3W Clinic Rose Water Cleansing Foam Review

 

I'll be honest. 3W is that one Korean brand that I've always ignored simply because it looked like a local Filipino brand pretending it's Korean. Nothing wrong with Filipino brands, which is exactly why it's annoying that some local brands pretend they're foreign. For some reason, 3W doesn't seem Korean enough to me. I have no idea why.

Maybe because their packaging lacks polish? Or their brand comes off as outdated? You know how Korean brands always seem to have cutesy elements like pastel colors, animal mascots, and collaborations with makers of cartoon characters? 3W has none of those. 3W's colors are always dark and muted and... aged. There are some Korean brands that cater to more mature, more moneyed women, but their brand comes off as sophisticated and classy and fresh. 3W on the other hand, employs late 90s to early 2000s packaging styles down to font and image choices. 

Also, the price range makes you question if they're even legitimately Korean. Chinese and Filipino brands that pretend to be from Korea are generally cheap, with product prices ranging from P20 to P100. I've seen 3W products being sold in low end malls for below P100. Makes you really think if they're knockoffs or not.

There's a 3W product I've tried and loved - the Palgantong powder. It was all the rage in 2016 and I just had to get my hands on it. It's a good product. Makes the skin look perfect but only for 30 minutes. I'll probably do a separate review. So yeah, that's my first brush with the brand. I was impressed but I was also disappointed. Check out the packaging below. See what I mean? 

It took me 5 years before finally giving 3W another chance.

And if it wasn't for my limited Shopee Wallet balance, I would have ordered an Innisfree facial cleanser instead. I was P60 short! Lol

Guess how much 3W Clinic Cleansing Foams are?

I got mine for P100!

As cheap as Ponds and other drugstore brands!

So I wasn't exactly expecting stellar performance from this dubiously affordable, unconvincingly Korean cleansing foam. I was even expecting to get a pimple or two - because that's what Ponds and Nivea and similarly priced facial cleansers do to my face. But no. 3W clinic had to prove it's legitimately Korean through and through. 

I did not break out. Not a single pimple. No rash. No trace of irritation major or minor. My skin is as normal as it gets. 

Considering it smelled, looked, and felt like the usual Ponds cleansers, I was really expecting the worst. 

I checked the product labels and nothing seemed special. It says, "Voluptuous foam and hypoallergenic ingredients melt away impurities." I mean, when was the last time hypoallergenic was used to market skincare products? Right? Circa 2007. The era of St. Ives Apricot scrub and Maybelline mineral powder foundation!

The label at the back says nothing special either. Rose water... vitality... makeup leftover... skin wastes.

I checked the ingredients, and there I found what was special:

Rosa Hybrid Flower Extract

Lavender Flower Extract

Tiger Lily Extract

Freesia Extract

An entire garden of extracts and not a single stripping acid or exfoliant. Well, there's lauric acid, but that's super gentle and it's usually from coconut oil. No wonder my skin felt soft and smooth and calm and chill. 

Bottomline

It's now my favorite cleanser. I alternate it with Kojic acid + Grapeseed oil combo. When I don't feel like double cleansing with Kojic and oil, I just wash my face twice with 3W Clinic, which really doesn't make sense, but you know, it's relaxing just cleansing my face and not worrying about how many pimples I'd wake up to the next morning.

Four and a half stars out of five. I'm reserving the half star for when 3W Clinic finally hires a young graphic designer for their packaging.

WHERE TO BUY

Click here for the most reasonably priced entry on Shopee.