Balm, Oil, Gel or Foam? Eight Award-Winning Cleansers Explained

Buying a cleanser should be straightforward. Then you find yourself choosing between a balm, an oil, a mousse and something that turns into milk, all promising beautifully clean skin.

The useful starting point is what you want it to remove and how you like to wash your face. Taking off waterproof makeup is a different job from a quick morning cleanse. And if you dislike using a face cloth, a cleanser that needs one probably won’t become your favourite.

These nine Global Green Beauty Awards 2026 winners show how varied cleansing can be, with ingredients, textures and packaging details worth knowing before you choose.

Taking off makeup: balms, oils and cleansing waters

The Organic Pharmacy Carrot Butter Cleanser

Gold, Best Natural Cleanser

The Organic Pharmacy’s Carrot Butter Cleanser starts as a solid balm and melts into oil as you massage it onto dry skin. That gives it plenty of slip for working through makeup, including waterproof formulas, without needing to scrub.

Sunflower and jojoba oils sit alongside cocoa butter, beeswax and botanical extracts. The brand recommends removing it with warm water and a muslin cloth, making it a good match for anyone who enjoys a more leisurely evening cleanse.

Its organic credentials are specific: The Organic Pharmacy lists the formula as 99.8% organic and Ecocert certified. It contains beeswax, so it isn’t a vegan option.

Kinvara Absolute Cleansing Oil

Bronze, Best Organic Cleansing Oil / Balm

If you like the idea of oil cleansing but prefer a pump bottle to a jar, Kinvara’s Absolute Cleansing Oil offers that convenience.

The waterless blend includes sunflower, sesame, safflower and watermelon seed oils. It removes makeup, including mascara, and Kinvara recommends massaging it onto a damp face before removing it with a face cloth.

There’s a useful packaging choice here too. The standard bottle uses post-consumer recycled plastic, and the brand offers a refill that it says uses 87% less plastic than its standard 100ml bottle. That gives regular users a concrete way to reduce packaging.

Pure Beauty Bi-phase Cleansing Water

Gold, Best Clean Cleanser

Pure Beauty’s Bi-phase Cleansing Water combines oil and water in two visible layers. Shake it before use to bring them together.

The oil phase helps dissolve stubborn makeup, while the watery texture offers a different feel from a balm. Watsons highlights waterproof mascara, eyeliner and sunscreen removal, so this is particularly relevant if those are the products you struggle to take off.

The formula also includes fermented Jeju kombucha extract. Its main appeal, though, is practical: makeup removal in a fluid format for people who don’t enjoy massaging a rich balm over their face.

Prefer a creamy cleanser?

Sknfed Organic Cleansing Lotion

Bronze, Best Natural Cream / Milk Cleanser and Best Organic Cleanser

Sknfed’s Organic Cleansing Lotion brings together sunflower and coconut oils, shea and cocoa butters, glycerin and aloe vera. It’s a lotion, but the ingredient list shows that it still has a nourishing side.

The brand says it removes makeup, including waterproof mascara, while leaving skin hydrated. Massage onto damp skin and rinse with warm water.

This is an option to investigate if you prefer a creamy wash to an airy foam. Sknfed identifies 83.53% of the ingredients as organic and labels the product vegan, giving shoppers more detail than a general “natural” claim.

Gem & Tonic Nourishing Cream Cleanser

Silver, Best Natural Cream / Milk Cleanser

Gem & Tonic’s Nourishing Cream Cleanser is a reminder that a creamy texture doesn’t necessarily mean a plain, non-exfoliating formula.

It contains quartz and papaya extract, which the brand includes for physical and natural exfoliation, alongside liquorice, moringa and moisturising glycerin. Its purpose is to cleanse while leaving the surface of the skin feeling smoother.

Massage it gently and rinse, without adding extra scrubbing pressure. Gem & Tonic also suggests leaving it on for three to five minutes as a mask. If you already use exfoliating products, take that extra function into account when deciding where it fits.

For those who enjoy a rinse-off wash

Fattoria La Vialla Delicate Gel Face Wash

Gold, Best Natural Gentle Cleanser

Fattoria La Vialla’s Delicate Gel Face Wash is a gel option within its OliPhenolia skincare range. It’s worth exploring if you prefer a straightforward face wash to the richness of an oil or balm.

The range centres on the farm’s olive-derived OliPhenolia ingredient. There is also a traceable agricultural connection: La Vialla states that more than 65% of this cleanser consists of ingredients from its own biodynamic, Demeter-certified raw materials.

That is a more informative detail than simply describing a product as green. It tells readers something about where a substantial part of the formula comes from.

Pouty Cloud Bubble Warrior Gentle Cleansing Mousse

Silver, Best Clean Cleanser; Bronze, Best Vegan Cleanser

Pouty Cloud’s Bubble Warrior Gentle Cleansing Mousse will appeal to anyone who enjoys a soft foam.

Its formula includes amino-acid-based cleansing ingredients, glycerin, vitamin B5 and allantoin. The brand describes it as fragrance-free, vegan and formulated at pH 5.5, with an emphasis on leaving skin comfortable after washing.

It’s a useful example of why texture alone doesn’t tell the whole story. A mousse can include moisturising ingredients, just as a cream cleanser can include exfoliants. Look beyond the bubbles and consider the formula and how your skin feels afterwards.

When you want more than makeup removal

Botanica Nordica Papaya Enzyme Cleanser – Deep Cleanse

Gold, Best Organic Cleanser

Botanica Nordica’s Papaya Enzyme Cleanser – Deep Cleanse changes texture during use. Massage it onto dry skin, then add water and it becomes a milky emulsion that rinses away.

Papaya fruit ferment brings an exfoliating element, while oat, sesame and sunflower oils help give the formula its conditioning feel. The brand positions it for dull-looking skin and uneven texture.

It’s an interesting choice if you want makeup removal and a surface-smoothing step in the same product. Botanica Nordica also states that more than 89% of its ingredients come from certified organic manufacturing.

NatCosmetics MY BLACK FACE CLEANSER

Gold, Best Charcoal Product

NatCosmetics’ MY BLACK FACE CLEANSER combines charcoal powder with kaolin clay in a formula aimed at oily and blemish-prone skin.

There’s more to it than its colour. The ingredients also include almond oil, glycerin and diatomaceous earth, which the brand describes as providing gentle physical exfoliation. Charcoal and clay give it an oil-absorbing focus, while the oils help the product spread.

This is a different proposition from a simple makeup remover. If excess oil is your concern, it may be worth exploring; if you only want a basic daily wash, check whether you need the exfoliating element too.

Do you need to double cleanse?

Not every wash needs to become a two-product routine. The question is whether your cleanser removes what you’re wearing comfortably and thoroughly.

On evenings with substantial makeup or water-resistant sunscreen, a dedicated remover followed by a rinse-off cleanser can be useful. For a quick morning wash, there may be much less to remove. Follow the individual product’s instructions, including whether it belongs on dry or damp skin and whether it needs a cloth.

These winners offer several ways to do the same everyday job. Choose the method you’ll happily use, and pay attention to how your skin feels once you’ve rinsed and dried it.