Is this proof soap and water work better than a £55 cleanser? FEMAIL put facial cleansers to the test to see which work best

Cleansing off your make-up and the grime of the day before bed: every beautician would agree it’s the cornerstone of a good complexion.

But gone are the days of a simple soap-and-water routine. Now there are facial wipes, electronic brushes, balms, cleansing milks, facial washes, not to mention products that require you to polish your skin with a muslin cloth.

Nadia Aminian, an aesthetician at Beyond MediSpa in Harvey Nichols, Knightsbridge, explains why effective cleansing is so important: ‘People spend a lot of money on creams, but if you’ve got dirty skin, it’s not going to penetrate so well, so you’re wasting that money. If you sleep with make-up on, you’re more likely to develop acne, blocked pores and skin conditions.’

Gone are the days of a simple soap-and-water routine! Now there are facial wipes, electronic brushes, balms, cleansing milks, facial washes, not to mention products that require you to polish your skin with a muslin cloth

But what’s the most effective method? I investigated seven different cleansers to find out which works best. Before testing each product, Nadia scanned my face, complete with make-up, using the Visia complexion analysis system. She repeated the process after I’d cleansed.

Skin analysis expert Nick Miedzianowski-Sinclair explains that Visia is able to assess aspects of my skin that are both visible and not visible to the naked eye. The better the cleanser, the more of the true state of my skin will be revealed.

FOAMING CLEANSER

Clare likes this gentle foaming cleansing, which removes a lot of impurities from her skin - but she finds it drying

Clarins, £19.50 for 125ml

Clarins, £19.50 for 125ml

WHAT THEY SAY: The makers of this product claim it will leave my skin ‘perfectly clean’, saying: ‘As gentle as a cleansing milk and as effective as soap, this Gentle Foaming Cleanser helps preserve the skin’s natural radiance.’

THE TEST: There’s no guidance about how much to use, so I put a 10p-size blob in my hand before lathering it on my face. This creamy white cleanser has a clean, if slightly chemical, scent and produces lots of lather.

I massage it into my skin and then rinse. Taking 25 seconds, I spend more time than my usual routine - which is ten seconds max in the shower. My skin feels soft to touch, but also taut and dry, especially over my forehead.

However, the Visia scan suggests this foaming wash is an effective cleanser and Nick is impressed. It’s brilliant at removing the impurities on my skin - reducing the specks of make-up, dirt and pollution on my left cheek by an impressive 58 per cent.

When I complain it feels drying, he comments: ‘You don’t look to a cleanser for moisture. That’s what a moisturiser is for.’

VERDICT: An effective cleanser. This is a more expensive product, but a little goes a long way - I’d use a 5 p-size blob in future, so it would last a long time. 

4.5/5

SOAP AND A FLANNEL

Clare likes the traditional regime of soap and water. It leaves her skin surprisingly soft and removes dirt and make-up

Pears, 60p for a 100g bar

Pears, 60p for a 100g bar and 99p for a Boots face cloth

WHAT THEY SAY: ‘Soap is an ideal way to attain clean, healthy looking skin. It contains high quality skincare ingredients which moisturise the skin while cleaning thoroughly yet gently. Pears is a 200-year-old brand.’

THE TEST: A back-to-basics, two-stage cleansing routine. I lather the soap - its classic, invigorating fragrance evoking visits to elderly relatives - and massage it into my skin, before removing with a white Boots flannel and having a final rinse. The process takes 30 seconds.

My skin feels surprisingly soft, but initially quite tight, though that eases after a few seconds.

Although I tried to wear the same amount of make-up before each test, the day I test the Pears soap turns out to be the day I applied it the most thickly.

I’m impressed that it removes 56 per cent of the dirt count on my left cheek. It is also best at revealing the sun damage my skin has suffered over the years.

VERDICT: ‘An effective cleanser if you’re on a budget,’ Nick says. I agree. 

4/5

HOT CLOTH POLISH

While the Liz Earle cleanser was pleasant to use, the results it gave were only average. It left Clare's skin soft, however

Liz Earle, £15.50 for 100ml

Liz Earle, £15.50 for 100ml

WHAT THEY SAY: ‘Enriched with the finest naturally active ingredients, our rich cream instantly removes daily grime and make- up … to leave skin beautifully smooth and exceptionally clean.’

THE TEST: The packaging says to use one to two pumps of the creamy white cleanser, so I go for another 10p-size amount, massaging it over my face. There’s a pleasant herbal scent - the cleanser contains extract of rosemary, chamomile and hops.

This is a two-stage process, and as instructed I use the white muslin cloth, which I wring out in hand-hot water, to polish the cleanser off my skin, finishing with a rinse. It takes about 50 seconds.

