Suisai Beauty Clear: Which One Actually Fixes Your Pores?

Walk into a drugstore in Tokyo right now, and something has shifted. Not just the products on the shelves — the people standing in front of them. Every station, every shotengai, every pharmacy: languages overlapping, carts filling up, strangers from entirely different parts of the world reaching for the same things. It has become ordinary in the best possible way.

What surprises me, every time, is where they stop longest. Not fragrance. Not lip colour. The face wash aisle — which is, by the way, enormous. As large as the shampoo section, sometimes larger. And right in the middle of it, quietly, consistently: Suisai. Hands reaching for it from Singapore, from France, from the US. The seriousness on their faces when they flip the package over to read the back — that part looks the same in every language.

Beauty obsession, it turns out, does not require a common tongue.

Suisai Beauty Clear has been around long enough to earn that kind of trust. But here’s what most people miss when they search for it: the line has expanded. There are now three very different products sharing the same name, and they are not interchangeable. One is a face wash. One is a cleanser. One is somewhere in between — and which one you need depends entirely on what your skin is actually asking for.

My friend Maco, who runs LOLO JAPAN on Shopee Singapore, fields questions about this line constantly. “People buy the black one because it looks interesting,” she told me once, “and then wonder why their skin feels tight.” Which, honestly, is a fair outcome if you have dry skin and no one told you what the black one actually does.

So. Let’s actually explain it.

⚡ Quick Verdict: Which Suisai Is for You

💭 The Pore Problem Nobody Warned You About

Here’s something most people miss about pore congestion: it’s rarely just one thing. There’s the sebum your skin produces — more of it in warm months, more of it if your skin runs oily by nature. There’s the old keratin that doesn’t quite shed on its own. There’s the makeup that settles into the texture you already have. And then, quietly, there’s the cleanser that doesn’t quite reach any of it.

Most face washes are designed to remove surface dirt. They do that fine. What they don’t do is break down the protein-based buildup that makes skin feel rough and look dull — the kind of dullness that persists even after washing, even after moisturising, even after a full routine that should be working better than it is.

Enzyme cleansing addresses that specifically. It works differently from an exfoliating acid — quieter, less dramatic, safe for daily use. The kind of thing that doesn’t announce itself until you notice, three weeks in, that your skin just looks better.

What’s interesting about this line is that Kanebo took that enzyme technology and delivered it in three completely different formats — each one solving a slightly different version of the same problem. The pores are the constant. What varies is everything else.

📊 Suisai Beauty Clear: Full Comparison

💡 Texture & Feel: Three Formats, Three Experiences

Black Powder Wash comes in individual foil capsules — one per wash. You tear it open, tip the dark powder into wet palms, and work it into foam. The powder is charcoal-black and slightly alarming if you’ve never seen it before, but it lathers easily and the foam is dense. Rinse feel is noticeably matte and clean — the kind of clean that feels like you actually did something. On oily skin, that’s satisfying. On dry skin, it can tip into uncomfortable. 

Gold Cleansing Butter is a different experience entirely. It comes in a small tin with a flat spatula — butter-knife shaped, which is appropriate, because the product looks and feels exactly like softened butter. You scoop a coin-sized amount, warm it between your palms until it melts to oil, spread it across dry skin, and massage. Then wet hands to emulsify — it turns white, milky — and rinse. The skin after is soft in a way that doesn’t feel like residue. It feels like moisture. The scent is sweet and warm — somewhere between vanilla and cream. Worth knowing if you’re fragrance-sensitive. Worth looking forward to if you’re not.

Paste Wash is the most immediately familiar of the three. It comes out of a tube as a pale paste — dense, smooth, slightly creamy. From there, two options: lather it with water for a standard foam cleanse, or apply it directly without water, massage into skin, then add water to activate and rinse. The second method gives more contact time with the enzymes, which is useful if you have more congestion to address. The foam, when you go that route, is finer and denser than most face washes. Rinse feel sits between the Black and the Gold — clean, but not stripped.

💪 Visible Effects: Pores, Texture & Skin Clarity

Across reviews for all three products, a consistent pattern emerges: the improvement people notice first is not dramatic — it’s textural. Skin feels smoother to the touch within the first few uses. The roughness around the nose, the slight bumpiness on the forehead — those start to reduce. Pores don’t disappear, but they become less visibly congested.

The Black Powder Wash draws the strongest feedback for sebum control. Users with oily skin report that the shine returns more slowly after washing — not eliminated, but noticeably reduced. Several note that makeup applies more evenly on days they use it. The charcoal and Moroccan lava clay are doing specific work here: adsorbing excess sebum from within the pore rather than just cleaning the surface.

The Gold Cleansing Butter earns its praise from a different angle. The before-and-after here is less about oil control and more about skin quality: softer texture, reduced dullness, pores that look cleaner rather than smaller. Users with dry or combination skin particularly note that they don’t need to immediately apply serum to feel comfortable after rinsing — the skin already feels balanced.

The Paste Wash is newer, but the early consensus is that it sits comfortably between the other two: effective enough for daily pore maintenance without the intensity of the Black, moisturising enough for regular use without the richness of the Gold. It picked up multiple Japanese beauty editor awards in its first season — which, for a face wash at this price point, is not nothing.

⚠️ Not the best fit if…

• Black Powder Wash: Your skin runs dry, especially in cooler months — the squeaky-clean rinse can tip into tightness.
• Gold Cleansing Butter: You wear waterproof mascara — it won’t fully dissolve it. Also not ideal if you prefer a minimal routine without a second cleanse.
• Paste Wash: You want something that also removes makeup — this is face wash only, not a cleanser.
• Any of the three: You have active, inflamed breakouts or a compromised skin barrier. Enzyme cleansing is gentle, but any new formula warrants a patch test first.

