What The Chemists' Learned After 100 Days of Double Cleansing

What is double cleansing? (And why Victoria did a 100 day experiment)

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Double cleansing is a skincare method that involves using two types of cleansers: an oil-based cleanser to break down long-wear makeup, followed by a water-based cleanser to wash away any leftover impurities and residue. 

Because of Victoria’s more oily, acne-prone skin, the thought of double cleansing and the use of an oil cleanser felt daunting strictly because she feared the potential oily residue. However, thanks to the social media buzz, the double cleansing method seems to be touted for a lot of benefits despite extra cleansing power. It’s been linked to: fewer sebaceous filaments, pore reduction, and generally less congested, healthier skin. 

For those reasons, Victoria decided that for 100 days, she would double cleanse and document her experience along the way. To make things more interesting, she decided that she would test 10 oil cleansers and 10 gel cleansers in these 100 days to get a quick comparison of cleansing experience and texture and included below:

How to Double Cleanse: The Method

For this experiment, the double cleansing method used is as follows.

1. Apply the oil cleanser to a dry face.

2. Massage the oil cleanser

3. Rinse with warm water.

4. Immediately follow with a gel cleanser

5. Lather for ~30 seconds.

6. Rinse thoroughly and towel off

The First Step: The Cleansing Oil 

Oil cleansers are oil-based cleansers that are typically used for their high makeup removability. Surprisingly, despite this assumed characteristic, Victoria discovered that makeup removability varied and there was a variation in amount of residue left on skin. 

After trialing 10 cleansing oils, the main factors that contributed to the chemists’ likes and dislikes of cleansers were the following:

1. Gliding Texture: Some oil cleansers did not glide well and resulted in skin being pulled.

2. Smell: Some oil cleansers had fragrance, some had a fattier oil smell, and some oil cleansers smelled rancid.

3. Residue: While residue isn’t a strong factor when following up with a gel cleanser in double cleansing, some cleansers left a significant residue.

The 10 Cleansing Oils Tested

To help better organize cleansing oils, the chemists categorized the 10 cleansing oils based on price. Dieux’s Ethereal Cleansing Oil was also included since this was launched in the similar testing timeframe.

Very-Not-Cheap Luxe Cleansing Oils

• Tatcha Camellia Cleansing Oil ($50/150mL): The chemists were ready to hate on this oil because of the price tag, but it turns out this oil cleanser has cushion & glide that gives this cleansing experience a truly luxurious feel. 

• Dieux Ethereal Cleansing Oil ($28/100mL): This cleansing oil is the very powerful in makeup removability. The texture also has some body for a more luxury experience. Gloria’s dry skin was somewhat intimidated by the cleansing power to use this daily. If you use this one, you won’t need a lot of time to massage and remove.

Mid-Tier Affordable Cleansing Oils

One unique discovery from this group is that DHC, HaruHaru, Ma:nyo, Prequel, Anua, and Beauty of Joseon all used the same surfactant - Sorbeth-30 Tetraoleate. While there are some textural differences among these 6 cleansing oils, the cleansing power is pretty similar. 

• Bioderma Sensibio Micellar Oil ($26/150mL): This felt like a sleeper in this category. You don’t hear a lot about this brand, but Victoria was pleasantly surprised by the removability of this cleansing oil. The chemists ended up liking this one the most from this category.

• HaruHaru Wonder Black Rice Oil ($22/150mL): This had medium cleansability and some hydrating

• Ma:nyo Pure Cleansing Oil ($29/200mL): Out of all the Kbeauty cleansing oils, Victoria appreciate this one the most. It cleanses well with minimal residue. Note that this one comes fragranced.

• DHC Deep Cleansing Oil ($25/200mL): This cleansing oil happened to be the biggest surprise for Victoria out of the group. Despite all of its fame, this one leaves the most residue that really required the help of a second gel cleanser. DHC also caused the most fogginess with her contact lenses. 

• Prequel’s Pre-Gleanse Cleansing Oil ($22/193mL): This is a great US drugstore option for those that want to try a Kbeauty cleansing oil.

• Anua Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Oil ($20/200mL): Anua is also a solid option in the Kbeauty cleansing oil realm however Gloria has noticed that the fragrance seems to evolve over time. For fragrance-sensitive individuals this may not be an ideal option.

• Skin1004 Centella Madagascar Cleansing Oil ($21/200mL): This is probably Victoria’s least favorite cleansing oil next to DHC. This doesn’t have a lot of glide so when you use this oil, you’ll need extra pumps to prevent your massage experience from tugging at skin. The cleansability is also subpar.

• Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Oil ($20/210mL): This one was not a favorite simply due to fragrance. There is an herbal note layered over what smells like an oil going rancid.

Cheap Budget Friendly Cleansing Oil

• Kose Softymo Speedy Oil Cleanser ($10/230mL): This has been our benchmark cleansing oil for years. Putting aside its incredibly affordable price tag, this is a very efficient, inoffensive cleansing oil, with no fragrance that quickly gets the job done without a lot of time spent massaging and working at your stubborn mascara. Even in comparison to these other cleansing oils, it still reigns supreme as our top favorite.

