The trend was arguably sparked back in 2016, when millennial beauty brand Glossier debuted its crowd-sourced ’Milk Jelly Cleanser’, which promises to dissolve makeup and provide a deep but gentle cleanse suitable for everyday use. The gel-like product can be used on wet or dry skin and claims to reinforce the skin’s barrier to safeguard against dehydration.
Fast forward to this summer, and jelly is going mainstream. The Japanese beauty brand Shiseido recently launched a ’Fresh Jelly Lotion’ as part of its brand-new ’Waso’ range, which is rooted in natural, organic ingredients. The name comes from the lotion’s gel-like texture, but also from its star ingredient: white jelly mushroom. The fungus is said to encourage a healthy, dewy complexion.
Other brands getting in on the act include Estée Lauder, which recently released a ’Nutritious Micro-Algae Pore Purifying Cleansing Jelly’ that claims to lather into a silky foam in order to remove impurities via a combination of micro-algaes. And June saw the US brand Drunk Elephant, which focuses on non-toxic skincare solutions, unveil its ’Beste Jelly Cleanser’, which features virgin marula oil to nourish the skin and glycerin to hydrate it.
But despite its sophisticated reinvention, jelly has retained its fun side. One of the quirkiest jellied skincare product launches this year comes courtesy of Boscia, which made waves earlier this summer with its new ‘Charcoal Jelly Ball Cleanser’. The squishy, balloon-shaped product that features activated black charcoal to extract impurities, proving that jelly can be a playful way to seriously step up your beauty routine.
