Cleansing Cream: When to Use It, by How Much Makeup You Wear

On which days should you use cleansing cream?

Use it as your first cleanse on days with heavy makeup, like full makeup with foundation and eyeshadow or stage and photo-shoot makeup. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) says cleansing cream is suited to removing heavy makeup but needs a double cleanse.

In KDCA’s grouping, a first-step cleanser is applied to your face without water and then wiped off, and a second-step cleanser, like a foam or bar, is lathered with water to wash. On the day of a wedding you’re attending or graduation photos, melt your makeup with cream and finish with a foaming wash. For light weekday makeup, switch to a lighter first-step cleanser such as a lotion, cleansing water or gel.

Is it bad to wipe off micellar water with a cotton pad?

What strains your skin is rubbing the same spot many times, more than the cotton pad itself. In a 2018 study, six healthy adults had one arm scrubbed with a nylon towel and soap twice a day for two weeks. Compared with the arm washed with soap only, water loss rose and natural moisturizing factor dropped on the scrubbed arm.

There’s also data showing results varied by tool. In a 2024 trial, 19 people with a dry, itchy skin condition switched to a recommended cleanser and washing method. After four weeks, redness, dryness and itch had decreased on the arm washed with bare hands, while dryness, itch and scratch marks had decreased on the arm washed with a cotton towel. Both are small studies on arms, so they can’t be applied directly to your face, but they point the same way: soak the pad well and wipe fewer times.

Can oily, acne-prone skin use a wash-off mask cleanser?

You can, but because it adds one more cleansing step that day, fit it within your twice-a-day washing. (In Korea, this type of rinse-off, mask-style cleanser is sold as a “pack cleanser.”) This article’s evidence includes no study that tested mask cleansers on oily or acne-prone skin, and KDCA lists gel as the first-step texture suited to oily and acne-prone skin.

Cleansers differ a lot in how irritating they are. In a 2013 randomized trial, 40 adult women with sensitive skin concerns, including acne, used two cleansers for three weeks. Irritation reported in week one was 20% for one and 5% for the other, and neither showed signs of causing comedones. If there’s a day you want to use a mask cleanser, like after a sweaty workout, keep your total count the same, for example by rinsing lightly with water only that morning.

Do you need a first cleanse on sunscreen-only days?

On days you wear high-SPF or water-resistant sunscreen, start with a first cleanse. KDCA advises double cleansing on days with this kind of sunscreen or makeup, and its acne guidance also explains that sunscreen and makeup can clog follicles, so double cleansing helps.

If you wore only a light sunscreen and stayed indoors, a light first step like cleansing water or lotion may be enough. Either way, noting whether a slippery feel remains after rinsing gives you a basis for choosing your first-step cleanser next time. The steps for cleansing oil continue in Cleansing oil: a 3-minute routine that keeps to emulsifying and rinse times.

Cleanser pairings by makeup level

KDCA describes cleansing oil as suited to dry skin but best avoided for oily and acne-prone skin, so it isn’t listed as a first-step option in this chart. If you switched to a new first-step cleanser, fill in the last column every day for two weeks to compare before and after.

When should you have a dermatologist check your skin?

• If your eye area or cheeks swell or ooze after switching cleansers, stop using it and have a dermatologist check.
• If you’ve changed your first- and second-step cleansers one at a time and tiny bumps still keep increasing for more than two months, take your log to a dermatologist.
• If your skin stings every time you wash and redness lingers for days, get your skin checked by a doctor before changing how you wash.

Sources this chart relies on

• KDCA’s guide on safe cosmetic use for teens describes cleansing cream as a first-step cleanser for heavy makeup and says it needs a double cleanse.
• In a 2013 randomized trial of 40 adult women with sensitive skin concerns (PMID 24305430), irritation reported in week one was 20% for one cleanser and 5% for the other.
• In a 2018 study where six healthy adults had their arms scrubbed with a nylon towel twice a day for two weeks (PMID 29243811), water loss rose and natural moisturizing factor dropped.