Korean goodies: Etude House Real Art Cleansing Balm review

After severe disappointment that followed my purchase of Eve Lom cleansing balm I decided to return to my Korean cleansers and ordered Etude House Real Art Cleansing Balm. 

Upon the inspection of the packaging I noticed immediately that unfortunately the product contains mineral oil. But so does the Eve Lom one and costs about 5 times more. I'm not sensitive to mineral oil in any way, so I mind only as far as the price of the product is concerned. Mineral oil is one of the cheapest ingredients, so the price of the product  needs to reflect the value of its ingredients. In case of Eve lom it doesn't.

Etude House Real Art Cleansing Balm comes in a yellow plastic jar with a Mona Lisa image locked in a teardrop. Quite nice actually. There's also a small spatula to scoop out product if you believe your fingers will contaminate whatever is left in the jar.

The balm is a solid white substance that melts and turns into oil upon contact with the warmth of the skin. You need to massage your face and then rinse it with water at which point the oil turns white. The balm disappears from the skin without leaving it even a bit greasy.  It dissolves my face make up really well and breaks down my mascara, but it doesn't remove it completely. However, it's much easier to just wipe the remains of my mascara with a drop of any micellar solution that to try to dissolve eye make-up with eg. Bioderma alone.

I really like how supple and fresh my skin feels after cleansing with this balm. I haven't noticed any irritations or allergic reactions, but my skin isn't sensitive, so perhaps I'm not the one to voice any opiniopns in that matter.

I have oily skin so I usually try to double cleanse or use a toner afterwards, not because this balm leaves any impurities, but because I fear leaving an oil-based substance on my skin might lead to breakouts, although I have no reason to believe .

The balm has a strong citrusy scent, which I'm generally not a fan of, but in this case I somehow manage to associate it with freshness.

Generally speaking, if it wasn't for this unfortunate mineral oil, I would be head over heels in love with this balm. I like everything about from the packaging to the way it works. I didn't notice any negative results of using mineral oil on my face, and as I've said much higher-end brands also use it, but still I'd very much prefer not to see it among the ingredients.

 Disclaimer: I bought the product myself for my personal use and I am not affiliated with any company. I am not paid to do this review and everything I said here is my genuine opinion.