Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser and the Gentle Cleansers Around It

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser and the Gentle Cleansers Around It

The Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser is the gentle foaming wash from a New York apothecary that has been around since 1851. Here is the rest of the Ultra Facial family, plus creamy, gel and foam cleansers from other brands that keep skin comfortable.

Kiehl's began as a neighborhood apothecary in New York's East Village in 1851. In 1921 John Kiehl's apprentice, Irving Morse, bought the business, and the first Kiehl's branded products came out of that shop. I like that history because the whole line still reads like a pharmacist's shelf: plain labels, short lists of things doing a job. The Ultra Facial family goes back to the early 1970s, when Kiehl's launched the first Ultra Facial Moisturizer, and the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser sits right at the start of that routine.

The cleanser is a foaming wash made for normal and dry skin. It is formulated with apricot kernel oil, avocado oil and squalane, so it lifts oil and dirt without the over-dried feeling. Next to it, the Ultra Facial Barrier-Hydrating Cleanser is a cream-to-foam version with squalane, glycerin and an amino acid, made to remove makeup and sunscreen and gentle enough for morning and night. For combination and oily skin, the Calendula Deep Cleansing Foaming Face Wash is a sulfate-free lightweight gel, and Rare Earth Deep Pore is the one with white clay and aloe in a gentle exfoliating scrub.

The rest of the row is the Ultra Facial routine after you rinse. The Ultra Facial Cream has 4.5% squalane, and the Oil-Free Gel Cream cools as it absorbs. The Overnight Cream Mask has 10.5% squalane in a balm-to-oil texture, and Meltdown Recovery is what Kiehl's calls its first medicated face cream, with 1% colloidal oatmeal.

A quick test: massage the cleanser on damp skin in upward circles, rinse, and notice how your face feels a minute later. Comfortable means keep it.

Big numbers collage titled ULTRA FACIAL CLEANSER, six products numbered one to six with each product set beside its number: Kiehl's Since 1851, First Aid Beauty and belif
Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser

Kiehl's Ultra Facial cleansers and the line around them

Creamy cleansers for skin that hates that tight feeling

Creamy cleansers suit skin that complains when a wash foams too hard. First Aid Beauty Ultra Gentle Pure Skin Cream-to-Foam Cleanser is fragrance-free, with colloidal oatmeal, aloe, allantoin and glycerin, and the brand describes it as pH-balanced. Tatcha The Rice Wash is a cream with Japanese rice powder and a pH-neutral amino acid base, plus hyaluronic acid and red algae. The INKEY List Hydrating Cream-To-Milk Cleanser uses 5% rice milk and hyaluronic acid, and the brand says it gives up to 24-hour hydration.

Drunk Elephant Mello Marula is a low-lather cream with 1.0% colloidal oatmeal and marula seed oil, made to remove water-resistant makeup and sunscreen. The Ordinary Glycolipid Cream Cleanser is built around glycolipids, which are biosurfactants, and it keeps the natural pH of your skin. ALPYN Hydrating & Brightening Cold Cream Cleanser adds vitamin C and jojoba beads that gently exfoliate, with mountain juneberry for softness. Lancôme Crème Radiance is a cream-to-foam wash with white lotus that removes even waterproof makeup, and Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Moisture Barrier Cleanser pairs ceramides with colloidal oatmeal.

How to use them: take a coin-size amount onto dry hands, add a little water, and massage for a full minute so makeup melts before you rinse. A soft damp washcloth removes the last of it.

What I would skip: the jojoba beads in the ALPYN cleanser on days your skin already feels raw. Use the cream wash alone and exfoliate another night.

Gentle cream cleansers from other brands

Gel and foam cleansers that rinse clean

Gel and foam cleansers feel fresh, and the good ones still rinse without squeaking. fresh Soy Hydrating Gentle Face Cleanser is a lightweight gel with soy proteins and aloe. Youth To The People Superfood Cleanser is a refillable gel with kale and spinach that removes makeup and SPF. CLINIQUE All About Clean Liquid Facial Soap in Mild is dermatologist-developed, quick-rinsing and free of parabens, phthalates and sulfates. Origins Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash is a gel with mint that rinses away makeup and surface oil.

The Korean and Japanese picks lean soft. belif Aqua Bomb Jelly Cleanser turns from jelly to foam and includes lady's mantle. LANEIGE Water Bank Gentle Gel Cleanser matches your skin's pH and has blue hyaluronic acid, allantoin and an amino acid complex. innisfree Jeju Green Tea Amino Acid Cleansing Foam is sulfate-free and made with green tea water. Tatcha The Matcha Foam is a gel that lathers into an ultrafine foam like freshly whisked matcha, and it is made for normal, combination and oily skin.

A pairing idea: if you wear sunscreen daily, let a cream or oil remove it first, then one of these gels finishes the job.

What I would skip: a strongly foaming gel right before bed when your skin is dry. Save it for mornings and use a cream wash at night.

Gel and foam cleansers from other brands

Choosing the cleanser you will actually use

Start with your skin type, then pick the texture you enjoy. Normal and dry skin tends to like the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser or one of the creamy washes. Combination and oily skin can go with Calendula Deep Cleansing or a gel like belif or LANEIGE. Use one cleanser in the morning and another at night if you wear makeup or sunscreen, and keep the water lukewarm. Give a new cleanser two weeks before judging it, and if your skin feels tight after rinsing, switch to something creamier. A cleanser should be the quiet part of your routine, so choose the one you look forward to using twice a day.