Battle of the Cleansing Wipes
There are two main factors that led to my love of facial cleansing towelettes. The primary reason being that I am lazy with my beauty routine. The second reason is that because I’m always on the go, beauty wipes are super easy to toss in my carry on bag, no 3.4-ounce rule required.
When I lived stateside, my go-to brand was Ponds, until I discovered that for about half the price, the CVS brand of cleansing and make up removing towelettes were as good or even better, and came in different formulations such as gentle and age defying.
But once I moved abroad, I realized that American facial cleansing cloths are useless compared to their foreign counterparts. I’ve tried these wipes in various countries, and the two international best are Skin Food Fresh Celery Cleansing Tissues from South Korea and Bioderma Créaline H20 Dermatological Wipes from France.
The South Korean brand Skin Food is well known in Asia, but it’s only beginning to make an appearance in the U.S. Known for its ‘food therapy’ approach to skincare, all products include edible items on the ingredients list. The Fresh Celery Cleansing Tissues do indeed contain celery extracts and smell like celery. Apparently, celery is an excellent skin hydrator and is loaded with vitamins and antioxidants. These wipes effectively remove makeup and leave my skin feeling cleansed but not tight.
Very chicly packaged in hot pink are the Bioderma Créaline H20 wipes from France. A New York based friend who works at Style.com explained to me that these are a must in the fashion world, and models never leave home without them. Well, what’s good enough for a model’s face is good enough for mine, so I snapped a package up last month at a French pharmacy. Larger and more luxurious than the Skin Food brand, the Bioderma wipes do a slightly better job at cleansing and moisturizing, and do leave my skin hydrated. However, they smell slightly of perfume, and the ingredients while hypoallergenic are less natural than the Korean brand. Another major factor is price. The French ones are more than twice as expensive as their Asian counterpart.
Overall, I love them both, and choosing one over the other would be a Sophie’s Choice style decision. Easy, portable, cleansing and moisturizing? You may never want to wash your face with soap and water again.
