Review and Comparison: Sulwhasoo, The History of Whoo and HERA cleansing foams

Today I'd like to talk about a few cleansing foams that fall in higher price range category that my usual purchases: The History of Whoo Brightening Cleansing Foam (Gongjinhyang Seol) and Hwa Hyun Cleansing foam, Sulwhasoo Snowise Ex Cleansing foam and Timetreasure Extra Creamy Cleansing foam, and finally, HERA White program Cleansing foam and Hera Homme Purifying Cleansing Foam. I did not aim for it, but accidentally I got a couple products from each brand. As always, this post is not sponsored in any way, shape or form; I purchased all products myself and all opinions are my own. Also, please keep in mind that I'll be talking about my personal experience with those products, so YMMV.

I'm rather picky when it comes to cleansing products, and for a good reason (as I discussed here and here); but having sensitive skin and living in a very polluted city can make anyone a picky consumer. I've noticed that most of the time I tend to pick my cleansers in lower to mid-range price category. While good ingredients are very important for me, I find it difficult to justify paying over $30 for a foam or a gel; in many cases I feel like I'm paying more for brand name and packaging than product itself. Don't take me wrong, I love seeing beautiful jars and bottles on my bathroom shelves as much as anyone else, but I'm trying my hardest to ignore packaging when shopping for skincare; however gorgeous, all those bottles will do nothing for my skin. Also, premium-priced cleansers tend to have added perfume, and since I'm allergic to it, I have no choice but to be very careful about it. Since there are so many cleansers on the market with clean, natural ingredients, formulated without mineral oil, SLS, parabens and artificial fragrances and dyes, as well as other acne triggers and irritants, that are also very reasonably priced, most often I splurge on other skincare categories, such as ampoules, serums and such. This being said, FOMO is real, and for a while I was wondering if I am really missing something by not trying cleansers from high-end brands.

The History of Whoo Brightening Cleansing foam (Gongjinhyang Seol)

Let's start with The History of Whoo (I'm going to abbreviate it further in the post, THoW). Not too long ago I ordered a few THoW products from two of my favorite Korean stores on eBay, and, as usual, they send me a huuuuge amount of samplers. Both of the sellers seemed to think I might like THoW cleansing foams, so I ended up with enough samplers of both Brightening Cleansing foam (Gongjinhyang Seol) and Hwa Hyun Cleansing foam to last me more than couple weeks, enough to test them properly. Seol foam is not particularly new, and it seems that it's been quietly reformulated at least once (compare ingredients lists on CosDNA from 2012 and 2016, and you'll notice a few differences; also, 2016 version has much longer ingredient list). While most of THoW products target consumers with mature, dryer skin, Seol is a brightening line that will be appropriate for younger consumers that might have oilier skin with post-inflammation pigmentation issues. The new THoW website (they finally caved in and came up with English-only website this year; I'm so glad) describes the foam (here) as "a snow-white herb extract foam cleanser that adds transparency to your skin. While the rich and fine foam of the water-soluble cleanser thoroughly removes impurities and sebum even from the skin’s pores, its oriental medicine-based chilhyang palbaeksan ingredients help keep the skin moist and clear." You can get it on both Amazon and eBay for around $30.

The History of Whoo Brightening Cleansing foam (Gongjinhyang Seol)

Seol foam is white in color and it has rich and creamy consistency, and a little goes a long way. It produces surprisingly light and fluffy foam, and it cleanses very well. I rather liked its smell - it was fresh, mild and pleasant, reminiscent of forest and wild herbs, but not the usual hanbang-in-your-face kind of herbs. It does have added perfume, but it did not break me up; other questionable ingredients are lauric, stearic and myristic acid (rated 4, 3 and 2 as acne triggers by CosDNA). Some bloggers measured its pH as high as pH8, but mine measured around pH6.5-7, close to pH7; perhaps reformulated foam has lower pH. It did not dry out my skin, and it was gentle enough to be used as morning cleanser; but i did prefer it for my evening 2-step routine though.

