[Review] Narüko Rose & Botanic HA Aqua Cubic Foaming Wash EX

Good evening everyone!! Tonight I tried out something that I’ve been wanting to try for aaages:

Narüko Rose & Botanic HA Aqua Cubic Foaming Wash EX

  It’s got a flip-cap, and it’s a squeeze tube:

Ingredients/Instructions:

Backside of tube:  

I added a little water to it on my hand:  

But after massaging your face a bit, it does lather up fairly well:

The only issue I had with it is that it’s bad for my skin. I loved the scent, I loved the ingredients… but man, after washing it off, my face felt extremely tight and very squeaky, like someone had stolen all my precious oils off my skin. It was horrible! I hadn’t felt that since I was in my trial-and-error phase for AB face washes. I immediately reached for a sheet mask to hopefully recover from that.

I originally got this because another blogger mentioned that she’d tested its pH and gotten a reading of a “5”. Well… this is definitely NOT at a pH of 5. First, I tested it with my pH strips by lathering it up with my normal tap water. Then, I tested my tap water for a control. My tap water was around a 7, the lathered face wash at an 8. Hmmm. I thought, maybe my tap water is throwing it off? So I tested some boiled water I had and also tested the face wash before it touched any water at all. Results: boiled water at a 5, and face wash still at an 8. Okay, so my tap water isn’t that great but that face wash is definitely at a pH of 8 no matter what I do. Here’s a picture for proof:

Left, the boiled water at pH 5. Right, face wash with no water at pH 8:

The lighter green color indicates a lower pH. Anything from Red –> Yellow –> Light Green is a good pH (aka acidic). Anything that’s Dark Green –> Blue-Green –> Blue –> Purple is a bad pH for your skin (aka basic). The one on the left is great, exactly at a pH of 5. The one on the right isn’t just dark green- it has elements of blue already, which put it at a pH of 8.

 

*Sigh*. That’s what I get for taking a leap of faith! It happens sometimes when you experiment. I’m still on the hunt for the best face wash ever, but in the meantime… I think I’ll stick with my Bioderma, which clocks in at a pH of 4.5 for me. Purrrrfect.

Anyway, I won’t be using this face wash, unfortunately. I really wanted to like it, but man I really can’t expose my skin to that kind of a pH! It’ll ruin my natural skin barrier and give me more acne. 😥 Not sure what I’ll use it for, it made my hands feel too squeaky as well – it wouldn’t make for good shaving cream! I might end up having to just toss it.

Have you guys tried any Narüko face washes? Are the others any good? Have you found a foaming face wash with a good pH? I’d love to hear about it!!

❤ Bine Queen ❤