Ever since I discovered korean skincare and all the textures and products it offers I've been in love with cleansing balms. I was also lucky enough to receive this one as a gift from Juno Skin (Juno Co) so let's look at it in a review.
The Juno Skin Clean 10 Cleansing Balm is an oil based cleanser in form of a sherbet / balm. It contains only 10 ingredients and it's suposed to be suitable for all skin types. It should deeply cleanse your skin without stripping it while brightening it and removing dark spots. It retails for $14,95. The product is also vegan and cruelty-free and the whole brand is highly focused on sustainability which I really appreciate as well.
The product comes in a plastic tub with a little spatula and the balm itself is enclosed below another lid. You get 85g of product which is very nice for the price. It is not quite balmy but more like a sherbet, basically a little liquidy. It is oil-based so it dissolves very quickly once you warm it up between your hands.
It promises to remove all makeup, even waterproof as well as SPF, dirt and any other impurities. On the website, the recommendation is to use it as a first cleanse which I agree with since it is a balm / oil.
The ingredients
The 10 ingredients used in this balm are
Ethylhexyl Palmitate
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Peg-20 Glyceryl Triisostearate
Synthetic Wax
Polysorbate 85
Fermented Japanese Pearl Barley (Saccharomyces/Coix Lacryma-Jobi Ma-Yuen Seed Ferment Filtrate)
Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil
Vitamin E (Tocopheryl Acetate)
Water
Butylene Glycol
The main ingredient that is highlighted on the website is the Fermented Japanese Pearl Barley. It is a source of vitamins and antioxidants that is supposed to help regulate your melanin production. Here comes the reason for fading of the dark spots and brightening the skin.
One of the ingredients is orange peel oil which is the source of the slightly yellow color and the amazing orange-like scent. That also means that there is no artificial fragrance in the product. Beware though, because natural fragrance like this can also be irritating to the skin sometimes so do your own research if this product is for you. I didn't find this product irritating in the slightest.
I also scanned this product with the incidecoder to find that Ethylhexyl Palmitate can be quite a comedogenic ingredient. I suffer greatly from easily congested pores but I did not find this product to congest my pores so I assume that the emulsification is influencing this property and since you wash the product of it doesn't cause any complications.
How to use
I like to use balms / oils as my first cleanse. This product cleanses my face really well and I never had problems with removing any makeup using this cleanser. First, I scoop up about a teaspoon of the balm and warm it up between my hands. It dissolves pretty much immidiatelly into oil. Then I massage it into my dry face (that is usually covered with makeup) to break down everything. It has to glide, if your hands don't glide at this point you have to add more balm.
Once everything is covered in the cleanser and I really worked it in to remove everything including my eye makeup and mascara, I wet my hands with lukewarm waret and emulsify the balm. Once the water mixes with the balm is forms a milky watery texture that helps to remove everything even further. At this point, you can just wash it off but because I don't enjoy water up my sleeves, I choose to use a cloth or a face towel to remove everything and reveal a beautifully cleansed face.
Next I usually go in with a regular non-stripping cleanser for my second cleanse. And that's basically my whole cleansing routine.
In the following images you can see the texture of the balm a little closer. The first image is the balm just swatched on my hand. You can see that even at that moment it is already changing texture from balm to oil a little bit. But you can see that it is almost clear and very smooth and easy to spread. The second image is the balm after massaging it in. It dissolves into a clear lightweight oil. The third image is after spraying a little bit of water onto the melted balm. You can see that it immidiatelly forms a milky emulsified liquid that is then very easy to wash off.
My experience
I really like that this cleansed doesn't strip my face but at the same time it makes it feel incredibly clean. I never came across a makeup it wouldn't remove (including some crazy Halloween stuff) so I always reach for this cleanser when I really need a heavy duty cleanse. Another thing I appreciate is that it doesn't sting my eyes and I can remove any mascara effectivelly without my eyes burning or fogging up.
I am also a big fan of the texture. Before I discovered cleansing balms I was a big fan of light cleansing oils so this cleanser really hits the spot in so many ways. The convinience and effectivness of a balms in a form of an oily hybrid is really the best of both worlds.
If you want to see me actually use the balm, you can check it out in this favorites video on my Youtube channel where I included a little demo.
The balm also promises to brighten the skin and fade dark spots. I am not sure how effective can a makeup remover be at this kind of thing. However, I would say that the brightening is quite visible if you use it on the regular basis. My skin also felt very smooth after using it for an extended period of time. I don't have any hyper-pigmentation though, so I cannot tell you how well it actually fades dark spots.
In the longterm effects, it reminded me of the Banila Co Clean Zero balm that had similar effects on my skin in the terms of brightening and smoothness. These two are probably my favorite cleansing balms to this day because they are extremely effective and I can really tell a difference in my skin when I use them often.
Even though this post is about the balm, I would like to also mention the cleansing cookie I received with the balm. It is extremely soft and quite a lot bigger than other "cleansing pancakes" I own. It can be folded to wipe the area around the eyes and unfolded to swipe across the whole face very effectively. It's made from cotton and it is supposed to be for all skin types including sensitive which I definitely agree with. In case you are considering getting the cleansing cookie with the balm, I would say go for it. I am a big fan of every reusable product for cleansing my face.
Final thoughts
I am very grateful that this product was gifted to me and even though it took me almost a year to write this review, I am glad I took the time to really try it out. The final verdict is that this is one of the best cleansing balms I've ever tried and it worked really well for my skin.
I think the price is very fair and I thing it might be more accessible for many people who would like to try a great cleansing balm but ordering from Korea might be a little too complicated. This product is up there with all my beloved korean cleansing balms.
It leaves you really clean without any residue or stripping so I believe this could be suitable for any skin type. The ingredient list is not long so it is easy to say if there is an ingredient that could possibly cause some problems for you personally and there no confusing filler ingredients that can be a little misleading sometimes. So as always, do your own research if this is the right product for you. But for me, this really was a winner and I have to recommend it as one of the best balms I've ever used.