Sunday Riley

Sunday Riley Aquamarine Melt Hydrating Gel Balm Cleanser.

Cleansers

About this product

A hydrating gel balm cleanser designed to remove makeup and cleanse skin in one step.

Full ingredients

C15-19 Alkane, Water/Eau/Aqua, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, C13-15 Alkane, Disiloxane, Sucrose Laurate, Glyceryl Behenate, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Sucrose Stearate, Malachite Extract, Centaurea Cyanus (Cornflower) Flower Extract, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hyaluronate, Chamomilla Recutita, Matricaria (German Chamomile) Flower Oil, Vanilla Planifolia (Vanilla) Fruit Extract, Anthemis Nobilis (Roman Chamomile) Flower Oil, Tanacetum Annuum (Blue Tansy) Flower Oil, Citrus Tangerina (Tangerine) Peel Oil, Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) Flower Oil, Polysorbate 60, Sorbitan Isostearate, Sucrose Palmitate, Didecyldimonium Chloride, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Oil, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Methylpropanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Polyquaternium-80, Sodium Phytate, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Beheneth-25 Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Xanthan Gum, Diisostearyl Malate, Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate

Guru Score

76%

Yay

Early verdict · Few reviews so far

What the gurus are saying

This balm removes makeup effectively without the oily film or eye irritation that cleansing balms often leave behind, but it has an unusually runny texture, drippy enough that you'll want to apply it straight from your hand to your face. Some experts love the effective, irritation-free removal and pleasant botanical scent despite the drippy texture, while others find the runny consistency and inconsistent dispensing frustrating.

Synthesized from 2 expert reviews · most recent take September 2025

What they liked

Leaves skin feeling hydrated
Cleanses without needing a second wash
Pleasant botanical scent

What they flagged

Dispenser can jam and needs shaking

Best for

Dry skin Sensitive skin

Type

CleansersBalm & ointment

Key actives

Hyaluronic acid

Formula notes

Fragrance-freeNo drying alcohol

Where to buy

Sephora → Ulta → Amazon → Google →

Opens a store search. We may earn from these links.

Scan it in the shopFree iPhone app. Scores in the aisle.

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored

The Style and Beauty Doctor

222k subs

✓Mixed

"I bought this Sunday Riley Aquamarine hydrating gel balm cleanser recently. One thing that I find a little frustrating about it is that sometimes you got to shake it up. Either that or I think I dropped it and I broke the mechanism and it doesn't dispense properly. So it's coming out watery. It's usually not so watery. [...] You would essentially rub that into the skin and you see how that makeup is just like melting off."

All 2 takes from The Style and Beauty Doctor

PAY or PASS: New Skincare & Makeup at Sephora

"I thought this was like a regular cleanser, like a gel cleanser, but my first instincts that it was a cleansing balm were correct. It has a pleasant scent, like a botanical kind of scent. Feels nice. I'm going to need to play around with that a little bit more."

I'm Over 40, Here's EVERYTHING I Do to My Skin (DETAILED w/ TIMESTAMPS)

The Budget Dermatologist

724k subs

✓Yay

"Got all my makeup off. And you guys saw me rub that right over my eye. And two things I want to point out. No stinging of my eye. And I don't have that oil cleanser film that when you wash with some cleansing balms or cleansing oils, you feel like you get this film or coat over your eyeball and then like everything looks blurry until it kind of washes away. I have none of that with this. And I really went all over my lash line. [...] It's runnier than I would expect it to be."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Urea

Urea both holds water in the skin and gently loosens dead surface cells. At higher strengths it has good evidence for very dry or thickened skin.

Source: DermNet

Humectants and emollients

Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

Source: DermNet

Frequently asked.

What is Sunday Riley Aquamarine Melt Hydrating Gel Balm Cleanser?

A hydrating gel balm cleanser designed to remove makeup and cleanse skin in one step.

Is Sunday Riley Aquamarine Melt Hydrating Gel Balm Cleanser worth it?

Mostly yes. 1 of the 2 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 76%.

What is Sunday Riley Aquamarine Melt Hydrating Gel Balm Cleanser's Guru Score?

Sunday Riley Aquamarine Melt Hydrating Gel Balm Cleanser holds a Guru Score of 76%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 2 expert reviewers we have collected.