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Clinique

Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm.

Clinique
Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm
Cleansers

About this product

An oil-based cleansing balm designed to remove makeup, sunscreen, and impurities from the face. Fragrance-free and contains ceramides and niacinamide.

Best for

Dry skinSensitive skin
Cleansers

The Guru Index verdict

81%

Approved

Approved · 81%
13Reviewers
11Approved
2Mixed
0Skip
#8 in Best Cleansers

What the gurus are saying

Gurus love this balm for its reliable ability to dissolve waterproof and stubborn makeup without harsh tugging, and appreciate the gentle slip of the formula. The large jar size offers good value for frequent users. A few note the price is steep for what is ultimately a simple, basic formula, though effectiveness keeps it a repurchase favorite.
Synthesized from 13 expert reviews

Key actives & flags

Vitamin EFragrance-freeAlcohol-free

Full ingredients

Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Caprylic/​Capric Triglyceride, Sorbeth-30 Tetraoleate, Polyethylene, Peg-5 Glyceryl Triisostearate, Water, Tocopherol, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

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 only Skip only Mixed only Hide sponsored
Approved
"My favorite cleansing balm has been the Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm for years. This balm takes off my waterproof eyeliner, my tubing mascara, all my tenacious sunscreen and makeup in one step."
All 15 takes from HotandFlashy
Best Skincare of 2025 for Mature Skin!
"My favorite cleansing balm has been the Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm for years. This balm takes off my waterproof eyeliner, my tubing mascara, all my tenacious sunscreen and makeup in one step."
SEPHORA HOLIDAY SALE STARTS TODAY!! My Top Picks
"One thing that I love getting at Sephora always is my Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm. This is by far the best cleansing balm ever, hands down. Removes all your makeup, no matter what it is. If it's tenacious waterproof sunscreen, if it's waterproof eyeliner, waterproof mascara."
Summer Skincare Routine Update! Increase Collagen & Reduce Wrinkles | Over 50!
"For that I'll usually use Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm. I just take a scoop of one of these and I rub it into my dry face then I give that a splash with water then I rub my Wonder cloth around my face that removes more of the makeup and more of the dirt and more of the sunscreen rinse this and everything rinses right off the Wonder cloth."
Summer Skincare Routine Vlog!
"I usually use my Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm. I just rub it right into my dry skin, rub it right into the base of my lashes, go underneath. Everything comes out nice and clean. I love them."
SPRING Sephora SALE! Top Picks for Mature Skin!
"Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm is my favorite first-step cleanser. It's an oil-based balm that you just rub into your dry skin and it removes all your most stubborn makeup, your most stubborn skin care, your most stubborn tinted sunscreen. No matter what you want to get off, this will get it off quickly and easily."
Winter Anti-Aging Skincare Routine Update! Over 40, 50, 60+
"I love this. I work it into my dry skin, I put it right on top of the makeup and this really breaks up all the makeup, it breaks up the sunscreen. Then I splash my face with water and that emulsifies the oil and most of the makeup runs down the drain."
BEST of Nordstrom Anniversary SALE! My Top Picks
"Another great deal is the Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm. You guys know that has been my favorite for years. And they have the big tub for $36 in the sale. So, I'm going to be grabbing one of those."
Sephora Spring Sale Starts Today! TWO Tutorials w My TOP Picks | Everyday + Perfected
"This is the best cleansing balm for removing your makeup. There's no harsh rubbing or scrubbing or tugging at your skin because it's so slippery it just slips around, so you're actually doing your face a favor and you're helping your skin to look younger by not tugging at your skin. I definitely will be purchasing another one of these."
Counting Down The BEST SKINCARE of 2024!
"Fragrance free, it contains ceramides and niacinamide so it's got everything that I'm looking for in a facial cleanser. It's a little bit thicker than the Derma e that I was using before, so when I go to wash my face with it, it's not just like running through my fingers and disappearing. It's very soothing, it's very mild, it doesn't burn my eyes or anything. My favorite is still the Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm for the first step in my double cleanse with the Wonder Cloth, but this for the second step I love, or on days where I'm just wearing sunscreen and I don't even put on mascara, this is getting off my sunscreen really really well with the Wonder Cloth."
My EVENING Anti-Aging SKINCARE ROUTINE | Over 60 | Winter 2025
"The Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm has been my ultimate favorite for a lot of years now. I really love this, I looked in my cabinet and I have two backups of this, that's how much I love it. I just take a scoop and I rub it onto my dry skin, I rub it into the base of my lashes to get my mascara off, my waterproof eyeliner. It never stings or burns my eyes. Then I splash that with water, the water emulsifies with the oil balm and then all my makeup, all my sunscreen runs right down the drain."
SKINCARE Products I USED UP! | Face & Body Skincare Empties 2025
"This one is my all-time favorite, the Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm. When I'm washing my face, I don't like a lot of tugging and pulling to get like my waterproof eye makeup, mascara, and eyeliner off. And with an oil-based balm, you can rub it in and it has so much slip to it that it doesn't yank your skin around."
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"I use the Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm. I find that using an oil-based cleansing balm is really the gentlest way to get off all your makeup, all your tenacious sunscreen, even your waterproof mascara, eyeliner. It comes off so quickly and easily with this. I've tried a ton of them. There are some other ones that I do like almost as much as this, but this is one that I always go back to. So, I just take a glob of this and I rub it into my dry skin with all the makeup. It melts it right away."
