Skin-Nomad's Take — At a Glance

• Dense foam built on Houttuynia Cordata at 40.7%
• Tea tree extract at 6.85% for blemish-prone skin
• For oily skin that wants a real lather

Blemish-prone skin gets a great deal of leave-on treatment and very little thought about the wash that comes first. The Mary&May Houttuynia Cordata and Tea Tree Cleansing Foam puts Houttuynia Cordata extract at 40.7% and tea tree extract at 6.85% into the cleansing step, both botanicals with antibacterial activity behind them. Mary&May formulates in Seoul and prints its concentrations, which is how you can tell these are not trace inclusions.

Key Benefits

• Houttuynia Cordata at 40.7% carries the formula rather than decorating it: Known as dokudami, the herb has a long record in Korean and Japanese use, and its flavonoid content is where the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity sits. At this concentration it is the base of the formula, not an extract near the bottom of the list.
• Tea tree at 6.85% works during contact and then rinses away: Melaleuca Alternifolia extract has well-documented antibacterial activity against the bacteria involved in breakouts. A rinse-off format gives less exposure than a leave-on treatment, and correspondingly less sensitisation risk.
• The soap base produces both the lather and the trade-off: Myristic, palmitic, stearic and lauric acids neutralised with potassium hydroxide make the dense foam. That chemistry runs alkaline, which oily skin generally tolerates well and dry or reactive skin does not.

Texture & Finish

A thick, cushioned lather that rinses quickly and leaves skin feeling properly clean. There is a distinct herbal note from the botanicals alongside a light added fragrance. Beeswax sits in the formula.

Ideal For

• Skin types: Oily, combination and blemish-prone skin.
• Skin concerns: Breakouts, congestion, excess oil, visible pores, and redness around blemishes.
• Best used by: If your leave-on routine is already doing everything and your skin still congests, moving some of the work into the wash is the change left to make.

FAQ

Q: How does this differ from a salicylic acid cleanser?
A: Salicylic acid is an exfoliant that dissolves sebum inside the pore. These botanicals work on bacteria and inflammation instead, without exfoliating at all. If your congestion is blackheads and rough texture, an acid cleanser fits better; if it is inflamed breakouts, this does.

Q: What is Houttuynia Cordata?
A: It is a herb native to East and Southeast Asia, known as dokudami, used for centuries in Korean and Japanese traditional medicine. Its flavonoids, quercetin among them, are the source of the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity it brings to skincare. It is less familiar in the UK than tea tree despite comparable documentation.

Q: Can I use this twice a day?
A: Oily skin usually can. On days with sunscreen or makeup, use an oil cleanser or balm first and this as the water-based step afterwards. If skin starts feeling tight, drop to evenings only, since a soap base is more drying than a low-pH gel.

Two botanicals at printed concentrations tell you more than any claim on the front of the tube.