A gel-to-foam facial cleanser for normal to oily skin, designed to remove excess oil, dirt and sebum while helping maintain the skin's natural barrier with ceramides, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid.
Purified Water, Glycerin, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceramide 3, Ceramide 6 II, Ceramide 1, Hyaluronic Acid, Cholesterol, Polyoxyl 40 Stearate, Glyceryl Monostearate, Stearyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 20, Potassium Phosphate, Dipotassium Phosphate, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Cetyl Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Phytosphingosine, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Carbomer, Xanthan Gum
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Guru Score
The Guru Score: every expert's verdict on a product, in one simple number.
Under the score you'll see how many experts weighed in, or "Early verdict" while only a few have. Paid takes count for half in the score.
Guru Certified means at least 6 experts, a score of 85% or more, and almost no Nays.
How we score →Yay
23 experts · Strong agreementWhat the gurus are saying
Here's a foaming cleanser that lathers up properly without leaving skin tight, and that's what the gurus keep coming back to. Ceramides and niacinamide get the credit, and it's fragrance-free. It's built for oily skin, though one dry, sensitive-skinned reviewer got along with it too. The one shrug: it's not the best at stubborn makeup or sunscreen, and one reviewer found it near-identical to its sibling cleanser.
What they liked
What they flagged
Best for
Type
Key actives
Formula notes
The concerns the experts tie this product to, in their own words. Paid and founder takes don't count.
“So if you have oily skin and you have acne prone skin but you're scared of over stripping your skin of its natural oils this one might be a good one for you.”
Dr. Shereene Idriss, watch at 14:11
“It really cleanses well, removes impurities and makeup effectively, and also contains three essential ceramides and hyaluronic acid that's going to support your skin barrier while you're cleansing.”
Dr. Jenny Liu, watch at 4:12
Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.
Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.
Ceramides are part of the skin's own barrier, and moisturisers built around them have evidence for holding water in and settling the tightness and flaking that come with a damaged barrier.
Source: DermNet
Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.
Source: DermNet
A gel-to-foam facial cleanser for normal to oily skin, designed to remove excess oil, dirt and sebum while helping maintain the skin's natural barrier with ceramides, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid.
Mostly yes. 21 of the 23 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 79%.
CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser holds a Guru Score of 79%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 23 expert reviewers we have collected.
CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser is generally suited to oily skin and normal skin.
In their reviews, experts say CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser is good for excess oil and shine (10 experts), breakouts and acne (1 expert) and skin barrier support (1 expert).
10 experts who reviewed CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser say it is. Dr. Daniel Sugai put it this way: “Foam picks up excess oil very well.”
Lower-priced products in the same category that the experts still rate highly.
See how they stack up →Other products the same gurus have weighed in on, plus more from this brand and category.
Compare side by side →Stories where our editors dug into this product or its brand.
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