Editor Tip: Since this cleanser has such few ingredients, if you’re wearing particularly stubborn makeup, we recommend pre-cleansing with a gentle micellar water or cleansing balm.
Key Ingredients: Water, glycerin | Who It’s For: Sensitive and dry skin | Fragrance-Free: Yes
Frequently Asked Questions
Why it’s important to wash your face
It may be a no-brainer to most of you, but cleansing is the basic foundation of an effective skin-care regimen. Only after you sweep away all of the breakout-causing dirt, makeup, and excess oil residing on your face, can your skin properly absorb and reap the benefits of all that skin-loving goodness — including, but not limited to, toners, essences, serums, and moisturizers — you layer on afterward. “Cleansing your face removes makeup, oil, dirt, and other debris,” Sejal Shah, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, previously told Allure. “Even if you don’t wear makeup, the skin on your face comes into contact with residue from other skin-care products as well as pollutants, microbes, dirt, and other debris, not to mention oils, sweat, and dead skin cells.”
What to know about double-cleansing
It’s self-explanatory at face value, but there’s more to double-cleansing than just, well, washing your face twice. “I define double-cleansing as using two separate types of cleansers to wash your face,” board-certified dermatologist Rita V. Linkner, MD, previously told Allure.
We have an entire dermatologist-approved guide to double cleansing if you want to perfect the art of it, but, at its most basic form, you start your cleansing routine with an oil-based cleanser or micellar water to break down and remove makeup and sunscreen. For your second cleanse, the type of face wash you use is your call. Besides the cleanser being tailored to your skin-care needs, a rule of thumb is to use a gentle cleanser that washes away pollutants, acne-causing bacteria, and debris.
How we test and review products
We always enlist a range of testers for any review, but skin-care products are another story. While some can be used across different skin types, tones, textures, and concerns, many are created with specific consumers and their needs in mind. We guarantee that these factors are considered when determining whether a skin-care product is worthy of a recommendation.
For our review of the best face washes, we enlisted the help of multiple editors, writers, contributors, and experts we’ve interviewed for the piece — who all have different complexion concerns and types, desired outcomes (e.g. diminished appearance of blackheads), and whether one product was tested across multiple skin types. Testers considered performance across the following primary categories: efficacy, texture, ingredients, and value. For more on what’s involved in our reporting, check out our complete reviews process and methodology page.
Our staff and testers
A beauty product is a personal purchase. You might be searching for a face cream to address persistent dryness or a new nail product to add to your Sunday self-care routine; you may simply be browsing around for the latest launches to hit the hair market. No matter what you seek or your individual needs and concerns, Allure wants to ensure that you love anything we recommend in our stories. We believe that having a diverse team of writers and editors — in addition to the wide range of outside testers and industry experts we regularly call upon — is essential to reaching that goal.
After all, can we really say a skin-care product is the “best” for people over 50 if the only testers we’ve solicited opinions from folks who have yet to hit 30? Can we honestly deem a high-end diffuser worthy of your hard-earned cash if it’s never been tested on curls? We’re proud that our staff spans a wide range of ages, skin tones, hair textures, genders, and backgrounds, which means that we are able to fairly assess any beauty product that comes into the beauty closet.