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"This is my favorite way to remove my makeup. I do a double cleanse and this is the first step in it, and I love it that they sell it in this whopper of a jar because it means less repurchasing. With a smaller jar I find that I go through them fairly quickly and I have to be buying one every 3 months or so, whereas this guy will last me a good 6 months."
Giving Thanks, Not Retiring, + A Few More Black Friday Sales!
"The Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm, which is my favorite first cleanse to get rid of tenacious sunscreen and waterproof eye makeup."
Trash or Treasure? Reviewing Products I've Used Up! Makeup, Skincare, Beauty
"The Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm is just so nice to use. It doesn't take a lot and you just rub it into your dry skin. Your makeup dries, it makes the makeup just melt right away. Then you just splash it with water, give it a little rub, and all the makeup just runs right down the drain. This is a really good one. I have repurchased this and bought the larger size tub."
~Mixed
"Clinique's Take the Day Off balm is iconic. It's very nice. It's very simple. It's fragrance-free and it gets the job done. This has safflower seed oil, ethexel palmitate, and a few emulsifiers. It melts down makeup and sunscreen and rinses clean. It's very basic. It's more of a cosmetically elegant kind of feeling. It's nice. A little bit pricey."
~Mixed
"I actually get by with using the Clinique cleansing balm because I wasn't using it back to back all the time. I don't wear makeup every day. I went through a phase last year where I had to wear makeup every day, and I was breaking out in areas where I don't typically break out, and then I realized that the cause was actually the Clinique cleansing balm. So I think if you use it occasionally, you're good. If you use it constantly every day, then it could clog your pores."
Approved
"Clinique makes a really good one, but still it's hard to hold a flame to the pharmacy one which just works so well."
All 3 takes from Doctorly
Saturday Skincare Live!
"Clinique's is in a big purple container for a cleansing balm. I use that a lot, it's huge, it's great. It's very gentle, I think it's fragrance free. I love the Clinique cleansing balm. It's probably in my top three cleansing balms, something I use a ton of and need more of at any given point."
Weekend Live QnA
"The Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm is a lifesaver."
The Ultimate Summer Skincare Routine
"Clinique makes a really good one, but still it's hard to hold a flame to the pharmacy one which just works so well."
Approved
"I love the Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm. It's a great makeup removing cleansing balm. I love it for the first step of my skincare routine at night that gently removes everything without stripping your skin barrier at the same time. When you rinse it off it leaves minimal residue."
Approved
"Clinique's Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm is probably okay to get here. It's $19.99, pretty good deal. I'd get the travel one though because that's kind of a more convenient thing to have in your travel bag as a cleansing balm, and it can be hard to find cleansing balms that are small."
All 9 takes from Dr Dray
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"Clinique's Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm is probably okay to get here. It's $19.99, pretty good deal. I'd get the travel one though because that's kind of a more convenient thing to have in your travel bag as a cleansing balm, and it can be hard to find cleansing balms that are small."
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"Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm is a classic cleansing balm recommendation that is a really good product and continues to be a standout from this brand. It's no nonsense, free of fragrance, just a real simple ingredient list with nothing over the top. It's a very effective cleansing balm with a lightweight consistency that spreads on the surface really easily, melts over the skin breaking up that cosmetic film, and then nicely emulsifies and rinses off."
No More Vanicream Z-Bar | Skincare Vlog
"I have been removing my makeup with the Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm. This is a really good cleansing balm, a little on the pricey side although they do have sales from time to time."
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"This has to be the best one. It's free of fragrance, it's a pleasant experience to use, it glides on the skin surface very easily. It has emulsifiers in it which will allow the product to rinse off carrying away that makeup residue with it, and it really is nice to use, especially for breaking up mascara, for breaking up eye makeup, and also for helping to facilitate removal of water resistant sunscreen. I use it as part of a double cleanse. I happen to really enjoy using a cleansing balm, cleansing oil. I find that they are nice and gentle, especially on the eyelashes, they rinse off easily, they just really help carry away the makeup just more efficiently in my experience. This is just a product that is very good at doing what it's meant to do and I find helpful."
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"I have been using the Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm as the first step in the double cleanse and I love this, it's a great option. The thing I like about cleansing balms and cleansing oils is that it's a great way for people who have really sensitive irritated skin to take off their makeup without, you know, this doesn't sting. If you've got irritated skin going on or really a lot of sensitivity, this doesn't sting the way makeup removers can. I like this, it's really gentle. I happen to think doing this whether it be a balm or an oil has made a huge difference for me over the years in my eyelashes like I'm not spending time rubbing."
Skincare & Bedroom Tour | Vlog
