When it comes to choosing any skincare product, be that a moisturizer or a facial cleanser, you should always take your skin type into account. In this post, I’ve compiled all the mandatory information on face washes, so you can know exactly what to look for in a good facial cleanser, and avoid the duds. Below, you’ll find all the details for choosing the best face washes for every skin type and need!
Best Face Washes for Normal & Combination Skin
When your skin is somewhere in the middle – not too dry or too oily – you really just want to keep in balanced, cleansed, and healthy. Any type of facial cleansers can work for your skin, with the exception of soap-based cleansers with a high pH, and gel cleansers with harsh surfactants – those can strip your skin and turn it into a dehydrated mess.
Gentle gel cleansers, cold creams, oil cleansers, and all other cleanser types will likely do an excellent job, and you should simply choose whatever you enjoy using.
Best Face Washes for Dry & Dehydrated Skin
The best face washes for dry and dehydrated skin will not just cleanse the skin, but will actually hydrate it. If your skin is chronically dry, tight, dehydrated, or flakey, you want to choose a cleanser rich in emollients and humectants – ingredients that will deliver hydration to the skin, and give it a smooth feel.
These ingredients include glycerin, hyaluronic acid, botanical oils, and fatty acids. These ingredients are especially common in cream cleansers, but oil cleansers and DIY oil cleansing will also work for you.
You definitely want to avoid harsh surfactants, like sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate, as well as soap-based cleansers.
Best Face Washes for Oily & Acne-Prone Skin
Those with oily and acne-prone skin often end up overdoing their skin cleansing with very harsh products. They end up dehydrating their skin, which makes it much more susceptible to acne. Instead, it is actually best to use gentle facial cleansers for oily skin that will not irritate the skin further but will still do a good job of breaking down and removing excess oil.
Additionally, for acne-prone skin, a cleanser with a lower pH is very important for preventing breakouts and keeping the skin healthy. If you’ve used harsh cleansers in the past, you might find a switch to a more gentle gel or mousse cleanser less jarring, although even cold-cream and commercial oil cleansers can work well at breaking down oil. Learn more about finding the best acne face washes in our guide!
Since face wash doesn’t (or at least, it shouldn’t) stay on the skin for a very long time, any anti-acne ingredients in it are not going to have much of an impact on the skin. Acne-fighting ingredients like salicylic acid, tea tree oil, or benzoyl peroxide are more useful in products that stay on the skin, like spot treatments, serums, and lotions.
Photos via @tsangtastic
