The Best Foam Cleanser

Buying Guide

A foam facial cleanser can be great for your skin because it guards your face from drying out as well as abrasion caused by contact. This product can make deep cleaning seem effortless, since there’s no scrubbing required.

So how do you know that you need a foam cleanser in the first place? Long story short: If your skin tends to be oily or you suffer from skin conditions like acne or rosacea, foam will probably be your best option. Cream cleansers have a thicker consistency that’s best absorbed by dry skin, while gel cleansers generally have a milder formula that can work with a wide variety of skin types. But with foam cleansers, those bubbles and lather aren’t just for show. They help to pull excess oil away from the skin, leaving it rejuvenated without harming sensitive pores or removing helpful natural oils.

If you’re using a cleanser at night (and you should), it has to remove makeup, sunscreen and other impurities you’ve collected during the course of the day. That’s best done with oils, which may seem counterintuitive if you’ve already got oily skin. There are beneficial oils that can promote skin health, though, such as coconut or jojoba oil. Look for those and other natural ingredients that can help lift away the bad stuff (dirt, makeup) while leaving in the good.

There are plenty of other good ingredients you can look for, though some may help certain skin types better than others. Glycerin is always a good bet, and you’ll see it in most foam cleansers. This compound is a humectant, which means it works to draw moisture into the pores. It’s a substance that’s already found in healthy skin, so you can’t really go wrong. In cleansers, glycerin is most effective at concentrations around 10%, but any amount helps. Aloe vera is a plant-based topical that soothes damaged skin and can also help moisturize.

You may also see a lot of foam cleansers advertise themselves as “pH balanced” and wonder how that makes a difference. In fact,  maintaining your skin’s pH is crucial. For those who might be allergic to science: The pH scale is used to measure acidity or alkalinity, with the most acidic substances rated zero and the most alkaline at 14. When it’s healthy, your face should measure around a five. Here’s the problem: That pH rating can be thrown out of whack by the wrong makeup, allergens or even cleansers that might otherwise help your face. When they become more alkaline, your pores get dry and itchy. More acid means they may break out. A pH-balanced cleanser is one where all the ingredients are proportioned to keep that pH rating where it should be.

Finally, there are a few things you may not want to find in your cleanser. For example, you may wish to avoid sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), which has been used in the past to help cleansers get their sudsy consistency. SLS can cause irritation for many skin types, but when used in small amounts and rinsed off quickly it has been shown to be safe in cosmetic formulations.

Also use caution around cleansers that use a fragrance. The smell may be nice, but it usually comes from a mix of ingredients (often unlisted) that can be allergens. Even natural ones like geranium oil can cause a reaction.

So how do you use that foam cleanser? If you’re following a daily skin care routine, it should be the first part of your regimen. Use it to wash away built-up dirt in the morning or makeup at night, then toner or serums if you use them. Eye creams go on next, followed by a moisturizing agent. Then you’re ready to start (or end) the day!