My skin feels soft, but not dry or tight. But when it comes to how much it improves the texture of my skin, the results were OK - it comes in at number four and the analysis also rates it overall as number four out of the seven cleansers.

VERDICT: Pleasant to use, but average results. 

3/5

FACIAL WIPES

Although facial wipes have become very popular in recent years, they are terrible at removing dirt and make-up and in fact add to the number of impurities on Clare's face

Simple, £3.25 for 25 wipes

Simple, £3.25 for 25 wipes

WHAT THEY SAY: ‘Our Cleansing Facial Wipes are a perfect blend of multi-vitamins and gentle cleansers to refresh and moisturise your skin.’

THE TEST: Very, er, simple - I remove one of the unscented wipes from the packet and work round my face. No wonder sales of make-up wipes have doubled in recent years. At the end, I can see a significant amount of make-up smeared on the cloth.

My skin does feel fresh, and not at all dry or tight. But while I might have seen make-up on the wipe, it turns out that’s far from the whole story. The Visia reveals that the wipes mostly move the dirt around - it has gone up 13 per cent on my left cheek.

My wrinkles also look worse after cleansing. ‘I’m surprised just how their intensity has increased,’ Nick comments.

VERDICT: They’ve never had a reputation for being the most effective cleansers, but I’m not sure it’s even worth using these wipes for emergency make-up removal. I’m not impressed. 

0/5

ELECTRONIC BRUSH

While the Clarisonic provides an effective cleanse, it's not quick or cheap and left Clare with redness on her face so might not be suitable for everyday use

Clarisonic Smart Profile, £199

WHAT THEY SAY: ‘Our most intuitive yet most advanced cleansing device to touch your skin.’

THE TEST: The Clarisonic is an electronic face brush that oscillates to remove dirt and exfoliate the skin - much like a giant electric toothbrush.

I can’t find any guidance about how much of the gel cleanser that comes with the device to apply to the brush head, but a 20p-size blob looks right.

I then follow the programme for facial cleansing - spending 20 seconds on my forehead, 20 seconds on my nose and chin, and ten seconds on each cheek, all the while moving the brush head in circular motions, and avoiding the eye area.

The experience is gentler than I expect. Finally, I rinse my face. The Visia analysis rates this as the second best cleanser overall.

VERDICT: An effective cleanser, but not quick or cheap, though you can also use this model on your body and it should last for years. Because I experienced high levels of redness after using this, it might be too abrasive for me to use every day. 

4/5

CLEANSING MILK

Clare normally uses cleansing milk to remove her make-up. That's a habit she'll have to break, however, as she finds it pretty useless as a cleanser

Nivea, £4.29 for 200ml

Nivea, £4.29 for 200ml

WHAT THEY SAY: ‘Cleanses mildly and helps prevents redness, tightness and dryness.’

THE TEST: I put a generous 10p-size blob of the cleanser on my fingers, then massage into my skin before removing with a cotton wool pad. It takes 30 seconds and when I finish there’s a gratifying amount of make-up on the pad.

This product is unscented, and while my skin doesn’t feel tight afterwards, it does feel tacky. And as a cleanser, the Visia analysis suggests it’s pretty useless.

Like the facial wipes, it appears to do little more than move make-up from one part of my face to another, reducing the dirt on my left cheek by just 16 per cent.

VERDICT: Removing my make- up with cleansing milk is my usual bedtime routine, as it enables me to sit in bed while I’m doing it. However, it looks as if I’m going to have to walk to the bathroom. This product isn’t effective. 

1/5

LUXURY CLEANSER

This expensive Eve Lom cleanser smells nice, but isn't the most effective at removing grime

Eve Lom, £55 for 100ml

Eve Lom, £55 for 100ml

WHAT THEY SAY: ‘The Eve Lom cleanser contains a unique blend of aromatic oils with cleansing, decongesting and soothing properties.’

THE TEST: The instructions tell me to warm a small amount of the cleanser between my fingers - I use a 5p-size amount.

The oils in the balm feel moisturising and it has a herby, almost medicinal, scent. I then hold a muslin cloth that’s been wrung out in hot water against my skin for five seconds - this helps to open the pores.

I then rinse the cloth and use it to polish away the cleanser before rinsing it in cool water and holding that over my face to close the pores again. The whole process takes a good minute.

Afterwards my skin feels soft and moisturised. Nick’s analysis rates this product overall as the third most effective.

VERDICT: An extremely expensive cleanser, though I’m told pots last for ages. Lovely to use, but you could get effective cleansing at a fraction of the price. 

3.5/5