Beauty Bible Loves... Shu Uemura Ultim8 Sublime Beauty Cleansing Oil

We are probably the only journalists writing about this cleansing oil who originally had it presented to them by Shu Uemura himself, the legendary make-up artist. Jo remembers the meeting – at Harvey Nichols, where ‘Shu’ had a counter – where she interviewed this quiet and polite man, accompanied by his somewhat noisier (in a good way) PR, Millie Kendall (now head of the British Beauty Council). Another reminder that when it comes to beauty, we really have seen it all, tried it all, been there, ironed the t-shirt…

A cleansing oil was a complete revelation, in the west, at that point. There had been no cleansing oils, up till that point, and the launch created a whole new category. He invented it in 1967 (blimey!), but it was a couple of decades before he brought it to the UK, and since then, it has gone on to become a global bestseller, with one sold every six seconds, achieving the status of the No.1 product in the skincare/cleansing category across the whole of Asia.

Cleansing oils are just so make-up-melting – and actually, none so more than this one. We suspect there’s a reason that Shu Uemura Ultim8 Sublime Beauty Cleansing Oil also comes in a humongous 450ml size – because of its popularity. (Dinkier bottles also available.)

You certainly don’t use much – a couple of pumps in the palm, massaged into faces. It completely blitzes mascara, too – made absolute mincemeat of it, several nights of testing in a row. (Although we’ll probably still use a separate eye make-up remover – a personal preference)

This particular version combines nano-micellar cleansing technology – hence its amazing dirt/make-up-grabbing powers – and Tsubaki oil, a cold-press oil that’s rich in oleic acid and highly compatible with the skin barrier (in this case, Ecocert-certified organic).

And if you haven’t discovered this stellar product…? Better 60 years later than never!

From £17 for 50ml – buy here