Dr. Vanita Rattan has looked at 36 cleansers and approved 21 of them, a 58% approval rate. She keeps running into the same problems: fragrance, menthol, and pore-clogging oils. When a cleanser leaves those out, she usually likes it.
What does Dr. Vanita Rattan recommend in cleansers?
What she comes back to again and again is a short, gentle ingredients list with no fragrance, no essential oils, and no alcohol. She praised the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water for exactly that: a few mild surfactants, some glycerin to keep moisture in the skin, and nothing irritating. She also rates the CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser highly, pointing to its gentle surfactants and moisturising ingredients like ceramides, glycerin, and hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid. She likes cleansers that match the job to the skin type too. For cystic or severe acne, she recommends the CeraVe Acne Foaming Cream Cleanser with 4% Benzoyl Peroxide, because benzoyl peroxide kills acne bacteria with oxygen. For teens just starting out, she points to the Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture 5.5 Soft Cleansing Gel and the CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser as gentler choices. She named CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser her one category winner.
In her words
"It's got poloxamer 184, which is also a surfactant. And it's got glycerin in it, which is a humectant. So that just basically holds water in the top layer of skin. So it's a very basic ingredients list, which I love. There's no alcohol, no essential oils, and no fragrance. So this for me is a definite yes. Definitely worth buying. And nothing in this is going to irritate your skin. [...] It's a very gentle way for me to remove my makeup. So I definitely recommend the Micellar Cleansing Water."
"There's nothing in it that's going to irritate your skin. It's great for acne skin. It's got no fragrance, no essential oils, no alcohol. It's got no irritants, nothing that's going to sensitize your skin. It's a fantastic product for acne-prone skin. And actually it's very good for teen acne. So, when you're at about 13, 14, 15 years old and you're still quite young and you don't want to be applying some of the harsher products, this would be a very good cleanser for that age group as well."
"The Vanicream is brilliant. It's very hydrating, good for eczema. It doesn't have any other tyrosinase inhibitors to brighten the skin, but it's good if you have very dry skin."
"Go for a simple salicylic acid face wash like The INKEY List"
"If you have cystic acne or severe acne, use benzoyl peroxide because how it works is it kills the acne bacteria with oxygen. So for you this is a game changer."
"This is nave safe. No den alcohol, no fragrance, no essential oils. It's the bare minimum for skin of color and it's hydrating. So I really like this product and I would recommend it. It's even good for your teenage kids who are trying to get into skincare. [...] It's a really cute product and it's one that I would be okay with my daughter using and she's 11 years old."
How many cleansers has Dr. Vanita Rattan reviewed?
Dr. Vanita Rattan has reviewed 39 cleansers, for an approval rate of 54%. 21 approved, 3 mixed, and 15 skipped.
What has Dr. Vanita Rattan skipped in cleansers?
Twelve of the 36 cleansers did not make the cut, and the reasons are pretty consistent. Fragrance comes up most often. She skipped the CetaPhil Oily Skin Cleanser because it had seven separate fragrance ingredients, which she called unnecessary when the base formula already smells fine. She skipped the Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash for both fragrance and menthol. Menthol, she points out, is a sensitiser that should not go near already-inflamed acne skin. She also skipped the MIXSOON Bean Cleansing Oil for fragrance sitting high on the ingredients list with no real benefits to make up for it. And she skipped the BYOMA Melting Balm Cleanser because its main oil scores three out of five on the comedogenic scale, meaning it can clog pores. That is a real problem for the oily and acne-prone teens the range is aimed at.
"I just assumed that this would be a good product for oily acne-prone skin, but again it had fragrance in it, had menthol in it, had glycolic acid in it. So menthol is a sensitizer to the skin, fragrance is your number one cause of contact dermatitis and it's a co-sensitizer. This is a thing that there are 4,000 different fragrances and you don't know how your skin is going to react and you get delayed reaction. What's going to happen after years?"
"I know it's a wash-off cuz it's a cleanser, but it's just unnecessary. It's got amyl cinnamal in it. It's got benzyl benzoate in it. It's got citronellol. It's got geraniol. It's got linalool. It's got parfum. Like they literally it's like a whole puff perfume shop in this one product. [...] The product's not going to smell bad with all the ingredients that they've actually chosen. It's just actually just pandering to consumers."
"You want to avoid this if you have oily, acne prone skin. And the problem is this whole range has been made for teens and tweens who, guess what, tend to have more oily acne prone skin. So this isn't making much sense. The positives of this product is it's got niacinamide and ceramides. So what I would say is I actually really love this product if you have very dry skin or if you have eczema. But if you have oily, acne prone skin and you're a teenager, then this is one to avoid."
"It is highly comedogenic, it is something that you do not want to use if you have oily acne prone skin, avoid this product. The seventh ingredient in here is fragrance. That's really high up. That means that there's really nothing beneficial more than 1% and fragrance is not good for us. With this there's no benefits and it's all downside. So even though it's super viral and it looks cool and it's very affordable, it's something I would tell you to stay clear of."
What should you take from Dr. Vanita Rattan's picks?
Dr. Vanita Rattan's record on cleansers comes down to one clear idea: keep it simple and keep out the irritants. If a cleanser is free of fragrance, essential oils, alcohol, and pore-clogging oils, she is very likely to approve it. If it has any of those, she is very likely to skip it. For anyone with acne-prone or sensitive skin, her takes are worth reading carefully before you choose.
Watch Dr. Vanita Rattan say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- CeraVe Hydrating Facial CleanserNamed a winnerWatch at 4:26
- Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne WashSkipped itWatch at 20:32
- CetaPhil Oily Skin CleanserSkipped itWatch at 15:28
- BYOMA Melting Balm CleanserSkipped itWatch at 3:15
- MIXSOON Bean Cleansing OilSkipped itWatch at 3:47
- Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Light Cleansing OilSkipped itWatch at 7:06
- Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Moisture Barrier CleanserSkipped itWatch at 6:57
- Numbuzin Easy Peasy Cleansing OilSkipped itWatch at 4:01
- Elmus Pro Collagen Makeup Melting Cleansing BalmSkipped itWatch at 2:14
- Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Super Soft Foam CleanserSkipped itWatch at 24:45
- Super Facialist Vitamin C Brightening Skin Renew Cleansing OilSkipped itWatch at 5:46
- Simple Kind to Skin Hydrating Cleansing OilSkipped itWatch at 4:25
- Minimalist Alpha Lipoic Plus Glycolic Acid CleanserSkipped itWatch at 6:50
- Beauty of Joseon Radiance Cleansing BalmSkipped itWatch at 13:45
- Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Cleansing OilSkipped itWatch at 17:48
- CeraVe Hydrating Foaming Oil CleanserSkipped itWatch at 4:16
- Garnier Micellar Cleansing WaterRated itWatch at 16:28
- CeraVe Renewing SA CleanserRated itWatch at 4:50
- Vanicream Gentle Facial CleanserRated itWatch at 7:43
- The INKEY List 2% Salicylic Acid CleanserRated itWatch at 0:57
- CeraVe Acne Foaming Cream Cleanser with 4% Benzoyl PeroxideRated itWatch at 6:37
- Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture 5.5 Soft Cleansing GelRated itWatch at 4:37
- BYOMA Milky Jelly CleanserRated itWatch at 2:10
- Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture Deep Cleansing OilRated itWatch at 0:02
About this expert
See everything Dr. Vanita Rattan has reviewed
Related guides
This guide reflects what Dr. Vanita Rattan said across her videos about 39 products in cleansers, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The approval rate is the share of these products she approved. It is general information, not medical advice.