Pink and Undecided: belle madame

Clean-O-Matter 04 : Belle Madame Natural Cleansing Konjac Sponge

Hi y'all!

How is it weekend again already? I'm sure those of you who works on 9 to 5 jobs might disagree with me *LOL*, but seriously... Days are passing by in a blur nowadays! I just got back after spending Saturday night with my family at CW *with a little retail therapy thrown in, of course* and will celebrate A's belated birthday (her birthday was on March 25th) tomorrow... So, it should be fun! I hope y'all are having a great weekend as well! I have a little review for you today...

If you're a beauty junkie i'm pretty sure you've heard of konjac sponge before (i tried to find a definition of konjac sponge via google but couldn't find any, there's one of konjac, which i'm sure is the main ingredient to make the sponge, but not for the sponge itself. I found an article in a blog that explains in detail about konjac sponge here, in case you want to learn more about it). I heard about it quite some time before i actually went and try it myself (mainly because i wasn't sure where i can buy it and somehow i wasn't THAT interested to try to find it online).

The konjac sponge that i am about to review right now is actually our second konjac sponge. Our very first one was from Nicole's Natural which we randomly stumbled upon in Paris Van Java Mall while holidaying in Bandung (which blog post's actually one of the top entry in our blog of all time. So bizzare), hunny saw the sponge and was intrigued by it so we decided to buy it (even though it was pretty pricey for a sponge. Bought it around IDR 76.000? But i checked in their website and it's only IDR 55.000! Did they reduce the price or something???) and ended up LOVING it!

As the sponge's made from all natural ingredients, it naturally dissolves (you'll get to see pictures of the dissolving sponge latter, stay with me!) after around 4 month (much longer than the BA predicted. She said it's good for 40+ usage, while we used it everyday for about 4 months which more or less comes up to 240 times!) so we were frantically looking for a replacement (coz his skin loves it so much, we can't afford to go back to konjac sponge-less days!) and luckily we found this Belle Madame Natural Cleansing Konjac Sponge in Sasa, again while holidaying (in Taiwan).

Belle Madame Natural Cleansing Konjac Sponge (Round Shape) in white

We actually bought two more konjac sponges, this white one's mainly for hunny (because according to Joe who helped us translate, the white one's targeted for dry skin while the black one's for oily and acne prone skin).

I have no idea whatsoever where this brand's originates from and where it was made, but all of the actual writing's Japanese

Got it for NTD 59, which is around IDR 17.700 (the rate when i went to Taiwan)

Since our very first konjac sponge was from Nicole's Natural, i cannot help but compare everything to it :p. First up : Price wise. It's crazy cheap!!! Even with the price Nicole Natural post in their website (IDR 55.000), we can easily get 3 of these after adding just a bit more money. I was a bit skeptical for this reason, why is it so cheap? It must not be as good as Nicole's! But i was very wrong! They are actually almost identical *LOL*.

Freshly opened from the packaging

Size wise, it was a lot smaller than our Nicole Natural's (probably one of the reason why it was so cheap? LOL) but that could also be because we got it in different shapes. Our old Nicole Natural's konjac sponge (may she rest in pieces :p) was tear drop shaped, but apparently they also have ones that's in the same half ball shape as this one.

Since it is half ball shaped, the other side was flat

The dried, brand new sponge was really really small, but as soon as you soak it in water, it expanded twice its original size. Nicole's Natural sponge was packed in half soaked condition so it was a bit fascinating for me seeing the dried up state of this sponge :p.

There's just no way in hell i can describe the texture of a konjac sponge to someone who never touches it in their lives! It's super springy, gummy and yummy! LOL. And the feeling of rubbing it on my face... God, it's like... heaven! Super addicting that whenever i am using konjac sponge i would spend more than twice the time i usually do to wash my face, because i simply cannot stop rubbing it against my face, it feels so good! Am i weird? Please tell me i am not the only one! It's so soothing, but don't expect it to be completely 100% soft. Its porous surface actually creates a subtly scrubbing feeling, very soft unlike how a facial scrub/brush would feel like, and that's what's so addicting about it!

