Kate Somerville Gentle Daily Wash Review, Photos

Kate Somerville Gentle Daily Wash

Quick & Clean with Kate Somerville

Kate Somerville Gentle Daily Wash ($32.00 for 4 oz.) is a no-frills cleanser for me. I really like it, because it just gets the job done quickly and effectively. I purchased mine several weeks ago via Gilt, when they had a Kate Somerville sale, so I bought the economy-sized 16 oz. bottle for $47 (regularly $95, from what I see on QVC).

Ingredients: Purified Water, Sodium Alpha Olefin (C14-16) Sulfonate, Cocomidopropyl Betaine, PEG/PPG-8/3 Diisostearate, Glycerin, Acrylates Copolymer, Silicone Quaternium-8, Quillaja Saponaria Bark Extract, Salvia Offincinalis (Sage) Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Zinc PCA, Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Chlorphenesin.

It’s a lightweight gel cleanser that has a light lather that smells a little like lavender and tropical fruit.  I have no idea why I always get tropics out of it.  Nobody else does, so I think my nose is engaging in some wishful thinking!  It cleans effectively and quickly; directions state to work into moistened skin for thirty seconds and then rinse.  There is no tight feeling left behind, and my skin doesn’t feel parched either.  I just feel clean and refreshed!

For me, it does all the cleansing that I need.  It gets rid of dirt and grime and any foundation/tinted moisturizer I’ve worn that day.  This won’t breakdown heavy eye/lip makeup, but in my experience, gentle cleansers rarely do as that is not what they’re designed for.  (I personally use something targeted for makeup to do a preliminary/makeup cleanse, and then follow-up with a gentler cleanser.)  I was surprised it removed my foundation so well, though, but the toner-test (take a cotton pad with toner and see if your cleanser missed any makeup) showed nothing was left behind.

At its regular retail price, it’s a rather pricey no-frills cleanser.  A little goes a long way, certainly, so I imagine this super size would get one through at least six months’, if not a year’s, worth of cleansing.  The jumbo size also features a pump system, while the normal, regularly available sized cleanser comes in a squeeze-tube. I think I’d actually like the squeeze-tube better, even if it is easier to manage a pump with damp hands.

I don’t need a full pump’s worth, so I usually do about a half pump, but this has resulted in excess cleanser getting stuck in the dispenser and hardening a bit from exposure to the air.  It’s easy to remove, but it’s a little annoying, too.  (It’s kind of like if you squeeze too much toothpaste out of the tube–it lingers until you remove, and it’s not difficult, but it’s a bit frustrating.)

I do really like this cleanser in conjunction with the Clarisonic, though.  It has just the right gel consistency and light lather that works well with the device!   I will probably switch to another cleanser soon so I can test-drive something else, but I definitely see myself keeping and returning to this one at some point.  If the boy doesn’t steal it and use it all up!

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• Product: 28/30
• Value: 7/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: If you have the dough, it’s a nice cleanser that feels gentle and does the job.  But it’s not exactly revolutionary, and as much as I like it, it’s quite costly, even relative to other high-end brands of skincare.

AVAILABILITY: Sephora