by Rosy Day Blog
Introducing Peach & Lily SkincareFor those of you who are not familiar or have never heard of Peach & Lily before, back in May of 2018, U.S.-based Korean beauty online retailer Peach & Lily announced that they were launching their own skincare line. Peach & Lily (the online store) was created by Alicia Yoon, after struggling with skincare issues herself (itchy/dry skin). The Peach & Lily skincare line was also born out of a similar necessity - Alicia Yoon's own sister wanted products that addressed all her concerns while still being safe for use while pregnant, etc. Essentially Alicia Yoon sought to address similar concerns that weren't readily available from other skincare brands. She took matters into her own hands and worked the next couple of years developing products for Peach & Lily. You can read more about how it all started in detail here: Introducing Peach & Lily Skincare.I did a review on what is probably considered their "star" product (the Glass Skin Refining Serum) last year. They did not yet have a cleanser in their skincare line...until now. In late February 2019, Peach & Lily released their appropriately named Power Calm Hydrating Gel Cleanser. Why is it "Power Calm"? You'll have to read on to find out and why it's important to have a good cleanser for the basis of your skincare routine. Disclosure:I bought this with my own money from Peach & Lily. I was not given anything in exchange for this review. I enjoy doing product reviews to share my own experiences with the product and hope someone finds it useful. I do not work for Peach & Lily.Table of Contents- Product Description, Claims, & How-To- The Ingredients - Packaging, Scent & Texture - Product Review & Final Impressions - Similar Products & Shop This Post Discover a New Way of CleansingProduct Description:This is a low pH 5.5 cleanser geared towards kickstarting your skincare routine (moreso towards sensitive skin) with ingredients such as centella asiatica, chamomile, and camellia to name a few.Product Claims:Like its name, Power Calm Hydrating Gel Cleanser claims to leave your skin hydrated and not stripped of moisture, with powerful calming ingredients to leave it ultra calm or "power calm". This means no redness or irritation after washing, yet skin still feels clean.How To Use:Official directions off the Peach & Lily website are, "Squeeze out a dime-sized amount, lather with water, and massage on face. Rinse with warm water and pat dry. Can be used daily, AM, PM, or both."I personally use this both day and night and I think this cleanser is still ok to use at night if you don't wear makeup during the day (just sunscreen), and don't require a very thorough cleanse at night. However if you do wear makeup during the day and/or need that extra cleansing power at the end of the day, you should use a cleansing oil or balm to take that extra dirt/grime and makeup off, before using this Peach & Lily cleanser as the second step. [back up] That Low pH LifeWhen I suffered from bad acne a few years ago, one of the first things I learned was to develop good cleansing habits, especially the double cleansing method. I started off with a cleansing oil and a "gentle" cleanser, but it wasn't until I got into Korean beauty that I learned about low pH (~5.5) cleansers, which was a trend at the time I heard about it, however it is still an important thing that is discussed about in the beauty community today. The main take away here is that if your cleanser leaves your skin dry and/or irritated (even red), your skin is more likely to continue getting irritated with the subsequent steps of your routine, since your skin barrier is already compromised from the harsh cleanser. Think of it as a wall that's falling apart...Here I'll break down the ingredients in this product to see what types of things might help one to acheive "power calm" skin.Notable Ingredients:
Full Ingredients List:DI Water, Glycerin, Sorbitol, Coco-Glucoside, Tea-Cocoyl Glutamate, Sodium Citrate, Butylene Glycol, Camellia Japonica Flower Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Centella Asiatica Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Panthenol, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Prunus Persica (Peach) Fruit Extract, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopherol, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract, Propanediol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Cellulose Gum, Ethylhexylglycerin, Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract, 1,2-Hexanediol, Pantolactone, Chlorphenesin, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Polyglyceryl-10 Caprylate/Caprate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Polyglyceryl-10 Laurate, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil.[back up] Packaging, Scent & TexturePackaging:I'm a big fan of simple, yet chic packaging. I don't necessarily want to pay more for a fancy looking product, if it does zero for me. I really admire that Peach & Lily decided to focus more on good formulations rather than fancy packaging, yet the packaging on their new Peach & Lily line is still quite eye catching w/ the peachy/coral hues.Like all the Peach & Lily skincare products (with the exception of their Super Reboot mask), the Power Calm cleanser comes in a plastic flip-top tube bearing Peach & Lily's signature color scheme and fonts. Like most other Peach & Lily products, it looks very clinical, yet chic/modern. Scent & Texture:If you've ever used a cleanser with a very strong scent or just one with a very off-putting one, it definitely kills the mood when cleansing since you still have the cleanser on your face for a good ~30 seconds or so. Peach & Lily describes the scent of this cleanser as "a faint, calming herbal scent with top notes of lavender and base notes of camellia and chamomile. To be honest I never would have picked that up unless I read their description. It is so faint, it is almost unnoticeable. Normally whatever smells "nice and herbally" to others, smells like freaking glue or some other weird scent to me. I'm sorry but unfortunately Your Mileage May Vary also applies to scents in products. At least with the faint scent in this product, you can't really argue or find much fault in it (unless you just want something with 0% scent). For me there's nothing to complain about here.Like most gel cleansers, this does come out as a clear gel but it lightly lathers into a milky foam. I would say that when it turns milky, it's kind of similar to other milky-type of cleansers such