Review: Olivarrier Emollient Cleansing Bar

Olivarrier are a relatively new company that caught my eye on Instagram with their chic and informative packaging. They very kindly sent me a range of 6 products, which I was so excited to try out (these products were provided free of charge, but all opinions expressed here are my own- see my disclaimer tab for more). I wanted to test the products properly, and decided to start with the cleansing bar- here are my thoughts.

First, the lowdown on Olivarrier

Olivarrier are a new little sister (or brother) brand of Lady & Skin. The stand-out aspect which really appeals to me is their focus on safety of ingredients. They go for essentialism, and eliminating non essential ingredients such as chemical preservatives, coloring agents, fragrances and 26 selected allergenic components by EU and Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Their products are also based on repairing and maintaining the skin’s natural moisture barrier, which is so important for healthy, glowy skin.

The packaging is gorgeous with great detail for shoppers, and this is initially what attracted me!

The Emollient Cleansing Bar- what is it and how do I use it?

So firstly, THIS IS NOT A SOAP. It’s actually a soap-free cleansing bar, so don’t turn away cringing at the idea of stripping your skin with a soap cleanser- not what this is! 

“Using soap berry extracts that have natural cleansing ingredients, the occurrence of soft and natural micro-bubbles removes the skin waste from the pores gently”

I’ve used this cleansing bar twice a day for the past week, as a single cleanser in the morning, and a second cleanser at night. I’ve been lathering the bar in my hands, applying to my wet face with my hands, cleansing my face with a cleansing brush, and then rinsing. 

Packaging

It’s a firm bar in plastic packaging. Once it’s removed from the plastic, it’s just like a round bar of soap. This has been ok for using, because I’ve been lathering it in my hands, which I don’t mind doing. However I’m not so keen on the bar form for storing. I have to keep it on a soap dish, which I’m not fond of because of the dampness that always seems to linger under soap on dishes. If it was in stick form, it would be easier for storage and also travelling. The bar form does however make it very easy to grab and go at the sink. 

Ingredients

Triticum Vulgare Wheat Starch, Aqua, Squalane (Olive squalane), Olive Butter, Sodium Hyaluronate, Panthenol, Sapindus Marginatus (Soapberry extract), Madecassoside, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Allantoin, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Aloe Extract

As I’ve said, Olivarrier emphasize the safety of their ingredients. They partly base this off EWG ratings- EWG are an organisation that help inform consumers about the safety of ingredients in household products. They rate ingredients and products in relation to how they’re used, and data available (1 least hazardous, 10 the most).

You can see that all of the ingredients in this cleansing bar are rated 1-2, which whilst it doesn’t mean that they will work for you and your skin, we can at least believe in the basic safety of applying them to our faces. This is something I’m becoming more concerned with with skincare, and I really appreciate this aspect of Olivarrier’s products. 

The ingredients themselves contain lots of emollients and moisturisers, as well as antioxidants. There are a number of potential comedogenics, but they don’t concern me as much in cleansers as opposed to creams (don’t reaaally know if that’s the right mindset or not?!). As I write with every product, being aware of your skin’s triggers can help you choose a product which is suitable for your skin.

Olivarrier products also contain no chemical preservatives (EDIT October 2017: after learning a lot more about preservatives, I actually prefer chemical preservatives for keeping my products fresh and safe. However it’s a personal choice), coloring agents, fragrance, or composed surfactants. 

Scent

With no artificial fragrance, the bar has basically no scent. Just a very light natural smell. This will be appealing to many people I’m sure!

pH

As is stated on the packaging, it has pH 5.5 which is mildly acidic. We are all most likely aware by now that a mildy acidic cleanser is important to maintain healthy skin, and this delivers on that front! I tested it with pH strips myself, and it did show up between 5 and 6.

Texture and Application

The bar feels very soft when I lather it between my hands- it produces a wash of gentle bubbles. 

When I massage it onto my face, it feels ah-mazing. So moisturising and soft. I’m usually a wash and go, quick as possible, kinda cleansing girl. However, with this cleansing bar I’ve actually been indulging in longer luxurious cleanses, because it feels so damn great! I’d say it feels more moisturising than both my Belif and Su:m37 stick cleansers, which I recently compared in another post.

I then further massage it on my face with my new Hello Kitty cleansing brush, before rinsing it off with warm water.

After feeling and after thoughts

My face feels lovely and smooth after using the cleansing bar, with no tightness at all. I haven’t been relying on it to remove all of my makeup, as I use a cleansing balm first for this purpose. I’ve been using it to remove all the residue and left over waste after my first cleanse, and I’m happy to say that it leaves my skin with a clean but healthy feeling, rather than clean and stripped. Overall I’m very happy with the cleansing bar. 

The bar form is the only slight downside for me, because of travel difficulties, but other than that, I think this cleanser is fabulous! (EDIT October 2017: the bar form was actually the downfall for me in the end. The product became kinda gross in my tiny wet-room bathroom and I think it would be better in a larger, more dry environment. I have this problem with all bar products in my horrible bathroom).

The ingredients I believe are safe and effective, I’m impressed with the brand ideas, it has low pH, it lathers well, it leaves my skin feeling smooth and soft with no stripping, and it provides a thoroughly enjoyable cleansing experience. The price point is also reasonable, at 12,000 Korean Won here in Korea (available online or at Official Holiday store on Garosu-gil) or $9.72 online for one bar.

This was a great first test of an Olivarrier product, and I’m feeling quietly confident that I’m really going to enjoy the rest of the line I have waiting to test. Keep an eye out for those reviews too!