The content in this blog post is based on authentic and genuine personal experience and it is written with full honesty. The items mentioned in this blog post are sponsored and this review is monetarily compensated. As usual, all of my reviews, verdicts and opinions are truthful and will not be influenced by the sponsors/collaborators.
This blog post will start with a product and brand introduction with a first-look review, then it will end with the final verdict.
JUNOCO
Mira Torres and Kyle Jiang co-founded JUNOCO (Juno & Co). with the great success of their Moonshine Miracle Primer Cream, which sold about 200,000 units in the September 2019 launch. The brand since then had a lot of great fun on Tiktok such as the Spongebob Squarepants trend which boosted the popularity of their makeup sponge. (source: Glossy) Due to the rise in popularity, the brand’s cleansing balm had also generated a waiting list with 50,000 shoppers waiting to purchase a unit (source :Byrdie).
The brand spent a lot of time with verified labs located in Japan, Korea, and Los Angeles to find the formulas that best fit their requirements, i.e.: effective, innovative, and simplified. Tapping into the luxury range of skincare with transparency, interesting concepts, and accessible price point (source: Forbes). The brand insists to have no parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals, sulfates artificial fragrances, colors or preservatives, silicones mineral oil, phenoxyethanol, or EDTA
Clean 10 Cleansing Balm
85g (3 oz)  |  All skin type  |  RM67
Hover the mouse over an ingredient for short explanation. Read more on INCIDecoder.
More on:
(Double cleansing helps to fully remove all evidence of dirt, grime, and product residue that was missed during the initial cleanse. It also creates a blank surface that allows your serums and treatments to work more efficiently.)
- With clean hands, use the included spatula to scoop a generous amount of balm onto your hand.
- Warm up the balm with dry fingertips until it transforms into a silky, smooth oil.
- Gently massage the product into the skin with gentle circular motions. Rinse with lukewarm water or wipe off using a warm, damp washcloth.
- Follow with our Clarifying Cleansing Powder[c] for the ultimate double cleanse. Follow with your favorite serums, moisturizer, and SPF.
Remember to perform a patch test before using any new product by applying it to a small area of your face. Wait after 24 hours to continue usage. This product is for external use only.
For eye makeup removal, please only apply the product to a closed eye. Discontinue use if redness or irritation occurs. Avoid direct contact with the eye. If contact occurs, rinse thoroughly with water. Keep out of reach of children. Keep the unused product dry and do not let water seep into it.
Review
Packaging:
The packaging designs are very simple and straight to the point. The paper box is made with some laminating finishing and it has all of the fundamental information on it. The tub itself is lightweight and has a removable seal to keep the products fresh. It comes with a standard small-sized spatula for hygiene purposes when you are using the product.
Scent/Smell:
The content smells very fragrant with an orange scent, it smells fresh, tangy, and sweet. Not really synthetic or overwhelming. When applied to the face, it doesn’t feel like the smell went all up my nose. It was overall alright for me.
Triggers – Sensitivity/Eczema:Â
None
The texture of this product is very peculiar. It is unlike all of the other cleansing balms that I had ever used. When you open the seal, it can be seen in a chunky-waxy state, the structure is holding up well. However, a brief moment later, the texture turned into a goopy state and can jiggle around when you shake it. When you pick it up with the spatula, it’s half structured and half gooey. It looks thick but when you actually touch it, it’s light and can easily glide through.Â
When the product touches the makeup on my skin, it immediately melts the makeup. However, for products that are waterproof, it would be best to (gently) rub it in longer in order to get the cleansing balm into the makeup. I tested it for a few days and found that it’s actually really easy to use as it doesn’t take very long to melt off all of the makeup.
Below, I put some really tough and staining makeup onto my hand for about half an hour to allow the makeup to settle into my skin. From left to right, I have mascara, eyeliner, lipstick, and eyelash glue. These were meant to be durable and last for a long while on the skin. The third picture is when I wipe it off once with a tissue, this is without rubbing the cleansing balm into the makeup. You can see that it removed a good amount of makeup on the back of my hand. The fourth photo is after I rubbed the cleansing balm gently and washed off the product.
I am surprised that it managed to remove all of the mascara, eyeliner, and lipstick really well. Unfortunately, the lash glue remained on the skin almost untouched by the cleansing balm. This means that if you need to remove eyelash glue, you will need to have an additional step by using eye makeup remover. This can be skipped for people who don’t wear false lashes.
After washing off, my skin doesn’t feel dry at all. It feels the same as before I put any products onto my face when it was bare and clean. There wasn’t any tingling or irritation, so far my eczema wasn’t triggered. If you get it into your eyes, you would only experience blurry visions. I am surprised that my eyes weren’t irritated or felt any discomfort other than blurry visions. The blurry vision can be solved by rinsing with more water and/or using cleansing foam to wash off. This is a common thing with cleansing balms as they are oil-based removers.Â
Going back to the ingredients, reading from the ingredient analyzers, this product does not have paraben or preservatives, so you may want to try your best to avoid this product from getting moldy or bacteria built up. It would benefit someone who uses cleansing balm every day as you will use up the product faster than those who seldom do makeup. This observation was gathered from some reviews that I read online.Â
You can also use the Cleansing Cookie that JUNOCO offers, which can also be purchased in bundle sets.
