[Review] Rejusure 2% Salicylic Acid Face Wash

Packaging and product texture shots

#Review type Mixed overall - negative considering the exfoliating claims, but a good soothing cleanser 🤔 WRP. It does "help to reduce the acne", as they claim. Just not in the exfoliating way they claim. Read on to find out why 😂

#Skin type Sensitive, malassezia (fungal acne) - prone, PIE/PIH-prone, mildly acne-prone

🐳 Age: 30

🐳 Current climate: Hot and dry-ish

#Usage timeline Started using it in April 2021, finished it in March 2022, so that's almost a year. Crazy, right? 😂 Used it twice or thrice a week, as I would any exfoliating cleanser

🐳 Price: ₹350 "retail", always available for less. Currently ₹199 for 100 ml on Amazon

#Ingredients Decyl Glucoside, Lauryl Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Cocodiethanolamide (Cocamide Dea), Propylene Glycol, Gelpol Et-1/​ Acrypol Et-1(Carbomer), Fragrance, Salicylic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Triethanolamine, Demineral Water

(Had to get it off INCI decoder, the website lists "Full ingredients list" as: 2% salicylic acid, 5% glycerin 🙃)

#User experience As a general cleanser, a very nice experience that reminds me of the similarly affordable Clean & Clear Natural Bright face wash (the one with rosewater), that also has a good amount of glycerin. The Rejusure lathers slightly less, even. The Clean & Clear cleanser is one I currently use, and often repurchase, so this is a good thing.

However.

I used it up, over the year, and it did absolutely nothing beyond cleansing. No salicylic acid action. Yes, I tried leaving it on for a minute - nothing.

With the whole bottle over and the review to be written, I finally tested the pH of the stuff, and it's at a pH of 8-9. Before you're horrified, I then realised that face wash is applied on a wet face, and therefore, what my skin is exposed to is far more diluted and milder 🙃 So I tested that as well, and here are the pH results. A fine way to finish the bottle up!

The lathered up product tests at a nice 6.5 👍🏽 Not quite "skin-identical" 5.5, but not far off. I believe the mild alkalinity contributes to the good, medium strength cleansing action.

But here's what the Paula's Choice website has to say about salicylic acid and pH:

Salicylic acids works most effectively as a leave-on treatment, ideally within a pH range between 3 and 4. Rinse-off salicylic acid cleansers typically have a higher pH, which likely won’t offer much of an exfoliation benefitnot to mention the contact time with skin is very brief - but the salicylic acid may at least offer skin-calming benefits in this form and can be included in amounts as low as 0.5% to achieve this benefit.

This face wash is literally basic. Alkaline. Which, hilariously, is what makes it a basic face wash 😂 No exfoliating action. But likely some skin-soothing effect!

I started using an affordable 2% SA serum this month (to be disclosed and reviewed at a later date 👀), that's caused purging and everything. Tested at a pH of four. Very nice. I do know there's salicylic cleansers out there that are more exfoliating, at the right pH and what not, but I personally would get some kind of leave-on, if I'm really hoping to see an exfoliating impact from salicylic acid ☺

#My thoughts If you want a gentle face wash to use every day, sure. The bottle even says to use twice a day, which would be overexfoliating if their pH was at an effective level, but is just fine considering the active isn't gonna be active 🙃

It may work for acne in the soothing sense. We tend to underestimate the impact of anti-inflammatory treatments, and overestimate that of exfoliants - leading, as many of us have experienced, to over-exfoliation, barrier damage, and/or dehydration 😅 Hydration and soothing often go a very long way to healing acne and breaking the inflammatory cycle. I mean, the whole Korean skincare approach is based on that, and I've come to see that as a sustainable, practical relationship to have with my skin ❤ It works!

I'm not personally super hung up on 5.5 pH balanced facewashes, because AFAIK, the skin reasserts its pH quite easily within a few minutes, since it's washed off so fast anyway, and I think 6-6.5 is the usual pH (will be testing some others to assuage my own curiosity, so I'll update this post if I learn otherwise). If you are very particular about that kind of thing, this isn't the cleanser for you.

... The kicker is, I might repurchase it after all, as a gentle and soothing foaming cleanser. I'd like to see how soothing it really is, when used twice daily 🤔

The Clean & Clear one is sometimes hard to find, and doesn't have the added soothing benefit of salicylic acid... it's also possible I'll just move on to products that do exactly as they claim. Who knows what the future holds. Not I.

Hope this was helpful and/or interesting ☺❤ K, byee!