Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash - Not for dry skin
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free skin care · Thu Feb 15, 2007 11:22 pm

I went to Trader Joe's and decided to try the Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash.

The ingredients sounded good, and this is what it says on Vitacost web site:

Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash with Organic Tea Tree Oil & Awapuhi

A gentle cleansing solution that leaves your skin feeling clean and silky. This unique face wash contains all natural Tea Tree Oil, a natural antiseptic. Included also are extracts of Goldenseal, Hawaiian White Ginger (Awapuhi) and the essential oil of Swiss Chamomile (Matricaria). Mineral-rich Bladderwrack, harvested from the sea, nourishes the skin to leave it looking vibrantly healthy. Thoroughly Clean Face Wash ever so gently helps improve the texture, clarity and radiance of your skin.

Ingredients: Castile Soap, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, *Organic Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca Alternifloia), Extracts of Matricaria, Goldenseal, Awapuhi (Hawaiian White Ginger), Bladderwrack, Essential Oil of Palmarosa, Petitgrain, *Organic Lavandine Super & Peppermint Oil.

Since I always wanted to have a thoroughly clean face, I was so excited to try this face wash.

Some got in my eyes a little, and it stung! Also it dried out my skin too much. I already have a dry skin, so after using this a few times, I decided to stop. My skin started to look all dried up and needed extra moisturizing.

So I returned it to Trader Joe's and got my money back without a problem.

Conclusion:
I think it can still be good for someone with oily skin. But stay away if you have dry skin like me.

free skin care · Fri Feb 16, 2007 12:46 am

This definitely is a terrible thing to get in your eyes -- the tea tree oil is an irritant.

I have oily skin, and I, too, find it drying. I remedy that by adding honey.

It also helps to use a very, very little bit. Less than one pump full. A little goes a very long way.

free skin care · Fri Feb 16, 2007 2:21 am

Sidda wrote:

This definitely is a terrible thing to get in your eyes -- the tea tree oil is an irritant.

I have oily skin, and I, too, find it drying. I remedy that by adding honey.

It also helps to use a very, very little bit. Less than one pump full. A little goes a very long way.

That's very bad considering I have super dry skin!! Mad

free skin care · Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:31 am

hi,

this is actually my summer 'traveling with boyfriend all purpose cleanser,' and I love it--it is simple, effective, and all natural. I got my boyfriend to use it, since it is so cheap at TJs. I leave my expensive cleansers at home when we are traveling together and just use his... It can definitely be drying, since it has such a high concentration of tea tree oil and because it is castile soap-based--but it is gentle if you think of it as a clarifying cleanser.

I quite like it for NYC summers: humid, polluted, sweaty, and hot. But I would never use it in the wintertime--only when it is extremely humid and hot!

--avalange

free skin care · Fri Feb 16, 2007 7:06 am

This is my summer "oily skin" cleanser as well. I tried to use it a couple of weeks ago (middle of winter) and it really dried me out....it great in the summer though...and cheap.

free skin care · Fri Feb 16, 2007 8:53 am

thanks for the review. saves me from trying to out! Smile

i love trader joes stuff in general. esp the body ones!

free skin care · Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:33 am

I agree -- a humid summer wonder, for oilier skins.

free skin care · Fri Feb 16, 2007 11:06 am

Sidda - does TJ's make a gentle cleanser for dry mature skin? I'm doing to be in CA sometime in the next few months and was planning to stock up on TJ stuff to send home. Any further recommendations besides that nourishing shampoo?

free skin care · Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:17 pm

salli wrote:

Sidda - does TJ's make a gentle cleanser for dry mature skin? I'm doing to be in CA sometime in the next few months and was planning to stock up on TJ stuff to send home. Any further recommendations besides that nourishing shampoo?

Salli, I did not see any other face wash. My friend who works for TJs said that's the only one they got. Sad

You might like their sugar scrub. I got one before and liked it.

free skin care · Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:49 pm

Thanks. Just trying to build a list.

free skin care · Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:57 pm

This was the most drying cleanser I think I've EVER tried. I even tried to dilute it w/some jojoba oil & it was still too drying. It would probably be good for oily skinned gals though.

free skin care · Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:44 am

She's right, Salli. This is the only face cleanser, although the triple-milled soaps are delightful (lavender, rose, verbena and green tea). The ginger oatmeal bar soap smells delicious (it's in my lingerie drawer now) and is a good mild exfoliant, and there is a new shea butter bar I got but haven't tried. All for reasonable dough, of course.And these are quite natural, without SLS, just oils and fragrance.

