Awesome, the only tiny piece of constructive criticism I have is that wasn't clear where a less expensive, high quality, non-irrittating but luxurious feeling cleaners would land. I assume in the middle category because of it's "luxury" feel (price aside) based on the Sioris vs. Stratia analysis. If I'm wrong, were there some products in the "Great Formula low price" category that also have a luxury experience?

Great question! The Good Molecules feels like a luxury cleanser to me, but because it meets all the first criteria, it basically wins the gel cleansers category lol (although this doesn't mean they just knock it out of the park - ie I don't love their pineapple cleanser). Whereas the G&G might have an even better consistency, but the packaging is a bit "blah". I think it's hard for brands to keep price low while also making the packaging stand out; this makes sense as bulk packaging (ie standard bottles) keeps the cost SO much lower! Actually, I wonder if it might help to have a "winner" per category, just of my own opinion?

Where my balms and oil cleansers at? Love your channel Alice.

So excited for the rest of the series, I love this categorical ranking approach! I would love to see close up of the textures and how it dispenses as it was a bit hard to see that with the container blocking the view from the top, but I get that it would prob take much longer to film. Just a suggestion for if you have the extra time! I'll still binge watch the rest in either case 😁

@@AliceintheRabbitHole Thank you for the clarification! I do like the idea of you picking a winner given how much work you're obviously putting into the ranking. I thought about other things you could do like picking a winner for category or a series of "what ifs" based on priorities, but I think the level of detail you're doing in your review gets people to that point. The only exception I could see might be establishing how the top ranked great value compares to the top ranked luxury splurge, essentially defining the "value" proposition for the extra money spent. For all the credit we give luxury brands on things like ingredients and R&D, I was looking at Estee Lauder's 10k disclosures (across all brands) and their total R&D spend was less than 2% of their annual sales and cost of materials was a fraction of sales as well, so I think its very feasible that a stand out good value product will give the best, or nearly as good of an, experience as their luxury counterparts at times.

It's bizarre how much a cleanser can impact hydration levels!! Way back when I first got into skincare, I felt that cleansers had to all be "basically the same" - oh how quickly I learned that is not the case lol!

@Nancy Ross had the same reaction. I should've remember I basically swore off foaming gels for a reason...

People seem to love this, but I ended up not liking it either. It feels more drying on my skin than it seems it should. Also, it tastes terrible if any of it gets on your lips, which is one of those experiential drawbacks that I ended up not looking forward every night. Did not repurchase. Moved to Good Molecules Rosewater cleanser with much better results at a much better price.

Right it seems like such a simple category! But I have noticed my skin absolutely does respond very positively to a more gentle option - it's a huge difference in the end!

@@AliceintheRabbitHole yep, I'm looking for a light cream, gel, serum type that doesn't really foam. I've tried a few so far but still looking. I don't really wear make-up so I don't need a heavy duty one for most days.

Ugh it's so frustrating finding the right products! Hope you're able to find the best one for ya ASAP!!

@@AliceintheRabbitHole it really is! I’m so glad you covered all the different throws of cleansers! 💕 I gave the stratia milk a full 4oz test and i wanted my skin to love it but it cleanses so deep my fragile barrier was left too squeaky. Same with good light cosmic dew even purito from green! Only thing that has stayed in my rotation is the cocokind oil to milk but I still feel there is something better out there for me and my burlap sac skin 😩 keep the vids coming! They are so helpful to us dry & inflamed souls of YT💕💕💕

Think of how much more we would accomplish!! Although…wait would more be expected of us? 😱 maybe I’ll settle on my two arms ahahaha 🤣 hope you’re doing well!

@@AliceintheRabbitHole 😆😆😆.. u may be correct Alice.. and we would go through even MORE body skincare. !!

Thank you so much for the kind words, I really appreciate it 🥰 As for a more minimalized routine, tbh I think that can work better for many people! Skincare is so personal: whatever works for you, whatever your skin responds to - that’s what to keep doing!

I pick up that bottle every time I go into Walgreens, but I always end up thinking "....mehhhh??? Is it really worth the hype??" Noted, will actually go for it next time 😆

@@AliceintheRabbitHole one more to add - Japanese curel foaming wash that's better than yours gentle foaming cleanser.

Welp I'll be, uh, over here in the corner... y'all can play this round of trivia without me 😅🤣😂

Whoa I didn’t know that exists! But I do love avocado…glad you mentioned this, sounds like I might enjoy it!

Yup, my favorite deal on that was during the 10x point event - made it roughly $8. That brand does have great sales!!

