I have to say, lately I have definitely been changing my tune a little bit when it comes to cleansers. For several years now, I've avoided foaming cleansers because traditional North American foaming cleansers have always been really stripping on my skin and I never trusted them not to damage my moisture barrier. Recently, though, I've been drawn more and more to Asian cleansers, most of which tend to be foaming, and I've been seeing great results with them. Most recently, I picked up the Shiseido Senka Perfect Whip Foam Cleanser, which is a bit of a cult product as far as I can tell and is starting to pop up in local Walmart stores as they extend their selection of Asian beauty products. 

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About:

Gentle and refreshing foam cleanser removes dirt, oil and makeup without disturbing skin's natural moisture content. Lightweight foam is surprisingly heavy duty when it comes to lifting grime away, ready to be rinsed off for an immaculate clean that doesn't strip skin of needed oil and moisture.

I did a little bit of investigating before I picked this cleanser up and I was immediately intrigued. Not only is it one of the best selling cleansers in Japan, but the brand claims that the finer bubbles in the foam help to get more deeply into the pores and help to remove impurities, which I found really intriguing and wanted to test out for myself. It contains silk, which is said to have antioxidant properties, amino acids to help maintain your moisture barrier, and also help to hydrate and soften skin, and it also contains hyaluronic acid to help maintain hydration in the skin - though I'm not entirely convinced that HA is effective in a rinse off product. Either way, intriguing, right? 

The first thing that really struck me about this cleanser is the texture, which actually does remind me a lot of marshmallow cream when it comes out of the tube - it's very thick, a little bit goopy, and sticks to itself enough that it makes strings when you pull it. As you can see in the photo above, when I opened the cap it stretched out before breaking away and kind of hanging there rather than dripping. As you can imagine, based on this texture, a little bit really goes a long way with this cleanser and I'd say you don't need more than a pea sized amount to really effectively cleanse your face. In fact, I'd say that this is one product that you really don't want to use too much of or the foam will get out of control.

Now, when you look up marketing videos of this product, you'll see videos of women holding these giant handfuls of a very thick, dense white foam. Not gonna lie... the marketing adding to my intrigue, but thus far I have not managed to get that softball sized mound of foam. I like to foam this up using a cleansing net because it really does work to get the most density into the foam and I find that when I foam it up with my hands I don't get quite the density or volume that I personally want. And honestly, I really don't find that I need that massive mound of foam and I feel like I might actually find it overwhelming if I did because this foam is so dense that a little bit goes a long way. (And by a that I mean that a pea sized amount will yeild like ¾ cup of foam.)


The texture of this product once its foamed up is kind of dreamy. Like they promised, this foam is incredibly dense with lots of really tiny bubbles. It's really smooth and fluffy to the touch and working it into my skin feels really lovely. Because it's so dense, I do find that I have to be careful working it into the skin because it can meander a little bit and end up sneaking up my nose - which is very uncomfortable. But with that nose sneaking aside, using this is a really enjoyable experience. It doesn't feel stripping on the skin and it feels almost creamy as I massage it in to cleanse.  It has a light fragrance, vaguely floral and fresh in a way that's enjoyable when I think about it but not really something that jumps out at me otherwise.

I have found one kind of interesting thing when I use this and that's the difference between how it behaves when I splash with water to remove it versus when I remove it with a washcloth. When I splash with water, I find that my skin can get a little bit squeaky - literally, squeak squeak! - whereas when I remove it with a washcloth I find that doesn't happen. Afterwards, there is a slightly more tight feeling if I splash with water, whereas with the washcloth my skin ends up feeling hydrated and bouncy while still feeling like I effectively cleansed. Obviously, I would highly, highly recommend removing this with a washcloth. 

Overall, I have to say that this is probably the most unique formula I've personally ever tried in a cleanser - and one that has me questioning how much I've been missing out by avoiding foaming cleansers for the past several years, for the most part. My skin looks and feels really great since I've been testing it out and I haven't had any of the scary skin barrier issues that I had in the past that scared me off of foaming cleansers. All in all, this is a pretty solid win!

The Shiseido Senka Perfect Whip Foam Cleanser has been popping up locally in Walmart Canada locations recently and retails for $13.97!

Thanks for reading!