The History of Whoo Radiant (Hwa Hyun) Cleansing foam PR

The History of Whoo Radiant (Hwa Huyn) Cleansing foam was the biggest surprise for me out of the whole bunch; I did not expect to like it so much. Cheongidan is one of THoW's premium lines, formulated for more mature skin, as you can see from their website. I can't find its ingredient list in English, their PR spiel is the best Google can do for me ingredient-wise; but it didn't break me out, so whatever is in the foam was unoffensive enough for my skin. Even the official  USA shopping site for LG brands does not have ingredient list, limiting itself to "this premium cleansing foam detoxifies and lifts away impurities while comforting.  The delicate formula is comprised of Ginseng Oil to keep skin moisturized and nourished for a renewed looking complexion after cleansing" (here).

The History of Whoo Radiant (Hwa Hyun) Cleansing foam

It comes out as a transparent gel, rather liquid-y and runny in texture, and it lathers up into medium amount of off-white foam. According to the THoW website, it "includes same amount of gold as Hwa Hyun Gold Ampoule, has anti-oxidant effects, hypoallergenic natural surfactant and subacidic pH level" (link here). Its pH measured between pH5-6, but closer to pH5; I did not notice any gold flakes in it though, unlike in the ampoule, where gold is visible.

The History of Whoo Radiant (Hwa Hyun) Cleansing foam

 
It did a great job at cleansing my skin; it was mild enough to be used as a morning cleanser, but powerful enough to cleanse my skin in the evening without any need for peeling gel afterwards. It has a pleasant flowery smell that did not linger. I liked everything about it except the lack of ingredients list and its price. It sells on Amazon for $70+ and on eBay for $60+, well withing the price range for premium hanbang cleansers. I'm not entirely sure if I need a powerful anti-aging herbal extracts and gold in my foam cleanser instead of more basic one, but this foam might be able to convince me... It reminded me of Manyo Factory Blue Vita Aqua gel foam that I reviewed a couple weeks ago here, but it felt like more upscale, luxurious version of it. Blue Vita might have the cleaner ingredients list, but unfortunately I can't compare their ingredients until THoW updates their website with full ingredients lists instead of talking about some herbal combinations that address changes in seasons, energies etc. It might actually explain something to their Korean consumers, but it's a bit too confusing for someone like me; I would rather read the plain ingredient list than puzzle over a "combination that coordinates blood and energy for quick result" or something like that. This being said, most of THoW products that I've tried did work, and some worked very well for me; I wonder if it's unreasonable to insist on having a full ingredient list for hanbang skincare. What do you think?

Sulwhasoo Timetreasure Extra Creamy Cleansing foam

Let's move on to Sulwhasoo. When it comes to Korean skincare, I love buying gift sets instead of single products, if I can find them. Quite often I can find a gift set with full-size product that I intended to buy originally and several travel-size products from the same line for almost the same price as the single product; such gift sets tend to sell out quickly thought, so I guess I'm not the only person who likes them. I've started using eye serum and eye cream from Sulwhasoo Timetreasure line this year, and they worked great for my skin, so recently I picked a Timetreasure gift set that had a few products from the line that I haven't tried yet, including Sulwhasoo Timetreasure Extra Creamy Cleansing foam. You can find a full-size foam on eBay and Amazon for around $60; Timetreasure is one of Sulwhasoo's premium lines and pricing reflects it. It has a nice, clean ingredients list that is full of plant extracts (CosDNA here) with only a few red flags (lauric, stearic and myristic acids and perfume, the usual suspects, and a couple of solvents). Sulwhasoo's website describes it as "premium cleansing foam [that] helps deliver the nutrition of precious pine oil to skin with a rich and smooth texture for refreshing moisture" (here).

Sulwhasoo Timetreasure Extra Creamy Cleansing foam

True to its name, it comes out as a soft, light cream, not too runny, but it definitely spreads around easily if I'll let it sit for a moment. The website promised "creamy foam that feels as soft as cashmere on your skin", and I agree with their description; it does not produce a lot of foam, but it cleanses well despite being mild and gentle on my skin. I prefer it for the morning routine, but works as a second cleanser as well. Its pH measured around pH6.5-7. It's supposed to smell like pine, but it also has some herbs in the mix as well; I like its smell.

