I never go to bed without thoroughly double-cleansing my face: first with a face wash to get rid of any lingering dirt, grease, and grime. While I’ve tested multiple types of makeup removers, including micellar water, wipes, and cleansing oils, I always end up going back to a cleansing balm. Massaging a soft, velvety balm into my face and watching the makeup melt into mascara-flecked rivulets feels so much more gentle and soothing to me than any other method I’ve tried. Plus, since balms are solid, they’re easy to travel with, and if you knock over the jar by accident, you won’t end up with an oily puddle dripping down your bathroom cabinet (ask me how I know).
For me, the ideal balm has a luxuriously creamy texture that dissolves makeup on contact but doesn’t leave behind an oily residue; has a pleasant but not overwhelmingly strong scent; and is priced reasonably enough that I don’t feel precious about using it every single night. I also appreciate when a balm comes with a spatula — a thoughtful touch that makes it easier to scoop out of the jar and keeps the product clean for as long as possible. To find the best ones, I tested nine popular cleansing balms, from staples like Clinique and Elemis to buzzy K-beauty favorites like Banila and Then I Met You.
Good But Not Amazing
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Fragrance: Scented, earthy notes | Spatula: No | Price per ounce: Approx. $37.50/ounce
Eve Lom’s Balm Cleanser was one of the first-ever cleansing balms on the market back in the 1980s and has since accrued an extremely devoted fan base. “It not only worked, but it included an aspect of self-care,” explains dermatologist Dr. Heidi A. Waldorf. That aspect was evident in the included muslin cloth and the user pamphlet, which instructed me to gently buff away at my face with the cloth three times before rinsing with cold water.
While it did work well to remove my makeup, the initial texture felt grainy rather than smooth, and unfortunately I didn’t care for the balm’s blend of aromatic oils — it’s very earthy and slightly medicinal, reminiscent of a Chinese herbal pharmacy stocked with ginseng and dried mushrooms. It also has quite a high price point, which starts at $60 for a 50mL container. I could definitely see myself using it every once in a while if I’m treating myself to a self-care day, but it’s too expensive for me to justify using it as an everyday cleansing balm.
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Fragrance: Scented, floral notes | Spatula: No | Price per ounce: Approx. $12/ounce
Initially, IT Cosmetics’s Bye Bye Makeup cleansing balm had a slightly grainy, crumbly texture like shortbread crust, but smoothed out into a silky oil when I rubbed it into my skin. Once applied, it was very effective in removing stubborn waterproof mascara and melted away a full face with ease. The scent, while fairly light and inoffensive, was nevertheless not my favorite — the formula includes rosehip oil, and personally I’m not the biggest fan of floral fragrances. However, if you wear pretty heavy-duty makeup and love rose-scented products, it might be worth a try.
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Fragrance: Scented, fruity notes | Spatula: Yes | Price per ounce: Approx. $5.50/ounce
E.l.f. is one of my favorite drugstore brands, with reliably good, wallet-friendly products. This Holy Hydration cleansing balm performed admirably for its low cost, though I did have a little trouble with my waterproof mascara, scrubbing to the point of foggy vision to ensure I got it all off. And once again, the scent fell short for me — it was quite heavy with a chemically, synthetic quality, and it lingered even after I rinsed and dried my face. The price point ($11 for two ounces) can’t be beat, however, and I’d recommend it for heavy makeup wearers who need a workhorse cleansing balm that’s both effective and cheap.
The Runners-Up
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Fragrance: Mild, neutral scent | Spatula: Yes | Price per ounce: Approx. $10/ounce
Strategist senior editor Ailbhe Malone describes Drunk Elephant’s Slaai “butter cleanser” as “able to take off the shroud of Turin,” and it definitely felt heavy-duty. When mixed with water, it emulsified into a much oilier consistency than some of the other balms I tried, likely because the formula contains three different types of oils (virgin marula, baobab seed, and kalahari melon seed, to be specific). As someone with easily clogged pores, I typically prefer a more lightweight product, but it fulfilled its “makeup-melting” promise and easily disintegrated my stubborn waterproof makeup with zero stinging or rubbing. I also appreciated that the lid was designed with a ridge to hold the included spatula — a small detail, but it really made a difference to have a dedicated place to secure it, rather than letting it float loosely around my cabinet shelves. This balm would definitely be suitable for daily heavy makeup wearers who want a bit more of an elevated cleansing experience.
