Kkongju Skin ACXII Acne & Brightening Soap

A salicylic acid soap in bar form. Salicylic acid is oil-soluble, which means it works inside the pore rather than sitting on top of it, and that is why it turns up in almost everything aimed at breakouts.

Half the people who ask us about their skin have a drawer of half-used serums and no cleanser worth the name. A bar with an active in it is the cheapest change to make and the easiest one to keep up, because it lives at the sink and asks nothing of you beyond the twenty seconds you were going to spend anyway.

What is in it

Salicylic acid for the pores, with brightening ingredients worked through the bar for tone. It lathers properly and rinses clean rather than leaving the film a conditioning bar leaves behind. Kkongju Skin make three of these, each aimed at a different thing; this is the one for active breakouts.

The size of it

One bar. Used once a day it lasts most people a couple of months, which makes it the least expensive active in the shop by some distance.

Good to know

Keep it on a draining dish rather than in a pool of water; any soap left sitting wet will go soft and disappear at twice the rate. Not for use around the eyes, and if your skin is already peeling from something else, give it a week off.

It is the most-repurchased korean cleansing bar on our shelf, and the one customers come back for by name rather than by description — which for korean skincare is the only recommendation worth much.