Organic skincare and I had a rough start. I was never interested in trying natural or organic skincare because I ran into problems at the start, where the products reacted badly with my hands (gave me contact dermatitis that necessitated me seeing a doctor) and turning my skin oilier than normal. I have thereafter, approached organic skincare with a caution usually reserved for radioactive products 😛
Perhaps things have changed lately, or my skin has changed, or the quality is better but there are some organic or natural skincare that I can now use and actually enjoy using. Today, I’ll show you one of them 🙂
The brand is Blissoma Solutions which hails from the USA and is locally carried by online site Brown Bag, a new online retailer of natural skincare products. They’re still small but I’m assured, are planning to increase the brands they carry.
The folks at Brown Bag sent me a couple of products to try from Blissoma Solutions, but I’ve only tested this so far – the Fresh Mild Rice Facial Cleanser. I’d run out of my morning cleanser (I use different ones in the mornings and evenings) so this arrived at the right time.
The packaging was interesting, I thought, because it came in a metal (aluminium?) bottle. Interesting, but potentially frustrating because it means you can’t see how much product is left. Perhaps this has to do with the formula of the product? Or to keep it fresh? I don’t know, but I like the product!
I like using a gentle cleanser in the mornings and this one fits the bill perfectly. The Fresh Mild Rice Facial Cleanser is a very gentle non-soap based cleanser that takes some getting used to, because it won’t lather. It has a creamy texture that I initially was a little surprised about because I’m just not used to it. Although it’s not conventionally popular to admit it, I do like using foaming cleansers still. So, sue me 😛
This one is a cream and pumps out a creamy yellow colour. I usually use 2 pumps on a damp face and hands to help it spread out better. Because it doesn’t lather, it needs a little more to work with.
What you will immediately notice is that there are very fine grains in the cream, which are supposed to be ground brown rice. It’s interesting to note that locally, traditional skincare uses ground rice and water from soaking rice to clean the skin. Locals would be familiar with ‘bedak sejuk’ or rice powder which we use as a mask, and when younger, I’d actually wash my face with the water used for soaking rice. No kidding! 😀 So, I knew all about the benefits of rice in skincare.
This cream cleanser spreads quite easily on damp skin but takes a bit of getting used to because it won’t lather so it feels like a bit of a film on skin. What I do is rub it all over and the ‘bits’ feels like they’re exfoliating the skin but very gently. Then, I rinse it off by splashing with water. This is where it gets interesting, because the cream will get washed off quite easily, without leaving a film on the skin.
Yet, it leaves the skin feeling hydrated and moisturised. If you’re used to a foaming cleanser that leaves the skin feeling “clean” then you may not like this feeling. I admit, it took some getting used to for me, but now, I love it and it only took me a month or so haha! Ok, not really, I really warmed up to it after about a week and while I can’t vouch for it clearing up my skin the way many people claim it does, I like how soft and moisturised and clean my skin feels after using this.
Based on what I’ve read online, this Mild Rice Facial Cleanser seems popular among those who suffer from oily or acne prone skin. I know, cream cleansers aren’t usually used by those with oily skin but this seems to work for them. I have normal-dry skin and I like this. It doesn’t strip my skin, makes it feel clean, smells lovely (herbal yet fresh) and is a treat in the morning. Love it! 🙂
In a nutshell
Blissoma Solutions is a brand from the USA that makes 100% vegan and 100% natural products that are predominantly organic based. The Fresh Mild Rice Facial Cleanser is a cream based cleanser with ground brown rice bits in it that perform a very gentle exfoliating function. It is soap free and does not lather up nor foam up so will take some getting used to. There is also a scent that people will either love or hate. I love it. It smells of fresh herbs that is refreshing in the morning. I do find that I need 2 pumps of product to effectively wash my face in the morning, but it rinses off quite easily leaving the skin feeling fresh and clean and does not dry out the skin at all. It’s a very lovely cleanser and one I’m quite happy to keep in rotation.
