I have never given much thought to cotton cosmetic pads—they all seem more or less the same to me, and I always just buy whatever they’ve got at the drugstore. But then the other day I was reading an article about how American cotton pads are vastly inferior to their Japanese and Korean counterparts, and more likely to leave behind residue on your face and clog pores, which is just gross. So I ordered these, from Amazon, and what’s amazing is that yes, they are much, much smoother, but more importantly, I don’t have to use nearly as much product, because it somehow doesn’t get all absorbed into the cotton, but sort of sits on top of it, if that makes sense. They’re pricier than what you’ll find at the drugstore, but the amount of money I’m going to save on this stuff is considerable, so I’m all in.
I get the Shiseido facial cotton squares from Nordstrom and will never go back to basic american ones again. They are $10ish for 165ct and worth every penny.
I knew it was to conserve your BR P50 before I clicked the link, Kim! There must be a lot of us in the club!
Eve Lom cleanser (or any cleanser. I switch between Eve lom and Cetaphil) and a dark soft face cloth. You won’t go back to cotton pads… also bonus that your next facialist will relark on how clean your skin is…… 😉 as happened to me recently. After the cleansing… time for some Drunk Elephant. But perhaps that’s another post entirely.
My sister brought me these pads from
Korea. I was skeptical, but it was amazing to use them.
FWIW I’ve been trying to reduce waste lately (it’s the hip thing to do nowadays) and I switched from cotton pads to reusable bamboo ones. They do the trick quite nicely and were very cheap from Amazon. I wash them in a zippered lingerie bag. They come out of the dryer a little rumpled (lord knows I’m not ironing these things) but all you have to do is stretch them back out again and they lie flat once more. Plus it’s one less thing to worry about replenishing. I use them for my BHA liquid from Paula’s Choice which is nothing short of life changing.
What a great idea! Thanks for the link.
Link or name, Rachel S? thx~
the specific ones I ordered don’t seem to be available anymore, but I’m sure Amazon has other options! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DVH2WSN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
I have some from Etsy that are made from scrap flannel fabric. They are a little bit wacky, but super easy to use and clean.
Never knew that about cotton pads. My guy farms and wears flannel shirts almost until they are threads. Now I will steal them away from him before he tosses – what a great way to recycle/re-use/reduce!!
I read this review in Nymag and hadn’t pulled the trigger…now I will. I also use P50 and think it’s worth every penny.
Ok, so here I am in SEoul and I didn’t know about this! Gotta read GOCA to keep up…
& please do a post on your experience w/ Biologique Recherche !
Who hasn’t experienced the trail of fiber clumps left behind by inferior facial cleansing pads? Yuck.
I splash my P50 into my hands before putting it on my face and then I waste none at all! (But I, too, was going to give the bamboo pads a try.)