While on a trip to Bangkok, I remember just walking through aisles of cosmetics at the drugstore and finding brands I’d never heard of before, which, as you might’ve guessed, included this brand. Being a natural sceptic, I took note of it but didn’t buy it immediately.

However, when I couldn’t find many reviews online in English (Google Translate can only help so much), I ended up going for it anyway (whatever I could read seemed promising) and purchasing a bottle right before I flew back home the next day. But how did it fare?

Claims:

+ Gel-to-milk texture.

+ Special Care for Skin: Cleanses without damaging skin’s natural protective layer.

+ Extremely Gentle: Free of SLS/SLES, soap, fragrance, oil, paraben, alcohol, and synthetic colours.

+ Dermatologically Tested: Suitable for sensitive, acne-prone skin.

Ingredients:

Dl-Water, Glycerine, Lauryl Glucoside, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Diglycerin, Betaine, Acetamidoethoxyethanol, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Myristic Acid, Acrylates/Beheneth-25 Methacrylate Copolymer, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Glycol Distearate, Triethylene Glycol, Butylene Glycol, Polyglutamic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium EDTA, o-Cymen-5-OL.

Volume: 100ml

How to use:

Gently massage on wet skin, then rinse off with water thoroughly.

My Skin Type: Sensitive (prone to redness), Combination, Acne-prone, Dehydrated

MizuMi Extra Mild Facial Cleanser Review:

Packaging-wise, it’s pretty simple and minimalistic. The bottle is made of sturdy opaque plastic and fits nicely in the palm of my hand. As it does only contain 100ml and has a good flip-top cap, I do think that it’d be travel-friendly for extended holiday trips.

Now, due to its sensitive skin-friendly skin, I did expect a low-strength cleanser which would be more suitable for AM routines. However, this cleanser pleasantly surprised me by decently washing off cleansing oil residue during my PM routine as well, without leaving my skin tight, dehydrated, “squeaky clean” or even leaving a “film” – a common thing when facing “sensitive skin-friendly” cleansers. Basically, it performs as how an ideal cleanser would, and at an ideal pH of around 5-6 (tested with my pH strips), too!

True to its claim, when I dispense the product onto the palm of my hand, it has an obvious gel texture and when mixed with water, turns into a milk type with little to no foam. Colour-wise, it does show off a pearly white sheen in its gel form and turns whitish once mixed with water.

Honestly, due to this light and non-foamy consistency, I sometimes still wonder if it really is cleansing my skin well but as I mentioned earlier, it does, so no worries (I occasionally swipe some cleansing water afterwards to check and usually end up with minimal residue). However, I must say that this would also depend on the first cleanser – whether it be micellar water or cleansing oil, etc – too.

Perhaps the one thing I immediately disliked about the product is the scent, to be honest. To me, it smells of a weird mixture between milk and chemicals. But I guess that’s better than being bombarded with artificial fragrances that might wreak havoc on your skin instead, maybe? Over time, I did get used to the scent, so it’s not a huge problem, but it is something to take note of.

All in all, I do think that the pros outweigh the cons for this cleanser, especially when you’re dealing with skin that is fickle and prone to negative reactions such as acne, inflammation and/or allergic reactions. As it also boasts being free of various common additives such as those mentioned in the claims above, it lessens the risk of reacting negatively to the product as well.

Hence, I’d give this a solid 4/5 overall with the main cons being the moderately strong scent and how it is not that easy and widely available internationally. I mean, I’d never seen or heard of this brand before my trip, so I’m guessing most of the international markets have not as well. But who knows; I might be wrong!

Either way, if you do get a chance to try this cleanser and suffer from sensitive, acne-prone skin, definitely give it a try. However, I don’t particularly recommend this to those with oily skin types as I do think it’s too mild to completely cut through the excess sebum. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), though!