Pros: Not drying, Gentle yet cleans skin well, Gentle exfoliating every time you wash your face, Lovely fresh scent
Cons: A little pricey, Some people may not like the slightly herbal scent, Some people may not like that it does not rinse off to leave a squeaky clean feeling on the skin, Can’t tell how much product is left due to the packaging
Who will like this: Anyone who uses vegan, natural and/or organic skincare, Anyone looking for a very gentle non-drying facial cleanser
What may be off putting to some will be the price tag. While this has won awards for being a budget friendly line of products in the USA, and while many consider this to be their Holy Grail cleanser, the price of RM138 (US$31.99)/112g feels a little steep for a cleanser. That said, it’s very lovely and I’d be quite happy to pay for it and I plan to alternate this with the Antipodes Juliet cleanser. Love both of these for use in the mornings! 😀
Here’s the ingredient list for the Fresh Mild Rice Facial Cleanser:-
Infusion of Althea officinalis* (marshmallow), Stellaria media* (chickweed), Plantago major* (plantain), Rosa damascena*, Arthemis nobilis* (chamomile), Glycerin*, Helianthus annuus (sunflower) Oil*, Oryza sativa* (brown rice), Cocos nucifera (coconut) Oil*, Prunus armeniaca (apricot) kernal Oil*, Glyceryl Stearate, Salix alba* (willowbark) extract, Cannabis sativa (hemp) Oil*, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Echinacea purpurea Extract*, Essential Oils of Lavandula angustifolia, Litsea Cubeba, Cymbopogon martini (palmarosa), Canarium luzonicum (elemi), Boswellia carterii (frankincense), Vetiveria zizandoides (vetiver), Xanthan Gum, Rosemary Oleoresin Extract, Grain Alcohol*+ essential oils in this product contain: linalool**, geraniol**, limonene**, citral**
*from Certified Organic Agriculture
**natural components of essential oils
Do note that if you are sensitive to essential oils, you may want to be a little careful trying this.
Have you used any products from Blissoma Solutions that you’d care to recommend? Have you used rice powder or rice water for your face?
This is my first time trying anything from this brand and I have to admit that it’s left me confident enough to try other products from the brand. I usually tiptoe around organic/natural skincare due to my bad experience before, but this time, I’m quite happy to experiment. If you’ve used anything from this brand that you like, do share, I’d love to know what else is worth trying! 😀
Paris B
Blissoma Solutions Fresh Mild Rice Facial Cleanser Price: RM138/112g (US$31.99) Availability: Brown Bag online (Malaysia)
If this smells like rice, I’M ON IT. Geek can attest to my love for rice. 😛
Haha sadly no, it does not smell of rice (I’m assuming you mean the smell of freshly cooked steaming hot rice vs the musty smell of rice grains 😛 ) but of essential oils and herbs which is lovely but can take some getting used to.
I’ve been enjoying some of the organic/ natural beauty products that have come into my life even though I’m not strictly a purist when it comes to skincare.
Still, it’s always nice to discover some new brands in this respect because it adds colour to my beauty journey and you have piqued my interest here – I think cleansers are my favourite skincare products of all because nothing beats the feeling of ‘washing off the day’.
This Blissoma product sounds like something I would be interested in. Never had a chance to use a rice-based cleaner before and you basically had me at rice and as a kid I too believed that the water left over from rice was good for my skin. I also used tea as a home remedy to clean wounds and things but that’s another story.
I’m glad this is a hydrating cleanser. I cannot stand stripping cleansers. I just flake!
Oh yes! This one feels absolutely lovely, Shopgirl. If you like something gentle (and definitely non flakey) then this one really hits all the right spots. I was a little wary because of my past experience with organic and natural skincare and like you, I’m not a hardliner when it comes to these things so it can sometimes be a little hard to evaluate. Another nice thing about cleansers is that, they actually finish! And for a beauty/skincare hoarder, it means a lot LOL 😀 Hope you’re keeping well 🙂
Oh man — I love non-foaming cleansers. My first took me a while to get used to, too (about a week sounds right… but it felt like SO long), but I couldn’t possibly live without them, now.
I’m not really using exfoliators now that I have a Clarisonic, but marshmallow and rice? I’ll keep this one in mind 😛
I think you’d love this Rae 😀 It’s so gentle and makes skin feel so nice! I don’t really use exfoliators either but once in a long while, it feels good to have that scrubby feel 😉