Ask any skincare savant and they’ll tell you this: the cleansing step means more than anything you might be using on your countenance after. After a long day, removing make-up, dirt and impurities is key; a crucial step that helps to clear skin and unclog pores of any excess oil or dead skin cells, whilst retaining your skin’s natural moisture barrier. It’s all about going back to the baseline and ensuring the skin’s basic functions remain strong—in order to support the absorption of any serums, moisturisers or sunscreen afterwards. In simple terms, there’s no point in dousing your countenance in heavy-duty ingredients if your skin reset wasn’t foolproof in the first place.
In that regard, the range of cleansers in the market run the gamut. Oil-soluble salicylic acid cleansers in particular, are effective in removing excess sebum, whilst being suitable for congested or acne-prone skin types because of its anti-inflammatory properties. Some other elixirs—like those hailing from beauty haven South Korea—might include more innovative ingredients such as centella asiatica, green tea, ginseng or niacinamides, all of which work to moisturise and maintain the skin’s pH balance.
Cream cleansers on the other hand, are the most luxurious of the lot—feeling doubly as moisturising and plush on the skin. Promising a gentle approach to hydration, the experience is often soft and soothing, but it’s certainly more ideal for those with dry, sensitive or more mature skin. As with all skincare, your priority should be ensuring your arsenal consists of products that serve and complement your skin type, so those with acne-prone or oily skin types might prefer to tread with caution. With such parameters in mind, here are Vogue Singapore’s picks of the best cream cleansers out there, for a nourishing, royal treat to the senses. So cleansing can feel that much more of a treat, rather than a chore.
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Drunk Elephant Mello Marula™ Cream Cleanser
Oat’s on our side with this ultra gentle number. When combined with antioxidants like marula seed oil and a rich illipe plant butter, this Drunk Elephant pick can be relied on to remove make-up and grime whilst calming and soothing skin still.
Drunk Elephant Mello Marula™ Cream Cleanser, $54 for 150ml, available at Sephora
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The Ordinary Glycolipid Cream Cleanser
Get more bang for your buck with The Ordinary. There’s plenty of promise where this cream-based formulation is concerned: it’s gentle, feels effortless when lathered into the skin, and it’s effective for make-up cleansing, without feeling stripping at all. Most importantly, your skin will feel fresh, soothed and nourished after a good wash.
The Ordinary Glycolipid Cream Cleanser, $24 for 150ml, available at Shopee
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Chanel Beauty Éclat Premier La Mousse
It isn’t just a pamper, it’s a ritual. This Chanel lather is as luxurious as they come, formulated to remove any impurities—pollution particles and UV filters included—whilst enriching your skin with ylang-ylang flower extracts and niacinamide to give one’s countenance a luminous finish.
Chanel Beauty Éclat Premier La Mousse, $103 for 150ml, available at Chanel
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Tatcha The Rice Wash Cleanser
Loaded up with Japanese rice powder—that also gives it a slight exfoliating grit—as well as hyaluronic acid that doles out a hydrating dosage during your cleanse, this cream-to-foam lather promises to clarify, soften and impart radiant skin after continued use. Bonus points for how lush it feels on the countenance.
Tatcha The Rice Wash Cleanser, $61 for 120ml, available at Sephora
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Whipped Vegan Pack Cleanser
It’s not often you want to taste test a skincare product, but the viral Whipped entry from South Korea certainly makes a good case for itself. Boosted with niacinamide, Vitamin C and hyaluronic acid, this whipped cream formula allows for deep pore cleansing whilst restoring your skin’s natural pH levels. Best part is its multitude of variations, from a moisturising Jojovender Vegan Pack Cleanser enriched with jojoba and lavender oils to the soothing Mugtree Vegan Pack Cleanser that is more suited for sensitive skin.
Whipped Mugtree Vegan Pack Cleanser, $29 for 130g, available at Olive Young Global
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Paula's Choice Perfectly Balanced Foaming Cleanser
A holy grail that gets the job done, Paula’s Choice has a number of cream-based cleansers, but this cream-to-foam formulation lathers up for a soft, non-stripping cleanse that is suitable across skin types—keeping excess sebum, redness and dullness at bay.
Paula’s Choice Perfectly Balanced Foaming Cleanser, $39 for 190ml, available at Sephora
