Update September 2020: I have found that oil cleansing is not the best first cleanse for my acne-prone and sensitive skin. It breaks out and gets congested from most oils, and most evidently from DHC Deep Cleansing Oil. My skin prefers balm-like cleansers like Heimish All Clean Balm and Banila Co Clean It Zero. If you have troubled skin like mine, here are some useful posts:
- How To Properly Use Cleansing Brushes - Acne, Sensitive Skin
- 3 Things To Try If You Have Sensitive Skin
- How To Calm Down Irritated, Sensitive Skin
- 7 Essential Home Facial Tools For Sensitive, Acne Prone Skin
We haven't gone in-depth with my skincare practices, which, considering my own routine, should really be more frequently mentioned on this beauty blog.
I’ll work on that, but in the meantime, it’s just much more fun doing reviews on skincare products that have a lot more to do with makeup. Like taking it off!
The other day I was going through this box of products that were either abandoned because they ceased working for me or became empties because they were so awesome. I found in the abyss of the box the DHC Cleansing Oil and was sickened by the state of the remaining product.
Look at that dark brown stuff at the bottom of the bottle! EWWWW!!!! 🤢 And this was not anywhere near its expiry date.
Overhyped
Seeing the bottle again brought back unhappy memories we – the DHC Cleansing Oil and I – shared. Somehow, we never connected.
For years, I was a big fan of the Fancl Cleansing Oil (review). The raving reviews of the DHC Deep Cleansing Oil finally got to me, and despite not being impressed when I tried it at the store and hesitating due to the hefty price of S$40, I decided to give it a try.
Can anyone tell me why is this a cult fav?? Even as I write this review now, more than six months after I gave up on it, the recollection of the negative experience from using this product still lives fresh in my mind.
For a start, here’s my skin condition:
- Oily
- Acne-prone
- Scarring
- Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation
DHC Deep Cleansing Oil has a much thicker consistency than the Fancl one, but it doesn’t equate to higher moisturization. In fact, my skin felt tight and dry after washing away the emulsified oil. I could imagine my skin cracking with each smile.
At first I thought it's my oily skin that made oil cleansing an uncomfortable experience. So would drier skin types find this more enjoyable? But it made my oily skin so dry! So would it make drier skin even drier?? Such a confusing product.
I am very sure I bought an authentic product (you can get it from Amazon official DHC Store).
Is that oil I see coagulating??
No points for packaging
In a world where companies over-enthusiastically fight for the consumer’s expenditure pie by coming up with fancy packaging completely irrelevant to product functionality, DHC chose to keep it simple. Just a clear bottle, a transparent sticker with the words DEEP CLEANSING OIL and golden oil that would look quite in place on a kitchen tabletop.
Being inherently attracted to all things pretty, I say bring on the superfluous! We need pretty packaging!
I have no idea why I convinced myself to pick up that bottle of packaging boredom. Alright, some might say it looks clean and professional, but I still think it looks like a bottle of olive oil.
Smells bad
The smell… oh my god, the smell. Some people say it reminds them of a soft combination of olive oil, rosemary and lavender.
To me, it smells like decayed rubber. Is it just me?? Okie, I don’t know how decayed rubber smells like, but it must be horrible. It reminds me of cod liver oil too, only worse. And to have to smear it all over my face made each experience such a nightmare. Granted, I understand that fragrance is subjective so someone else might really love this smell.
Can anybody tell me why does it smell so weird? Here’s the ingredient list:
Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Sorbeth-30 Tetraoleate, Pentylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Tocopherol, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil
Pore-clogging
Honestly, all these – the skin tightness, relatively high price, boring packaging, weird smell – could have been a little more bearable had the product actually worked. I never felt my skin was properly cleansed despite it feeling tight and dry after rinsing off.
Feeling clean and feeling dry are two different things. You can feel clean without having your skin feel like cracked earth.
By the way, here’s how you use the DHC Cleansing Oil:
Dispense into dry hands, then massage dry face to dissolve makeup, dirt and other impurities. Rinse thoroughly.
No matter how thoroughly I rinsed, I could never get the oil off my face. It just left me feeling dirtier, greasier yet tight, and smellier compared to before cleansing. Some makeup removers might make our vision blurry for a while from the oils, but this was next level kind of blurry. I was almost blind! And it stung my eyes real bad.
The greatest disappointment was that the DHC Deep Cleansing Oil broke me out and gave me bumps on the skin. At first I couldn't find the cause of my deteriorating skin condition because the effects from accumulation of debris from poorly cleansed skin takes time. Furthermore, because I have such bad skin in the first place and alternate my makeup products a lot, it was hard to pinpoint the exact product that caused the breakout and camel humps on my skin.
Ultimately, I managed to found out the root of the sudden change in skin condition and discharged the DHC Cleansing Oil from my makeup removal routine. Proper makeup removal is super important and if you've been thinking of whether to use a cleansing brush, now's a good time to start.
The DHC Deep Cleansing Oil left me with cystic acne too. UGH! If you're breaking out and want to know why, this acne face mapping post explains the reasons behind your breakouts.
While the DHC Deep Cleansing Oil brought convenience and deep cleansing to the lives of many others, I fail to see what the fuss is all about given all the factors mentioned above. I had three-quarters of the product left when I decided to stop using it.
There are other cleansing oils that do a better job, smell better, priced lower, and are prettier. After the DHC Cleansing Oil, I completely stopped using cleansing oils and have switched to water-based makeup removers as far as possible. (Update: I have completely switched to balm type makeup removers)
Here are my favorite makeup removers that are incredibly efficient and don't break me out!
Banila Co Clean It Zero (I like the original the best)
LRP Toleriane Dermo Cleanser (for days when I'm only wearing sunscreen)
Bun Bun rates the DHC Deep Cleansing Oil:
What do you use to remove your makeup? Have you had breakouts from a particular type of cleansing product? What do you think of the DHC Cleansing Oil?
If you’re good with scientific names, could you pretty please point out which in the ingredient list might have caused my breakout and bumps?
