This post contains affiliate links. Product provided by Papa Recipe.
When I was in high school (which wasn’t that long ago, ok?? 2008 was NOT that long ago…), cleansers were a sad little bunch led by Clean & Clear, Neutrogena, and other “if it burns, it’s working” products. Now we have a plethora of choices for every need. Papa Recipe Eggplant Clearing Mild Cleansing Foam contains 36% eggplant extract to help with breakouts, calendula to soothe, and birch sap to moisturize. The cleansing foam is mildly acidic and gentle on the skin to protect the barrier function. It’s available on Amazon and Jolse.
How to use
Take a small amount into wet palms
Work into a lather
Gently massage over the face and neck
Rinse
Follow with the rest of your routine
I do not wash my face in the mornings, so for me this was an evening cleanser. I started with a cleansing oil or balm, then followed with Papa Recipe Eggplant Clearing Mild Cleansing Foam.
Papa Recipe advertises this as fragrance free, but the cleanser contains bergamot and rose oils, which can be irritating for sensitive skin. As far as an actual scent, I don’t notice any.
Papa Recipe isn’t the only brand that markets products as fragrance free and great for sensitive skin yet includes essential oils, but I wish this trend would stop. We can’t expect an average consumer to comb through the ingredients the way I do. If something is “fragrance free”, it should be essential oils free as well, especially if the motivation is to reduce the potential for a reaction. My own skin does fine with both fragrance and essential oils, so this rant isn’t based on a personal vendetta. I just don’t like misleading marketing statements.
My impressions
Why is nobody talking about this? Papa Recipe is mostly known for their great sheet masks, but they make fantastic skincare as well. I booked some paid work with the brand in early 2022 and received a lot of skincare to try (this review isn’t sponsored). I’ve been using a lot of the things they sent me, and if you are subscribed to my YouTube channel you’ve seen them pop up in my Empties and Faves videos.
The eggplant clearing foam is a gentle but very effective cleanser. I had two tubes of it and already finished the first one. As a content creator, I often offload extra skincare (especially duplicates) on my friends and family, but I’m keeping this one. I loved the soft foam and how clean my skin felt afterwards. Clean, but not dry or stripped.
I have combination skin with an oily t-zone and dry cheeks, so I want a cleanser that can remove dirt and excess sebum from my nose and forehead without causing flaking or tightness on the rest of the face. Papa Recipe eggplant did exactly that.
The packaging deserves a special note. While it has nothing to do with the efficacy of the contents, I love the juicy, vibrant purple colors of the entire eggplant line. They look fun and playful but not childish or cheap. It’s a nice pop of life on my mostly white and pale skincare shelf (a lot of brands seem to favor white tubes and tubs) and it was super fun to photograph.
Another win from Papa Recipe and I’m not surprised.
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Papa Recipe Eggplant Clearing Mild Cleansing Foam ingredients: Solanum Melongena (Eggplant) Fruit Extract(30%), Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Glycerin, Water, Coco-Betaine, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate, Sodium Chloride, 1,2-Hexanediol, Potassium Cocoate, Polyquaternium-67, Benzyl Glycol, Salvia Hispanica Seed Extract, Centella Asiatica Extract, Houttuynia Cordata Extract, Citric Acid, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Propanediol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Disodium EDTA, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Raspberry Ketone, Rosa Damascena Flower Oil, Betula Alba Juice, Sodium Acetate, Butylene Glycol, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Hydroxycinnamic Acid, Rutin