With so many products on the market, it can be hard to choose the right products for you. Here are some qualities to look out for when determining which cleanser you should choose.

Suits your Skin Type

Choosing the right products starts with understanding your skin. There are foam cleansers, cream cleansers, gel cleansers, and everything in between. But Which one is best for you? Here is a simple breakdown:

• Cream/Milk Cleansers: these are usually non-foaming cleansers that have more moisturizing ingredients that rebuild the skin barrier so they give a gentle/mild cleanse while ensuring the skin is still hydrating. They almost feel like rubbing a cream on your skin. Ideal for dry skin/mature skin/ irritated skin

• Foam/Gel Cleansers: these are your typical cleansers that foam/suds up. These are usually more hydrating cleansers that help reduce excess oil on the skin and often contain anti-inflammatory ingredients making them ideal for oily and acne-prone skin

See how to determine your Skin Type.

Learn more about the 5 basic skin types!

See the different types of cleansers

Doesn’t Irritate the Skin

A great cleanser will not leave your skin with this stinging sensation or cause excessive redness. With that being said, there are some who have very sensitive skin where even gently touching the skin makes it look red. The difference here is that this redness goes away quickly. If your skin is left sensitive to the touch, and there are visible signs of inflammation or gives you a rash, it is safe to say this is not the one for you.

See what to do when your skin is irritated by a new product

Non Stripping

A good cleanser gets the job done without leaving your skin thirsty. Your face should not feel super tight, shiny, and tight after cleansing. You don’t need to deprive your skin of oil to reduce the appearance of your pores. The dryness may end up giving your the opposite effect causing your skin to produce more oil to compensate. Your skin is supposed to feel soft and supple to the touch. If you feel uncomfortable dryness or tightness to the skin after cleansing, you should find a different cleanser.

Ph Balanced

If you were into skincare in the early 2010s, a lot of cleansers were often very harsh on the skin, with a pH level of 7-8. The skin has an average pH level of 5.5, it likes to be slightly acidic. Anything too alkaline (over 7) or too acidic (less than 3) may be too much for your skin and cause it to react. Because of this, toners were invented to help neutralize or balance out the pH of the skin, bringing it back down to 5.5. Cleansers today are often pH balanced, and they state their level on the bottle. When in doubt, look for products that state their pH level so you ensure you’re not disrupting your skin barrier.

see pH levels and your skin

Good base

The ingredients you’ll seek in a cleanser tend to be very subjective, but overall you want to look for products that contain a good roster of hydrating, calming ingredients.

• Look for products that contain humectants like glycerin, hyaluronic acid, urea, and propylene glycol.

• Look for products that contain calming ingredients like green tea, aloe vera, camomile, oat tea tree (in small quantities), niacinamide, Colloidal Oatmeal

• Look for products that contain skin barrier rebuilding ingredients like ceramides, fatty acids/alcohol, natural oils/butter, peptides

See what is the difference between moisturizing and hydrating ingredients

Non-Irritating Ingredients

As we discussed before, we don’t want to be aggravating the skin as we are trying to cleanse. What your skin finds irritating is very subjective. But a general rule of thumb is that you want cleansers that don’t contain too much:

• Alcohol: these are not inherently bad as they are used for many reasons. Alcohols can be used as fatty alcohols (which are actually not drying at all and are very moisturizing for the skin), Alcohol Denat can be used as a preservative (which is necessary to keep your products from growing bacteria and mold), a texturizer to ensure the products feel better on the skin, and even as a penetration ehancer to allow the other ingredients to be more effective. The key here is how much alcohol is in the product. You generally don’t want to see drying alcohols within the first 5 ingredients on the list.

• Fragrance: another one of those ingredients that can be very irritating especially to those with acne-prone/sensitive skin. Fragrances add to the aromatic experience and overall ambiance to using your products. I mean, you don’t want to use products that smell like a bad science experiment. Fragrance can also be used as a texturizer, penetration enhancer and preservative so don’t get too opposed to seeing any kind of fragrance whatsoever in your products, especially cleansers. Parfum/Fragrance in wash-off products like cleansers are often not a cause for concern because they don’t stay on your skin long enough for you to have a severe reaction

• Actives: cleansers that contain active ingredients like AHAs, BHA, Vitamin C can be a great way to get added benefits for your skin. Ingredients like BHA for example tend to be very irritating to the skin and leave your face excessively dry. Using your exfoliating acids in cleansers helps those with dry skin (particularly acne-prone dry skin) to get the benefits of these actives without the side effects. Just ensure that you’re using a product with active ingredient percentages that aren’t too concentrated/strong for your skin to handle

Cost-Effective

Let’s face it, no one wants to spend more money on a product than its worth. Personally, I’m not opposed to spending more on a product that will deliver better results, but when it comes to cleansers, this is absolutely not necessary. Cleansers are one of those products in your skincare regimen that you will go through very quickly as you are using them 2x a day. This can get very pricy to restock depending on how much you are paying for your product. The rule of thumb I use when seeing if my products are worth the price is by using the Average Daily Cost.

See more on how to determine if your products are worth the price

Deep Clean

Your cleanser should be able to get your skin clean. Obviously, that is the purpose of using the cleanser. Now, not all cleansers are created equally so depending on what is on your face during the day, you may benefit from double-cleansing. This may consist of using the same cleanser twice on your skin or even using two cleansers.

• Oil cleanser: for makeup, SPF, sebum

• Water-based cleanser: for dirt, sweat, debris