Review: 100% Pure Jasmine Green Tea Facial Cleansing Foam

I first encountered 100% Pure in college when I found a local store that lured me in with its bright pastel colors, attractive layout, and shelves of yummy smelling products.  The company advertises itself as environmentally conscious, animal-friendly and promises "no synthetic chemicals, chemical preservatives, artificial fragrances, artificial colors, harsh detergents or any other unhealthy toxins."  Everything in the store smells like food, natural and fruity, but not in an obnoxious perfumed way (Bath & Body... I'm talking to you).  So far I've tried a cleanser, toner, scrub, two body moisturizers, argan oil and their famous caffeine eye cream. 

When I started looking into 100% Pure I was mainly trying to find healthier skincare products that could help my dry, acne-prone skin.  Against my better judgment I stuck too long with overly harsh products (booo Murad) and needed to switch to gentler products.  I figured less chemicals in my body was a positive thing and after all the aggressive acne treatments I needed to give my beat-up skin a break.

The first product I bought was the Jasmine Green Tea Facial Cleansing Foam because almost every ingredient listed was a flower, plant, grass or fruit. 

It came in a hygienic pump bottle with cap that dispensed a mildly foamy solution.  My first impression was surprise at how thin the product felt because I was used to the rich and thick foam of drugstore cleansers (a la Clean & Care, Neutrogena, etc).  After 2 pumps the product still felt watery in my hands and didn't bubble up too much on my face, either.  I kept opening my eyes in front of my bathroom mirror and sneaking peaks to make sure I could see bubbles on my face.  (Don't know why that was so important, haha...)

The overall smell was light and reminded me of plants, but I didn't really associate it with jasmine or green tea.  After lightly massaging around my face, the foam rinsed off easily and I didn't feel any lasting residue or smell.  Most importantly, my skin didn't feel stripped or tight!  

Side note: In the past, my face was left terribly dry from overuse of acne products and it would literally start flaking after cleansing if I didn't immediately moisturize.  Within minutes I would see the peeling edges of skin flakes on my nose, cheeks and around my mouth.  It wasn't that I didn't regularly exfoliate... my poor face was just horribly dry :(

However...
 

When I tried the cleanser again on a day I wore liquid foundation, I realized the drawback of its gentleness.  After cleansing I could see remaining make-up smudges on my cotton pad soaked with toner.  I suppose I could have massaged the foam around longer on my face for a better clean, but I'm really not that patient!  I think this product would be excellent for a morning wash or for the end of the day if you don't wear any foundation.  The packaging said it was supposed to be remove make-up but I definitely needed a separate make-up remover to get rid of everything on my face.  I tend to skip eye make-up so don't know how this cleanser would perform in that area, but my guess is not so great, either.

I ended up finishing 2 bottles of this product, mainly as part of my morning skincare routine, but have not repurchased since.  My acne didn't improve while I used this cleanser so I moved on in my search for something better to fight my troubled skin.  I feel like this product would be great for those that already have clear skin but that is, most unfortunately, not me.

Summary

• Packaging:     5/5 (hygienic, easy to control amount dispensed)
• Smell:             5/5 (light, disappears quickly)
• Performance: 3/5 (gentle, bad at make-up removal, no effect on acne)
• Value/Price:   3/5 ($21 is pricey esp with better/cheaper cleansers available)
• Recommend? Yes (for normal/dry, clear skin types without make-up on)
• Repurchase?  No (maybe one day when I am suddenly acne-free and have such beautiful skin that I never need to wear cover-up.. then YESS! :)