A cleanser has to dissolve oil, sunscreen and makeup without stripping the skin it is sitting on. Formulas get there in different ways: gels and foams rely on surfactants, while balms and cleansing oils use oils to dissolve oil, then emulsify so they rinse off with water.
Which format suits you is mostly a question of skin type and what you are removing. The ingredient list tells you which approach a product takes, often within the first few lines.
Reading the label
- Rinse-off versus leave-on
- A cleanser spends about a minute on your skin before it is rinsed away, which is one reason its cleansing agents can be stronger than anything in a leave-on product. The seal means the same for both: every listed ingredient was screened against the CertClean standard.
- Oil cleansers and emulsifiers
- If a cleansing oil turns milky when it meets water, there is an emulsifier in the list doing that work. Without one, an oil cleanser needs a second wash to come off cleanly.
