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CeraVe

Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser.

CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser
Cleansers

About this product

A hydrating cream-to-foam cleanser designed to remove makeup and sunscreen while protecting the skin barrier, formulated with ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and amino acids.

Type

CleansersFoam & mousse

Formula notes

Fragrance-freeNo drying alcohol

Full ingredients

Guru Score

82%

Approved

6 experts · Strong agreement
6Gurus
5Approved
1Mixed
0Skip

What the gurus are saying

This cleanser transforms from a creamy texture to a gentle lather, striking a balance that removes makeup and oil without the stripped, squeaky-clean feeling that can damage your skin barrier, especially important if you're using retinoids or have sensitive skin. Dermatologists and skincare experts praise its versatility across all skin types, and it earns particular recognition for working well on combination skin (oily T-zone, dry cheeks) and for being free of cocamidopropyl betaine, a common allergen. Use morning and night, and know that while it handles makeup reasonably well, it does not replace a full double cleanse routine.
Synthesized from 6 expert reviews · most recent take April 2026

Where to buy

How it works Independent by design. Every take comes from a creator we have no relationship with. We do not ask anyone to review, and affiliate links never move a score.
Every take, in full

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Approved takes Critical takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
Dr. Aleksandra Brown
Dr. Aleksandra Brown
131k subs
✓Approved
"This is definitely one of my go-to cleansers if you want something that's going to do a good job at taking off your sunscreen and your makeup, but it's also going to protect your skin barrier. In your 30s and 40s, over-cleansing is one of the fastest ways to increase your dryness, irritation, and break down your skin barrier, especially if you're using retinoids. So, this cleanser is going to give you that clean feeling without the squeaky-clean stripping feeling. It's going to cleanse without stripping your skin's moisture, which is going to be essential for maintaining the healthy barrier. I think it works really well for all skin types, especially if you have sensitive or dry skin, and it's really gentle and really effective. The key ingredients here are ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and amino acids."
All 4 takes from Dr. Aleksandra Brown
Derm Shares the Best Affordable Skincare for Your 30s
"This is definitely one of my go-to cleansers if you want something that's going to do a good job at taking off your sunscreen and your makeup, but it's also going to protect your skin barrier. In your 30s and 40s, over-cleansing is one of the fastest ways to increase your dryness, irritation, and break down your skin barrier, especially if you're using retinoids. So, this cleanser is going to give you that clean feeling without the squeaky-clean stripping feeling. It's going to cleanse without stripping your skin's moisture, which is going to be essential for maintaining the healthy barrier. I think it works really well for all skin types, especially if you have sensitive or dry skin, and it's really gentle and really effective. The key ingredients here are ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and amino acids."
Dermatologist Approved SAFE Skincare Routine During Pregnancy!
"CeraVe makes a really good cleanser, the hydrating cream to foam cleanser, that not only hydrates your skin but also foams up to remove all that dirt, oil, and sunscreen from your face."
Affordable Anti-Aging Skincare Routine | Dr. Aleksandra Brown
"If you are going to cleanse in the morning something simple like CeraVe's cream to foam cleanser is perfect. It will be hydrating but it will also be foaming to remove any oil that you may have built up over the night or any skincare you applied last night. This is perfect for all skin types because it's gentle but it will also foam up. If you're more on the oily side it will remove the oil. Some of the key ingredients in this cleanser are things like ceramides which will help restore skin barrier and lock in moisture, hyaluronic acid to provide hydration and plump the skin, and amino acids which enhance skin hydration and support its natural repair process."
How a Dermatologist Transitions Her Skincare for Fall | Dr. Aleksandra Brown’s AM & PM Routine
"If you want if you want like a simpler cleanser, I'll tell you the next one that's going in my shower and it's kind of been going back and forth is this cream to foam cleanser. I love this one. My daughter uses it, too. It's great for eczema. It's great for sensitive skin, any sort of dry, irritated skin, hands, face, body, all of the above."
Dr. Daniel Sugai
Dr. Daniel Sugai
718k subs
✓Approved
"It could be their cream to foam cleanser, which is great at removing makeup as well."
All 9 takes from Dr. Daniel Sugai
Dermatologist Reviews: The Best Anti-Aging Skincare Routine for $100!
"Get a cleanser that's versatile. I like CeraVe's Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser, great for removing makeup and also washing your face. If you have combination skin, dry skin, just a great in-between cleanser for those who have combination skin, meaning oily T-Zone and dry cheeks. I've really liked the CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser. The larger size is 12 fluid ounces and will last you a long time. Use this morning and night."
The Ultimate CeraVe Anti-Aging Skincare Routine- Dermatologist Reviews
"I like to use the hydrating cream to foam cleanser because I have combination skin and it feels like a nice balance there. You have amino acids to help with the cleansing. It's a nice go-to cleanser and for people who wear makeup can also use this to remove makeup as well."
The Best Skin Care Routine for the Beach | Summer Sunscreen and Products for the Month
"If you have makeup, sunscreen, and you don't really want those actives because you're sensitive or you're allergic to them, CeraVe's Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser is a nice option at the end of the day."
Dermatologist Reviews: Affordable Drugstore Skincare Essentials
"If you have combination skin, CeraVe makes a nice cream to foam cleanser that removes makeup well. If you have that oily plus dry skin combination where you're oily in the T-Zone and dry in the cheeks, definitely consider their hydrating cream to foam cleanser."
