I am such a sucker for cleansing oils. I have a bazillion-million lying around from various brands and I always am tempted by another. Its a sickness I tell you. I hope I’m not alone in this one 😛
Anyway, one day, while I was at an Aesop counter browsing, I was offered a mini-facial to try some of their products. I’m not too familiar with Aesop, so I said yes. This was at the Aesop counter at 1 Utama and if they aren’t too busy, you can try asking to see if they’d do the same for you 🙂 So anyway, one of the items they used on me was the Aesop Parsley Seed Facial Cleansing Oil.
Cleansing Oil! Ding! Ding! I had to have it 😛 So the next time I saw Aesop having a promo (this was last year at Bangsar Village 2) I picked up a bottle. Its a RM185 bottle of cleansing oil and my wallet cried out in protest at this. Its likely to be the most expensive cleansing oil I’ve purchased to date!
So I took it home, skipping with joy (but carefully because its a heavy glass bottle) and got into the shower to use the cleansing oil as I always do – on dry face with dry hands, as a makeup remover.
Oh boy. Big mistake.
The oil felt thick on my skin and it took ages to emulsify and to wash off thereafter. To add insult to injury, it did not remove my makeup and felt icky. I was bummed 🙁
And then, I took the trouble to read the instructions.
Oh.
What the instructions say is to pour out some of the cleansing oil into the palm of your hand, add water (!), emulsify it (!!) and only then use it to cleanse your skin. Okaayyy… that’s a new one to me.
So the next time, I cleaned my face first, and then used this cleansing oil as instructed, feeling sceptical and weird all the way. The oil is a dark yellow and I use about the size of a coin. Then I add a little water, and it turns into a milky liquid, which I then apply on my skin. I then continue to emulsify by adding some water to my skin before washing off thoroughly.
What d’ya know! It cleaned my skin a treat! After cleansing, my skin felt soft and not dry at all and I don’t need to double cleanse thereafter. It felt very comfortable, and clean. I actually really really liked it.
I now use this cleansing oil in the morning because a glass bottle is hazardous in a shower and because I love how it cleanses so gently in the morning. If it came with a pump, I’d use it in the evening too! Plus, I like the scent. Its not a fresh scent nor a very oily scent. Its got a rosy lavender scent that I find comforting in the morning.
Pros: Cleans skin well, Skin feels soft and smooth thereafter, Not drying
Cons: Heavy glass bottle is hazardous in the shower, Expensive, Should come with a pump instead of flip top.
Here is the ingredient list:
You know how every Aesop Fable has a moral to the story? Well, I learnt 2 things from this episode:-
- Names aren’t everything. Just because it says its a cleansing oil, doesn’t mean its a cleansing oil like I’m used to, that we use to remove makeup before cleansing. This is a cleansing oil in the sense that it is an oil that cleanses.
- Read the instructions. And don’t be a smart alec like I was 😛
Have you come across or tried this one? It certainly needed a change of mindset before I could use this one effectively. Or have you used a product without reading instructions and later found it more effective if you’d read them? 🙂
Paris B
The Aesop Parsley Seed Facial Cleansing Oil retails at RM185/200ml at Aesop counters – Bangsar Village 2, Isetan KLCC, Parkson Pavilion KL, Metrojaya Midvalley, 1 Utama and Gurney Plaza Penang.
Hanny says
March 10, 2011 at 2:10 pmI have a cleansing oil that works wet too ahahahahaha ^.^ but RM 185 for cleansing oil??? Perhaps after another internship wahaha
ParisB says
March 10, 2011 at 4:34 pmYup its pricey, but I use so much less than normal cleansing oils. Usually I pump out 4-5 pumps (yes I’m very generous) but with this one, I only use that amount as shown in the picture. Cleans well enough 😀
Hanny says
March 10, 2011 at 5:08 pmWow, you ARE generous. I use the same amount as the pictures above for all of me cheapie cleansing oils and they work just fine. ^.^
ParisB says
March 10, 2011 at 5:13 pmYup. the recommended amount for all brands is at least 3 pumps for best effectiveness. I believe Shu Uemura recommends 2-3 pumps and there is quite a difference because there is more slip and less tugging on the skin if you use more 🙂
xin says
March 10, 2011 at 2:23 pmi have actually quite tempted to get the aesop essential oil, but kinda put off by its price without having the chance to try out first 😛
ParisB says
March 10, 2011 at 4:34 pmTry seeing if they can give you a sample? I got samples off them before previously.
