT — apply a thin layer to clean skin at night and leave it on. Do not do both in the same routine.
4. Pick one use and stay with it for a month. Alternating means you never find out what it does.
5. Sunscreen every morning if you are using it as a leave-on. Kojic acid and sun exposure work against each other.

Is this actually a cleanser?

It is a cleansing cream in the traditional sense — oils dissolving oils, then rinsed away — rather than a foaming cleanser. There is no detergent in it. That makes it excellent at removing makeup and poor at removing sweat or heavy sunscreen on its own.

Should I rinse it off or leave it on?

That is the real question with this product, and the honest answer is that the formula supports both and the ingredient order suggests leave-on. If dark marks are why you bought it, leave it on at night. If makeup removal is why, rinse it off and use something else for the marks.

Will it remove black spots?

Kojic acid dipalmitate works on pigment, slowly, and only with contact time. Used as a leave-on for eight to twelve weeks alongside daily sunscreen, marks can soften. Used as a thirty-second wash, no. The format you choose decides the answer entirely.

Is it too heavy for oily skin?

Probably, as a leave-on. Petrolatum, beeswax and isopropyl myristate are a rich combination and isopropyl myristate has a reputation for congesting some skin. As a rinse-off first cleanse it is fine for any skin type, because it does not stay on.

Can I use it to take off makeup?

Yes, and it is the best thing in our range for it. Massage onto dry skin, including over eye makeup, then rinse. Follow with the Gold Plus face wash to clear the residue. Two steps, and much gentler than scrubbing at mascara with a foaming wash.

Which size should I buy?

The 7gm to settle the cleanser-or-treatment question for yourself, then the 23gm or 30gm afterwards. Worth knowing before you choose: using it as a cleanser gets through a jar roughly three times faster than using it as a nightly treatment does.

Can I use it with the Cleanser Soap?

Yes. Cream first to dissolve, the Cleanser Soap second to clear the residue. That is a proper double cleanse and it is far gentler than most people expect, because neither product contains a harsh surfactant at any point in the routine.

Does it contain bleach or hydroquinone?

No. The only tone ingredient is kojic acid dipalmitate, an ester of a fungal-fermentation acid, and it works by slowing an enzyme rather than by bleaching anything. Nothing in this jar lightens skin beyond its natural tone, and nothing sold over a counter should.