as the ones from Bliss and Glossier. I do admit that I've been a fan of those cream cleansers with a rich lather such as the ones you'd find from Shiseido or Laneige. Unfortunately those cleansers are also high pH. Do I miss the rich lather sometimes? Of course I do, but I can sacrifice that for something that will "power calm" my skin. If I dare say, the milky texture of this cleanser does make it feel (if even) a tad bit more luxe than just a normal gel cleanser. You do have to make sure your face is "wet enough", otherwise you won't get much of a lather (though this cleanser is not supposed to produce a rich lather in the first place). I'm happy to report that no weird residue is left behind after rinsing the cleanser off. [back up] Deep Cleanse + SoothePerformance:Deep/Gentle Cleansing: I wouldn't necessarily say that this "deep cleans", more like it "thoroughly cleans" light dirt and oil (if used in the morning) and remaining dirt and oil (if used at night). I say this, because if you know you have a lot of dirt and oil at the end of the day and/or you wear makeup during the day, you really should double cleanse at night. My face feels cleans enough during the day, but at night without double cleansing, my toner (which is more of the hydrating watery essence type) was picking up a lot of dirt and makeup still from my face. Peach & Lily even recommends that you double cleanse at night (use a cleansing oil or balm prior to using the Power Calm Cleanser). If you've ever gone without double cleansing at night (when you really should have), you've probably experienced some minor breakouts and/or skin irritation from the leftover dirt and makeup still trapped in your skin. Was this cleanser a gentle cleanse? Of course it was, and I do enjoy cleansing my face with it. It was so gentle, it didn't even burn my eyes. I say that because I have used a cleanser that was marketed as being even for sensitive skin, and my eyes burned everytime I opened them or the product was just even near my eyes. I had to wash my face with my eyes completely closed the whole time and if I even opened my eyes a little with the cleanser still not fully rinsed off, it just burned. Yeah that was just...ouch! LOL. So I really appreciate the gentleness of the Power Calm. Hydrating: I'm not sure if my face is exactly hydrated and nourished from this cleanser since (despite having more dry skin this season), I do hydrate myy skin enough during the day...However this cleanser really does not strip your skin dry. I would say that it helps you to retain the existing moisture you have in your skin, to better prep it for the remainder of your routine. My skin is always so soft and never dry or flaky. It's like a good clean feeling, but without the "squeaky clean" feeling typically associated with drying, high pH cleansers. Brightening: My existing skincare routine is already full of brightening products (toner, essence, serum, and moisturizer), so I can't really say that this cleanser brightens skin. However, if you have issues with redness, I will say that the "power calm" properties of this cleanser will make your overall appearance look more even and glowy, as now you don't have things such as redness and irritation to cloud your skin. Think "cloudless skin" (if you don't know what this is, look it up - it's like the cousin to the glass skin trend). Anti-Aging: I normally don't care about anti-aging in a cleanser because iet's face it, it only superficially stays on your face for like ~30 seconds or so. However, I'm not going to complain about those properties here. I'll just take them as a "bonus" in this cleanser (not necessary but always a welcomed addition). Since anti-aging skincare is often hard to measure anyway as they are usually more preventive, you can just think of the anti-aging properties of this cleanser as something that lays the foundation for the rest of your skincare routine. The cleanser itself might not go deep into the skin, but it should at least somewhat help with the surface/outer layer over time. And you should definitely include an anti-aging essence, serum and/or ampoule if you're truly serious about anti-aging anyway. Calming: Finally, what this cleanser is truly designed for. If you haven't already understood it from earlier, yes this cleanser is truly "Power Calm". I'll say it again, if you are still dealing with redness, irritation and/or acne, maybe you should do what I did many years ago and re-evaluate your cleansing routine. That might be the main thing that is causing the majority of your skin issues.
Pros:
Cons:
"Power Calm" Your SkinFinal Impressions:If you are reading this post (and have even made it this far), I'm going to assume you probably have skin similar to mines and are definitely interested in a well-formulated low pH cleanser. However I do know that there are some that actually do well even without a low pH cleanser. A part of me is somewhat jealous that their skin is so "durable". Anyway, my main point is that despite all my praise for this Power Calm cleanser and that "low pH life", if you already have a cleanser that you love and you're confident in it regardless of the ingredients that it may have and/or the high pH - don't let me tell you what to do. You do you and carry on. If it works for you, then great.Now, for those of you who are still struggling with finding the right cleanser, or maybe you're still wondering why you're getting red/irritated/acne skin despite using products geared towards those issues, this Power Calm cleanser is definitely worth a try. I would say you should probably check your cleansing routine first before checking to see if it's your makeup or a specific product that's the root of everything. For me I thought it was my foundation that was making me breakout (and maybe it was to a certain extent), but the main culprit was me not properly washing my face and using the right kind of cleanser for my ultra sensitive skin. My only minor complaint is I wished the Power Calm Hydrating Gel Cleanser had even more of that nice milky lather, LOL.
What else can I say? Peach & Lily has hit it out of the park again... Final Rating = 4.5/5 [back up] Other Products For a Power Calm Skincare RoutineProducts of Interest:First there was Glass Skin. Now, can we make "Power Calm Skin" a trending thing? LOL. Normally I would suggest some similar products here, but instead I'll share with you some other products I like and/or think would be good for creating a power calm skincare routine.
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