Sulwhasoo Snowise Ex Cleansing foam

I've tried several products from Sulwhasoo's Snowise line over the years, and I liked quite a few of them, so when I saw a gift set that had a few products from that line that were new to me, it went strait to to the basket. I got to try out travel-sized Sulwhasoo Snowise Ex Cleansing foam and Snowise Brightening Exfoliating gel, the latter is an interesting version of peeling gel; I'm still testing the gel out, but I'm almost done with the foam, and I have to say I liked it much more than I expected. It's a true low-pH cleanser; it measured pH4.5-5 for me, as the official website  promised: "With a pH of 5.0-6.0, the cleanser has a subtle acidity ideal for preserving the natural pH balance of the skin. The subtle acidity of the foam protects the skin’s naturally acidic pH balance, cleansing the skin gently while protecting its delicate balance and natural glow". It's a clay-based foam, and it has the lowest pH of all clay-based foams that I've tried so far (you can check out my review here to see how it compares with Heimish and some other clay-based foams). I rather like its ingredients (CosDNA here); there are no major red flags with the exception of cocoamidopropyl betaine (in top 10 ingredients), SLS (low on the list), fragrance, and a couple of preservatives. Actually, CosDNA has the old pre-reformulation ingredient list, and it looks like Sulwhasoo tried to get rid of at least some of acne triggers and irritants in the foam (2013 entry's here if you want to compare them yourself). They got rid of all PEGs but added SLS in the new version, and slightly changed the plant-based ingredients: both versions have licorice, Oldenlandia Diffusa, Paeonia Albiflora, lotus and ginseng in them, but Lilium Tigrinum was removed from the new version. Also, the old version had niacinamide and lactic acid, but didn't have the white clay in it. Despite having honey in it (which I'm allergic to), the foam did not break me out. You can get full size foam on Amazon for $30 with Prime shipping.

Sulwhasoo Snowise Ex Cleansing foam; it foams up rather easily, but takes an extra minute to wash off

It has whipped-cream texture, soft and light, and it foams fairly easy for a clay-based cleanser. It cleanses extremely well, and it does not strip my skin or all moisture despite having SLS in it. Official website promises that this foam "leaves the natural moisture in the skin intact; In addition to removing excess sebum, the foam also hydrates the skin, leaving it glowing even after cleansing" (here). I'm not sure about the glow part, but I agree on hydration claim. I needed an extra minute or so to wash it off my skin completely, but it's OK with me. It smells like fresh herbs and shrubs in summer; the fragrance is not overpowering and it does not linger.

HERA White Program Cleansing foam

Last but not least, let's talk about HERA cleansers. I've got several premium-sized samplers of HERA White program Cleansing foam with some of my eBay purchases and decided to try them out when I thought I had enough for a few weeks of use. I do prefer to test out cleansers every day for a couple weeks to get a better idea of what long-term results I'll be getting with it; while some cleansers break me out or irritate my skin after just a few uses, some seem to be working fine for a few days, but end up messing up my skin later on, so 2-3 weeks is my minimum testing time. It took me less than a week to notice that my skin was not happy with this foam. HERA markets it as "a brightening foam with papain enzyme capsules and white clay that cleanses your skin clear and smooth". If you get a look at CosDNA (here), you'll see a lot of irritants and acne triggers; along with lauric, stearic and myristic acids and fragrance, this foam has SLS, PEGs and alcohol. It's also white clay-based, and it kind of feels like it; it comes out as a yellow-white cream with orange-pink micro-spheres in it. The micro-spheres are meant to preserve the full potency of papain enzymes; according to official HERA website, "the papain enzyme capsules that burst in your hands effectively deteriorates protein, which means it effectively removes built-up dead skin cells and leaves your skin looking smooth" (here).

