|REVIEW| Scary Exfoliator: Cure Natural Aqua Gel Review

I CRIED IN JOY

I bought into the Cure hype when I was looking for an exfoliator after my existing one was done. After spending late nights searching through the internet (that is how hardcore I was!), I decided on this Natural Aqua Gel by Cure which comes from Japan. When I read Japan, for a second I thought, "there was no way I could get this in Malaysia." Not until I saw a Facebook post by SaSa Malaysia to announce the availability of the gel in their stores! I shed the tears of joy and bought it the next day at SaSa Sunway Pyramid.

Cure Natural Aqua Gel (RM139 for 250ML)

LITERALLY SKIN ERASER

To avoid repeating my terrible experience with the Skinfood Rice Mask Wash Off, I did a patch test on my arm before I put it on my face. I almost fainted when I saw the results. I rubbed off so much residues I was thinking I had over exfoliated my hand! But the rational part of me was screaming this is impossible. It is impossible all those residues were my dead skin and I was proven right! Looking at the ingredient list (below), this aqua gel doesn't contain any acid (even the water is non-acidic). That eliminates the possibility of this being a chemical exfoliator.

(Skincarisma)

Water (activated hydrogen water, non-acidic and purified), glycerin, acrylates/C10-30, alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, dicocodimonium, chloride, steartrimonium bromide, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, gingko biloba extract, rosmarinus officinalis/rosemary leaf extract, butylene glycol.

LET'S GET PHYSICAL, PHYSICAL

Not a chemical exfoliator, then this must be a physical one. Turns out the answer was no! Upon examining its texture, the aqua gel is doesn't contain any granule. Instead, it is so runny it was difficult for me to capture the shot above before it ran all the way down the back of my hand. So what exactly did I buy? The best-selling exfoliator in Japan that is neither a chemical nor physical exfoliator? They even claim that one bottle is sold every 12 seconds!

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My face has that much dead skin??!

Note: I use the COSRX BHA Blackhead and AHA Whitehead Power Liquid on my face every night which are supposed to remove dead skin chemically.

NO SMELL, EASY TO SPREAD

I couldn't smell anything and that's great since it's supposed to be fragrance free. The semi-gel texture makes it easy to spread across the skin but at the same time, easy to overuse. One pump also gives me so much liquid it was enough to cover my face, my neck and even the back of my hands. So I only use half a pump each time. I normally use it before I use my Skinfood Rice Mask to give my face a thorough cleanse. Yes, instead of using it as an exfoliator, I made it my cleanser as it appears to work quite well in removing dirt! Here's my experiment that it actually rolls up dirt instead of exfoliate.

GLASS HAS DEAD SKIN TOO

My piece of glass is covered in dust after being in my drawer for some time. So instead of cleaning it with water, I used it for my Cure Natural Aqua Gel experiment.

A drop of it using just half a pump.

Look at all the 'dead skin'.

Testing it for the second time after washing the glass with water. No more 'dead skin' came out.

GAH THIS IS GROSS!

There is another theory around that says it does mildly exfoliate. The 'dead skin' that the gel creates with dirt will harden a little (this is true) and many think these are the actual granules, as in any normal physical exfoliator, for exfoliation. I'm not sure if that is how it actually works but the theory is quite believable. However to be honest, I think it's quite gross! All those dirts in the granules rubbing repeatedly on my skin? No thanks!

RM139 WASTED BUT NOT DISAPPOINTED

I've actually read reviews elsewhere about how it's not an actual exfoliator before I bought it. But I insisted on trying it out myself (part of it is for you!) so I'm not, in fact, disappointed. This also partly led to my discovery of the COSRX acids which are now my favourite chemical exfoliators! We have this idiom in Mandarin (塞翁失马，焉知非福) where it means, if you happen to lose something, don't worry, it may bring you something even better and that's what happened to me! :D

FEEL FREE TO SKIP IT

From all my words above, despite no disappointment, you can tell I'm not liking the Cure Natural Aqua Gel a lot. So I'm not going to recommend this. It is expensive at RM139 (just realised this is more expensive than my I'm From Ginseng Serum, which I thought was the most expensive product I own!) and it doesn't work as well as the much cheaper COSRX AHA and BHA Power Liquids! It can pass as a glass cleaner but who spends RM139 on an not-an-exfoliator exfoliator to use as a glass cleaner?! 

BEFORE YOU GO!

The exfoliator does leave my skin feeling tight and rubbery after using. I think that is caused by one of the ingredients instead of it being the effect of exfoliation. I've used a few exfoliator, both physical and chemical ones, and none of them feels like that! Which again makes me even more firmly believe that this is not an actual exfoliator. It is also a pain to wash it off because the 'granules' formed can get stuck in my hair. So do make sure to wear a hair clip or head band when using this Cure aqua gel to avoid the problem!

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In case you're still tempted to try out the Cure Natural Aqua Gel, get it here:

SaSa Malaysia outlets - RM139

By the way, if you happen to read this in Japan, this gel only sells for RM80+ when the exchange rate was about RM1 to JPY25. So it'd be much cheaper to buy it in Japan if you decided to give it a go!

Don't be shy, leave me a comment below to let me know if you tried it!

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This is not a sponsored post and I bought the product with my own money. Please consult the person selling you the product before buying. Get samples if you can!