Cleansing Cookie
Reusable cleansing pad | Cotton material  |  RM36
No irritation, less waste, sustainable, easily washed. It comes in two colours: white and blue.
- Wet cleansing cookie liberally with warm water.
- Apply a scoop of our Clean 10 Cleansing Balm to clean your hands to melt the balm, then emulsify on your face.
- Working in sections, gently massage the makeup remover pad onto your skin in small circular motions.
- Repeat until all makeup residue is gone.
- Follow with your favorite facial cleanser
- Eye makeup – gentle around the eyes
- Keep dry when not in use
- Wash the pad 1-2 times a week for best results. Machine wash hot, and dry as the same as a towel.
Review
This reusable cotton has a very fine and soft texture when dry. Even when it has been wet with water, the texture was unreal – it was very, very soft. No matter how hard I tried to rub it on my body, my face, and even my eyes, it just doesn’t drag my skin the way a regular towel would. There wasn’t any resistance or roughness when rubbing on the skin. With this information, you can safely use it around tender areas like the eye area. However, if you have severe medical skin issues, please do test it softly first.Â
It is very light, quite fluffy, and can be brought along for traveling without putting on too much weight into the luggage. Maintaining the cotton pad is very easy too since you can put it into the washing machine for machine wash. Since it is made with cotton, it is sustainable and great for the environment as well.
Below, I tested the cleanser with the Cleansing Cookie and the makeup was lifted with one swipe of the makeup cookie. It definitely helped with the cleansing process. Of course, it was just one wipe, so there is still some makeup on my skin. A few more rubs would help with removing the remaining makeup.Â
Verdict
It was a pretty pleasant experience to test this TikTok famous product. I also did a further demonstration below to show you how well it cleans on my face- well, specifically around my eyes. I think the photos can further support my reviews of these products. Just a bit more on the context, I used to bother the cleansing balm and the cleansing cookie for this demonstration. I also had eyebrow pencil, extremely-durable mascara, blush, and foundation around this area. (I also had lipstick which is unseen from the pictures). In the pictures, you can see that my expressions weren’t bothered at all by the makeup remover. The end result is also pretty clean, which is quite evident.
Below demonstrates the cleansing cookie after rubbing it (hard) on my face to get the makeup off. I only needed to use one side to get the area clean. The other side of the cleansing cookie was used for my lip area which wiped off the foundation and lipstick.Â
“The stains!!!!!” -is also my concern. It was surprising for me that the stains were easily washed off as you will need to wash the cleansing balm away from the cotton pad. There could still be some stains left and you could use mild dish soap to wash them off easily. Below demonstrates the puff immediately after washing off the cleansing balm and gently scrubbed with some dish soap. Pretty clean isn’t it! I would need to add that any makeup products with tiny fibers (read: fiber mascaras, tattoo-like eyeliner) may leave residues on the cotton pad if not washed immediately/properly. The cotton pad will catch some of that.
Another bonus is that this reusable cotton pad returns to its original shape immediately even in contact with water. I can squish it however I want and it will still bounce back to normal. The fibers also dry relatively fast as well. I can also fling it around (hard) and it still wouldn’t sag.Â
Furthermore, the brand mentioned on their FAQ page that their company is in Canada. It was noted that the products were made and shipped from China for my parcel. I am guessing that they made it easier with a hub (or a logistic partner) in China to ship around the ASEAN region rather than stock all of their products just in Canada itself. This helps to lessen the logistic cost and issues for the brand too. This is also probably why some of the products couldn’t be shipped internationally. With reviews from websites like Forbes, Glossy, and Byrdie, I think it helped me to have some confidence in these products and brands.
The products are fun to use and I would add this to the list of cleansing balms to try when I give suggestions to other people. Personally, I wouldn’t repurchase it since I don’t use makeup very often lately, which keep this product for a long, long period would not be beneficial to me as there aren’t any preservatives in it. As I had mentioned earlier, this works wonders for people who use makeup very often so there wasn’t enough time for it to turn moldy or have bacterial growth. I guess that’s the cons of not having preservatives. If you prefer to have no preservatives in your products, this is probably the best cleansing balm you could ever find in the market.
If you wish to try both products, you can also purchase the bundle sets which can save you more money when purchasing. Here is the price comparison for your reference:
- Clean 10 Cleansing Balm: RM67
- Cleansing Cookie: RM36
- Cleansing Cookie Duo: RM64 (N.P.: RM72)
- 2 Clean For You Kit (2 balms): RM120 (N.P.: RM134)
- Come Clean (2 balms 1 pad): RM152
- The Ultimate Cleanse (balm + cookie + powder): RM164 (N.P.: RM183)