No BS Beauty has worked through more than 90 cleansers. Most got her stamp of approval, a smaller share got a mixed take or a skip, and her approval rate lands at 70%. She also named a handful of them category winners.
What does No BS Beauty recommend in cleansers?
She has a clear pattern across her approved picks: she wants a cleanser that leaves skin soft and not tight, and that rinses off without any residue. She gravitates toward gentle, fragrance-free formulas that suit people with sensitive skin, and for cleansing oils she pays extra attention to how light they feel and how easily they rinse off. Value matters a lot to her too. The Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser earned her praise partly for having just ten ingredients and costing around eight dollars.
No BS Beauty's cleanser picks, in her words
"This is one of my favorite cleansers because it's so non-drying and really feels nice on my skin. I love that cleanser from Skinfix, it's so nice, no scent to it, nice ingredient list. It rinses off but leaves your skin feeling nice and soft, not dry or irritated."
"The L Roche-Posay Lipikar AP+ Gentle Foaming Cleansing Oil is probably one of the tougher ones because these are all great, they're all ones I've repurchased, and the winner is the L Roche-Posay Lipikar AP+ Gentle Foaming Cleansing Oil which is a new product this year. It's an amazing product, use it every day."
"I love this cleanser, it's super light and it rinses really easily. On nights when I was really tired, this stuff was so great that I typically didn't feel like I needed a second step cleanser on those days, it just gets the makeup off enough that I can go to bed and lay down without the makeup sitting on your skin. It's really nice, super lightweight, and affordable, so I loved it, amazing. I will repurchase that again in a heartbeat."
"Vanicream has a limited but meaningful product list. [...] The ones they do have are thoughtful, well formulated. [...] Their facial cleanser is just a gentle face cleanser with 10 ingredients in it, [...] so very friendly for those with sensitive skin. It tends to work well on the face or body if you prefer to use it as a body cleanser too. And it's like eight bucks, so you can't beat that."
"What I like about this one is it, if you're just using a little bit of makeup or a little bit of sunscreen that's not terribly water resistant, this one does a pretty good job at being a one-step do-it-all cleanser. So that's a nice option for that. And you can certainly use it as a second step cleanser, but for days where I don't have a ton of makeup or I just have a light sunscreen, this one does it all."
"I've purchased this one probably close to 10 times. It's the PSA Reset Nourishing Cleanser with AAI and manuka honey. [...] This stuff's really nice, no scent to it. You can use it as a one-step makeup remover cleanser or you can use it as an evening cleanser. If you use it on wet skin you can use it either way, and it gives you a little bit of a light lather to it, which is really nice."
How many cleansers has No BS Beauty reviewed?
No BS Beauty has reviewed 93 cleansers, for an approval rate of 70%. 65 approved, 12 mixed, and 16 skipped.
What has No BS Beauty skipped in cleansers?
When she skips a cleanser, price, texture, or a real safety concern tends to be the reason. She skipped the Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel over its $115 price tag, which she called ridiculous, and she skipped the Glow Recipe Blueberry Bounce Gentle Cleanser because of widespread reports of mold appearing in the packaging. The CeraVe Makeup Removing Cleanser Balm she also skipped, finding it too thick to spread easily and saying it left a residue behind after rinsing.
"The Glow Recipe Blueberry Bounce Cleanser was another one I heard a lot about with mold in it and people took photos of it and then emailed them and got another one returned."
"The CeraVe cleansing balm for $14 was disappointing. I found it was too thick, it took a lot of effort to smooth it into skin to get it to really work, and when it rinsed off it left [...] a kind of residue so I didn't love it. The jar is super tiny for what you'd think it would be for CeraVe, typically they're a little more affordable. [...] I didn't love how it took a long time and a lot of effort to break down and melt on skin."
"This is a decent cleanser but honestly for me I actually found it a little stripping and drying on my skin. Other people absolutely love it. Youth to the People was a smaller brand when they first started out but now they've been purchased by one of the big brands. [...] I'd say if it works you go for it, [...] but now it's been purchased by one of the big companies I think it's better off finding a smaller brand and supporting them. But again there's nothing wrong with this cleanser."
"They're a grapefruit cleanser, I mean for real, a grapefruit cleanser. A lot of their stuff is great. They've, in my opinion, recently been doing a lot better in terms of allergens and fragrance and things like that, but they still have a lot of stuff that they've made that has a ton of fragrance in it. So be on the lookout. Neutrogena is another brand that really markets to sensitive skin or to people that want a simple routine without a lot of added irritant and things like that."
What should you take from No BS Beauty's picks?
No BS Beauty has tested more than 90 cleansers and is candid about both what she loves and what she skips. That makes her a genuinely helpful guide to this category. She named a handful of category winners: the Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser, The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser, the La Roche-Posay Lipikar AP+ Wash, and the Peach & Lily PowerCalm Hydrating Gel Cleanser. Gentle is the word that links them, and it fits everything else she rewards in a cleanser.
Watch No BS Beauty say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Vanicream Gentle Facial CleanserNamed a winnerWatch at 3:59
- The Ordinary Squalane CleanserNamed a winnerWatch at 6:36
- La Roche-Posay Lipikar AP+ Gentle Foaming Cleansing OilNamed a winnerWatch at 19:50
- Peach & Lily PowerCalm Hydrating Gel CleanserNamed a winnerWatch at 2:11
- Glow Recipe Blueberry Bounce Gentle CleanserSkipped itWatch at 3:42
- CeraVe Makeup Removing Cleanser BalmSkipped itWatch at 6:49
- Youth to the People Kale and Green Tea Spinach Vitamin Superfood CleanserSkipped itWatch at 1:43
- Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit CleanserSkipped itWatch at 7:34
- CeraVe Micellar Cleansing WaterSkipped itWatch at 3:47
- Tula Cult Classic Purifying CleanserSkipped itWatch at 2:45
- Senka Perfect Whip Cleansing FoamSkipped itWatch at 9:25
- Dermalogica Special Cleansing GelSkipped itWatch at 3:42
- Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit CleanserSkipped itWatch at 5:20
- CeraVe Eye Makeup RemoverSkipped itWatch at 0:25
- Innisfree Blueberry Rebalancing 5.5 CleanserSkipped itWatch at 9:07
- The Ordinary Glucoside Foaming CleanserSkipped itWatch at 10:42
- Avène Micellar WaterSkipped itWatch at 15:02
- The INKEY List Oat Cleansing BalmSkipped itWatch at 3:34
- Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Whipped Cream CleanserSkipped itWatch at 9:09
- Drunk Elephant Beste No. 9 Jelly CleanserSkipped itWatch at 3:45
- SkinFix Barrier+ Foaming Oil CleanserRated itWatch at 2:28
- Prequel Pre-Cleanse Cleansing OilRated itWatch at 4:03
- PSA Skin Reset Cleanser with AAI and Manuka HoneyRated itWatch at 1:41
- Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing BalmRated itWatch at 4:57
About this expert
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This guide reflects what No BS Beauty said across her videos about 93 products in cleansers, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The approval rate is the share of these products she approved. It is general information, not medical advice.