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Fragrance: Scented, clean herbal notes | Spatula: No | Price per ounce: Approx. $20/ounce
I was excited to try Elemis’s widely beloved Pro-Collagen cleansing balm, but ran into the same issue as I did with the Drunk Elephant balm — it was just a bit too rich for my taste. Texturally, the balm is extremely thick and viscous, like petroleum jelly, and lathers up luxuriously; while it did leave my skin feeling very soft and hydrated, I couldn’t shake the feeling of a faint filmy layer remaining on my face. It comes in several scents, including fig and rose, but I went with the original, which smells like a high-end spa — clean and uplifting with notes of eucalyptus and lavender. It’s an intensely nourishing and sensorial experience, and I can see it working well for someone with skin on the drier or more mature side, but I prefer to be left with a more “squeaky clean” feeling. (Either way, it’s good for a first cleanse; I just have an aversion to anything feeling very oily or heavy on my face, ever.)
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Fragrance: Unscented | Spatula: No | Price per ounce: Approx. $12/ounce
Clinique’s Take the Day Off line, which includes makeup remover, micellar wipes, and cleansing oil, is a best seller for a reason — it’s gentle yet efficient, capable of tackling the hardiest waterproof makeup. The fragrance-free balm has a nicely silky texture that rinsed off cleanly and didn’t leave a greasy residue, and I can definitely see it becoming a staple in my cleansing routine. My one minor knock against it is that it doesn’t come with its own spatula. It’s much more hygienic to use a scoop, and I could see the product becoming a bacterial breeding ground if I were digging my foundation-stained fingers into the container every night. I’d still recommend the Clinique if you have sensitive skin and prefer to use non-fragranced products, but you may want to pick up a spatula to go with it.
My Favorites
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Fragrance: Scented, fruity notes | Spatula: Yes | Price per ounce: Approx. $6/ounce
Banila’s Clean It Zero balm is a K-beauty classic, with multiple versions available for all manner of skin types and concerns: combo, dull. The original balm, however, is still the most popular and promises to suit all skin types, so it’s the one I opted to test. The balm dissolved my makeup with ease and required no undue scouring around the delicate eye area. The scent may veer a tad too candy-sweet for some, with a few reviewers calling it “perfume-y” and “artificial,” but I love it and personally don’t find it to be at all headache-inducing. Overall, it’s just perfectly balanced for my needs and preferences: a pleasant, non-overpowering fragrance; a hydrating but not overly greasy texture; and a just-right price point, where it’s not so expensive that I’d feel guilty using it as a nightly routine makeup remover. That makes it great for someone like me, who wears some amount of makeup daily but isn’t always going for a super-heavy full beat.
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Fragrance: Mild, neutral scent | Spatula: Yes | Price per ounce: Approx. $12/ounce
If the fragrance of Clean It Zero might be a dealbreaker for you, I highly recommend trying Then I Met You’s Living cleansing balm, which barely has any scent. The balm has earned raves from Strategist beauty columnist Kim Chi, and visually it’s gorgeous, with a lovely saturated goldenrod hue imparted by the sea-buckthorn oil in the formula. It looks so luscious that I was actually a tad disappointed when it turned out to have a very mild, neutral scent, but the oh-so-creamy, butter-soft texture more than made up for it; scooping up a dollop was like gliding a spoon through a coupeful of mango sorbet. Massaging it into my face was just as deeply satisfying, and afterward my skin felt invigorated and thoroughly cleansed, but not stripped.
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Fragrance: Scented, citrus notes; unscented version available | Spatula: Yes | Price per ounce: Approx. $11.50/ounce
I must admit, I harbor a nostalgic fondness for Farmacy’s Green Clean cleansing balm, because it was the first one I ever used. I fell in love with it immediately, and it’s been a comparison point for every cleansing balm I’ve tried since. None of the challengers I tested for this story knocked it off the top of my list: It performed excellently, gently melting my makeup into frothy streams that washed away with no leftover residue. But I also loved the balm’s scent, a refreshing, citrusy blend of lime, bergamot, and orange, as well as its color, a fetching pale mint. I was nervous when Farmacy announced in March 2025 that it had reformulated the balm, but thankfully the fragrance and color have stayed consistent (though if you’re sensitive to scent, the brand now has a fragrance-free version). The main change is that Farmacy has added an antioxidant-rich supergreen blend that features moringa, holy basil, and arugula. When I tried the new formula, the texture felt a bit thicker and I had to massage a little longer before it fully emulsified, but otherwise I didn’t notice too much of a difference.
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