It's taken me a long time to review the Hada Labo Gokujyun Super Hyaluronic Acid Foaming Wash, and not for interesting reasons. It's hard to write reviews of unremarkable products-- sometimes products are really good or really bad, but most of the time, they're just bland. Such is the case with the two self-foaming cleansers that I'm reviewing today as my newest "Dirge of Duds" post.
Ironically, my last Dirge of Duds post (linked above) also featured a Hada Labo product, but unlike the Hada Labo Gokujyun Hyaluronic Lotion which I actively disliked, I actually emptied the entire bottle of the cleanser, which is a pretty amazing feat considering that I've got a lot of cleansers in my rotation. Part of it was just determination to empty a cleanser so I could purchase something fun that excited me more, and part of it was that it was an easy sell for my husband's nascent skincare routine, being both utilitarian and unoffensive.
Still, both of these cleansers were so boring that they added to, instead of mitigated, my ennui towards cleansing and that resulted in me skipping my routine more often than I'd like to admit. I purchased these with the intention to try a very famous cleanser (the Hada Labo is a favourite of adoredee and many others) and to compare it against a similar Korean product (the Medicean) which was a relatively rare animal-- an openly low-pH Korean cleanser.
Before we jump in, I'd like to take a moment and remind people that skincare doesn't work the same way for everyone; many people don't care about Skincaretainment and just want their products to do the thing they're supposed to do. I'm just jaded and can't get it up for bland products these days-- I need my products to motivate me to drag my exhausted backside into the bathroom and start my routine.
Both of the cleansers work just fine, and they're good options for beginner cleansers, which is why the Hada Labo cleanser appeared in my Beginner Friendly: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kits for 4 Skin Types series, which details 4 really simple beginner routines with only 5 products for a variety of skin types. I just need excitement in my bathroom, and not the kind that evokes dead grandmothers and ignores safewords.
 |
| This outdoor image brought to you by SPF 50+ PA+++ sunscreen. |
Still, both of these cleansers were so boring that they added to, instead of mitigated, my ennui towards cleansing and that resulted in me skipping my routine more often than I'd like to admit. I purchased these with the intention to try a very famous cleanser (the Hada Labo is a favourite of adoredee and many others) and to compare it against a similar Korean product (the Medicean) which was a relatively rare animal-- an openly low-pH Korean cleanser.
In this post:
- Product details
- Ingredients
- pH results
- How they compare
- Final thoughts
Before we jump in, I'd like to take a moment and remind people that skincare doesn't work the same way for everyone; many people don't care about Skincaretainment and just want their products to do the thing they're supposed to do. I'm just jaded and can't get it up for bland products these days-- I need my products to motivate me to drag my exhausted backside into the bathroom and start my routine.
Both of the cleansers work just fine, and they're good options for beginner cleansers, which is why the Hada Labo cleanser appeared in my Beginner Friendly: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kits for 4 Skin Types series, which details 4 really simple beginner routines with only 5 products for a variety of skin types. I just need excitement in my bathroom, and not the kind that evokes dead grandmothers and ignores safewords.
