This foaming oil cleanser proposes an alternative for people who don’t like to compromise either on effectiveness or on the moisture level of their skin. Read on to find out my opinion on this product as a person with combination skin who often experiences dryness and acne breakouts.
Table of Contents
What I enjoyed about it
- Effective foaming cleanser
- Comparatively non-stripping
- Doesn´t aggravate irritated skin
- Affordable (lower price, bigger bottle)
- Skin loving ingredients such as ceramides and squalane support skin health
What I disliked about it
- Although perfect for the evening cleanse, it can be a bit too drying for the morning
CeraVe is one of those brands you cannot avoid hearing about at one point if you are interested in skincare. Their effective but inexpensive products are highly rated and they are becoming more and more easily available in most countries. There has not been one single dermatologist that I´ve been to (and there have been quite a few over the years) that didn´t recommend me a CeraVe cleanser, the latest one being the CeraVe Hydrating Foaming Oil Cleanser. It is a product targeted exactly at my category of skincare consumers: those who need an effective cleanse, but whose skin can sometimes get dry and irritated because of products and treatments they have been using. People whose moisture barrier is suffering and wasting away but who wear makeup, sunscreen and live in cities where pollutants bombard our skin everyday.
CeraVe´s approach to skincare
CeraVe´s whole brand is based around the idea of maintaining your skin barrier´s health and their products are formulated to be irritant-free and packed full of beneficial ingredients such as ceramides. Ceramides are essential fatty molecules that make up the skin and play a very important role in its health. It has been shown that patients with skin conditions such as acne, eczema and psoriasis present a lower concentration of ceramides in the superficial layers of their skin. Ceramides are part of a system which basically acts like a barrier between the deeper layers of the skin and the environment, not letting any of the water out (thus maintaining hydration) or allowing any potentially damaging entities in. Thus they play an important role in the skincare routines of people with dry, damaged or older skin, seeing as the level of ceramides naturally decreases with age. CeraVe use what is called the Multivesicular Emulsion (MVE) technology, which helps deliver these ceramides more efficiently to the skin barrier and to provide a gradual release over time, thus ensuring that your skin gets replenished for a longer time after application.
What are the claims of this product?
The Hydrating Foaming Oil Cleanser promises to be an effective remover of makeup and debris while leaving the skin hydrated and comfortable. It contains three types of essential ceramides, but it´s also enriched with squalane oil, triglycerides and hyaluronic acid, which are all amazing moisturizing ingredients. It should be ideal for dry to very dry skin and can be suitable for use on babies older than three months. It is non-comedogenic and doesn´t leave any residue behind, which is different from many oil cleansers. I also like that it is gynecologist tested so it is suitable to be used as an intimate wash. This is truly an all-rounder product!
There is however a point of confusion, and that would be its name (Foaming Oil Cleanser), which tempts us into thinking this would be a classical cleansing oil. Although some oil cleansers can contain surfactants, the main way in which they work is by well… being oily. They are basically a solvent for all the other fatty substances on our skin, such as sunscreen and makeup and their primary ingredients are plant oils. Thus they usually leave some residue behind and need to be followed by another type of cleanser in a process called double cleansing. This product however is not a dedicated makeup removing product, but an actual face and body wash which will clean your face just as well as any other.
About my skin type
- Acne prone
- Combination skin type – oily around nose and normal to dry everywhere else
- Sensitive
- First signs of aging starting to appear
What I like about the CeraVe Hydrating Foaming Oil cleanser
- Good tolerability: This colorless, runny gel cleanser is perfume free, which people with skin sensitive to fragrance will appreciate. It doesn´t sting the eyes and it is quite gentle for how effective it is. I have also found that when my skin barrier is compromised and I can barely add anything onto my skin without it burning this product doesn´t aggravate it more.
- If you are using makeup or sunscreen daily and your skin tends to get clogged (like mine) then this will definitely properly cleanse your skin. For me the perfect way to use it is to apply a makeup removing product before (such as micellar water, cleansing oil or cleansing balm) and then wash whatever is left off with this. If you want to use this as your only makeup remover, you will need to spend way more time with it on your face, rubbing and scrubbing. Prolonged skin contact with any cleanser can be quite stripping. Double cleansing, although gentler, is however purely optional, as this product definitely has the surfactants to be effective enough on its own. I have also used it as a body wash and it is very nice in the periods when my skin is dry and scaly.
- One other advantage to this product is the affordability – not only does it have a good price, but you also get a lot of it (473 mL) and I find that it pairs up really nicely with the CeraVe Daily Moisturising Lotion for a simple, basic, budget-friendly routine. Actually I would recommend this combo to anyone who doesn´t know where to begin building up their skincare collection or for teenagers who need simple, inexpensive and non irritating products.
What I dISlike about the CeraVe Hydrating Foaming Oil cleanser
- It can sometimes be a bit too drying for a morning cleanse: My skin is quite dry everywhere except the nose and I find that this oily cleanser is too drying to be used twice daily, even though it is quite gentle. In less dry periods (such as in the summer) this is however less of a problem. I would say that it is definitely less drying than the CeraVe Foaming Cleanser though.
Conclusion
As you can probably see from my pros and cons ratio I quite like this cleanser. I think it can be suitable for all skin types, being kind of a better, more dry skin-friendly version of the traditional foaming cleanser. You can use this as a less drying body wash, an intimate wash, a baby wash or I even sometimes use it to clean my makeup brushes and find that it does a good job. Though I would not use it as a makeup remover on its own, it is a good quality cleanser, not too stripping and very affordable. Actually there have been so many affordable good cleansers on the market that I find it kind of a waste to buy expensive ones, considering they´re not really spending a lot of time on my face.