Morning vs Night Skincare: What Matters for Anti-Aging?
"It could be their cream to foam cleanser, which is great at removing makeup as well."
Top Skincare Routine Mistakes You Need To Stop Making Now!
"Their hydrating cream to foam cleanser is really nice for combination skin like myself where you have an oily T-Zone and dry cheeks."
How to Upgrade your Nighttime Skincare Routine!
"The CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser is known to remove oil and makeup very well. It's your water-based cleanser after your oil-based cleanser or micellar water."
Dermatologist Reviews: Men’s Skincare Routine- Is there a difference between Men and Women?
"CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser is a good one for oily skin or combination skin. It has amino acid technology plus hyaluronic acid and ceramides. It also has niacinamide, which is vitamin B3 because it helps regulate sebum production, so I like niacinamide in my skincare products. It's a great way to start off the morning if you have really oily skin in the summertime."
Dermatologist Reviews: Holiday Skincare Picks for All Ages 2023
"If you have combination skin where you are oily in the T-Zone chin nose forehead and drying the cheeks go with their hydrating cream to foam cleanser"
Doctorly
Doctorly
3.57M subs
✓Approved
"I think there is no better compromise in a cleanser out there than the cream to foam cleanser. It's gentle but it's effective and it has like a very nice lather but it's not an irritating lather, it's like a hydrating lather. Huge fan of this, this is now like one of my all-time favorite cleansers I've ever tried. I use this consistently, if I see this on a shelf I'll probably go out of my way to use it even if it's like 11:00 a.m. on a Monday I might wash my face again just to use this cleanser. So it's outstanding. This is my favorite regular cleanser from CeraVe. It's good for pretty much every skin type, you could use it on the face, you could use it on the body, and it uses this special blend of amino acids to create the surfactant effect. What's nice about this is that this product does not contain cocamidopropyl betaine, and cocamidopropyl betaine is the second most common pediatric allergen nowadays and you'll see it in a lot of sensitive skin cleansers but it doesn't have that in the CeraVe products, so it's kind of nice that you know it really is made for sensitive skin in mind."
Top Pick: cleanser
All 4 takes from Doctorly
Products We HATE and LOVE from CeraVe | Doctorly Reviews
"I think there is no better compromise in a cleanser out there than the cream to foam cleanser. It's gentle but it's effective and it has like a very nice lather but it's not an irritating lather, it's like a hydrating lather. Huge fan of this, this is now like one of my all-time favorite cleansers I've ever tried. I use this consistently, if I see this on a shelf I'll probably go out of my way to use it even if it's like 11:00 a.m. on a Monday I might wash my face again just to use this cleanser. So it's outstanding. This is my favorite regular cleanser from CeraVe. It's good for pretty much every skin type, you could use it on the face, you could use it on the body, and it uses this special blend of amino acids to create the surfactant effect. What's nice about this is that this product does not contain cocamidopropyl betaine, and cocamidopropyl betaine is the second most common pediatric allergen nowadays and you'll see it in a lot of sensitive skin cleansers but it doesn't have that in the CeraVe products, so it's kind of nice that you know it really is made for sensitive skin in mind."
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"The cave hydrating cream to foam cleanser as well as a popular one for me."
Skincare QnA and Chill
"Whatever cleanser is certainly fine here. Let's say you use the CeraVe Cream-to-Foam Cleanser."
The ULTIMATE Normal & Combination Skincare Routine | Doctorly Routines
"The CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser is a great cleanser for normal skin. It's super balanced and gentle. I love a lather so it's still carries a lather, it's excellent. I get the little minis and take them out for vacation. It's a consistent cleanser, decent at removing makeup and sunscreen, though it doesn't qualify as your double cleanse."
Dr. Vanita Rattan
Dr. Vanita Rattan
1.22M subs
✓Mixed
"The ingredients are actually really simple: it's water, glycerin, cetyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, and ceramides. A very simple, gentle hydrating formula. It's actually feeling very soothing to the skin. I'm under a lot of lights right now and I feel like it's calming my skin. I like it. I would use this. I actually really love that. My water content has gone up to 92%, which I'm very happy about. I love this hydrating cleanser. It's actually better than the cream to foam."
No BS Beauty
No BS Beauty
89k subs
✓Approved
"The CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser is very nice. It says it's geared towards normal to oily skin but I find this works very nice on my dry skin in the dry winter and it's really affordable and the bottle's huge. Both of these from CeraVe are both winners for wintertime or for dry skin and the bottles again they're gigantic they will last you a long time."
Kelly Driscoll
Kelly Driscoll
90k subs
✓Approved
"I love that this is both a milky nourishing creamy kind of calming sensation but then it foams up and it actually cleans your skin effectively and rinses away without a film."
Common questions

Frequently asked.

What is CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser?

A hydrating cream-to-foam cleanser designed to remove makeup and sunscreen while protecting the skin barrier, formulated with ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and amino acids.

Is CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser worth it?

Mostly yes. 5 of the 6 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 82%.

What is CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser's Guru Score?

CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser holds a Guru Score of 82%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 6 independent expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.

Who is CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser best for?

CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser is generally suited to dry skin and sensitive skin.

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