The Second Step: The Gel Cleanser

As the second step of the double cleansing method, gel cleansers are mostly water-based cleansers with a clear aesthetic. This category of cleansers often serve as the second step to further cleanse skin from any residual makeup and/or cleansing oil residue. Gel cleansers can come with a variety of texture traits from level of foam, length of playtime (how long you can rub on skin), and skin finish.

After trialing 10 gel cleansers, the main factors that contributed to the chemists’ likes and dislikes of this category were the following:

1. Texture & Playtime: Some gel cleansers would dissolve on skin too easily leaving no time to lather on skin. We found not having enough time to lather led to poor cleansing power.

2. Skin Finish: Some gel cleansers left skin with a clean, tight finish while others left skin with a softened, hydrated finish. This aspect is more of a personal preference than an indicator of a formula being good or bad for skin.

Not-So-Cheap Luxe Gel Cleansers

• Dr. Idriss Soft Wash Jelly Cleanser ($30/154mL): This is a low-foam, thick gel cleanser that melts when massaged into skin, and leaves skin with a soft finish.

• Jordan Samuel The Matinee Gel Cleanser ($32/180mL): When applying this thick gel, it doesn’t quite break down and dissolve like other cleansers. Thus, when massaging, this will feel more like you’re massaging with a gel moisturizer than a cleanser. The cleansing power is mild but definitely a very unique and gentle cleansing experience.

• Dieux Baptism Foaming Cleanser ($34/200mL): This is a high-powered, frothy cleansing gel. Even for Victoria’s oily skin, she felt like half a pump was better suited to prevent reaching that squeaky-tight finish. This cleanser comes in a fragranced and non-fragranced option.

• Youth to the People Superfood Gel Cleanser ($39/237mL): Despite the higher price point, this is a pretty standard gel cleanser.

Mid-Tier Affordable Gel Cleansers

• Experiment’s Plasma Wash ($22/150mL): This is another thick gel with low foam that leaves skin with a soft finish.

• Krave Beauty’s Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser ($16/120mL): This is a coco betaine forward, frothy gel cleanser with an herbal scent. Of the high-foaming cleansers, this one leaves skin with a more hydrated skin finish.

• Chemist Confessions Blank Slate Gel Cleanser ($18/150mL): Obviously, this will be a biased review since we created this one. This texture is a thick gel with low foam that has solid cleansing power and can still leave skin with a soft, hydrated finish. One of the aspects we tried to capture was allowing enough playtime to massage for as long as needed to cleanse and work at the most stubborn of residues.

Cheap, Budget-friendly Gel Cleansers

• Byoma Creamy Jelly Cleanser ($14/175mL): Victoria was thrown off by the name of this cleanser. There is nothing creamy about this formula and if she could provide an example of a textbook, cocobetaine-forward cleanser, this would be the example.

• The Ordinary Glucoside Foaming Cleanser ($12.50/150mL): This is a very minimalistic gel cleanser with very few ingredients. The only problem with this texture is that the body does not hold and as soon as you squeeze this gel out, the gel immediately dissolves into a water-like consistency giving you barely anytime to actually cleanse on face.

• Prequel Gleanser ($18/400mL): In the grand scheme of facial cleansers, this is not Victoria’s favorite texture. However, in the realm of budget-friendly options, this cleanser is very interesting and does leave skin with a soft finish. Being the cheapest and having a unique texture makes this one of the favorites in the dirt cheap category.

After testing these 10 gel cleansers, we ultimately were hoping to provide shopping tips to best shop for this category. Ultimately, the chemists felt it really came down to texture preferences based on playtime and skin finish. To make things easier, we created a texture guide to categorize these cleansers below:

Should You Be Double Cleansing Every Day?

After 100 days of consistent double cleansing, as far as skin benefits go, Victoria felt that her skin congestion remained the same, but visually her pores felt more refined. Ultimately, this cleansing journey only reinforced that the frequency of double cleansing is highly dependent on your skin needs (which is a very obvious conclusion). Because Victoria cleanses both morning and night, she felt that her skin didn’t need to double cleanse daily. In fact, by the 100th day, her skin was starting to feel slightly dehydrated. Currently, her skin is much happier with just 2 double cleansing sessions a week. On the other hand, Gloria’s dry skin enjoys nightly double cleansing but she also only uses a splash of water in the morning. 

This journey is just a reminder to everyone that cleansing routines are personal. Some will enjoy daily double cleansing, while others would benefit from a lower frequency. In conclusion, factoring your whole cleansing regimen for both day and night, and how much cleansing power you need daily (from sunscreen and makeup use) can already set up a baseline of what cleansing power you need from your cleansers and how often double cleansing needs to be in your life.

References

Koo, J. S., & Seo, B. I. (2020). Comparative Study Before and After Washing Face with Seosiokyongsan CP Soap. The Korea Journal of Herbology, 35(1), 27–33. https://doi.org/10.6116/KJH.2020.35.1.27.

Koo, J. S. (2021). Comparative Study Before and After Washing Face with Ginseng CP Soap. Journal of Convergence for Information Technology, 11(5), 206–214. https://doi.org/10.22156/CS4SMB.2021.11.05.206