I’ve been compiling this “super 6” cleanser list in my head for a while, these are the ones that have migrated to a permanent place in my bathroom…
First up, Jane Scrivner’s Skinfoliate isn’t a cleanser per se but it’s so good it had to be on here (more on it in a minute).
Similarly, Omorovicza’s recently-launched Peachy Micellar Cleansers (textured discs the size of large cotton eye makeup pad) are not your classic cleanser but they did leave my face feeling vital, toned, smoother and deep cleansed.
I would give all of the above products a “10”.
And this is why:
TOP ROW – L to R
TROPIC SKINCARE SMOOTHING CLEANSER £16/120ml (comes with a soft bamboo face cloth)
Tropic Skincare is one of the fastest-growing beauty companies now, and the more you get to know their launches, the more you know why.
This brand’s overall offering has bloomed quickly. The launches all have lots in common: great natural ingredients, enjoyable textures, an aromatherapy element comes into play, they feel luxurious, great to use and they work.
Tropic’s multi award-winning Smoothing Cleanser reminded me of Liz Earle’s Hot Cloth Cleanser when I first used it but I think it just has the edge on Liz Earle’s (IF I had to choose but I like both) – plus it’s a bit less eucalyptus and veers more in a “rosemary” olfactory direction.
It sweeps everything off in its stride including mascara and eyeliner (no stinging eyes) and the accompanying free bamboo cloth literally is the softest ever!
It’s slightly less expensive than Liz Earle’s at £16/120ml (and 20ml larger).
The ingredients are:
Chamomile Flower Infusion, Sweet Almond Oil, Golden Jojoba Oil, Coconut and Cassava Derived Emulsifiers, Plant Glycerin, Probiotic Derived Peptides, Coconut Extract, Avocado Oil, Shea Butter, Soy Lecithin, Organic Grapefruit Seed Extract, Vitamin E, Green Tea Extract, Essential Oils of Rosemary, Lemongrass and Eucalyptus, Plant Derived Preservatives, Sugar Beet Lactic Acid
INCI:
chamomilla recutita flower infusion, prunus amygdalus dulcis oil, simmondsia chinensis seed oil, cetearyl alcohol, cetearyl glucoside, glycerin, lactobacillus ferment, cocos nucifera fruit extract, persea gratissima fruit oil, butyrospermum parkii seed butter, lecithin, citrus grandis seed extract, tocopherol, camellia sinensis leaf extract, rosmarinus officinalis leaf oil, cymbopogon flexuosus oil, eucalyptus globulus leaf oil, sodium anisate, sodium levulinate, glyceryl caprylate, lactic acid, limonene*, linalool* *component of natural essential oils
If you like a creamy-lotion all-face cleanser, this one suits all skins. I like it so much I’ve decanted mine so I can travel with it.
JANE SCRIVNER SKINFOLIATE £26/150ml
Imagine a tonic-meets-toner-meets-AHA/BHA/glycolic acid exfoliator (no beads or grains here, just a super-refreshing “water”, an effective, tonifying blend of different, all natural glycolic and hydroxy acids).
This is it.
How you should use it
Award-winning British faciast Jane Scrivner suggests starting slowly – maybe once or twice a week. Then, build up to morning and evening, after cleansing. Pour a few drops on a cotton pad, sweep over the face, neck and decollete and you can immediately feel this product’s fresh, exfoliating resurfacing action.
For me, the skin-brightening effect is clear to see and I like the psychological satisfaction of knowing Skinfoliate is sweeping away dead cells and encouraging new cell turnover and boosting collagen (thanks to the AHAs) while the BHAs exfoliate pores.
It’s become my favourite “resurfacing refresher”. If your skin has lost is luminosity, introducing this product could be pretty key to transforming it from dull/tired to better & brighter. It reveals a lovely smooth base for fake tans and foundations too.
INGREDIENTS
INCI: Aqua (Water), Acetic Acid (Apple Cider Vinegar), Lactic Acid , Vaccinium Myrtillus Fruit Extract (Bilberry Fruit), Benzyl Alcohol, Saccharum Officinarum Extract (Sugar Cane), Salix Alba Bark Extract (White Willow), Lavandula Angustifolia Oil Lavender Flower Oil), Ananas Sativus Fruit Extract (Pineapple Fruit), Acer Saccharum Extract (Sugar Maple), Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Fruit Extract, Salicylic Acid, Arctium Lappa Root Extract (Burdock Root), Hamamelis Virginiana Leaf Extract (Witch Hazel Leaf), Citrus Limon Fruit Extract Lemon), Sorbic Acid, Glycerin. d-Limonene, Geraniol, Linalol
REN CLEAN SKINCARE ROSA CENTIFOLIA CLEANSING GEL £18/150ml
First up, bravo to REN Clean Skincare for being so vocal and for taking action against plastic pollution.
REN’s CEO, Arnaud Meysselle, said at a conference in Cannes last week:
“Packaging has meant luxury. The more packaging, the more luxury. At REN Clean Skincare, we decided to break that code. Packaging isn’t luxury anymore, packaging is waste.”
