Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser: Dermatologist Review

Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser is a light gel face wash for skin that reacts to things, about $9 to $12 at drugstores. No active ingredient, no fragrance, no dye, no lanolin, no parabens. It carries the National Eczema Association seal, which brands pay a fee to apply for.

Twelve ingredients. The cleaning is done by coco-glucoside and sodium cocoyl glycinate, surfactants built from sugar and from an amino acid, at the mild end of what is available. Glycerin softens. Two of the twelve, mica and titanium dioxide, only make the gel look pearly — an odd inclusion in a formula sold on containing nothing unnecessary.

A clear, slightly pearly gel that foams very little.

It spreads over wet skin easily and rinses off completely. Skin feels clean and soft afterward, not squeaky and not tight — squeaky means a cleanser has taken lipids as well as oil.

No scent at all. The pearly look comes from mica and titanium dioxide, added purely for appearance. Worth noticing in a product sold on containing nothing unnecessary, though neither irritates in a wash that rinses off.

Balm

A solid that melts into an oil in the warmth of your hands.

Melts sunscreen and makeup and will not drip, which makes it easy to travel with. It needs a real rinse, with a cloth or a second wash, or it stays on the skin.

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Oil

Pure oil, no water. Goes on dry skin and lifts oil off with oil.

The best thing on this scale for sunscreen and makeup, and it does not strip. Some oils clog pores on acne-prone skin, and it needs a rinse or a second wash or it sits there.

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Oil-to-Foam

Pours as an oil, then turns milky and foams the moment water hits it.

Takes off sunscreen like an oil but rinses away completely, so one step does both. The lather at the end means it is not as gentle as a plain oil.

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Cream

Thick and white, like a light lotion. Barely lathers at all.

Comfortable on dry, sensitive or older skin, and it rinses without the tight feeling. It can leave a slick film, and it will not take off a heavy sunscreen by itself.

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Cream-to-Foam

Starts as a cream, turns to a soft foam under water.

A cushioned start with a rinse-clean finish, which suits normal or combination skin. It does lather, so it takes more oil off than a plain cream.

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Gel · this one

Clear and jelly-like. Spreads thin and rinses off fast.

Feels fresh on oily skin. Many gels carry salicylic acid or another acid, which can sting if your skin is already sore.

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Gel-to-Foam

Comes out as a gel, then whips into a lather once you add water.

A middle option if a plain gel feels too thin. The lather is what does the cleaning, so it can still leave dry skin tight.

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Foaming

Arrives as a lather, from a pump head or worked up in your hands. Mostly air.

Gives the fresh, squeaky finish a lot of people like on oily skin. That squeak is your own oil coming off too, so it suits dry or sore skin badly.

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Micellar Water
photo to come

Micellar Water

Water carrying tiny cleansing droplets called micelles. Swiped on with a cotton pad.

Handy when you cannot get to a sink. It leaves a film if you skip the rinse, and it will not shift sunscreen on its own.

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Texture tells you how a wash feels. This tells you how much of your own oil it takes with it. The two do not line up — two foaming cleansers can sit three rungs apart.

Bar soap

The bar at your sink or in the shower.

Cuts grease fast. Its high pH swells the surface, so skin feels tight.

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Sulfates and sulfonates

What makes a wash foam up thick and fast.

Strips oil quickly. Too much for dry or sore skin.

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Mild anionics

Cousins of the sulfates, built to be less harsh.

Still lathers, without the tight feel after. Can be a lot for eczema.

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Amphoterics

Added to soften a harsher detergent and build foam.

Rarely cleans on its own. A common cause of skincare allergy.

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Amino-acid surfactantsIn this cleanser

Made from the same building blocks as your skin's protein.

Foams at a pH close to skin's own, so it rarely stings. Costs more.

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Nonionics

Carry no charge, so they barely stick to skin protein.

The mildest that still foams. Weak lather can feel like it is not working.

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No surfactant

No detergent. Oil dissolves the oil on your face.

Takes the least off. Needs a cloth or second wash to remove.

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Gentleness in a cleanser comes down to the surfactant. Every surfactant has a water-loving end and an oil-loving end; that is how it lifts grease. Charged surfactants, sulfates in particular, also bind to proteins in the outer skin layer and make them swell. That swelling is the tight, stinging feeling after a wash, and it leaves the barrier weaker.

This one uses coco-glucoside and sodium cocoyl glycinate, built from sugar and from an amino acid. They lift oil with far less protein binding. In controlled testing, glucosides produced reactions researchers called hard to detect even at the highest concentrations.

Low irritation is not low allergy risk. Alkyl glucosides, the family coco-glucoside belongs to, were named Allergen of the Year in 2017 by the American Contact Dermatitis Society. A few people do react. For everyone else this is about as undemanding as a cleanser gets, and it still cleans.

This is how many ingredients are on the label. The more a product contains, the more chances one of them bothers you. That matters most if you have sensitive skin, eczema, or a known allergy. If your skin tolerates most things, a long list is not a problem by itself.

It contains colorants it does not need: mica and titanium dioxide, in a rinse-off product for the most reactive skin on earth, sold on containing nothing unnecessary. They are there to look pearly — a fair inconsistency in a brand built on minimalism.

Gentle surfactants can still cause allergy: alkyl glucosides — the coco-glucoside here included — were named Allergen of the Year in 2017 by the American Contact Dermatitis Society. Low irritation is not low allergy risk; the mildest surfactants are among the more common allergens.

The eczema seal is paid for: the National Eczema Association seal is manufacturer-paid — an application fee and an annual license. Reviewers do reject products, so it is not pure pay-to-play, but you must pay to be considered, and no seal means nothing.

May not remove heavy sunscreen: not in one pass.

Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser costs $1.62 per ounce. That is cheaper than 9 of the other 16 cleansers priced on Dermapedia, which run from $0.59 to $3.50 per ounce.

A cleanser rinses away in seconds, so it goes faster than a leave-on product the same size. Bottle size matters more here than a small difference per ounce.

These are the options if you want more cleansing power, a cream texture, or no colorants.

La Roche-Posay Toleriane Hydrating Gentle Cleanser

A creamy fragrance-free option with ceramide and niacinamide. Also too gentle for water-resistant sunscreen, and it costs more.

About the same

Aveeno Calm + Restore Nourishing Oat Face Cleanser

Milder again, but it cannot remove sunscreen and it contains feverfew. Worth trying if glucosides have bothered you.

About the same

Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Hydrating Facial Cleanser

Cheap, fragrance-free and mild, but lower on cleaning power. Several near-identical bottles share the name, so read the label.

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