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Rumor has it, Meghan Markle loves Tatcha. (Well, at least she did in 2014, when Allure interviewed her during her Suits days, long before we knew her as a duchess instead of a cable-TV star.) I also love Tatcha. Hell, practically the entire Allure team loves Tatcha.
The Japanese skin-care brand is so good, it's taken home its fair share of Best of Beauty Awards throughout the years, and 2018 — the same year Markle officially joined the royal family — is no exception. Before I get to the nitty-gritty, I've got to say that this year's winner is a good one. (I know because I helped choose it.)
Tatcha's Deep Cleanse, a cleanser-exfoliator hybrid, is an oil-free face wash designed for those with combination and oily skin. (I'm a mix of both, FYI.) This is not your traditional gel cleanser, though. Texture-wise, it starts as a gel-like formula, with a bit of grit (I say grit because there are tiny, ground up Japanese luffa fruit fibers encapsulated in the gel to gently exfoliate as it surface cleans), but as it starts to lather, it quickly transforms into a frothy foam. It's quite nice, and gives the user (hi, me!) a bit of a spa-like experience — if only until I open my eyes to rinse and realize I'm in my 1970s-inspired, pink-tiled bathroom, not a fancy spa at the Ritz. Sigh.
Aside from fruit enzymes, there's leopard lily (a scentless flower) to minimize production of excess sebum, and wild rose to smooth skin texture and diminish the appearance of pores. The formula also smells pretty nice: It's hard to describe the exact scent, but it's a bit medicinal with a hint of freshness — similar to the scent of Tatcha's Silk Cream.
But, going back to my spa, er, scrub: I use the exfoliator once or twice weekly (usually after a super-sweaty workout) in the shower, starting at my hairline and moving down to my décolletage. (Post-cleanse, my skin feels soft and smooth, never stripped — as if the gunk's been wiped away without also sloughing away my skin's natural oils.) After a recent deskside meeting with Tatcha, I learned that the founder, Vicky Tsai, uses this cleanser as an all-over exfoliator — from her head to her toes — so now I scrub all the way down to my feet (if I have time). It's almost as if I'm giving my body the royal treatment, you know?