"I've been using the Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm. The product comes out like a lotion almost. It has cocamidopropyl betaine, which is a surfactant, so you don't want to leave it on indefinitely, but it makes it work so well. I get it on my skin, do my hair shampooing and rinse it out, and then at that point it's been on the skin for a good bit of time, and I rinse it off. The reason I found it work so well doing it this way is that unlike a body wash in a washcloth with no lather that falls on the shower floor and gets stuck there, this actually stays with you."
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"Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm is probably one of my favorite Clinique products. I've been using it lately in the double cleanse pretty much all summer. It's really great at removing cosmetic residue, breaking up mascara, water resistant sunscreen, and it rinses off easily. I follow it up with a mild cleanser to wash my face and it works out quite well. It lasts a very long time. I still have quite a bit left and I've been using it every day for months and months now. It is fragrance free."
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"I finished Clinique's Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm recently, entire jar, and I'm coming back to it now. This is such an underrated cleansing balm. The price is great, it's free of fragrance, it's a nice experience to use. It creates like a silky creamy lather to melt away your makeup and sunscreen, and then it rinses off easily. You get a little bit of your gentle cleanser to actually wash your face properly. It is wonderful."
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"It works well, it's great for taking off water resistant sunscreen and makeup. It doesn't have any fragrance, rinses off easily, and emulsifies well with a little bit of water after you've rubbed it all over your face. I use a mild cleanser after rubbing this all over the face to really ensure I get everything off, but it works quite well. I don't ordinarily buy this because it is pricey and there's so many more affordable alternatives these days."
Approved
"I use Clinique Take The Day Off, that's the best thing for that kind of stage makeup. It's grease, it really is."
Approved
"Clinique makes a great Take The Day Off balm. I used to use that a lot and then I would follow it by a regular cleanser like the Phisoderm or the Cetaphil, those kind of fragrance-free clean cleansers. You want to make sure you get everything off."
Approved
"This one from Clinique is a great one. Lots of people use this cleansing balm, it's a really good one. Warm that up, don't put it directly onto your eyelashes and onto your eye makeup. Warm it up, turn it into an oil and you're going to get so much more out of that. I like products that don't dry me out while they're removing whatever makeup I had on during the day, and I find that this cleansing balm really does the job there. Work that into a beautiful oil, massage it onto your face and you won't even need to use a washcloth."
All 3 takes from Mixed Makeup
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"I love the Clinique Take The Day Off, it is a cleansing balm, it's very straightforward. It is such a good price, it is fragrance free, it works, it rinses well, it is solid, definitely solid. A cleansing balm starts off almost like a waxy texture and it melts into an oil, and that is the true benefit of a cleansing balm. You scoop out your cleansing balm, warm it into your hand to turn it into an oil, then rub it onto your face. You're going to use even less than you would think while you're massaging it onto your skin."
Reacting to John Wick Star Rina Sawayama's Skincare Routine! | Susan Yara
"I've been using this for a long time. This is great if you have heavy makeup. This gets off waterproof mascara and it should be the first step in your double cleansing routine. Take the Day Off from Clinique is one of the OGs of the cleansing balms. It's fragrance free, it does the job, and honestly I think it's one of the most affordable even compared to some of the ones that seemed cheaper in drugstores."
Reacting to Coco Jones's Dermatologist-Approved Skincare Routine! | Skincare Reactions w/ Susan Yara
"This one from Clinique is a great one. Lots of people use this cleansing balm, it's a really good one. Warm that up, don't put it directly onto your eyelashes and onto your eye makeup. Warm it up, turn it into an oil and you're going to get so much more out of that. I like products that don't dry me out while they're removing whatever makeup I had on during the day, and I find that this cleansing balm really does the job there. Work that into a beautiful oil, massage it onto your face and you won't even need to use a washcloth."
Approved
"The Clinique Take The Day Off comes in two sizes, the smallest size starts at ₹1350. Double cleansing your face is very important even if you don't wear makeup. If you are wearing waterproof makeup, do that. Otherwise, double cleanse 100% because if you are watching this video to this point, you must be applying sunscreen obsessively, and to break down that sunscreen you really need to use a cleansing balm."
All 2 takes from Nipun Kapur
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"The Clinique Take The Day Off comes in two sizes, the smallest size starts at ₹1350. Double cleansing your face is very important even if you don't wear makeup. If you are wearing waterproof makeup, do that. Otherwise, double cleanse 100% because if you are watching this video to this point, you must be applying sunscreen obsessively, and to break down that sunscreen you really need to use a cleansing balm."
LAYERED - Skincare Live
"Clinique, they are the expensive ones, are there for removing tan."
Approved
"A lot of my patients actually like the Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm. They say it helps really remove makeup. The Clinique cleansing balm has got some interesting ingredients: you've got safflower seed oil, caprylic triglycerides which are great for the skin barrier, and some vitamin E as well. So essentially it's just a fatty acid cleanser that helps with the skin barrier. It's amazing that it was able to take off a lot of heavy makeup."
Approved
"Clinique's Take The Day Off is a classic I love."
Approved
"If I have some waterproof mascara on then I like to use a little bit of the Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm. I use that over my eyes melt that out and then go ahead and use a cleanser. So I like to double cleanse when I'm using some makeup."
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