When I went to Japan last year, there were a few products I stocked up : sunscreens and oil cleansers mainly. When I think about those two categories, I think Japan. I have rarely been deceived by an oil cleanser or a sunscreen that came from Japan.

I have bought many products from Bioré, it's a brand that I like, even though I have to be careful about the ingredients as it's not always made for sensitive skin. I was thrilled to learn that it was going to be sold in French supermarkets. However I am quite sad that they only sell acne care products. I hope the success of the brand will make them expand their range though.

I had already heard about the Bioré Perfect Oil even before I went to Japan, it is budget-friendly favorite for many Japanese beauty lovers already and I wanted to try it for myself. Let's take a look at the claims:

"Bioré Cleansing Oil effectively dissolves and removes stubborn makeup, including waterproof mascara, while lifting away dirt and impurities. Unlike other cleansing oils, it leaves no greasy film on your face and maintains the skin's natural moisture balance. It does not emulsify upon contact with water, thus maintaining its optimal cleansing performance at all times. Just apply with dry or wet hands and rinse off with water for that clean and fresh feeling!" (From the Bioré Malaysian website)


So here we go for the review.

Ingredients

Mineral Oil, PEG-12 Laurate, Isododecane, Water, Isopropyl Palmitate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Polyglyceryl-2 Isostearate, Decyl Glucoside, Polysorbate 85, Glyceryl Oleate, Isostearic Acid, Isostrearyl Glyceryl Ether, Isostearyl Glyceryl Pentaerythrityl Ether, Myristyl Alcohol, Alcohol, Citric Acid, Phosphoric Acid, BHT, Fragrance, Tocopherol.

How to use

Just massage on dry or wet skin (even during shower) and rinse off. 

Using a cleansing oil on wet skin goes against everything I learnt. It just feels so wrong I could not do it, sorry. Why bother when it works on dry skin? Therefore I just used it as I normally would with any other cleansing oil: first massage on dry skin, then massage on wet skin and finally rince. On that note, it did emulsify when I added water, contrary to what the Bioré website said.

Packaging

Pretty standard plastic bottle. Like many Japanese product it comes with a cap over the pump so that you can travel with it. The bottle is 230 ml and it lasted me at least 4 months.

First impressions

The smell is supposed to be "fruity", to me it smells like apple mainly and maybe a little like grapes. It makes me a bit nostalgic of a perfume I had when I was a kid. Although it is not as that strong, the smell is definitely there.


Did I like it

It performed really well. It almost always got rid of mascara, and I am saying "almost" just because sometimes I'm lazy and I don't massage for long enough, knowing my second cleanser will get rid of the remaining mascara. I should also mention that I never use waterproof mascara, as I don't feel like
I need it (nor to keep the curl, nor to make it last longer, I usually don't have a problem with regular mascaras) and it is harder to take off, so it might not perform as well if you use heavy / waterproof makeup.

Personally, the lighter an oil cleanser is, the more likely it is to get into my eyes when I massage my eyelashes. This oil, although on the thinner side did not cause cloudy vision, and when it did, it did not sting my eyes. It did not turn thicker upon emulsifying which is something that I dislike with cleansing oils, and generally happens with cheaper cleansing oils according to my experience.
It also held its promise not to leave any greasy residue, but I still used a second cleanser.

Price: I bought it when I was living in Japan so it was pretty affordable, less than 10US$. On Amazon I can find it for 17€ but I'm pretty sure it would be cheaper on the US website of Amazon.

Note: 4.5, it's this close to be a Holy Grail but the smell is a bit cheap to me.

Would I repurchase: If I ever come across it at a decent price, or when I go back to Japan I would.