Of all the many cleanser types, the skincare expert has launched a cream. Why? They're not too greasy, not too drying, great for sensitive skin and absolutely anyone can use one. Here are 16 of the best cream cleansers for all budgets
Face washes, cleansing balms, micellar waters, foaming cleansers – it’s safe to say that facial cleansers are not as straightforward as they once were. We know they’re (much) better than soap if you want to be kind to your skin, but choosing a cleanser that’s right for your skin typecan get confusing with all these options.
And now, skincare maven and Skin Rocks creator Caroline Hirons is hailing the return of the cream cleanser, having chosen this out of all possible options as the first cleanser in her Skin Rocks skincare range.
Why are cream cleansers hot right now?
“There’s been a shift across the industry to focus on supporting the skin barrier,” says Hirons. “And that has heavily influenced the popularity of cream formulas.” Consumers, she says, no longer want harsh, astringent cleansers that result in stripped, tight and dry skin, and opt instead for nourishing, pleasurable-to-use formulas that leave it feeling clean and comfortable.
Cream cleansers, like cassette tapes, are somewhat redolent of the 1980s, when you either used an old-fashioned cold cream such as Pond’s Cold Cream and original Nivea Cream in the blue tin, or a tissue-off cleansing milk by Anne French or some-such.
So why did Hirons pick a cream formula for her Skin Rocks The Cream Cleanser ? Unlike cold cream, she says, “my cleanser has an intelligent formula with added skincare benefits: it conditions skin and supports the barrier”.
Varying from thick white creams to milkier textures, cream cleansers (or cleansing creams) are descendants of cold creams, which were thick multi-taskers formulated with petrolatum or beeswax. Apart from being used to dislodge makeup and dirt, they were also good for moisturising dry and weather-beaten skin anywhere on the body.
More fluid than cold creams, modern cream cleansers act purely as such, rather than being multi-taskers. Like cleansing balms, they rely purely on the oils in their formula to melt away grime, as they don’t contain any surfactants (cleansing agents that create suds).
Modern cream cleansers also tend to be hydrating and conditioning, meaning they have added vitamins, minerals, amino acids (Hirons’ contains eight) or barrier boosters. They make your skin feel soft and supple but not greasy; ‘comfortable’ is a word often used to describe them. They tend to be fragrance-free and this, along with absence of potentially irritating surfactants and essential oils, makes them the preferred option for very sensitive or sensitised skins. They are pretty much compatible with all skin types, though.
They could be the solution if you haven’t got on with other cleansers in the past, or if you don’t get on with balms or oils, which tend to leave a fine layer of oil on the skin (for example, if you are acne-prone).
How to use a cream cleanser
Use them in the evening once, or even twice. “Cream cleanser is perfect for doing both your first and second cleanse with,” says Hirons, the woman who made the evening double-cleanse mainstream.
Most cream cleansers are suitable for using around the eyes, and are good for “removing light makeup, sun protection, sweat and grime,” says Hirons.
They are less ‘grippy’ on long-wear makeup and SPF than cleansing balms and need a good deal of fingertip massaging into dry skin to get to work before they’re removed. You may potentially need a separate eye makeup remover as well.
Because they don’t contain surfactants, any residue left on skin won’t irritate, but, still, you need to rinse them off with water or use a damp, warm flannel”, says Hirons. “Apart perhaps from very milky cleansing creams, which you can dry-wipe off.”
If you don’t, they can clog pores, especially if you have oily skin. That’s where the old ‘cleanse-and-tone’ idea came from: traces of thick traditional cold cream were best dissolved with toner. Modern alcohol-free or gentle acid-based toners still do a good job of this, without stripping off half your skin barrier.
Note: some cleansing creams (and even balms) do contain surfactants: this is often done to allow them to change texture (from a cream/balm to a, sometimes sudsy, milk) and rinse clean off. These formulations are ever so slightly less gentle - we’ve left them out of our edit.
The best cream cleansers for every skin type and need
The wide variety of cream cleansers proves that they can indeed work for every skin.
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The sexy new cream cleanser: Skin Rocks The Cream Cleanser, £32
This has eight amino acids to mimic and support skin’s natural moisturising factor, alongside light jojoba seed oil and squalane to moisturise and deep-cleanse without leaving any residue. Like most cream cleansers, you can use it around the eyes and it comes in a lightly scented as well as an unscented version.
The derm-prescribed cream cleanser: Dermatica Caring Squalane Cream Cleanser, £12.95
Dermatica will prescribe and blend bespoke formulations for you, but you can now buy off-the-peg products as well, like this hydrating cleansing cream. It majors on antioxidant oils from rice bran and grape seed alongside hydrating glycerine and pollution-trapping agents. It transforms into an oil, then a milk without the use of surfactants.
