What Are the Best Cleansers for Combination Skin?

• The best cleanser for combination skin is one that balances hydration and oil control.
• Gel cleansers are the most effective formulation due to their lightweight consistency.
• To treat the oily areas of your face, choose a cleanser with mild exfoliating ingredients.
• To moisturize dry areas, use a face wash with hydrating ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid.

If you experience both dry and oily areas on your face at the same time, it’s likely you have a combination skin type.

A good cleanser will help to balance out these areas, controlling oil and boosting hydration. The effects of cleansers vary depending on their formulations and active ingredients. Therefore, it’s important to identify which cleanser formulas effectively target your combination skin.

Cleanser Benefits for Combination Skin

While cleansers are best known for their ability to lift away oils and impurities from the skin, they can also add hydration, soothe irritated skin, and improve your skin’s texture.

If you have combination skin, you may experience clogged pores and breakouts in the oilier areas of your face. Cleansers containing ingredients such as salicylic and glycolic acid can help to control blemishes and unclog pores, reducing the likelihood of future breakouts.

Some cleansers provide hydrating and soothing benefits to combat the drier areas of your skin. For example, those containing hyaluronic acid deeply moisturize dry areas, helping to improve your skin’s texture and overall appearance.

Best and Worst Types of Cleansers for Combination Skin

Cleansers not only vary on their active ingredients but also their formulations and consistencies. In order to select the best cleanser for combination skin, it’s necessary to recognize the various types and their properties.

Gel cleansers

Gel cleansers have a lightweight formulation and offer hydrating benefits, making them effective on combination skin. Their lightweight consistency makes them suitable for the oilier areas of your face, while ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid, help to hydrate the drier areas.

Cream cleansers

Cream cleansers are formulated for dry and sensitive skin types, often containing various occlusive ingredients. While occlusives such as silicones and oils help to moisturize dry skin, they can be too heavy on oilier areas, and may clog your pores. If your skin is more oily than dry, avoid using cream cleansers.

Foaming cleansers

Foaming cleansers can be drying on combination skin. The foaming agents used to create the bubbly texture produced by these cleansers have been found to irritate the skin, especially sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS). SLS has been found to strip the skin of its natural oils, leaving it dry, sensitized and irritated.

It is safer to avoid foaming cleansers if you have combination skin, especially if you also experience sensitivity or have large areas of dryness.

Best Ingredients for Combination Skin Cleansers

When choosing a cleanser, it’s important to look out for active ingredients that will work in harmony with both the dry and oily areas of your face. The following ingredients are effective in moisturizing without clogging pores and controlling oil without being too drying.

Hyaluronic acid

Hyaluronic acid is naturally produced in your body, essential for retaining water and lubricating the skin and connective tissues. When used in skin care products, hyaluronic acid draws moisture to your skin and delivers intense hydration. This makes it a useful ingredient when treating the dry areas of your combination skin.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an essential nutrient that acts as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory in your body. It also helps to support your skin and immune system. As a topical treatment, it acts as a soothing moisturizer for dry skin. When used on combination skin, it can help to soften and moisturize dry areas.

Glycolic acid

Glycolic acid is an alpha-hydroxy acid (AHA) that exfoliates your skin, sloughing away dead skin cells and unclogging pores. Glycolic acid can be used to control the oilier areas of your face, prevent breakouts and reducing the appearance of blemishes.

Best Cleansers for Different Types of Combination Skin

Sensitive combination skin

If you have sensitive combination skin, choose a cream cleanser with soothing ingredients, such as chamomile or aloe vera.

Chamomile has been found to act as an effective anti-inflammatory, reducing redness and discomfort on affected areas of skin. Aloe vera delivers similar benefits, helping to soothe your skin while also providing hydration to dry, irritated areas.

Acne-prone combination skin

For acne-prone combination skin, choose a lightweight gel cleanser with exfoliating ingredients, such as salicylic acid.

Salicylic acid is widely used as an anti-acne ingredient. By deeply exfoliating your skin, reaching into pores and clearing out build-up, it combats blackheads and pimples, while helping to prevent future breakouts.

Takeaway

When choosing a cleanser for combination skin, it’s important to choose one with a compatible formulation and effective ingredients.

A mild, gel cleanser is the best formulation to choose, while ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, vitamin E and glycolic acid are effective ingredients to look out for. To maintain a healthy balance, avoid using heavy cream cleansers and overly-drying foam washes.

Those with sensitive combination skin should choose soothing ingredients, such as chamomile or aloe vera. To control acne-prone combination skin, choose a cleanser containing pore-unblocking ingredients, such as salicylic acid.