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f9p_hcabr5i1iIE.html ☺️ I absolutely do need to try more J-Beauty!

Right!? It’s such a lovely product!

Right lol, it’s an adjustment period to figure out how to pump it. I got so mad at myself several days into the Rovectin trial when I was STILL pumping out enough for my full body 😆 Oh and kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f9p_hcabr5i1iIE.html 😁 Cleansing balms are my favorite!! (Sadly, I don’t have enough oil cleansers to rank them - I only own one lol!!)

@@AliceintheRabbitHole Thanks for the link. I didn’t even know you started your series a month ago!! KZfaq didn’t show me 🤨 I only own a couple cleansing oils too, I have a ton of balms though!

Omg I'm so excited to hear your thoughts on the I'm from honey mask!! I think that product might be in my no. 2 spot of all time (after Cosrx snail essence of course 🤣) Yeah hold off on the by Wishtrend if you have the dermalogica. I do think daily microfoliant is a FANTASTIC product, it's just expensive haha

Elf bounce back SHOULD be on this list, but I combed through the D/Ced products. I still can’t believe they pulled such a hit!! 😭😭

@@AliceintheRabbitHole Did they? It looks like it is still available on the elf site (at least it lets me add to cart, anyway) , although they definitely pulled it from ulta. Maybe they are just selling down inventory? I should maybe stock up, lol. It's so good.

It really does. Although I still adore her toner; one of the best I’ve ever tried!

Hope your weekend is going fantastically 😁💕

Thank you! ☺️

It’s very hard for me to answer that as I ALWAYS double cleanse when I wear makeup. But my partner doesn’t (she’s one of the reasons we have gone through so much Fresh SF in this house!!) She has tried the JJ cleanser, and she said it’s effective but she still likes the Fresh more. Specifically, the giant Fresh tub with a pump was her absolute favorite-convenient and quick. If that’s your absolute favorite, the value size might be the way to go (fresh also does 25% off sales from time to time on their direct site) Hope that helps, sorry that I can’t personally answer that one better!

@@AliceintheRabbitHole Thank you so much! I'll have to compare the sizes; mine is the larger version but it's not the one with a pump top. I know what she means about convenience; I had to decant the cleanser into another bottle because the cleanser's packaging has the pump top at the bottom and water accumulates there which is kinda gross :P

Thanks for the recs! 🥰

They have made so micelles gels, that is really crap. Stick to the cleansers. :-)

@@michalamuggiernst464 yeah i definitely tend to stick to the basics in the Effaclar and Toleriane lines, plus the Cicaplast Balm

I agree wholeheartedly! Or do what Elemis did with their cleansing balm - have a rose scent, an unscented, and other options. That makes the most sense to me (...scents? sense? 🤣)

Such a wonderful cleanser!

It’s such a good cleanser!!

Oh no! Hope your skin recovers quickly!

I’m recovering from a flare myself! I feel your pain😓

@@racheljackson3182 Thank you so much! It’s the worst. Hope your skin starts to bounce back too!

The correct cleanser for skin type is beneficial as far as healing and softening. Once a day is a must then a Dr. Jart tiger grass serum and lotion will help a lot

That’s truly a brand that’s had affordable options for years - I love that about them!

Definitely let me know! I’m so curious as to whether mine is a bad batch or if the smell is just a bother to my nose (kind of like how some people hate cilantro, I guess? Lol!)

@@AliceintheRabbitHole ok! Took me a few months to get through my last cleansers (I had two going as keep one in shower and one at sink,and my daughter uses a different brand so it felt like I used these two forever, still have my Dr Brandt on my sink). I used the Indie Lee Brightening cleanser for first time! First impression…. Will not repurchase. 😢. Yup, odd smell and cannot even place it. Not over whelming or anything as a lighter scent but I definitely notice and not for me. I also did not love the cleanse, it’s a gel I think but kinda felt it just did not do much. I dunno, was just first impression so that may change and I had no make up or sunscreen screen on so I may notice a more cleansing effect once my face it more dirty, 😁😂

!! Thank you!! I don’t know how I didn’t catch that word. Much appreciated!

I looked that up so fast lol! Any idea where to get it? I’m so sad the brand isn’t at Ulta anymore 😭

@@AliceintheRabbitHole I'm not sure. I remember when I saw it was at Anthropologie.

I bought it! Hopefully it comes soon - I’m so curious too 👀

What a horrible year UGH!

Sadly, I would say cleansers are the absolute hardest category to guess at based on ingredients! So I’m much more comfortable telling you what I found to be gentle based on my own experiences (which is all in this video haha, but to quickly recap some affordable options: good molecules rosewater, geek & gorgeous!)