The luxury cream cleanser for mature skin: Decorte AQ Meliorte High Performance Renewal Cleansing Cream, £95
From the makers of Japan's best-selling serum, this is a cleanser that's really a treatment. It's packed with peptides and cell-regenerating goodies with high-tech delivery systems, making it almost too good to rinse off. In fact, our tester mistook it for cream and left it on overnight, and looked great in the morning! You tissue off or rinse and in Japan, they also second cleanse with a foam. It’s not afraid to use mineral oil as a base (Asian brands like its gentle efficiency for removing dirt) and is very mildly scented.
The post-procedure cream cleanser: Kate Somerville DeliKate Soothing Cleanser, £22.80
Designed to be gentle enough for skins that have just been blasted with lasers, chemical peels or even sunburn, this has ceramides, peptides and antioxidants to rebuild a decimated barrier, and cucumber oil (who knew cucumber had oil?) to calm a stressed face. It’s unscented and cleanses ultra deli-kately.
The cream cleanser for oily skin: Skingredients PreProbiotic Cleanse Hydrating Cleanser, £26
Nurtures and balances even oily skin while it cleanses, packed as it is with hard-working ingredients that go well beyond gently lifting dirt, makeup, pollution particles and SPF. Apart from barrier-boosting pre and probiotics, it has hydrating and clarifying polyhydroxy acids, nourishing oils and amino acids.
The brightening cream cleanser: Facetheory Vitamin C Cream Cleanser C1, £13
Used on moist skin, this creamy emulsion of plant oils, glycerine and water is rich in vitamin C and left on for a minute before rinsing off: it’s a brightening, antioxidant-rich cleanse every time.
The smoothing cream cleanser: Image Skincare Biome+ Cleansing Comfort Balm, £45
It’s a soft cream but with the slip of a cleansing oil, conditioning with fermented squalane, antioxidant ashwagandha and plant oils and smoothing skin with the help of lactic acid (so avoid using it around the eyes). There’s some grapefruit oil in here for a light, zesty scent.
The milky cream cleanser for sensitive skin: Cultured Biomecare Cultured Vitality Cleansing Milk, £29
With the texture of a cleansing milk and the cool feel of a cold cream (thanks to cleansing and refreshing glycolipids), this super-delicate cleanser puts the skin microbiome back in good order with the help of prebiotics (think inulin and microalgae) and protects skin with vitamins C and E. Works on dry or wet skin and can be rinsed or tissued off.
The classic cream cleanser: Pond’s Cold Cream Cleanser, £6.19
“My granny has the best skin and she only ever used was Pond’s Cold Cream.” To all the people who have made that statement, here is the product itself, still efficient after all these years at melting off your makeup and leaving skin feeling comforted. Based on mineral oil, beeswax and water (and not much else), it’s scented (like most products used to be back in the day), with an aroma that will likely take you waaay back. Probably best followed with a gentle alcohol-free toner to remove any residue.
The 21st-century cold cream cleanser: The Seated Queen Cold Cream Evening Cleanser – Night Mask, £39
As rich, lush and moisturising as the Pond’s, this thick cream is purely organic plant-based, boasting shea butter and a host of nourishing plant oils including rosehip, borage and argan. Its scent is just as posh and natural, being all-essential oils from frankincense, rose otto, clary sage and more. Like the classic cold creams, this is a cleanser as well as a deeply replenishing moisturiser: ‘pared-back skincare for busy people’ (with dry skin).
The best-value vegan cream cleanser: The Body Shop Vitamin E Cream Cleanser, £12
Coming in at £4.80 for 100ml, this light, vegan cream cleanser is the best value of the lot. Rich in upcycled raspberry seed oil which is naturally rich in super-antioxidant vitamin E, it has added vitamin E as well, and is light enough to allow you to tissue it off, leaving the conditioning agents and hydrators on your skin.
The skin-sculpting cream cleanser: Suqqu Refining Soft Cleansing Cream, £36
From the land that puts pampering textures first, this Japanese mixture of decidedly non-plant oils (mineral oil, petroleum jelly, silicones – yep, all the ‘baddies’ that are frankly not that bad), humectants and antioxidants makes for a lovely soft cream that is perfect for a skin-sculpting massage while it melts away makeup and impurities before you rinse it off.
The dewy-skin cream cleanser: Laneige Cream Skin Milk Oil Cleanser, £26.50
A K-Beauty brand based on ‘water science’ (meaning dewiness and hydration is at its forefront), this milk-oil hybrid is billed as a conditioning first cleanse. Mildly acidic (like skin itself), it has antioxidants, prebiotics and amino acids to condition skin as much as it cleanses. Massage in and splash with water; it will emulsify and rinse off clean.