The Only Face Cleanser That Washes Away All My Stress

Whenever I visit my parents, my mother always welcomes me home with one statement: "Honey, your stress is showing." She's not talking about my cranky mood or slumped posture, either, but instead my sallow skin speckled with acne. Yet, no matter how often I lay in savasana or open up my Aura app — nothing changes.

I've tried taking supplements for my hormonal breakouts before, which did help... until I decided to take a break from my birth control. Surprisingly, the only course of action that's worked for me lately doesn't involve "magic" pills or chocolate, but a really good cleanser: the Remix Spirit Cleanse.

The name alone might intrigue you, but it's what's inside the bottle that could stand up to even the highest-rated cleansers on Sephora. The milky formula from Remix uses a ton of essentials oils — including tangerine (to ease inflammation), black spruce (to boost energy), and rosemary (to quench dryness) — plus pearl powder to leave you glowing long after you rinse. Even if you don't buy into the benefits of herbal remedies, the sudser itself is pretty damn good.

The inspiration behind the cleanser stems from traditional Chinese medicine and the power of cleansing your "shen" (the emotional weight you carry). The idea is that this stress is temporary, and by making physical adjustments to your lifestyle, everything from how you look to how you feel will change. A cleanser might not be able to stop the current events unraveling around us from spiking your stress levels, but a little extra zen in you life never hurt — especially when it helps your skin along the way.

Remix by Giselle Spirit Cleanse, $35, available at Remix.