There’s no greater feeling than getting home from work, unclipping your bra with one hand, and reaching for a glass of wine with the other, all before settling into the you-shaped groove in your couch. Except, of course, for the feeling of washing the worries of the day away with one of your favourite cleansers. When it comes to trialling cleansers, our faces have been around the beauty block approx. 7 million times. We’ve seen bad reactions, tears (both happy and sad), and cleansers that have taken to our faces like a bug does to light.

Most people I know dread going to house inspections. I don’t. It’s my favourite part of moving house. I love seeing how other people decorate and arrange their spaces, how well they have mastered the art of feng shui. This same level of voyeurism can be applied to other people’s skincare routines. Sometimes I feel like my life is a quest to go #BTS of people’s beauty cabinets, and these creepy stalker tendencies lead me to interrogate the rest of the TF team on how and what they wash their faces with. If you’re nearing the end of your bottle or are down to make the switch, these are the cleansers we keep purchasing, over and over again. Raise your favourite beauty drink, and let’s toast to clean skin!

Carlie Fowler, Founder & Editor

My choice of cleanser is constantly changing and evolving because, well, press samples. But one thing stays consistent: my obsession and utter devotion to cleansing my skin. It’s the most underrated skincare step, in my opinion. If I mess with it or skip it, my skin is a complete mess for days. Every morning I wash my face with Bioderma’s micellar water (totally partial to the original, unscented version), because it’s super gentle and doesn’t strip my skin or leave residue. French girls always recommend not cleansing in the morning so as to not strip the skin, and I subscribe to that. I wet a cotton pad and double cleanse using a few cotton pads. It’s a nice little morning ritual. I’ve tried many foaming cleansers, but have found it tricky to find the holy grail foamer that gives me a thorough cleanse without stripping my skin. CosMedix’s Benefit Clean is the answer. It’s super gentle, takes everything off, and gives me a glow at the same time. I like to massage my skin when I cleanse as a little relaxing shower ritual, and this is the cleanser I prefer to do that with. When I remember, I use CosMedix’s Purity Clean a couple of times a week in place of my Benefit Clean. It’s a gentle, exfoliating lactic acid cleanser, and I find it gives my skin a polish and tightens my pores. I especially love using this if I’ve been out wearing makeup and feel I need a bit of extra grit to remove it.

Madeleine Woon, Associate Editor

I honestly don’t have anymore words left to describe how much I love Dermalogica products. I’m spent. I will say, though, that the UltraCalming Cleanser has hands down improved my red, sensitive skin more than any other product I’ve tried. It’s like a hug from your mum after a 24-hour flight, and more adept at calming my skin than a puppy is mid panic-attack. In tandem with Dermalogica’s PreCleanse Balm, this holy grail cleanser has evened out my skin tone, added much-needed hydration to my skin, and cleaned it more thoroughly than Alice from The Brady Bunch would your kitchen. Love you to the moon and back, Dermalogica!

Betsy Greaves, Site Producer

I struggle quite a bit with cleansing. My skin is newly sensitive, and I haven’t really worked out how to manage it yet. Cleansing is my biggest issue, as anything that’s too abrasive or stripping will redden my skin in an instant. The fact that I regularly switch between cleansers probably doesn’t help, but I still haven’t found The One (I’m very open to suggestions, if anyone knows of a wonder cleanser for sensitive skin). I don’t cleanse in the morning unless I wake up feeling particularly clammy. I used to cleanse morning and night, which I think is what led to my skin being sensitive in the first place. I’ve been using Drunk Elephant’s Juju Bar at night, which is a little too strong for my skin, but makes my face feel so clean. It’s easy to use in the shower, too. One thing I also love is Manuka honey. There are different grades, but I use MGO 500+. It’s best to use at least MGO 400 if using it for skincare. I use it like a mask—I’ll rinse my face with water, put a thin layer of the honey all over my face, keep it on for as long as I can, rinse it with warm water, and moisturise after that. Nothing is better for my sensitive skin, but it does make me miss that squeaky clean feeling.