Review: Shu Uemura vs Fancl Cleansing Oil

Fancl Mild Cleansing Oil has been my favourite cleansing oil for many years. I have tried other brands' cleansing oil but none worked as well as the Fancl Mild Cleansing Oil, so I have been sticking to it for many years.

Recently, I noticed that my face has more oil clogs than usual. These look like bumps on the skin and I can feel it when cleansing my face. When I try to extract it (which is a bad thing to do), some substance will get squeezed out. My facialist at Fancl terms this the 'toothpaste' because it gets squeezed out similar to a toothpaste. After a round of questions, she said that the Mild Cleansing Oil might be causing the oil clogs but it is just a preliminary guess. So I thought I might just take the chance to try out the Shu Uemura High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil Advanced Formula. The Fancl Mild Cleansing Oil also recently upgraded to a new version so I thought maybe the new version didn't suit my skin. I will compare the two cleansing oils in this review.

I bought my Shu Uemura High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil Advanced Formula in Korea as it was cheaper there (also due to some sales at the duty free).

Back to my review, texture wise, the Fancl MCO is more thick/viscous and less oil-like, doesn't drip and flow down my hand while massaging away the makeup. The Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil however, is more similar in texture to cooking oil, so it is more runny. I personally prefer the thicker Fancl MCO texture as it feels less like oil on my face and has a cushiony feel while massaging. The Shu Uemura is more runny and oil-like in texture so I prefer the Fancl one more.

In terms of how well the cleansing oil emulsifies on contact with water, Fancl also does better as it melts away into a milky solution on contact with water and face feels clean, whereas for Shu Uemura, it feels like I still have something on my face after washing off and I feel like I must quickly use a cleanser to wash it off more thoroughly.

I also think that Fancl has more cleansing power than Shu Uemura, so my face feels cleaner after washing off. Upon testing with Clinique Clarifying Lotion, I sometimes find some yellowish stuff on the cotton pad, which is leftover dirt on my skin when using Shu Uemura but this doesn't occur with Fancl MCO (I use the same cleanser both times - Fancl Washing Powder).

I bought the 450ml Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil and it works out to be cheaper than Fancl MCO when per ml cost was calculated (surprisingly!).

All in all, I prefer Fancl Mild Cleansing Oil to the Shu Uemura High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil Advanced Formula, however as I am afraid that it might not suit me, I will be monitoring to see if there is any improvement with Shu Uemura and if anything happens when I switch back to Fancl.

Rate:
4.5/5 Fancl;
4/5 Shu Uemura