Roll on a few more weeks and I got the opportunity to try a Genki Konnyaku Sponge, all be it this time of the Bamboo Charcoal variety. Both brands come in Pure, Pink Clay and Bamboo Charcoal. The Bamboo Charcoal sponge is designed for oily skin, which I don't really suffer from, but I thought I'd have a bit of a play, for the purposes of research. Whilst this can't be a total comparison, due to the added ingredient in one of the sponges, I do think some of the comparisons may be helpful.
The Genki Sponge is distinctly larger than the Konjac Sponge and as such took longer to hydrate. I was immediately struck by how much more open the texture looked than the smaller rounded Konjac variety. This bore out in the way the Genki felt on my face too, there just isn't the gentleness of the Konjac. Now of course this could all be down to the charcoal, but I've studied the pictures online of both varieties and the texture looks to be pretty much the same within each brand.
Being larger I also noted that the Genki takes longer to dry out. The Konjac will look pretty much dehydrated after 24 hours whilst the Genki seems to take 2/3 days. This is someone who never really liked flannels because of their tendency to sit around wet and so whole heartedly embraced muslin cloths, enough said. On the other hand I guess if you're using this twice a day, it may actually be quite handy to have a semi hydrated sponge ready for you.
In all I haven't really warmed to the Genki Sponge at all, although as I said, the added charcoal may be playing a part here, whilst the Konjac Sponge is a definite re purchase. The Konjac Sponge Co sell sponges directly priced £5.50each. They are also available from Zuneta for £5.26 - and a pop up box is telling me that UK Super Saver Delivery is free:). The Genki sponge is available from Nutri Beauty priced £9.99.
Thankyou for this Helen - I jumped on the Konjac bandwagon only to be disappointed, my poor management I think rather than the product, but I persevered and really enjoy the product. Thanks for the comparison, extremely helpful, can I ask a quick and possibly stupid question? I hung mine up post use on the bath taps but with 4 family members showering after me, my sponge was immersed in water for a good couple of hours and became moldy within about a month. Where do you hang yours post useage? Thanks in advance. x
ReplyDeleteHi Jan, I'm blessed to have a separate bathroom from the kids as we are in the loft. They do use it though, only a little by comparison. I have the sponges hanging from the handle of my hairbrush (which doesn't get much use ;p) It's quite a hefty one so the weight of the head sitting on the unit we have in the bathroom is enough of a counter balance. When squeezed out I find they don't really drip, so I'm content to have them hanging over the lino rather than the bath. xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Helen, I had noticed that it didn't drip too much, I will find something to hang it from other than a tap xx
ReplyDeleteHa ha your kids could bring these to school for show and tell. I've wanted to try these sponges myself. How long are they supposed to last?
ReplyDelete@Skin Scrubs - I had a feeling it was about 3months but had to do a bit of looking to check - Here's the answer from the Konjac sponge Company FAQs - How long will the sponge last? We get asked this all the time! The average is about 3 months, but that depends on use and care. Hang to dry, rinse everytime its used and don't wring it, for maximum life.
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For Indonesia and around Asia, you can get it from http://www.mykonjacsponge.com (last time i checked it still on maintenance) or go to their facebook – http://www.facebook.com/mykonjacsponge.
ReplyDeleteAMAZING products, all my family has been using it for a while and we all falling in love with it yeah