Review: DHC Deep Cleansing Oil

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 DHC Deep Cleansing Oil

(retail: $12.50, 2.3 oz)

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil is one of those iconic facial cleansers that I've been hearing about for ages. In fact, I tried a sample of this product many years ago and I remember loving it, but then I guess I just forgot about it and never followed through with buying a full-size bottle. (NOTE: you can receive a free DHC catalog and four free samples here, if you're a first-time customer.)

When I was at my local Mitsuwa Marketplace (a Japanese supermarket chain that also carries an extensive variety of Asian beauty products), I saw this product and figured it was time to revisit it. I purchased it for $12.50 at Mitsuwa, and that's also the retail price on the DHC website (note the 2,000+ reviews with a five star average rating).

As you can see, this product contains some skin-loving ingredients such as olive oil and Vitamin E. I love that the ingredients list is so small--you don't always need a zillion ingredients in a skincare product for it to be effective, and I also like that this product is paraben-free.

The bottle itself is pretty basic; the oil is about the same color as olive oil, and you know I love pump bottles:

In the time that it took to dispense a little of this cleanser on the back of my hand and take a photo, it had already started to run down the side of my hand. This should give you an indication of the consistency of this product--it's not a thick, goopy oil. It's pretty thin:

So let's get down to business:

I LOVE this stuff, and apparently I'm not alone. Many, many people love this cleanser, and I can completely understand why, now that I've been using it every night for the past month. But that does not mean that it's for EVERYONE, as I'll try my best to explain in this review.

First of all, if you've never used an oil product for cleansing, it takes some getting used to, especially if you have oily skin and/or acne issues. It seems counter-intuitive to apply more oil to oily skin, but this is where you have to abandon your fears and just go with it. As I learned with my beloved Badger Damascus Rose Face Oil, applying oil to already-oily skin can be a GOOD thing. Sometimes, if you rob your skin of all of its natural oils by using a super-sudsy cleanser, your skin will feel the need to overcompensate and produce even MORE oil. Have you ever scrubbed your face with a cleanser that left your skin dry and tight? And if so, did you noticed that, maybe an hour later, your T-zone was SUPER oily? That's your skin basically working overtime to replenish what you removed from it during cleansing.

Alright, so now that I don't have any issues with rubbing oil into my already-oily skin, how does this product work at removing dirty, makeup and impurities? IT'S EXCELLENT. This product removes every last trace of my makeup, even my difficult eye makeup. In fact, I'm currently testing a waterproof liquid eyeliner for a future review, and it even removed that, no problem. BUT, I want to mention something here that I think is important: you can't use this product like a normal facial cleanser and expect it to remove all of your makeup. This is a product that requires a bit of time. With dry hands and a dry face (don't wet your hands or face before you use this--trust me), you need to work this product into your skin. And when I say work, I mean work. Well, gently work this product into your skin, taking time to massage it into every nook and cranny on your face. I actually find this a joy to do--it feels soothing on my skin and I love the entire process. But if you're one of those people who wants to wash and go in a hurry, this one's probably not for you, because it requires a little time and patience.

Once you're done working this cleanser into your skin, then it's time to rinse. I find this product rinses beautifully, which is kind of shocking. You'd think that, being made of oils and all, it would be a @#$% to remove. Well guess what? Not so! It rinses perfectly clean in one pass. I have no need for double-rinsing with this one, and no need to cleanse my skin with a regular cleanser after I've used this one.

The results: after I use this product, my face feels wonderfully clean and smooth, with absolutely no oily or greasy residue after rinsing. HOWEVER, I have read that those with dry skin have found this product to be slightly drying. I can TOTALLY understand that, but since my skin is very oily, I don't find this product leaves my skin feeling dry or tight. It feels just right to me, but I can imagine that if your skin was very dry to begin with, this might not be for you.

A few other things:

In addition to having very oily skin, I am also acne-prone during that time of the month. However, this product has not caused me any additional breakouts or irritations.

The fragrance of this product smells like a soft combination of olive oil, rosemary and lavender to my nose. It is not strong or tear-inducing, and it does not sting my eyes.

FINAL VERDICT: Is this product for you? Well, if you don't mind taking your time with your facial cleanser, and you have normal-to-oily or oily-to-very-oily skin, I think this might be a good fit. It works absolutely beautifully for me; so much so that I plan to buy the larger bottle the next time I'm at Mitsuwa. I just adore the way it feels when I'm working it into my skin, I love that it removes all of my makeup, I love how easily it rinses clean, and I love how my skin feels after I use it. If you've never tried a cleansing oil before, then I think this would be a good place to start. Not all oil cleansers are created equally, but I think this is a solid, affordable option if you'd like to try one before taking it to the next level with Shu Uemura, NARS, etc. Those products will set you back $30-$40 per bottle (and they don't come in smaller, more affordably-sized bottles) so I think that if you'd like to dip your toe into the cleansing oil pool, this is a more affordable way to do so at $12.50 for 2.3 oz (you can even buy a 1-oz mini for $5.99 on the DHC site). After using this product every night for a month, I still have about half of my bottle left, so I'd say the small bottle will be enough to last the average user about two months. I honestly have no desire to try the higher-end brands now because I'm perfectly content with this one--it's a keeper!

Are you a DHC Cleansing Oil fan? If so, when did you start using it? If not, what did you NOT like about it? If you've never used it before, do you think it might be a good fit for your needs?

The products featured in this post were purchased with personal funds. For more information, click here.