HERA White Program Cleansing foam

It took a little extra effort to dissolve the capsules, and some capsules stayed intact even after lathering up. HERA website claims that "tests show that it creates 1.5 times more lather than the previous version" (here); I haven't tried the old formulation, but this one produced a medium amount of foam on my skin. It measured pH7; it had this generic HERA's perfume-y smell, I can't say that I liked it. Instead of brightening my skin it left it slightly red; it was definitely drying and I had to put extra layers of moisturizing toners after using it.

HERA Homme Purifying Cleansing foam

I also got a few samplers of another HERA cleansing product - HERA Homme Purifying Cleansing foam; I'm going to review it briefly, even though it's from men's skincare line, because at the end of the day a cleanser is a cleanser; if it's a good one and it works for my skin, should I care if it's from a line that formulated for men, or children? Probably not. I did ask my husband to try it out as well, and his verdict was "it's OK, it's a foam"; keep in mind he's not into skincare. Myself, I liked it better than White Program foam. Hera website describes it as "a refreshing creamy cleansing foam that can be used as facial cleanser and shaving cream. This dual cleansing foam cleanses deep down into the skin with fine-textured, rich bubbles, while its polymer ingredient keeps the skin smooth and comfortable during shaving. Mild amino acid type cleansing ingredients remove excess sebum and dirt from the skin, while menthol ingredient cools down and soothes skin that’s become damaged from shaving" (here). It lathers up much easier and produces more foam than White Program; actually it was still foaming up when I was washing it off.

HERA Homme Purifying Cleansing foam - it produces more foam even when you're washing it off

It has a strong smell of aftershave that lingers for a while. CosDNA does not have ingredients listed, but I'm quite sure perfume should be high on the list. [EDIT: I figured out the way to translate the ingredients list from the official Korean HERA site and uploaded them on cosdna here. And yeah, perfume is right there...] It measured at pH7.5-8, higher than White Program foam, but it was not as drying, and I did not have any redness or other adverse reactions after using it; it cleansed very well. You can find it on eBay for about $25.

HERA Purifying Cleansing milk

Even though it's not a foam cleanser, I'm going to mention another HERA cleansing product that I got a few samplers of together with those two foams - HERA Purifying Cleansing milk. I was curious about it, since on paper it sounded as a perfect alternative for cleansing oil. HERA describes it as "water-friendly cleansing ingredient, Polysorbate 60 removes even thick makeup perfectly to make your skin clean and bright; light, refreshing moist cleansing milk that cleanses the skin in a mild yet efficient way, without feeling oily or sticky. It absorbs oil base makeup fast, yet feels light on the skin". It was sitting in my wish list for a while, about to get moved to the basket (you can find it on eBay and Amazon for under $30); I'm glad I did not purchase the full size. There are no reviews on it, and, unfortunately, no ingredient list on CosDNA, but since I always liked french pharmacy cleansing milks, I really wanted to try out a korean version. It turned out to be a complete fail. HERA's instructions were "put an adequate amount on your dry hands, apply on the face and gently roll over it to melt away any dirt and makeup on the skin, wash the face with lukewarm water." I used about the same amount of milk as in the swatch above; when I tried to take off my sunscreen with it, the milk transformed into greasy sticky layer that cling desperately to my skin; it did not clean off anything, and it absolutely refused to move when I tried to wash it off with water. Using a foam did not help much; I could still feel some of the milk on my skin, together with my sunscreen and a day's worth of sebum and dirt. I ended up using oil and foam just to get the milk off; I would not recommend this product to anyone.

TL;DR

It looks like some high-end brands are feeling the pressure and reformulating their products to exclude common acne triggers and irritants. It seems HERA did not get the memo, but I had good experience with both The History of Whoo and Sulwhasoo products. My favorite foam among more affordable lines is Snowise Ex, and among premium lines - Hwa Huyn, which is also my overall favorite of the whole bunch. I think HERA Homme foam might be a good choice of Christmas stockings stuffer.