In a casual conversation over Instagram about an AYR sale, their brand generously offered to send me this and their luxe marula oil over, and since I've been eyeing this indie brand for a long time now, I couldn't say no! I've been using this facial bar day and night for a month now as a second cleanse. I can't remember when I've last used a bar soap period on my face/body. Gosh, it must have been since high school!

Specs:

Size: 54 grams
Suitable for all skin types, especially for acne-prone and inflamed skin
Scent: Light, natural scent (Super fan of this scent)
pH: 8

Ingredients:

olive oil, water, organic coconut oil*, sustainable palm oil, sodium hydroxide, rice bran oil, castor oil, organic avocado butter*, sea clay, titanium dioxide, tea tree, rosemary, lemongrass, chamomile and ginger grass essential oils, activated charcoal, organic nettle*, organic turmeric*, olive leaf powder

*Organic ingredients

Looks how simple and clean their ingredient list is! Seriously so amazing that I can understand everything that's in the list-none of that gibberish! AYR promises not to put any mineral oils/synthetic fragrances/rancid carrier oils...etc. No rancid carrier oils? That's not something many brands can commit to. Sure, you might have good-for-the-skin oils in there, but are they actually good quality? Thank you AYR for this assurance. Read the entire list here! I mean, that's commitment to quality.

Performance:

Before we talk about how it works, let's just take a minute and admire how beautiful this bar is. No two bars' swirl designs are the same as they handmake them in small batches. Every time I use it I'd admire the look and scent, and it made the experience a lot more enjoyable. I mean...no one can deny that skintertainment is important right?

This is a very dense bar. Though I've been using it consistently for a month now, it's not like other bar soaps where it softens and melts easily under water. You need only to wet it and apply just enough over the face to get a good cleansing. This bar contains clay and activated charcoal (to draw out impurities), and other skin-loving oils like coconut oil and castor oil. In fact, there are so many oils in here that I thought maybe it could act as a 1st step cleanser to remove makeup though it wasn't advertised to do so. But we'll get back to that later.

This little bar soap cleanses quite well. It's not hard to use, and paired with my Foreo cleansing device, gets the job done. It doesn't foam or lather up, which I'm veerrry OK with because usually the ingredients that cause the foam dry out and strip the skin. After rinsing, my skin is squeaky clean, and honestly I feel like that this is the down side because it makes me feel like I'm stripping my skin too much. To prevent this, I simply use less product and follow up with hydrating skincare immediately afterwards anyway, so it's not tight-feeling. However, that still is a huge con that I can't ignore. I reached out to the brand, and they told me that the pH level is an 8 while skin's natural pH is 5.5. Though skin eventually rebalances itself, I like using low pH cleansers so that it won't disrupt the natural acidity that keeps harmful bacteria from growing.

What really does surprise me (that's not actually advertised) is that it doubles as a first step cleanser too to take off makeup! I had huge doubts it could do the job, but I figured why not try this out since this bar contains so many oils? It might do the trick! Thankfully I was wrong. Below is a picture using the Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Liner (and believe me, it definitely is waterproof) and when you work this bar into the skin, it surprisingly took everything off!

Verdict:

No, unless you need an easy double cleanse on your travels. Honestly, there are just too many cleansers out there that are low pH and won't strip your skin.

If anyone is wondering, $10 for a mini facial cleansing bar might seem like a lot, but after a month, it still looks brand new. It cleanses thoroughly, is great for even the most sensitive of skin, and even takes off makeup (which was the tipping point in my opinion). If i were to guess, this little guy will last another 3 months or even more! In the end, I'm glad I got to try this and am even more excited about this little indie brand's potential growth, and definitely needs more publicity!

Save Some $:

AYR rarely does free shipping, so honestly it's a little difficult to justify this if you're only buying this product. They do free shipping over orders $49+ and free samples on the regular so if you wanted to try something else in addition to the cleansing bar go for it! Subscribe to their emails and follow them on IG to catch their sales. Last time they had a 30% off flash sale for Mother's Day.

This mini version is TSA friendly since it's not a liquid, and this mini version is small enough to place into a baggie to take with you on your travels. To prolong its life even longer, you could chop it into smaller cubes since you won't be using the whole thing anyway.

AYR Calm Mini Facial Bar- Retail $10