[REVIEW] Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser (Before and After)

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[1]🍵Ingredients Breakdown [2]Instructions [3]Results VS. Claims [4]Before&After [5]Verdict

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• Price: US$ 16 (Krave Beauty, or Soko Glam)

• Texture: Bouncy soft gelly

• What you get:4.05 OZ / 120 M

• Cruelty-free: Yes

• Instagram: @kravebeauty

+INGREDIENTS

Ingredients of the Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser: Camellia Sinensis Leaf Water, Water, Glycerin, Coco-Betaine (Surfactant/Cleansing + Viscosity Controlling), Methyl Gluceth-10 (Moisturizer/Humectant + Emulsifying), Ethoxydiglycol (Solvent + Moisturizer/Humectant + Perfuming), Dipropylene Glycol (Solvent + Perfuming + Viscosity Controlling), Methylpropanediol (Solvent), Sodium Chloride (Viscosity Controlling), Butoxydiglycol, Diglycerin, Glycereth-26, Xanthan Gum (Viscosity Controlling + Emulsion Stabilising), Camellia Sinensis Leaf Powder, Quillaja Saponaria Bark Extract, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Diethoxydiglycol, Coco-Glucoside, Caprylyl Glycol, Glyceryl Caprylate, Decyl Glucoside, Pentylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Butylene Glycol, Octanediol, Panthenol (Vitamin B5), Citric Acid (Buffering), Ethylhexylglycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Emollient), Sodium PCA (Skin-Identical Ingredient + Moisturizer/Humectant),, Disodium Edta (Chelating + Viscosity Controlling)

🍵In-depth details of Interesting Ingredients:

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Water: Green tea leaf extract is a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial compound, but there is a difference between the extract and water derivatives of plants. Green tea water is not well researched for its topical application on the skin. One Camellia Sinensis-Derived Ingredients report made in 2014 debates whether the water extract of this plant is only a perfuming ingredient, but no final conclusion was reached. Another study on mice shows that Camellia Sinensis Leaf Water decreases wrinkle formation in UV exposed skin (results show a decrease in MMP, an enzyme that gets overexpressed when exposed to UV rays and degrades the skin matrix, which contributes to premature aging). More studies and research are needed, but this is a promising ingredient.

Glycerine: Widely used as a quality Hydrator (occurs naturally in skin, and its chemical structure attracts water). You can find this ingredient in most good skin-replenishing products.

Diglycerin: "A natural moisturizing factor that reduces water evaporation from the upper layer of the skin and helps to keep water in the skin so that it stays nicely hydrated. Compared to glycerin, it has a larger molecular structure (kind of double glycerin). Thanks to this, it penetrates slower into the skin but gives longer-lasting moisture and is less sticky."

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Powder: Green tea leaf extract is known to be a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial compound. There shouldn't be a massive difference between the 'extract' and 'powder' versions of this plant since powders are the dried-up version of the extract. Some substances lose potency as well as important compounds when the dehydration process occurs, so the powder version might be less 'powerful' or contain fewer 'actives.' These are the properties of Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract (Green tea): Antioxidant (Polyphenol) + Anti-inflammatory (Polyphenol) + Antimicrobial (Catechins).

Quillaja Saponaria Bark Extract: Contains Saponins, a substance that acts as a cleansing agent by absorbing excess oils and removing dead skin.

Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil: Emollient (Mildly occlusive) + Hydrating

Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil: Moisturizing 

Avena Sativa (Oat) Meal Extract: Anti-inflammation (diminishes inflammatory response pathway) + Antioxidant (reactive oxygen species are reduced) + Anti-irritant (improves skin dryness/texture/itch)

Panthenol: Moisturizing (penetrates deep into the layers and gets converted into Pantothenic Acid (B5)) + Possibly Anti Acne (B5) + Wound healing ("Promotes skin cell proliferation") + Anti-inflammatory ("Help reduce the appearance of UV-induced redness and may alleviate the itchiness associated with dermatitis.") + Skin barrier protection (B5 is involved in the creation of lipids, which themselves play a significant role in preventing moisture loss from the top layer of the skin)

+HOW TO USE THE Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser

Start with a not-so-clean face (kind of important here).

STEP 2

Wet your skin and apply a nickel-sized amount onto your face.

STEP 3

Gently massage and avoid aggressive rubbing. Rinse off with lukewarm water.

FREE TIP

If you have makeup on, we recommend using a makeup remover first or double-cleansing.

+what does the Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser do?

Claims taken from the Krave Beauty product page.

1.An antioxidant-rich jelly cleanser help protect your skin from damaging free radicals in the air: Here's a quick reminder: "Free radicals are molecules with unpaired electrons that destroy skin cells to 'steal' electrons from them. They can cause oxidative stress, premature aging, skin damage, and even cancer. All the hype surrounding antioxidative serums is due to their ability to fight these molecules and protect the skin against them. But it's also important to note that "there is increasing evidence that free radicals act as signals for cell adaptation in a variety of cell types and the nature of the mechanisms by which free radical species influence gene expression is the subject of much current research," [source]." Since the Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser is packed with antioxidative ingredients, it certainly does bring forth some sort of protecting antioxidative capacity. However, cleansers only sit on your skin for so long before they are washed away into the abyss of your sink, so if you're concerned about damaging free radicals, consider investing in a leave-on product like The Plant Base Time Stop Collagen Ampoule (US$ 14.76 for 20ml) or the SOME BY MI Galactomyces Pure Vitamin C Glow Serum (US$ 13.8 for 30ml).