No hot cloths for this one. Just pump a couple of pumps of this sulphate-free, light aloe and rose water based gel on to damp palms, lather and massage over the face then rinse off and pat dry and you’re good to go.
INGREDIENTS
Aqua (Water), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Glycerin, Coco Glucoside, Polysorbate 20, Xanthan Gum, Panthenol, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Lauroyl Oat Amino Acids, Potassium Sorbate, Rosa Damascena Flower Oil, Parfum* (Fragrance), Rosa Damascena Extract, Cymbopogon Martini Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Rosa Centifolia Flower Extract, Lactic Acid, Citronellol, Geraniol * 100% Natural Fragrance – Parfum 100% Natural
“CLEAN BEAUTY, CLEAN PLANET”
REN has pledged to be Zero Waste by 2021 (aka SOON) and has partnered with the Surfrider Foundation in a big beach clean-up campaign. It’s also repackaging its products to make them more “Reduce, Recycle, Reuse” friendly.
As Meysselle says “Since REN Clean Skincare launched in East London in 2000, we have embraced our role as beauty industry activists and have never stopped looking for ways to improve the efficacy of our clean skin-care products and to reduce the environmental impact of our brand.
Our passion for the health of the planet and our fearless approach to innovation empowered us to take the next important step for our company — extending our Clean to Skin mission to include Clean to Planet.”
Hashtag #CleanToPlanet
BOTTOM ROW – L TO R
NEAL’S YARD REMEDIES WILD ROSE BEAUTY BALM
The One Pot Wonder
£40/50g
A legend in natural beauty circles, there’s not much this unctuous, plant-powered healing, repairing balm can’t cover. Face, body, cuticles, lips, nails, eyebrow tamer and cheekbone highlighter, dry patches…
NYR’s multipurpose 99% organic star shines in beauty rituals, too. As an oil-balm cleanser, as an overnight treatment and as a winter balm or a post-beach face balm and it’s great for smooth heels in summer.
When you finish the balm, you can use the midnight blue glass jars as tealight candle holders.
If I travel, this is another product I have to take with me (like Tropic’s cleanser), so I’ll scoop out enough for a week into a little glass lip balm pot.
Ingredients include irritation soother starflower oil, anti-inflammatory frankincense and cult current favourite, hemp seed oil. I’d be quite tempted to launch a limited edition version with a gorgeous hemp and rose design label, in swirls of green and pink…straight from the back of a Malibu biker’s leather jacket.
INGREDIENTS
Rosa rubiginosa (Wild rose) seed oil*, Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) seed oil*, Cera alba (Beeswax)*, Butyrospermum parkii (Shea butter)*, Cannabis sativa (Hemp) seed oil*, Borago officinalis (Starflower) seed oil*, Boswellia carterii (Frankincense) oil, Ascorbyl palmitate, Pelargonium graveolens (Geranium) flower oil*, Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) leaf oil*, Cymbopogon martini (Palmarosa) herb oil*, Pogostemon cablin (Patchouli) leaf oil*, Geraniol, Citronellol, Limonene, Linalool, Citral, Farnesol.
*Organically produced ingredient. Natural constituent of essential oils listed.
Made with 99% organic ingredients.
OSKIA CITY LIFE CLEANSING CONCENTRATE
Velvet Foaming Anti-Pollution Gel Cleanser £34/40ml
If you love “squeaky clean” meets nature meets science and your skin veers towards oily (and you love eucalyptus) this cleanser will tick your boxes.
Best Cleanser for Oily Skin/Breakouts – Beauty Shortlist Awards 2019
Best Cleansing Gel – Beauty Shortlist Awards 2019
Highlights:
* pH balanced
* With Aquacacteen refined cactus stem cell elixir
* Natural exfoliators: Phytic Acid and Willow Bark
* MSM, OSKIA’s signature skin supplement
pH: 5.5
* Suitable for: all ages, particularly suited to oily skin types.
I’ve found this to be a deep cleanser that delivers that squeaky clean (again), baby soft kind of skin, like freshly washed sheets – for your face.
OMOROVICZA PEACHY MICELLAR CLEANSERS
I’d been eyeing these for a few weeks before I got to try them, wondering what might be special about these cotton discs embedded in a gentle micellar water. Being Omorovicza, I was pretty sure they’d work, but they went way beyond that.
At £35 for 60 discs these would be a luxurious short cut/indulgent/lazy cleansing treat but I have never seen such thorough cleansing from what are essentially textured (which helps scoop out dirt or dead cells) micellar water pads.
They work so well. I would probably use them when I’m tired or after a party when I just want to hit the pillow or take them on a weekend away to avoid having to pack bottles of cleansers and hot cloths, etc.
Here are the ingredients:
Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Propanediol, Olive Oil PEG-7 Esters*, Yeast Extract, Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Sodium Levulinate, Sodium Anisate, Benzyl Alcohol, Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside, Citric Acid, Phospholipids, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Parfum (Fragrance), Dehydroacetic Acid. *PEG of natural origin from Olive.
Although the ingredients are different, the cleansing/toning/smoothing/refreshing effect of these pads reminds me a little of Jane Scrivner’s Skinfoliate.
I know I’ll be using all of the above on a repeat basis in coming years. Full marks.