Image: Innisfree
Beauty buddies, brace yourself for an onslaught of mousse-anything, the latest fad to hit the aisles.
As dense as their delicious monicker suggests, mousses feel exactly like shaving foam, and are said to be the perfect consistency for delivering any number of targeted treatments deep into your skin. See if any of the following face savers pique your interest (and wallet!)
Want a gentle makeup remover for super-sensitive skin?
Try: La Prairie Advanced Marine Biology Foaming Mousse Cleanser, $102
Your complexion will crave this incredibly creamy concoction, made all the more covetable by its cool chrome casing (don’t sue us for being picky about packaging!)
Infused with a comforting coconut-derived emollient, I can attest to this ultra-gentle cleanser’s claim of melting away makeup and revving up the skin’s renewal process without rocking its natural pH balance.
This being La Prairie, expect the luxe little tube to be stuffed with the swishy Swiss brand’s signature Cellular Complex, a cocktail composed of ginseng and other beautifying botanicals for a super supple finish. (FWIW, a pal of mine swears by this poultice, and her face is “on fleek”, as the young’uns are wont to say these days.)
Want a gentle chemical peel effect?
Try: Lancome Mousse Eclat, $56
Say bonjour to your bounciest skin yet with another winner from this posh Parisian brand. Dispense a dollop onto your palm and this sumptuous salve goes from gel to foam in un, deux, trois – very magical indeed.
Fun factor aside, this cleanser does an ace job of clarifying my complexion, thanks to a fruity cocktail of skin-sloughing papaya and pineapple amino acids; home chefs will recognise said ingredients as being common meat “tenderisers”. Slap it on, swirl gently, then splash off for a smooth-as-chicken-thigh finish. Skin that’s good enough to eat!
Want to tighten and unclog enlarged pores?
Try: Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Mousse Cleanser, $17, from July 2015
Throwing a pore decongester into the mix, because hey, pore size appears to be a national obsession of ours. Innisfree’s intriguing new offering contains what the K-Beauty brand calls Jeju Volcanic Clusters, an “explosive” elixir of micro-fine clay particles that promise to work like a charcoal mask, sopping up sebum, sunscreen and the day’s debris in one soapy swoop.
Use this as you would any cleanser and with some luck, your skin should be feeling supremely soft, pleasingly plump and pore-free. Fending off the caresses of your #bae when you emerge from your boudoir may be an exercise in futility!
Want to brighten and exfoliate at the same time?
Try: Ioma White Revelation Brightening Cleansing Mousse, $68
Saving one of the best for last. From the fab French beauty brand best known for its high tech trickery comes this whitening wonder. Expect a summer blockbuster’s worth of skincare superheroes: Think vitamins A, B3, C, hyaluronic acid and pentavitin.
Best bit? This cleanser comes with the non-scratchy exfoliating beads plus edelweiss extract, the latter said to soothe stress-induced inflammation, forge collagen fibres and mitigate melanin production, the sum result of which is skin as beautifully milky as the mountainous blossom itself. Talk about flower power, eh.
Want more? Check out my curated collection of the best gentle face scrubs, all of which are perfect for papery fragile skin.