Battle of the Facial Cleansing Powders {Review}

Here we are again…unwilling participants in this Monday thing…well at least I am. Monday’s are just the worst right? If they’d just give us a 3-day weekend, Monday would be a whole new ball game. Whoever decides on these things….needs to give this some thought….PLEASE. Okay, so a 3 day weekend campaign is not actually what this post is about….

I purchased a facial cleansing powder a while ago and was also gifted a different one for my birthday. I thought it would be interesting to look at the 2 brands and see if they’re similar and what we’re getting for their price points. Can you hear ‘Eye of a Tiger’ (NOT Katy Perry!) in the background? Now that we’ve set the mood….let’s get started…..

In this corner, we’ve got the Facial Cleansing powder from Skin Creamery, and in that corner, we’ve got the Clarifying Clay from Phytocare! *and the crowd goes wild*  Too much? Okay, moving along….

What do they claim to do?

Skin Creamery’s Facial Cleansing Powder, with all-natural herbs and minerals, cleanses and purifies from deep within pores without drying the skin. This magic dust can be used as a daily exfoliating cleanser or a restorative facemask – just add raw honey.

Phytocare’s version is a gentle, exfoliating polish and mask, made with organic arrowroot for silky soft skin, kaolin and bentonite to extract impurities and unclog pores, apricot kernel for gentle exfoliation, lemongrass to brighten, ylang-ylang to soothe the skin and rose geranium to improve blood circulation and promote flawless skin. The skin is left rejuvenated, bright and glowing.

The ingredient providing the exfoliation in the Phytocare product is apricot kernels, whereas it’s macadamia shells in the Skin Creamery product. Ingredients they have in common is Bentonite clay, rose geranium essential oil, and ylang-ylang essential oil. 

• Bentonite oil is great for acne prone skin and cleansing the pores. It also assists with excess oil issues.
• Rose geranium oil is also good for acne prone skin and reduces inflammation.
• Ylang-ylang is known for calming the skin.

  

Where do I get it and how much does it cost?

Both are available online on their respective websites, with Skin Creamery also available at The Beautiful Store which is where I usually purchase my Skin Creamery products.

Phytocare‘s clarifying clay retails for R229 for 25gms. Skin Creamery’s facial cleansing powder retails for R305 for 40gms. Phytocare’s product works out to R9,16/gm compared to the Skin Creamery product at R7,60/gm. 

Packaging

The Skin Creamery packaging…there’s no denying is stunning! It’s a white glass bottle with a little cork top with simple, but clean writing on the bottle. Their empty bottles can always be recycled and used for something else when you’ve finished the product. The Phytocare packaging is no frills and fusses, it’s a dark brown bottle with their label and logo around it.

I find it’s easier to dispense product from the Phytocare bottle. The Skin Creamery bottle is a bit narrow at the top so I need to just knock it a bit to get powder out, but I am able to control it more. So each has its pros and cons.

Formula and my experience

The Phytocare powder mixes really well with water and to use it as a mask, you just need to use more powder with some water to form a paste and apply this to the skin. This powder is the grainier of the 2 and feels more abrasive on the skin. Not hard or uncomfortable, but just to distinguish between the 2, I think ‘abrasive is the word to use.

The Skin Creamery formula to me is pastier and I tend to waste a bit of this product. I’m not sure if I’m not getting the ratio of water to powder right, but I’m always left scraping more of the product off my hands to get it onto my face. Skin Creamery recommends that you add honey to the powder to form a mask and that sounds like an amazing combination, especially around that time of the month. I’m assuming though that you could add honey to either powder.

I’ve used both and I must say that they both seem to do a good job. My skin feels clearer and smoother after using both powders. The Skin Creamery powder contains a few extra ingredients like Buchu, Baobab and Twig oil (another ingredient good for oily skin). The Phytocare powder contains arrowroot (which apparently has great healing properties) and lemongrass (that brightens the skin).

Which one do I prefer?

I can’t decide…..I am really on the fence here as they perform similarly on my skin. I’d recommend that you look through the ingredients and decide what your skin needs. After doing this post, I’m actually going to mix these two together to give me the ULTIMATE facial powder cocktail! They are really both really great products, both are cruelty free, so I think you can go with what your pocket can afford and if any of the ingredients in one speaks to you more.

Have you tried any of these facial cleansing powders? Is it something you’re interested in trying? Are there any other brands that for facial cleansing powders that I need to try out?