Review: Q+A Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Cleanser

I’m not going to lie, it takes a lot for me to get excited about a new cleanser, purely because I already have so many that I love and enjoy using. So when I started seeing the Q+A Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Cleanser pop up in routines and hauls on Instagram, it didn’t immediately grab me. But about a month ago I was in Priceline and saw that the brand had finally launched here and there were two products in particular that piqued my interest enough to pick them up; the Hydrating Cleanser and the Niacinamide Daily Toner.

I really like it when a brand launches with a small, tailored edit of products rather than a huge, exhaustive range. Q+A has a few cleansers on offer, a couple of toners, a handful of serums and a few facial oils. Each product is very helpfully packaged with a ‘Skincare Checklist’ which at a glance tells you the skin type it’s best suited to, which skin concerns it can help with and a little snippet about the product and how to use it. It’s not exactly a ground-breaking idea, but it’s certainly the first line of products that I’ve come across that really spells it out for the customer, and when you think about it, it was just a few years ago that ‘single-ingredient products’ (think The Ordinary and The Inky List) were all the rage and customers basically needed a chemistry degree to decipher a skincare routine out of what was on the shelf in front of them, it’s a nice change of pace.

• 

• 

What Makes It Special:
How do you know when an ingredient has well and truly gone mainstream? When Eva Longoria is sounding it out on the adverts for L’Oreal syllable by syllable. “Hi-Ya-Lur-On-Ick Acid”… or HA, as it is often referred to, is categorised as a hydrating ingredient, which it is. But I think it’s important to understand how it works. HA alone isn’t the miracle worker that the marketing world would lead you to believe, but it has the potential to be plumping, moisturising and collagen-stimulating when used correctly. So how do we do that? HA works best when applied under or with something ‘wet’ because it grabs the moisture and travels with it deeper into the skin. In essence, it helps ‘moisture’ to get further into the skin than it would otherwise get by itself. This is why it’s often used in skincare mists, water-based serums and light moisturisers. As well as HA, the Q+A Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Cleanser also contains Coco Betaine which is a gentle surfactant that helps to clean the skin, Glycerin which works to restore the skin’s balance and hydration, and Aloe Vera.

Why I Like It:
I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I liked this cleanser; the clear, thick jelly consistency is perfectly nice to use, it rinses completely clean with just warm water, it doesn’t irritate my sensitive eyes, and it even removes mascara and light base makeup. I wouldn’t reach for this to take off liquid liner or long-wear lipstick, but it’s nice to know that it works for the basics. But more than that, it leaves my skin feeling really soft and not at all dry or stripped even though it feels really clean. For me, it’s a perfectly lovely first cleanse for a ‘no to minimal makeup’ day.

What I Don’t Like About It:
Not much. It’s a nice product to use and I genuinely think in a ‘blind’ test I would guess that this was a more expensive product/from a higher-priced brand.

Application:
Apply a 10 cent piece size amount of the Q+A Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Cleanse to your fingertips and add a few drops of water. Rub together for a few seconds to thin out the gel consistency and then apply to your face in circular motions. Add water as required. Rinse clean with warm water and/or a facecloth. Can be used in the morning, and evening as a first and/or second cleanse.

Product Claims:
Uses gentle and smoothing cleansing agents which boost your skin’s moisturisation – agree

Ingredients:
Aqua (Water), Coco-Betaine, Glycerin, Propanediol, Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Gluconate, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice Powder, Caprylyl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Hydroxide, Cocamidopropyl Betaine.

Available From:
Priceline

Details:
125ml – $15

Repurchase:
Absolutely. It’s a great everyday cleanser, it leaves my skin feeling great, it has travel-friendly soft packaging, it’s inexpensive, it has no fragrance at all and it’s vegan. I’m struggling to think of someone who wouldn’t get along with this product. Any fans of The Ordinary’s Squalane Cleanser would probably enjoy this.