Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Cleansing Foam

My skincare regimen has always been limited to Cetaphil cleanser and, in recent years, Philosophy products, including such favorites like Purity Made Simple cleanser, The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash, and Hope in a Jar moisturizer. I've never tried the Shiseido skin care line before, but I really like their sunscreen, so I figured I would give the White Lucent Brightening Cleansing Foam a try since it was a deluxe sample for Beauty Insiders at Sephora one day.


I brought home the generously-sized sample with high hopes because it has pretty good ratings online. The description on the Sephora site says that it's "a gentle cleansing foam that whisks away impurities with a fresh, creamy lather." It supposedly "purifies the complexion and promotes a look of inner radiance, without stripping moisture" while a "dose of micro white powder helps remove dead surface cells to boost clarity and luminosity."


The cleanser comes out of the tube in a white cream form, but quickly foams up once you put it on a damp face with some water. The first time I used it in the morning, I noticed an immediate radiance to my skin. Right after cleansing, my face looked brighter than it usually does. I've been really big on brightening my skin lately (not the same as whitening!), so I was initially really happy and optimistic that I had found a good cleanser to incorporate into my routine. The Shiseido cleanser definitely felt different from my Cetaphil and Philosophy cleansers in that the other two are more milky and non-foaming. The Shiseido felt moisturizing as I was smoothing it over my skin, but once I started washing it off, there was an immediate and noticeable tightening feel--not in the good pore-tightening way, but in a drying out the skin way.

I gave the sample a one-week trial period, but by day 6 I could not stand it anymore. Though the possible brightening effects were tempting at first, ultimately this cleanser did not work for me. I figured out that it was because of the foam format. My skin did not take well to a foam cleanser. Foams are just too drying for my sensitive skin, and it was starting to show signs of breaking out due to the lack of moisture. And I haven't even mentioned the dry patches! Ugh.

I suppose there's a reason why I go for milky lotion-like cleansers like Cetaphil and Philosophy: they clean my skin well without stripping it of much-needed moisture. I switched back to my morning Cetaphil routine right away and within a few days, my skin calmed down again. I guess this teaches me to not stray too far from what already works, right? A prime example of "Don't fix it if it's not broken." The next time I decide to test out a new cleanser, I'm going to steer clear of foams :/

Those of you with more oily skin, though, would probably like this cleanser. I'm disappointed that it didn't work for me, but honestly, I think the effects and formula are quite good. If Shiseido came out with this exact product in a non-foaming form, I would probably like it. But for now, I'm going to have to count myself out for this one. Let's hope my next Shiseido experience is better!


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Do any of you have any Shiseido recommendations? Likes? Dislikes? Do tell! :)