The feeling that this Belle Madame sponge gave me when i use it is exactly the same as Nicole Natural's, the only difference was the gripping comfort. Nicole Natural's tear drop shape's so much more grip-friendly than this small half ball, but other than that i see no other difference.

Here's a little description of this sponge that i found :

Belle Madame Konjac Washing Sponge (round-shape) is made of natural Konjac fiber and is especially for sensitive skin and skin with acne. It can keep 97% moisture and moisturize the skin. Its 3D design helps generate rich lather, deeply clean the make-up, dirt and impurities in pores in order to deter the appearance of acne and blackhead. Konjac can also smoothen the skin..
How to use : Clean it before use. Tap it into water and make it expand and softer. Then, massage over the skin in circular motion. Use water to clean it again after use and place it at the dry area.

Source : here (how crazy's the price there though?)

Konjac sponge can be used with and without additional facial cleanser, and that's how we always use it (because i'm severely OCD, and i feel like i'd be defeating the purpose of this sponge if i use facial cleansers with it). Hunny's been using konjac sponges to clean his face since June last year (Nicole's Natural and followed with this) without any additional facial cleanser and his skin's a lot suppler, moisturized and softer than ever! Once in a while he'd forget to use the sponge (because he puts it on top of the sink and whenever he wash his face in the shower he'd be too lazy to get it) and his skin would not be as healthy as whenever he's using the sponge alone!

As for me, i did used the Nicole's Natural sponge religiously for a few months but once i realized i couldn't find the replacement in Surabaya (UPDATE : Now i know where to find them, in Century drugstores!) i stopped using it (since my skin's good enough to deal with normal cleansers) so it can have a prolonged life for hunny to use. I also used this Belle Madame for a few weeks to test it out so i can review it properly and they have the same effect.

As in cleansing power, i always triple cleanse whenever i'm wearing even the tiniest amount of make up. I'd be using eye & lip remover, followed by oil/milk/water/balm cleanser then wash everything off with a facial cleanser-and sometimes even after all those steps, i'd still find traces of make up when i use toner on my face! When i was using konjac sponge, i also never use any additional facial cleanser, but i never found any traces of make up after! So the cleansing power's really good. The porous surface also makes the circular motion has a light exfoliating effect, hence the super soft, deeply cleaned result! I'd say they delivered everything they claimed to do!

All of the konjac sponges we've had have a thin string attached to them, supposedly for us to hang it after usage. But the BA in Nicole's Natural told us the best way to store a konjac sponge is in half-soaked condition, sealed in a zip-locked bag. And to keep it from ruining, refrain from wringing it, ever! To reduce the water in it, gently press it down instead. Very easy to maintain, and as long as you follow those rules your konjac sponge should last around 4 months like ours does.

I never took pictures of the Nicole Natural's konjac sponge in its glory because hunny immediately tore off the packaging and began using it before i could so... I just didn't feel like reviewing it without the proper pictures. But i did snap a few pictures of the disintegrating sponge before i chucked it in the bin!

Here's how a "dying" konjac sponge looks like, it will start tearing off and falling into bits. That's the sign for you to replace'em

I'm very highly recommending konjac sponge (both from Nicole's Natural and Belle Madame, whichever's easier for you to access) for everybody with any skin type and woes! It does wonder to my hunny's super dry and sensitive skin while working super well on my super oily skin as well (even though i'm using the variant that's not specifically targeted for my skin type). I'd say get the cheapest brand you can get (as long as it's real natural konjac sponge and not some dish washing sponge hahaha) because both brands that i tried works equally well despite their very different price ranges.

Will i repurchase? Hell yeah! The Belle Madame one's also disintegrating by now and we're using a new one that we bought in Century. It's good too, just not as cheap *LOL*. I truly regret that i totally forgot to find this sponge while we were in Hong Kong! Totally didn't cross my mind! ZZZ. Must stock it like crazy next time i bump into them.

Have you ever tried konjac sponges? Did you like it?