Product Review: Safeguard Gentle Micellar Face & Body Cleanser

 

Another micellar product available on the local market today, Safeguard Gentle Micellar Face & Body Cleanser is one of the newest product launches of the Safeguard brand. Launched last 2020, this product claims to gently lift up to 99.9% of germs, dirt, and oil. Based on their clinical test on dryness, this face and body cleanser claims to be as gentle as water.

This product has an opaque, creamy appearance and a strong fruity odor. I tried to use this product as a shampoo, face cleanser, and body wash. As a shampoo, it did not totally strip my hair of oils. It has good wet and dry comb performance and I did not need to use conditioner after using it. As a face cleanser, it gently cleaned my face without leaving it dry and taut. But just a word of caution if you are going to use this as your face cleanser. If you have a history of irritation or allergy with fragrances, this product might not be for you, as this product has a very strong fruity fragrance. As a body wash, it did not leave my skin dry and it left a slippery feel after bathing. This is usual with surfactant-based body washes. But after towel drying, the slippery feel was gone.

Now let’s have a look at this product’s ingredient list:

INGREDIENTS:

Water, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Sodium Trideceth Sulfate, Sodium Chloride, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Fragrance, Trideceth-3, Sodium, Citrate, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Glyceryl Oleate, Acrylate/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Piroctone Olamine, Tocopheryl Acetate, Niacinamide, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone

Now let’s group the ingredients according to their respective functions.

Solvents: Water

Emollients: Soybean Oil, Glyceryl Oleate

Humectant: Niacinamide

Cleansing Agents: Sodium Trideceth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Trideceth-3

Rheology Modifier: C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride

Thickener: Sodium Chloride

Conditioning Agent: Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride

pH Adjuster: Sodium Citrate

Preservative: Piroctone Olamine, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone

Antioxidant: Tocopheryl Acetate

Fragrance

The main surfactant in this product is Sodium Trideceth Sulfate. It is an anionic surfactant that is milder than its sulfate cousins Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate (SLES). When combined with Cocamidopropyl Betaine, it provides mild and gentle foaming characteristics.

Another contributor to the mildness of this product is the high amount of soybean oil in it. As we can see from the ingredient list, it comes right after water, so we can assume that this cleanser contains a substantial amount of soybean oil. This could also be the reason why this cleanser is low foaming, because the amount of lipophilic substances in a surfactant system lowers the foaming characteristic.

Again, like the other micellar products that I have reviewed in this blog, calling this cleanser a micellar cleanser is another marketing move. Calling a product “micellar” gives the consumer the impression that the product is milder compared to other products. I personally think that there is no need to call this product “micellar”, since the products itself can speak for its mildness.

Have you tried this product yet? What are your thoughts about it? Share them in the comments section below.