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The Two-in-One Cleansing Pads I’m Bringing on Every Trip This Summer

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Editor’s note: This post was originally published in June 2019. We’re republishing it because it is now enabled with on-site shopping. That means you can buy Rio’s favorite on-the-go cleansing pads without leaving this page — just in time for your end-of-summer vacation or a long weekend trip this fall. Read more about our on-site shopping tool here.

I love anything that makes my on-the-go skin-care regimen a little easier and less cumbersome. Staples in my stable of travel-friendly necessities include Supergoop Glow Stick Sunscreen, Dr. Roebuck’s No Worries Moisturizer, mini Drunk Elephant Marula Oil — and a new product that recently joined the gang, but I’ve already become heavily dependent on: coconut cleansing pads from the cruelty-free, K-beauty brand Solved.

The first thing I want to say about the pads is that they remove makeup incredibly well — almost (almost) as well as my favorite makeup remover, Glossier’s Milky Oil. The first time I tested them out, I was wearing Fenty Concealer and Glossier’s gel eyeliner, but one swipe was all it took to melt everything away, without any pulling or tugging.

The second thing is that the pads also work exceptionally well as a cleanser (I now use them as my sole cleanser on trips, so I only have to pack the pads instead of separate makeup removers and cleansers in my travel makeup bag). They’re oil-based, and the stuff on each wipe reminds me a lot of my Tatcha Camelia Cleansing Oil, both in texture and in how it leaves my skin feeling: smooth and supple. Each pad creates oily suds that I just wash off with lukewarm water (the suds come off easily, and never leave behind the waxy, filmy residue that coconut oil has when I’ve used it in the past) before patting my skin dry, then exfoliating with my Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peels.

Ironically, coconut oil — a product I’ve historically been wary of — is actually the pads’ main ingredient. My suspicion of it stems from the dozens of articles I’ve read about how using the coconut oil in your pantry as a DIY moisturizer can clog your pores and make you break out. But I used the pads for a week straight, and I didn’t break out once. Further research into their ingredients helped me understand why: Unlike the coconut oil you can buy at your local supermarket, the coconut oil used in the pads is specially formulated to to cleanse your skin without breaking you out (plus, the pads contain an emulsifying ingredient that keeps the oil from lingering on the surface of your skin).

Besides working extremely well, I just like these things. They smell fresh and coconutty, but not in an artificial way like some tanning oils can. And they’re easy to hold — each pad has a little slit for your finger, which gives you complete control over where you’re wiping. I recently brought the cleansing pads with me on a trip with friends to Miami, where every single person I was with used and fell in love with them. So much so, that by the time we came home, we had used every last pad. Which just means I’ll have to buy more, because these little guys are clearly going to be my go-to on every trip I take this summer.

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The Two-in-One Cleansing Pads I Won’t Travel Without