YH says
March 10, 2011 at 2:41 pmYou should also give the Parsley Seed Face Anti-Oxidant Serum and the Parsley Seed Cleansing Masque a try. The serum together with Aesop’s Face Oil work wonders for the face overnight…(but if you’re already mixing Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Oil into your moisturiser, I guess the results are pretty much the same). Tip: Store both the serum and the face oil in the fridge…you’ll definitely love the cold feeling on the face! And the scent….just heavenly….
ParisB says
March 10, 2011 at 4:37 pmThanks for the tip YH! I have tried the Evening Primrose Deep Cleansing Masque but not the Parsley Seed one. I haven’t tried their other skincare although that face oil thing sounds intriguing… 😉 I am mixing that Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery serum into most of my moisturizers for the night, but once that finishes, who knows what I might get next! 😀 I might give this combo a whirl when I’m done with my Kiehl’s one. Storing it in the fridge sounds like a very intriguing concept 🙂
Fruity Lashes says
March 10, 2011 at 4:47 pmthis is such an interesting product. it was funny that you didn’t do it right the first time. just like me, i don’t read instructions so sometimes, a lot of times i make mistakes.
ParisB says
March 10, 2011 at 5:14 pmYup. I think many of us don’t read instructions most of the time 😉
synical says
March 10, 2011 at 8:01 pmI had a sample of SK II’s cleansing oil (which I finally finished recently) which I liked for a cleansing oil but the retail price for the 250ml is a little excessive for me (close to RM200?).
I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m such a cheapskate.
ParisB says
March 11, 2011 at 9:48 pmI haven’t tried SKII’s cleansing oil and I must agree that I don’t usually go for expensive cleansing oils too. After all, if I’m going to be liberal with it, I might as well use something inexpensive that works just as well 🙂
lavender says
March 10, 2011 at 9:55 pmHa..ha.. Paris. You are so funny. U made me laugh. I also never expected that this cleansing oil is used differently. Thanks for sharing.
ParisB says
March 11, 2011 at 9:49 pmHehe… yeah learn from my experience and read the instructions! 😉
ALEXUTZA says
March 11, 2011 at 2:49 amThe idea of using an oil cleanser is kind of scary for me despite the fact that I have dry skin. Freaking out it will break me out like crazy, but I guess it seems to work for some people.
ParisB says
March 11, 2011 at 9:50 pmIf you have very dry skin using cleansing oils may not be a great idea. I think cleansing creams or creamy cleansers work better for dry skin types 🙂
LeGeeque says
March 11, 2011 at 11:06 amOooh. Nanti after work will go and buy. Itchy dah. Bahahahhahah Should be alot cheaper since it’s a local Aussie product. Will report back.
ParisB says
March 11, 2011 at 9:56 pmI hope its cheaper there! I hear Aesop isn’t all that much cheaper in Australia either 😛
juan says
March 12, 2011 at 7:28 pmhaha… you are so funny!
ParisB says
March 12, 2011 at 11:10 pmBut logical yes? 😉
yuki says
March 13, 2011 at 7:24 pmWow… It’s even more expensive than Shu and Shu was already expensive for me… hahaha… Just started working, see? I find Aesop’s packaging so cute^^ Very medical-ish… lol…. Super glad Biore cleansing oil arrived on our shores!! It saved me tons of money by not having to buy the cleansing foam from Clinique 🙂 Tee hee… Under 20 bucks and works GREAT~
ParisB says
March 13, 2011 at 8:51 pmYup its pricier than Shu though for me, I prefer it to Shu since Shu’s cleansing oils break me out something awful! Sigh… Oh and everyone seems to be loving the Biore cleansing oils except probably me haha! I do like the cleansing cloths though.
DeAnna says
February 17, 2012 at 1:02 amHello, I was wondering if you are still using this product and if you have had any reactions (breakouts, etc.)? Thanks!
Paris B says
February 19, 2012 at 1:16 pmHi I’ve finished the bottle and it was fine to the end.