Wash your face twice a day. That is the simple rule. But here is the part most people miss: one of those two washes can just be water. Splashing your face with lukewarm water in the morning is often enough. You do not need to reach for a cleanser every single time.
If your skin is very oily, that changes things. It is fine to use a stronger cleanser twice a day. Your skin can usually handle it, and it may feel better for it.
The goal is simple: clean skin, without stripping it. Match how often — and how strong — you cleanse to how your skin actually feels.
| Key active | Ceramides + niacinamide + hyaluronic acid |
| Texture | Gel that foams |
| Best for | Normal to oily skin |
| Approximate price | $15–$17 |
| Fragrance | Fragrance free |
The surfactants are a sensible, mild combination — cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine, sodium lauroyl sarcosinate and sodium methyl cocoyl taurate. No sulfates, no soap. It cleans properly without being harsh, which is the hard balance to strike in a foaming cleanser.
Ceramides and niacinamide mean it supports the barrier while it cleans.
Fragrance-free, and it will actually remove sunscreen — unlike CeraVe's Hydrating cleanser.
Independent testing puts its pH around 5.5, which is close to skin's own.<sup><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-2494.2006.00344.x">1</a>, <a href="https://ijdvl.com/the-ph-of-skin-cleansers-for-acne/">2</a></sup> Traditional soap sits at pH 9–10 and can dry skin out — this is not soap.
It contains parabens — while CeraVe's Hydrating cleanser was reformulated to use phenoxyethanol instead. Two products, one line, one shelf, inconsistent preservative systems.
To be clear: parabens are among the best-studied preservatives there are, and the evidence that they are harmful at cosmetic levels is weak.<sup><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1091581820925001">3</a>, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetic-ingredients/parabens-cosmetics">4</a></sup> The criticism is not that parabens are dangerous. It is that CeraVe evidently decided to move away from them and only did it in some products — which tells you the decision was about marketing, not safety.
It can be drying for genuinely dry skin. It is a foaming cleanser; that is the job.
Take the “3 essential ceramides” marketing in proportion. Ceramides are fats your skin already makes, and ceramide moisturizers have reasonable evidence for supporting the skin barrier — so this is a sensible ingredient to include. Two fair caveats for this product: it is a cleanser you rinse off, so it gets less contact time than a leave-on moisturizer, and researchers still debate the mechanism. As one clinical review notes, it is “unclear whether exogenously applied ceramides are actually incorporated” into the skin's own lipid matrix, or whether they mainly work by adding surface moisture.<sup><a href="https://jcadonline.com/multivesicular-emulsion-ceramide-containing-moisturizers-an-evaluation-of-their-role-in-the-management-of-common-skin-disorders/">5</a></sup>
Water, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Glycerin, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, PEG-150 Pentaerythrityl Tetrastearate, [Niacinamide](/ingredients/niacinamide), PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Propylene Glycol, Ceramide NP, Ceramide AP, Ceramide EOP, Carbomer, Methylparaben, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Cholesterol, Disodium EDTA, Propylparaben, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Hydrolyzed [Hyaluronic Acid](/ingredients/hyaluronic-acid), Phytosphingosine, Xanthan Gum
1. Natural skin surface pH is on average below 5, which is beneficial for its resident flora (https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-2494.2006.00344.x). Lambers H, Piessens S, Bloem A, Pronk H, Finkel P. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2006. 2. The pH of skin cleansers for acne (https://ijdvl.com/the-ph-of-skin-cleansers-for-acne/). Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology, 2015. 3. Amended Safety Assessment of Parabens as Used in Cosmetics (https://doi.org/10.1177/1091581820925001). Cherian P, Zhu J, Bergfeld WF, et al. Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel. International Journal of Toxicology, 2020. (Panel conclusion: parabens are safe as used in cosmetics up to 0.8% total.) 4. Parabens in Cosmetics (https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetic-ingredients/parabens-cosmetics). U.S. Food & Drug Administration. (FDA: no information showing that parabens as used in cosmetics affect human health.) 5. Multivesicular Emulsion Ceramide-containing Moisturizers: An Evaluation of Their Role in the Management of Common Skin Disorders (https://jcadonline.com/multivesicular-emulsion-ceramide-containing-moisturizers-an-evaluation-of-their-role-in-the-management-of-common-skin-disorders/). Zeichner JA, Del Rosso JQ. Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, 2016;9(12):26-32. (Source of the quotation on ceramide incorporation.)