The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser Review

This post is a review of The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser. If you’d like to find out if this oil-based cleanser is worth the money, keep on reading! 

Who are The Ordinary?

The Ordinary are a fuss-free, super affordable skincare brand that focuses on making great skincare accessible. Their products are around £4 to £10 (super affordable!), and they have dozens of different products for different skin types and skin needs.

Because of this, it’s easy to get overwhelmed when wanting to try some of their products, which is why I’m highlighting and reviewing some of their products here on my blog.

So far, I’ve had a really great experience with this brand. Some of their things don’t work for my skin at all, but others have become staples in my skincare routine.

I have previously reviewed their Alpha Arbutin serum, which you can check out here!

For reference: I have combination acne-prone skin.

What are oil cleansers?

Oil cleansers are cleansers that contain no water; they only contain plant oils or synthetic oils. They can be made of many different plant oils such as sunflower oil, rosehip oil and squalane oil (like this one!). Synthetic oils aren’t necessarily bad, but some aren’t biodegradable. This means they won’t ever break down, which makes them really polluting to the planet! In order to be a bit more eco-friendly, check the ingredients of your cleanser before purchase to make sure they are environment-safe.

Oil cleansers are usually used before water-based cleansers (such as foam or gel cleansers), but if you have dry skin, you can use an oil cleanser as your main cleanser. The method of using two cleansers is called ‘double cleansing’, and it is a great way to make sure you’re really cleansing your skin well. In fact, you can use an oil cleanser to remove all your makeup!

To use an oil cleanser, rub the oil onto your dry skin. Massage in small circles, and then add some water to your hands and continue to massage a little bit, then rinse! After this, follow up with a water-based cleanser to properly cleanse your skin. For a complete breakdown on how to double cleanse, check out my skincare guide.

About this cleanser

This is an oil cleanser that contains a high percentage of squalane oil, a really nice moisturising oil. I personally love using a squalane oil on my face at night, after using a water-based moisturiser, as it really helps lock the rest of my skincare in.

This cleanser comes in a plastic tube. I am constantly looking for plastic-free skincare options, so for this reason, I would not repurchase this one. It’s really difficult to squeeze out all the cleanser for the tube, so to use it all up, I would cut the tube to get the last bits out!

I really love the texture of this cleanser. It feels like a gel which then turns into an oil on the skin. You do need to use quite a bit of it to do the whole face though, which is definitely a draw back for me.

As all of The Ordinary’s products are, this cleanser is unfragranced and has no noticeable scent. This is actually great for your skin, as fragrance can be irritating for a lot of people.

Does the cleanser work well?

I think this is a good oil cleanser. Although you need to use quite a bit of it to cleanse the whole face, it really works in getting your makeup off. It breaks down makeup and mascara quite well (although I sometimes have to use micellar water to get off all my waterproof mascara), and it emulsifies really nicely. When you add a bit of water to it, it turns milky immediately, making it super easy to remove.

My favourite thing about this cleanser is how it makes my skin feel after using it. It leaves my skin feeling really moisturised and soft! This is how I was introduced into how nice squalane makes your skin feel, and now I use it all the time. However, for this reason, I wouldn’t recommend this cleanser to people with oily skin, unless you double cleanse afterwards to remove the oils from the skin.

The cleanser is so affordable, it’s hard not to fall in love.

Would I recommend this?

I would recommend this cleanser to anyone looking for an affordable first cleanser, or an oil-based cleanser. For the price, this is a fantastic, no frills cleanser that leaves your skin cleansed and soft as anything.

I personally won’t be repurchasing this one right away as I have some plastic-free ones that I want to test out. However, if they ever started selling it in a tin or jar, I would buy that straight away!

I hope you find this review helpful! If you do, please subscribe to my blog below!

Jazmin

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