🧪 Ingredients: Why the Enzyme Formula Works

The word “enzyme” gets attached to a lot of products that don’t quite earn it. Suisai’s version is specific enough to be worth unpacking.

Two enzymes are doing the specific work here. Protease breaks down keratin — the protein that forms the outer layer of skin cells and the structural component of the buildup inside pores. Lipase breaks down lipids — specifically the excess sebum that sits in and around pores and contributes to blackheads and shine. Together, they address the two main categories of pore congestion at a molecular level, not just at the surface.

What makes Suisai’s delivery of these enzymes interesting is the stability question. Enzymes are sensitive to heat and moisture — which is exactly the environment of a bathroom. The powder format of the Black solves this by keeping the enzymes encapsulated until the moment of use. The Paste Wash uses a silk-coating technology to protect them inside the tube. The Gold Cleansing Butter works differently — it’s oil-based, dissolving makeup by chemistry rather than enzymes, with the six-oil blend doing the dissolving work.

Supporting ingredients worth noting: Moroccan lava clay appears in both the Black and the Paste, functioning as an adsorbent — it draws out sebum and impurities beyond what the surfactants alone remove. The Gold’s formula includes shea butter, avocado oil, jojoba seed oil, sunflower seed oil, and macadamia oil, all functioning as emollient and moisture-retaining agents — which explains why the rinse feel is so different from the other two.

Amino acid-derived surfactants appear across all three. These are gentle by surfactant standards — part of why enzyme cleansing suits daily use in a way that a clay mask, used daily, would not.

🗣 Real Voices from Real Users

“I’ve been using the Black Powder Wash for about two months. My nose area used to look congested no matter what I did. After a few weeks of using this in the morning, I noticed my foundation was sitting better — the texture is smoother underneath. I keep individual capsules in my travel bag now.”

— @cosme user, combination skin

“The Gold Cleansing Butter is the first cleanser I’ve used that doesn’t make me rush to apply moisturiser immediately after rinsing. My skin just feels… already taken care of. The scent is very sweet — not for everyone, but I love it.”

— LIPS user, dry to normal skin

“Honestly surprised by the Paste Wash. I expected it to be exactly like the powder version but easier — it’s actually noticeably more moisturising. The direct-application method takes some getting used to but my skin looks clearer when I use it that way consistently.”

— @cosme user, normal to combination skin

Reviews sourced from @cosme and LIPS Japan. Individual results vary.

❓ Common Questions About Suisai Beauty Clear

Q: Can I use the Black Powder Wash every day?
A: Yes — it’s formulated for daily use. That said, if your skin is on the drier side or you’re in a dry season, every other day may suit you better. Oily and combination skin types generally handle daily use well.

Q: Does the Gold Cleansing Butter remove waterproof mascara?
A: Not reliably. It handles most everyday makeup well, including standard mascara and long-wear base products. Waterproof eye makeup is better addressed with a dedicated eye makeup remover first.

Q: What’s the difference between the Paste Wash and the regular Powder Wash?
A: The core enzyme technology is similar, but the Paste offers two application methods — foam lather or direct massage without water — and leaves skin with noticeably more moisture. It’s also more convenient for daily use since there’s no individual packaging to open.

Q: Can I use the Gold Cleansing Butter without a second cleanse?
A: The brand specifies double cleansing. Skipping the second cleanse may leave a residue that could contribute to congestion over time, particularly around the nose and forehead.

Q: Which one is best for sensitive skin?
A: The Paste Wash is the most moderate of the three. The Gold Cleansing Butter is also gentle given its oil base and moisture-rich formula. The Black Powder Wash, while enzyme-based rather than abrasive, has a stronger rinse-clean feel that some sensitive skin types find drying.

✨ Where to Buy Suisai Beauty Clear

Three products, three different skin situations — and all of them are accessible outside Japan.

🇸🇬 Singapore — LOLO JAPAN on Shopee SG
My friend Maco runs LOLO JAPAN on Shopee Singapore — stocking authentic Japanese products with local shipping, which means no international delivery wait or customs uncertainty.

🇲🇾 Malaysia — LOLO JAPAN on Shopee MY
Maco also runs a store on Shopee Malaysia — same sourcing, local delivery within Malaysia. → LOLO JAPAN on Shopee Malaysia

🌍 US & International — YesStyle
YesStyle ships internationally and carries all three products.

→ Black Powder Wash on YesStyle

→ Gold Cleansing Butter on YesStyle

→ Paste Wash on YesStyle

🛒 Rakuten ROOM
Browse Suisai on Rakuten ROOM — curated Japanese retail listings.

🚢 Ship from Japan — Rakuten Global Express
Want to buy directly from Japanese retailers and ship overseas? Rakuten Global Express handles international forwarding from Japan.

📌 Reference Price: Japanese domestic retail: Black Powder Wash approximately ¥1,980 (32 capsules) / Gold Cleansing Butter approximately ¥2,750 (90g) / Paste Wash approximately ¥1,430 (120g).

📎 Reference

Product information sourced from Kanebo Cosmetics official site (kanebo-cosmetics.jp/suisai), Kao product pages (kao-kirei.com), @cosme Japan, and LIPS Japan. User reviews referenced are aggregated from Japanese beauty community platforms. This article contains affiliate links — if you purchase through them, GlowCache may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.