Before I ever learned about chemical exfoliants, all I ever used were peeling gels and face scrubs (as I'm sure most people did or do). I've gone through too many scrubs to count, but I never liked them very much. They weren't too harsh for my skin, but they didn't exfoliate my skin as much as I wanted them to. And then I started experimenting with peeling gels. Today's review will be about one of my favorite peeling gels: Missha's Super Aqua D-TOX Peeling Gel.

I'll admit that I haven't tried a large variety of peeling gels, but I really like Missha's, so while I haven't used a lot of peeling gels, I've used Missha's for more than five years now. The Super Aqua D-TOX Peeling Gel is the one I currently have in stock, but I've also used the Super Aqua Oxygen Micro Essence Peeling before. They work basically the same in my opinion, but I stopped buying the Oxygen Micro Peeling because (1) takes a long time to use (you have to wait for the bubbles on your skin to disappear), (2) the sensation can be too much sometimes (the bubbles tickle and itch lol) and (3) the online store I was using at the time didn't have it in stock anymore.

Anyways, to talk about the D-TOX Peeling Gel, the ingredients list and analysis of that list can be found here and here. I know that previous formulas included parabens, so anyone who is wary of those can rest assured that the newest formation doesn't.

I don't remember how much I bought this bottle for, but it was probably around $10 USD. On Missha's official U.S. site it's listed as $15 USD.

The gel is dispensed by squeezing the bottle, which looks and feels hard, but is flexible enough for you to squeeze it. I usually dispense a ball a little bit bigger than the one pictured below twice to exfoliate my whole face: one ball for the bottom half and one ball for the top half.


As you rub the gel into your skin, you feel dead skin cells start to ball up (click the picture to enlarge it). Some people think it's gross, but it makes me feel like I'm actually exfoliating, so I like that I'm able to actually see and feel this.


In an attempt to make sure that this was actually working on my skin, and to make sure the clumps I was feeling weren't from the product itself, I tested the peeling gel on polyethylene gloves. When rubbing the gel on the gloves, the gel stayed smooth and there were no clumps.

I exfoliate once a week (Sunday night!) right after I cleanse and before lotion (and/or toner), following with the rest of my skincare routine afterwards. My skin never feels irritated after using this gel and it's always baby soft afterwards.. The gel doesn't have a particular scent either.


In short, this is an effective peeling gel that isn't too harsh and works well. It's not scented and it's not too expensive either.

Would I buy it again? Yes! I might experiment with some other peeling gels, but I know I can always rely on this one.