Mujiminimalism: Or, look how many times I can say ‘minimalist’ in one post

Have I ever mentioned that I’m really into minimalism? Because I am. However, like most braindead over-consumerist millennials, what I mean by ‘minimalism’ really is ‘minimalist packaging’. I have no plans on getting rid of all the clutter in my life!

Therefore, like every other Youtube minimalist, I like Muji. Ah, Muji! It’s like the antithesis to those English Garden-themed home decoration stores that all our mothers love. You know what store I’m talking about. The one with all the giant bears in the display window and which chokes you to death with the scent of lavender every time you happen to walk pass. Muji, on the other hand, is nothing like that. It’s utility-chic! It’s industrial! IT’S MINIMALIST!

English Garden stores = wearing Birkenstocks with sensible slacks.

Muji = wearing Birkenstock Arizonas with black skinny jeans rolled up at the bottom to go with the rest of your monochrome, Scandi-Chic clothing while loitering around in front of brick walls and running your hands through your effortlessly tousled bob and crying inside because you can’t wear a peacoat and ankle boots because of this damn weather.

Despite that fact, however, I’ve never really thought about buying anything from Muji’s beauty department. Maybe I have some sort of internal prejudice against getting your skincare from the same place you buy furniture. Anyway, like the true civil rights activist that I am, I decided to overcome this prejudice— rise above it— and thus I bought a bottle of Muji Oil-Free Liquid Cleansing.

What is a liquid cleansing? Hell if I know. I was originally reaching for the Muji Cleansing Oil— which I’ve heard great things about— but then I saw this bottle of liquid next to it. I’d recently run out of Bioderma, so I thought it would probably be more sensible of me to get another cleansing water since I tend to use them way more often than oils. So, thinking this was a cleansing water, I made the purchase.

I was proven wrong when I got home because this is not a cleansing water. It’s more a gel, with texture comparable to a serum or essence. I freaked, horrified that I might possibly have just purchased a regular facial wash which I definitely do not need. I’ll change up the first step of my double cleansing routine as often as I want but I never change the actual facial wash— it’s Sebamed Face & Body or death, baby. So off to Google I went and it only confused me more because there are literally no reviews about this thing anywhere on the internet. What is this thing???

Luckily I found this handy little chart of all Muji skincare products. Judging by the categorization, this is definitely a first step cleanser and not a second step facial wash. So we can safely conclude that Muji Oil-Free Liquid Cleansing is a cleansing gel, which is cool because that’s something I’ve never tried out before.

Unlike cleansing water, you can’t use a cotton pad with this. It’s a bit too thick, and you’ll end up using too much product since the cotton absorbs all of it. So I pour a generous amount onto my hands and massage it onto my face like a cleansing oil. You can try to be stingy and apply just a few drops like I did, but this stuff dries up the more you massage and if you use too little you’ll find yourself struggling and tugging on your face. Muji does sell a pump separately, so if you get that I think one pump should suffice.

After massaging, rinse with water. It leaves no residue at all. In fact, my first impression was that it left my skin feeling a little bit tight and dry. Having dry, dehydrated skin, this worried me at first since I don’t want to start getting flakes but it’s been a while since I’ve started using this and so far no real issues. Just slight discomfort after using it, but if you immediately follow up with the rest of your skincare routine and start loading on the serums and the creams, that dryness should dissipate.

Personally, I think this would work pretty well for someone with oilier skin! So often cleansing products leave a weird oily film which could be problematic for someone who  is acne-prone. This doesn’t. It doesn’t even have a fragrance (fragrance ain’t minimalist!).

I gotta say, though, is that it isn’t strong enough to remove super long-wear makeup. Most cleansing products aren’t. Obviously, it didn’t get my Kiss Me Heroine Make mascara off— but then nothing other than baby oil can, anyway. I also tried it on this uber-matte liquid lipstick that I was wearing and although this cleansing gel managed to visibly remove it, I could still feel some on my lips so I ran some makeup remover on it and found that, indeed yes there were still some traces of lipstick left.

So I’d recommend using this for removing skin makeup like foundation and concealer and also more easily-removed stuff like eyebrow pencil and eyeshadow. However, for the more ride-or-die aspects of your makeup, like waterproof eyeliners/mascaras and long-wear lipsticks, I’d recommend using a separate makeup remover. So basically you’ll have a three step cleansing routine— tres minimalist, no?

Do you endorse a 5000 step skincare routine, like I do? If yes, then purchase the Muji Oil-Free Liquid Cleansing for only RM33.90 at all Muji stores!