I love the Purify grapefruit salt scrub, but I have oily acne-prone skin. The lavender sugar scrub is probably the most popular. Let's see, what else? Udderly Smooth you might like -- like Bag Balm, an amazing emoillient for drier skin. And the Nourish cConditioner we can't keep on the shelf. I know I'm forgetting a prize, but it's 11:30 and I just got home from there, so I'm a little cross-eyed. I'll look tomorrow and see if there are any more Highly Recommends in the HABA (Health and Beauty Aids) section for you.

free skin care · Sat Feb 17, 2007 4:49 am

Sidda wrote:

She's right, Salli. This is the only face cleanser, although the triple-milled soaps are delightful (lavender, rose, verbena and green tea). The ginger oatmeal bar soap smells delicious (it's in my lingerie drawer now) and is a good mild exfoliant, and there is a new shea butter bar I got but haven't tried. All for reasonable dough, of course.And these are quite natural, without SLS, just oils and fragrance.

I love the Purify grapefruit salt scrub, but I have oily acne-prone skin. The lavender sugar scrub is probably the most popular. Let's see, what else? Udderly Smooth you might like -- like Bag Balm, an amazing emoillient for drier skin. And the Nourish cConditioner we can't keep on the shelf. I know I'm forgetting a prize, but it's 11:30 and I just got home from there, so I'm a little cross-eyed. I'll look tomorrow and see if there are any more Highly Recommends in the HABA (Health and Beauty Aids) section for you.

I love the lavender scrub too (my family sent me two tubs of it to use here in France, lucky me!) but the grapefruit scrub, unfortunately is NOT all natural, as it claims. It definitely has synthetic fragrances added to it, becuase I not only developed a skin reaction to it when I used it (itchy bumps on my body), I also started sneezing furiously until I took another shower and washed the scent of the oil off my body! I am notoriously sensitive to artificial fragrances, but that one was really bad. FYI!

--avalange

free skin care · Sat Feb 17, 2007 9:05 am

When I had very oily skin and terrible break outs, this cleanser was gift, it was my HG cleanser for a couple of years.

I guess it must have been pretty powerful to have had such an effect, where so many things failed for me.

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 7:07 am

The packaging dispenses too much product so that you go through it much faster than is necessary.
It was very drying, and it made me break out. I gave it about a month before throwing it into the trash!

Boo!

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 12:40 pm

I've been using this cleanser exclusively for about 13-14 months now (if not longer). I do have oily, acne-prone skin, and I LOVE this stuff.

It is true, however, that you need VERY LITTLE of this cleanser to wash your face well. I bought my 960ml bottle approximately 13-14 months ago, I use it 2xday (AM and PM), and I still have almost half of it. I probably used a bit over 500ml over the last year and a bit.

It does sting if you get it in your eyes, but I do wash my eyes with it and I rarely get any of the soap into my eyes.

Overall, I love this cleanser and will repurchase when I'm done with this bottle.

free skin care · Sun Dec 05, 2010 11:17 am

Dragging up an old thread, but just adding my thoughts as I bought this cleanser recently.

Used it once, and it is possibly the worst thing that has ever come in contact with my face. I don't have dry skin (tend towards oily), but felt like it was stripping my face bare. OK, I thought maybe I'm having a bad skin day, wait a few days and try it again. Which I did, against my better judgment... and it still felt as if it was destroying my skin.

Not sure what it is that my normally tough skin hates about this cleanser, but i suspect it has a very high alkaline pH (though I haven't tested it). I've bought other products from this brand and liked them - but just oils, I think.

Anyway, was going to toss it, but thought for a while if I could find a use for it. And... I'm now using it to clean dishes/pans in the kitchen. It's quite effective for cleaning greasy frypans...

free skin care · Sat Aug 20, 2011 10:00 am

Better I have not try this. I think it can use for sensitive skin. I have consider to buy it before I try Eminence.
Thanks for your sharing!

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