Skincare Cleansers Hub

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How GLOW tests cleansers

A cleanser touches your face twice a day, every day, which makes it both the workhorse of a routine and the product people most often overspend on. It sits on your skin for under a minute before it rinses away, so we judge this category hard on how skin feels afterwards: clean but comfortable, never tight or squeaky. Every cleanser we rank is scored on performance, formulation, price-to-value and brand strength.

The results back a pharmacy-first approach. Our current ranking is led by La Roche-Posay's Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel on a GLOW score of 8.9 at around $30, with CeraVe's Foaming Facial Cleanser close behind on 8.7 at around $20. When products this affordable set the pace, a luxury cleanser has to justify itself on more than packaging, and few do. Our advice has stayed consistent: keep the cleanser sensible and put the savings into serums and SPF, the products that stay on your skin all day.

• Match the texture to your skin. Gel and foam formats suit oily and combination skin, while cream and milk cleansers are kinder to dry or sensitive skin.
• If you wear makeup or daily SPF, and in Australia that should be daily, an oil or balm first cleanse at night dissolves it more thoroughly than foam alone.
• Tight, squeaky skin after rinsing is a red flag, not proof of a deep clean.
• Congestion-prone skin does better with a salicylic acid cleanser a few times a week than with a harsh scrub every day.
• Micellar water is best treated as a makeup remover; follow it with a proper cleanse rather than leaving it on.

Begin with our best cleanser in Australia ranking, then read how to double cleanse if makeup or SPF is part of your daily routine.