5 Best Budget Cleansers For Sensitive Skin

I’m starting a new series called ‘5 Best…’ As you may be able to guess, I will be pulling together lists of the 5 best products I’ve tried. To start us off, I’m going to do a budget skincare mini series. First up is the 5 best budget cleansers: all are under £12 and all are suitable for even my super sensitive skin. Don’t forget to let me know your favourite budget cleansers in the comments below, I always love to try new products and brands especially if they’re kind on my pocket!

5 best budget cleansers for sensitive skin // Talonted Lex

5 best budget cleansers for sensitive skin // Talonted Lex

Finding the 5 best budget cleansers is actually quite tricky, especially when you have sensitive skin. But it’s so frustrating to try an expensive new skincare product only for it to induce a flare up or irritation and end up in the bin. Hopefully this list will help you to discover some new favourites. I’ve split them up so the first three are for your first cleanse (e.g. removing the bulk of your make up) and the last two are for your second cleanse (e.g. looking after your skin’s individual needs, the caring step).

5 best budget cleansers for sensitive skin - The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil // Talonted Lex

First up is a product I’ve been using for months and have really been enjoying – The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil* (£10.00).  If you’ve never used an oil to remove your make up, it’s a revelation. It dissolves make up (even heavy eyeliner and waterproof mascara) in seconds, and because it’s an oil your hands glide over your face so there’s no harsh rubbing which can be irritating to sensitive skin. It does contain fragrance but I’ve never had a reaction to this so I think it must be in very small quantities. You apply it to a dry face, massage it all over the skin until your make up is dissolved (you’ll probably look a bit like a panda at this point!), then apply a little water to your face and carry on massaging as the oil turns into a milky cleanser, then I use a wet flannel to remove. It doesn’t feel greasy, dry or tight afterwards – can you tell that I love this oil?

5 best budget cleansers for sensitive skin - B.Micellar Oil // Talonted Lex

Another oil I really like is the B. Pure Micellar Oil* (£6.99). B. are a wonderful brand and unbelievably affordable – they’re also vegan and they have BOGOF offers very regularly – what are you waiting for? Unlike the Body Shop oil, you apply this to a wet face using a cotton pad. You swipe over the face, including the eyes, and then use a clean cotton pad to remove any residue. This would be great for those who wear light eye make up – it’s not as fast-acting as the oil above so heavy eye make up would require a bit more work, which could be aggravating to sensitive skin and eyes. I would definitely do a second cleanse after using this product as it’s not going to give you as thorough a cleanse as the Body Shop cleansing oil, but again it’d be great for those of you who don’t wear a lot of make up.

5 best budget cleansers for sensitive skin - Superdrug Vitamin E Micellar Water // Talonted Lex

The last of the first cleanses is the Superdrug Vitamin E Gentle Micellar Solution(£2.99 – that is not a typo!). If you’ve read any of my skincare posts before you’ll know that the Bioderma Sebium H2O Micelle Solution is my ride or die micellar water – it’s perfection. However, it’s still pricey in the UK so this is a great – and almost shockingly affordable – version. It doesn’t leave my skin feeling as clean as the Bioderma but it serves a great purpose – I have it next to my bed for those times when I’m ill/tired/drunk and just cannot make it to the bathroom to wash my face properly. This doesn’t happen very often but a quick swipe of this is much better than sleeping in your make up or with a dirty face. You just soak a cotton pad in it and swipe all over your face – if you currently use face wipes (I’m glaring at you through the screen right now) then this is a much better option with as little faff.

5 best budget cleansers for sensitive skin. B.Clean Melting Gel Cleanser // Talonted Lex

And we’re onto the second cleanses! The B.Clean Melting Gel Cleanser* (£6.99) is really enjoyable to use (am I weird to enjoy washing my face? Probably). This is a three phase formula: it starts off as an thick gel that turns into an oil as you massage it into the skin, then transforms into a milky cream cleanser when you apply water. It feels very gentle on the skin and is not irritating to my rosacea. I’m not a fan of using these types of products to take my make up off, but that’s personal preference. I have tried it out on a full face of make up and it works really well – I would recommend applying it to a dry face and waiting until the gel has turned to an oil with your body heat before moving onto your eye make up. The oil is what will break down the mascara and eye liner whereas the gel formula can be a little heavy for that delicate area at first.

5 best budget cleansers for sensitive skin - Bee Good Honey & Propolis 3-in-1 Cleanser // Talonted Lex

The last product in my 5 best budget cleansers for sensitive skin is the award-winning Bee Good Honey & Propolis 2-in-1 Cream Cleanser* (only just over budget at £11.50). Bee Good are a wonderful brand who not only make products free from parabens, mineral oil, synthetic colours, SLS, and silicones but are also a family-run brand who started off as beekeepers and now continue to support British beekeeping with their profits. This does have fragrance but, as with the products above, I’ve had no reaction or irritation when using this product. You apply this to your wet face and massage into your skin, focusing on your t-zone, before removing with a flannel or muslin cloth. My face always feels comfortable after using this due to the honey which is very moisturising.

I hope you enjoyed my 5 best budget cleansers – do let me know your favourites in the comments below. You get bonus points from me if they’re under £10!

Read the other blogs in the series here:

Lex

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5 best budget cleansers for sensitive skin // Talonted Lex

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6 Comments

  1. Leigh Eros
    22nd November 2016 / 1:25 pm

    Hi! Thanks for these posts about sensitive skin, very helpful. I was wondering if you know the pH of any of these? I like the look of the B. Pure gel cleanser but I try to stick with low pH cleansers so it is handy to know.

  2. Gemma
    23rd November 2016 / 1:47 pm

    I’d add the superdrug “Naturally Radiant” (I think that’s what it’s called now) hot cloth cleanser. I don’t have massively sensitive skin but it gets most things off (with a bit of rubbing for my not-waterproof-but-really-stays (bourjois volume une seconde) mascara). It’s not quite as nice as Liz Earle but for a fraction of the price, I can live with that. I liked the body shop oil too but found it a bit messy.

  3. SAZDC
    24th November 2016 / 6:17 pm

    The superdrug naturally radiant hot cloth cleanser is brill, as mentioned above.
    I also prefer the superdrug Simply Pure micellar water to their vitamin E one as I’m sure the fragrance in the vit E is a bit irritating. The superdrug Simply Pure hydrating serum is also SO GOOD and SO CHEAP. I was glad to see that even Sali in the guardian has recognised it’s greatness!!
    I also loved the Olay basic cream cleanser (I can’t remember what it’s called) but I’ve now switched to cruelty free so Olay is a no go.

  4. Sandra
    17th January 2017 / 4:18 pm

    I only just discovered your blog and I’m going through your Rosacea articles and absorbing everything you write. The Body Shop cleanser sounds really interesting, do you find you have to use a 2nd cleanser after this one (I read about oil cleansing followed by a 2nd cleanser to remove the oil residue?)? (Ps English isn’t my native tongue, hope I’m using the right words)

  5. 26th January 2017 / 11:21 am

    The Boots Botanics cleansing balm is lurvely, but the Body shop cleansing oil is my absolute fave – makeup clings to my face like glue, and it removes it without taking half my eyelashes as payment.

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