Review: Konjacu Sponge (Charcoal/Body)

So I have been using these sponges for about a week now, so I am finally ready to review them.

They come in a little cellophane package, along with a small piece of paper that contains a description and instructions on how to use it. Nothing too fancy.

When completely dry, the diameter is about the length of my middle finger. When soaked, it only expands about 1-2 cm more. One side is flat, and the other side is round. When it is completely dry, it is really hard like a rock... like pumice, and it takes a bit of time to soften it in warm water. But once it is softened and wet, it takes a long time to completely harden up again, so if you're using it twice a day like I do, or even just once a day, it will never get the chance to harden up completely.

In the description, it says that "it has a very soft texture like butter". I would have to say that this isn't true. Well it could be, if it didn't have little air pockets in it and it was completely smooth, but then it wouldn't be exfoliating. It is nice and soft, but I wouldn't say its like butter. It is a very nice and gentle exfoliant, which works great on my skin. I no longer have any dry flakes of skin at all, and my skin feels very smooth after using it.

It's supposed to be deep cleansing, remove blackheads, dirt and oil, and kill acne-causing bacteria. I'm not too sure about this though, because I have had a few blackheads start to pop up on my nose about a month before I started using this, and they're still there, I haven't really noticed them diminishing or anything. Also I've still been using my SkinID cleanser along with the sponge, so I don't know if it really kills acne-causing bacteria or not.

Also one thing I really don't understand is how it claims to naturally balance the pH of your skin. I just don't understand how that works, but I'm tempted to somehow test the pH....

In the instructions, it says specifically how to clean it, and says "Do not twist or squeeze too hard, it may damage the sponge." And also, "Discard once sponge starts falling apart." This makes me so conscious about when I am using it, I'm so scared that I'm going to squeeze too hard and it's going to start falling apart. And it actually makes sense, because there's so many little holes in it, and it feels kind of fragile to me.

Also, "Try keeping the sponge in a container/bag and in the refrigerator. It lengthens the usage life of sponge while keeping it extra fresh, clean & mold-free." So apparently these things will mold.... The thought of using something moldy on my skin isn't very appealing. But it says to "Store or hang the sponge in a cool & ventilated area to air dry." So how would that work? I can't hang it up to air dry and have it in a container or bag in the refrigerator at the same time, and it won't work to let it dry first then put it in the refrigerator since it literally takes forever to dry. So that doesn't really make sense to me.

So now onto the difference with the bamboo charcoal sponge, and the moisturizing body wash sponge. They're practically the same to me, except ones white and one's black, and ones round and the other is rectangular. Maybe the white one feels a little bit smoother and has smaller air bubbles in it? Even though the black one is supposed to be for oily skin, and the white one is supposed to be moisturizing, I really haven't noticed any difference in them.

Overall, I do like using this product. It is much better than using towels. And I do like using it more than the silicon scrubbers I had been using prior to this, so it is probably something that I will stick to using, until I can afford to try one of those Clarisonic Skincare Brushes.