2.This cushiony gel has an easy slip that glides over your skin with no effort. The bouncy gel formula creates a silky lather on the skin that lifts away impurities and irritants accumulated during the day: Yup. I love the soft, bouncy texture, the slip doesn’t pull or push at my skin in any way, and the cleanser is effective. However, you will definitely need to double-cleanse if you are using makeup. Krave Beauty suggests double cleaning with their Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser, but I haven’t found that to be particularly useful. Stick to your makeup remover. Or try out my personal favorite: Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micelle Solution (US$ 14 for 500 ml)

3.No dry, tight after-feeling like conventional cleansers: Yes, there's a nice blend of hydrators and moisturizers in the formula. I used this alone for a week (without any serums or toners or whatever) and my skin was still quenched and happy. I also need to note (and brag) that I've recently moved to Paris for a month and that although it's warm, it is quite cold here, so the Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser passes that test. If you have extremely dry skin, you might find it not hydrating enough, but then again, you're probably not using this without following up with hydrating and moisturizing

products afterward, so you should be fine either way. As you can see from this before and after pictures taken right after the wash, the cleanser didn't irritate my acne bump, nor did it redden my skin in any way.

4.Vitamin B5 and Sodium PCA put the hydrating in Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser. They help absorb moisture from the atmosphere while Hemp Seed Oil seals it in to keep your skin quenched: I don’t think any sole ingredient is responsible for a product’s properties. It is the blend of ingredients that makes a product what it is. Giving terms such as ‘hydrating’ and ‘moisturizing to Vitamin B5 and Sodium PCA is nice when it comes to marketing, but these two things are present thanks to other ingredients in the blend too. Either way, as I said above, yes, this checked out. I would not go as far as to say my skin feels even more hydrated and moisturized after using this cleanser, though. It’s more of a ‘this maintained my skin’s lipids’ rather than ‘omg look at how hydrated my skin feels’, which, don’t get me wrong, is still quite awesome.

5.Is formulated with pH of 5.0-6.0 (pH may vary by batch):

Here’s an excerpt from ‘‘ALL ABOUT CLEANSING & HOW TO CHOOSE A GENTLE CLEANSER’’ by Michelle from Lab Muffin blog: ‘‘Skin is acidic, meaning it has a low pH (around 5). This is important because a lot of the biochemical reactions that occur in the Skin only work within a narrow pH range. Surfactant-containing cleansers are particularly good at changing skin pH for long amounts of time, meaning that if your cleanser has a particularly high pH, then it’s going to hinder your Skin from repairing itself. High pH also makes Skin swell and reduces its flexibility.’’ So, the bottom line is, pH is important. That being said, most tap water pH lies around the 6.5 or 9.5 margin depending on where you live, so even if you apply a pH appropriate cleanser to your face, you might end up washing it off with non-appropriate pH water. I guess for products to truly take all of this into consideration, they should formulate a product whose pH, when mixed with water, would be around 5.

As I say in all my reviews about cleansers, I don’t care about pH, but if you do: congrats, this one is appropriate.

All in all, I’m pleased with this cleanser and would recommend it to most skin types. If you have dry skin, it’s non-stripping enough. If you have sensitive skin, it’s sensitive-friendly and packed with antioxidants. If you have combination skin, it will clean your skin thoroughly enough. For acne-prone skin types: the Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser is a good choice for you, but it might be more interesting to also alternate with an acne-combating cleanser at the same time. For very oily skin types, you might enjoy a more potent cleanser, and I personally like the AXIS-Y Sunday Morning Refreshing Cleansing Foam (US$ 18.90 for 120 ml). For more mature skin types, this one should be fine, but you might be more interested in something that also has exfoliating properties since skin cells turnover diminishes as we age - I don’t have anything I reviewed yet, sorry.

+BENEFITS:

1. Fun bouncy texture makes for a nice cleanse

2. Gets rid of oiliness and dirt on skin

3. Has really low chances of irritating any skin type

4. Foams up adequately but is not drying in any way

5. A little goes a long way

6. The price/quality/quantity ratio is good in my book

7. Appropriate pH

-CONS:

1. It doesn’t really get rid of makeup, so you will need to double cleanse.

🍵🍵🍵🍵4.0/5———Great cleanser with nothing much to complain about. This would be a great choice for any routine to maintain a healthy, happy, and clean skin barrier. It doesn’t get a full score because I despise double-cleansing with a burning passion.

+Krave Beauty or Soko Glam: US$ 16

+Yesstyle: If you use my code ‘‘DEWILDE’’ you can get up to 5% off on any YesStyle purchase at checkout