Review: REN Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser

The REN Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser is one I’ve been wanting to try for the longest time. Ever since they launched it a few years ago in fact.

REN Skincare is one brand I used to love using, but I will admit that its fascination has palled somewhat for me in recent times. When I was first introduced to it over 10 years ago, it was fresh, exciting and I loved everything I tried. It had passion behind it.

I have noticed that over the years, and especially since it’s been bought over by Unilever, It has become a little unpredictable. Time was that I would love everything that they put out, because it just made sense. But I have to confess that their recent offerings have been rather bland, unexciting, and unfortunately for me, uninspiring.

Which brings me to the Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser.

Ren Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser

I’d been taken by this product for the longest time, but what with one thing and another, I never got round to trying it. So, when I recently finished a first cleanse product that I loved, I made it a point to break out the REN Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser. It had a similar concept to the one I had just enjoyed using, and I wanted to see if it was as good, if not better! (It would have been kinder on the wallet that’s for sure!)

What the REN Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser is, is what they call a triphase cleanser. The product comes in the tube as a jelly texture, which transforms into an oil, and then a milk. REN says that it offers a deep clean of your skin, without stripping it of moisture, and melts and cleans away pollution, oil and dirt.

Their key ingredients for this product are sunflower seed oil to protect skin against dryness, meadowfoam seed oil to replenish skin barrier with Omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids, and grape seed oil, which is known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Thick jelly texture that melts into an oil

The product squeezes out the tube a thick, opaque jelly that holds its shape. It has a very thick texture when going on the skin.

When you spread it, and you do have to massage it into your dry skin, it softens into a clear oil texture. Not drippy by any means, so it makes for an easier and less messy travel partner.

I found that it takes a while to really soften on the skin, which, if you aren’t careful, might lead you to excessive rubbing of your skin. If you have skin that is sensitive to being rubbed, this might not be the best product for you, as it just takes too long to transform into a melty oil.

How I use the REN Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser

I use this as I do all balm/oil/gel/jelly type cleansers, which I use as a first cleanse.

• I start with dry hands and dry face. Always start with dry hands and face, because most of these sort of products are activated with water.
• Massage it all over your face, making sure you really rub it in, so it can properly clean all the nooks and crannies of your skin. At this point, it transforms into an oil.
• Wet your hands and pat on your face, and massage again. At this point, upon activation with water, the product emulsifies and turns into a milk. Do not be hasty and try to rinse at this point. You will find that it isn’t clean.
• Repeat wetting your hands, and massaging over your skin until the water begins to run clear. Then, rinse.

If you do it this way, with any type of balm/oil/gel/jelly first cleansers, you will find that your skin will be clean and clear and properly cleansed.

However, with the REN Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser I ran into a little snag.

Skin doesn’t feel as clean as other types of oil cleansers

I found it leaves a residue.

No matter how slowly I rinsed my skin, and how much I emulsified the product, I found that my skin felt like there was a balmy residue on it. It was rather disconcerting.

I can get around it by cleaning it off with a face cloth (which incidentally, is another neat and cheap trick for good skin) but when I’m feeling lazy, or forget to bring a fresh piece of cloth into the bathroom, it rubs me the wrong way.

I must say that I noticed this primarily because I was using the Chanel Sublimage Gel to Oil Cleanser just before this, and I loved that one. It had the same concept in that it started out as a gel and became an oil on skin, before emulsifying to a milk. With the Sublimage Gel to Oil cleanser, I was left always, with smooth, clean, fresh skin.

With this REN Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser, my skin just felt a little ‘dirty’ after, which saddened me. I was hoping that this would be a more affordable option.

In the evening, when I do a double-cleanse and follow up with a second cleanser, it doesn’t feel as bad. The second cleanser takes care of this ‘residue’. But I usually cleanse once to remove sweat, oil, pollution and sunscreen after my morning outdoor exertions, and this doesn’t quite feel as comfortable being a single cleanse.

Cleans light makeup and sunscreen well

If you can get over that odd feeling of residue on your skin when using it as a single cleanse, I must say that it is effective at cleaning off sunscreen, sweat and oil as promised. I don’t know about pollution, because how does one measure that anyway 😛

I use a tinted sunscreen so it is quite obvious if it isn’t properly cleaned off, and this REN Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser gets rid of it all. And all the icky sweat and oil too.

I have also worn light makeup in the time I was using this cleanser, and it removes it all as well without too much trouble. I do think that if you were to be wearing very heavy makeup, it might not take it all off as easily. But for light, daily makeup, it is quite good at taking it off, without stripping the skin.

Skin does not feel dry and stripped

What I did like was that it cleans the skin without stripping. That has been my beef with cleansing oils in the past, which is why I no longer use cleansing oils. Cleansing balms and these new gel to oil formula do tend to be more gentle on the skin, and does not irritate the skin barrier as much as the oils do.

There is a light scent, which isn’t unpleasant.

All in all, I find the REN Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser rather underwhelming. Perhaps I had high expectations, since it was coming on the coattails of one of the best gel to oil cleansers I’d ever used. Perhaps it was nostalgia for the brand and my memory of how much I used to enjoy it before it was swallowed by a giant conglomerate. Perhaps, it just isn’t that great of a product 😛

Close, but no cigar.

IN A NUTSHELL

The REN Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser is a cleanser that starts out as a thick, opaque jelly that turns into an oil on skin, and then a milk as you emulsify it with water. It cleans off sunscreen and light makeup well, and does not strip the skin nor leave it feeling dry. However, I do find that it is very hard (and nearly impossible) to feel very clean after using it. My skin still feels like there’s some residue on it. If you’re using it as a first cleanse, followed by a second cleanser, then this shouldn’t bug you. But if you’re using it as a single cleanse, then I don’t recommend this. There are other options available that are better, in my view.

PROS:
Removes light makeup and sunscreen, dirt and sweat well
Not messy and easy to use
Does not strip the skin

CONS:
Leaves a residue on skin
A little hard to clean off properly

WHO WILL LIKE THIS: Anyone who enjoys a balm cleanser texture

PRICE: RM129 | £28| US$37 for 100ml

WHERE TO BUY: Ken’s Apothecary stores, Sephora, Cult Beauty, Lookfantastic, SpaceNK

For those interested, here is the ingredients list for the REN Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser.

Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Aqua (Water), Sucrose Laurate, Limnanthes Alba Seed Oil, Parfum* (Fragrance), Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil Unsaponifiables, Sucrose Stearate, Sucrose Palmitate, Limonene, Linalool * 100% Natural Fragrance – Parfum 100% Naturel

Have you used the REN Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser? Do you have a favourite balm type cleanser?

I must say that my experience with this has left me missing the Chanel Sublimage Gel to Oil Cleanser 😛 I think I’ll have to get a tube once I’m done with this one. Oh, and I will be done! It’s my new goal to actually finish up skincare products, even those I’m not crazy about 😛

Paris B