Beauty Skin-Care Tips

I’ve Been Using the Same Face Wash for Five Years—But It Has Officially Been Replaced

Zoe Weiner

September 12, 2020

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Photo: Biossance/W+G Creative

In a lot of ways, a cleanser is a cleanser. Most derms will tell you that any $8 bottle will get your face clean, as long as it's gentle and effective. But every once in a while, a cleanser formulation comes around that seems to blow all of the other options out of the (sudsy) water. The latest to do just this: Biossance Squalane Elderberry Jelly Cleanser ($28), which is like three dreamy cleansers for the price of one.

The new Biossance face wash is a jelly cleanser that magically transforms into an oil, then to a milk when you mix it with water. In many cases, you need a makeup remover or an oil-based cleanser and a water-based cleanser to ensure that your skin is totally clear (hence the popular double cleansing method), but because this formula morphs from a gel to an oil, it's able to function it's able to do both jobs. And since the cleanser transforms into a milk when it's ready to be washed off, it keeps your skin barrier feeling happy and not stripped.

Experts In This Article

Jené Roestorf, Jené Roestorf is a a South African biological scientist and the founder of Luxe Botanics.

“Creamy cleansers are replenishing and leave your skin barrier in tact,” Jené Roestorf, biological scientist and founder of Luxe Botanics, previously told Well+Good. “While the oil cleanser breaks everything down, a cream cleanser will remove any leftover residue and then replace the skin with everything it needs for its strong barrier.” The Biossance cleanser is also made with antioxidant-rich elderberry extract, which protects against environmental stressors like blue light and pollution, plus squalane to lock in moisture.

Shop now: Biossance Squalane and Elderberry Jelly Cleanser, $28

As someone with dry skin, I'd go so far as to dub this tube the perfect face wash. I've long been a member of the double-cleansing club (particularly on days when I wear makeup), but this stuff has rendered my makeup-removing step totally obsolete and has streamlined my evening routine. In the days B.C. (before this cleanser), my morning face wash was limited exclusively to micellar water for fear that a regular cleanser would strip my skin, but the fact that this product is so hydrating means that I can use it in the a.m., too. And what's more? Thanks to the elderberry, it's got the most glorious pink color, which brings a smile to my face every time I use it.

So let's pour one out for all of my other cleansers because they have officially been replaced.

Got more cleanser questions? Peep the video below.

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