I still haven’t tried Osea, although I’m pretty convinced I need to at this point! I actually bought a sampler already, just haven’t gotten to it yet I wrap up Sioris tomorrow and plan to start another trial. I am 99% sure it’s going to be Augustinus Bader (selfishly lol. I NEEEED to know if I should grab the full size rich cream by the VIB sale!!) But I have been going back and forth on starting Osea. Maybe I’ll do it afterwards, or do another community poll haha. Deciding is tough these days with all the brands out there!

@@AliceintheRabbitHole No rush, Osea is hit or miss on products. Its clean beauty from the sea... so there's a lot of scents etc. Personally I love their body products (especially their body oil, body balm that both have strong scents) and ocean cleanser. Their milky cleanser was a bit too light. I want to try more but there are a number of things I've tried that were not terrible but not amazing.

Yep, you're not alone! It surprised me too as the ingredients look non-irritating, but I've seen too many people say this to ignore it!

Thank you 🙌

Do you know when the reformulation happened? That could explain it - I bought mine fairly recently

@@AliceintheRabbitHole I think within the last month? It also seems that the pump is shorter.

I’ve noticed I can use pretty much any scent ingredient in cleansers! I think it has to do with my allergy response being a bit lower, and thus due to prolonged exposure? That’s the catch with allergies though - the impact varies from person to person. Some can handle more before the onset of symptoms, and some can not 😭

Ooooh. So that’s a very controversial topic! Although tbh I don’t think it should be. …this may be a long reply I don’t love the harsh line between “clean beauty” and “science based”. I see nothing wrong with people questioning safety; this is something that shouldn’t be discouraged. However, some brands/influencers have undeniably contributed to misinformation, which widens the gap between these communities. The parabens scandal is a great example of misinformation - it’s important to follow the scientific method to draw conclusions: ie not taking a handful of studies out of context, but rather seeing the full picture. As such, we’ve seen people dismiss very real concerns, including the PFAS conversation more recently (baffling; environmental scientists are concerned; I’d argue it’s not something to dismiss although YES, perhaps not something to hyperfocus on within the realm of cosmetics), and yes, the safety of formaldehyde releasers. When it comes to these ingredients, we do have data on the potential for allergy/contact dermatitis. If I recall correctly, there’s a difference in incidence between the US and the EU (US having a higher rate of reactions). The rebuttal here is that allergy does depend on exposure - and thus we have limits in place for these ingredients. My question for years has been: what happens when we layer multiple products that all use these ingredients? Unfortunately, I have not found an answer to this BUT - because of concerns brought about by the clean community, we tend to see less of these ingredients these days. And because the safety data supports low level use of these, I personally no longer worry about seeing it in 1-2 products in my routine. Hopefully that helps, I can see if I can re-find some of those studies if you’d like (otherwise, feel free to peruse pubmed - it’s a fairly well studied ingredient overall, but in isolation vs “the 10 step method” lol) Hope that helps!

@@AliceintheRabbitHole thank you very much for the thoughtful response! Love that about your channel ❤️ I actually wrote Stratia and got a fairly detailed response on why they chose this preservative and the amount they use. I can share with you if you’re interested :)

Yuuup haha, you know my struggle! I too debated the “finish as hand wash” idea, but then Walgreens had hand soaps for 29 cents on clearance - I grabbed 5, and still can’t decide if that was a waste of money or not 😆😆 Yup the Lancer is amazing. Love his book too, still my favorite skin care related book (am broken record yet again LOL)

That makes sense but also: ugh!! I am so tired of brands reformulating for the worse (glares at primera!!)

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f9p_hcabr5i1iIE.html 😆 I wouldn't forget one of my absolute favorite types of products lol! If you like the OH walnut for body, you might like the Megababe scrubs at Ulta! I got them in the most recent platinum perks day sale, and they remind me a lot of that scrub for much less money. Plus added AHA! The only catch is they're definitely for the body, not face or body

Right lol! I love that it’s very obvious which products I don’t mind DUMPING OUT to swatch (when is it going to be empty, be gone!!) Vs the much stingier swatches 😆

I’ve heard that quite a few times about Beekman! It’s a big reason I talked myself out of trying their products 👀

Yeahhhh, something didn't translate as well as I hoped there! I might try to find an arm model instead (cough-bribe my sweetie to offer a hand 😆)

TRUTH

Ok for a moment I was shocked, but then I remembered: nobody likes KZfaq rewind. We watch it to laugh at how bad it is 😆😆

Aww. I hope things get better for ya 💕

There are timestamps in the description box ☺️