Are you familiar with konjac sponges? These are sponge-like, plant-based cleaning tools that originated in Korea and Japan. The konjac sponge has a soft, textured surface that gently cleanses and exfoliates the face.
I’ve never tried using a konjac sponge before because it wasn’t available locally until now. I’m not familiar with the Miine brand but I saw three variations of their konjac sponges at my local Watson’s: natural, green tea, and bamboo charcoal. I was about to grab green tea but I decided to go for the charcoal instead.
Out of the box, the konjac sponge literally looks like a lava rock or something. When it’s dry, the sponge is flat and airy.
You’re supposed to drench it in water for 2 to 3 minutes and when you do, the sponge expands to about double its size. It gets really squishy when it’s fully drenched and ready to use.
The sponge has a soft yet textured surface and it’s supposed to slough off dead skin cells gently. To use, just add a couple of drops of your favorite facial wash (I use La Roche-Posay purifying foaming gel for oily sensitive skin, so good!), give the sponge a squeeze or two and start scrubbing onto the face in a circular motion.
You really can’t overdo the whole scrubbing thing because the konjac sponge is so gentle on the skin. I concentrate mostly on the area under my chin because it’s prone to zits.
Using this for the first time, the sponge left a weird odor on my face. It’s like burned plastic or something. The odor was strong enough that I had to wash my face a couple of times to get it off. The hubs said my skin smelled like burnt toast. I suppose I should’ve rinsed the sponge several times before I used it for the first time.
Thankfully, after my subsequent tests, the sponge didn’t leave any off-putting odor on my skin.
I’ve been using this sponge for about two weeks and I kinda like it. I’m not totally in love with it for many reasons. First, it’s made from organic compounds so it’s prone to bacterial growth. You have to sterilize this using boiling water once a week.
Second, the sponge stays squishy. It doesn’t dry out in a day, not even a week! It’s always damp and I have to wash it thoroughly before I put it anywhere near my skin.
Third, it’s not travel-friendly. Since the cleansing sponge takes it sweet time drying up, you can’t travel with a still-wet sponge.
Fourth, you have to replace the sponge once a month. One sponge costs about PhP 130 +++ so it’s cheap but replacing this month after month, that adds up to the total cost. Imagine replacing a year’s worth of cleansing sponge. You’re spending PhP1,500+++ for a sponge when a single Clarisonic brush cost only PhP1,000.
That said, this is a great cleansing sponge for those with sensitive skin. I didn’t feel that the charcoal was making a difference on my skin per se but I like the idea that it’s sucking impurities off my face. I’m still on the fence on this one, what about you? Have you tried Konjac cleansing sponges? Did you like it?
