CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser On your shelf ✓
Our read, in one look
Niacinamide is the reason to consider this cleanser, with Ceramide 3 behind it.
The case for it
- Niacinamide, strong evidence for the barrier
- Ceramide 3, strong evidence for the barrier
- No fragrance, alcohol, silicones or parabens
Mind this
- Morning or evening, whichever suits your routine
- Add it on its own for a week or two, so you know what your skin is answering to
Maya's readCeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser is a cleanser built around Glycerin, Niacinamide and Ceramide 3. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair, brightening / tone. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and oily skin. Nothing in it we'd flag for most people.
Skip it if you're looking for a treatment step: this cleanses, and nothing more.
The formula, drawn
Every ingredient in label order, coloured by the job it does here.
11 of the 25 sit above the 1% line. The other 14, hatched, are each under 1%. Widths show the ORDER on the label and nothing else: the label never discloses amounts, so we never draw them.
- Actives & signals
- Hydrators
- Texture & base
- Preservation
- Not in our library yet
- No fragrance anywhere on the label
What it delivers
How it feels A gentle wash that lifts the day away without leaving skin tight or squeaky. (estimated from the formula)
What's in it that matters
Classic humectant with strong evidence for improving skin hydration and supporting barrier when combined with emollients.
Multitasking vitamin that improves barrier, reduces redness, regulates oil, helps with pores and pigmentation with strong clinical support.
Skin-identical ceramide that plays a key role in restoring and strengthening the skin barrier.
Ceramide that supports barrier integrity and helps smooth rough, dry skin when combined with other skin lipids.
Structural ceramide important for a resilient, well-organized barrier lipid matrix.
Water-binding molecule that increases hydration; works best under occlusive/emollient layers to reduce evaporation.
How to use it
Massage over damp skin, then rinse. Morning and/or night, gentle enough for twice a day.
Where it acts
The same cross-section as our 500 dalton page, with this formula's actives on the layer each one works on. Depth is the anatomy's, never an ingredient's.
Skin surface
The stratum corneum
- Ceramide 1derived from what it is
- Ceramide 3derived from what it is
- Ceramide 6-IIderived from what it is
- Glycerinderived from what it is
- Hyaluronic acidderived from what it is
The living epidermis
- Niacinamideestablished, sourced
6 of this product's actives have a layer we can defend.
Sources for the sourced ones: Boo 2021: mechanistic basis for topical nicotinamide; Ebanks et al. 2009: mechanisms regulating skin pigmentation.
Against the average cleanser
It scores higher than the median cleanser on brightening and oil control.
On hydration, barrier repair and anti-aging it is level with the median, so that is not what sets it apart.
A median, not an average: one unusual formula should not move the middle. The numbers are the same 0 to 10 reads the comparison pages use.
The full ingredients list, decoded
Every ingredient on the label, in the order it appears (highest amount first). We link the 19 our library knows, name what each one does, and flag anything that can irritate or clog. The rest we leave plain, nothing is hidden.
All 25 ingredients, decoded
- Aqua/WaterSolvent (base)
- Cocamidopropyl HydroxysultaineCleansing agent
- GlycerinHumectant
- Sodium Lauroyl SarcosinateCleansing agent
- PropanediolHumectant
- PEG-150 Pentaerythrityl TetrastearateEmulsifier
- NiacinamideVitaminmild irritant
- PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric GlyceridesEmulsifier
- Ceramide NPBarrier lipid
- Ceramide APBarrier lipid
- Ceramide EOPBarrier lipid
- roughly the 1% lineThe rules only require descending order above 1%. From Carbomer down, these 14 can be listed in any order the brand likes, so position stops telling you anything.
- CarbomerThickener
- Sodium Methyl Cocoyl TaurateCleansing agent
- Sodium BenzoatePreservative
- Sodium ChlorideThickener
- Sodium Lauroyl LactylateSurfactantmild irritant
- Sodium HyaluronateHumectant
- CholesterolBarrier lipid
- PhenoxyethanolPreservativemild irritant
- Disodium EDTAChelator
- Citric AcidExfoliantmild irritant
- Tetrasodium EDTAChelator
- PhytosphingosineSphingoid base
- Xanthan GumThickener
- EthylhexylglycerinPreservative booster
Copy the raw INCI list
Aqua/Water, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Glycerin, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Propanediol, PEG-150 Pentaerythrityl Tetrastearate, Niacinamide, PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, Ceramide NP, Ceramide AP, Ceramide EOP, Carbomer, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Cholesterol, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium EDTA, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Phytosphingosine, Xanthan Gum, Ethylhexylglycerin
Read enough? Find it on amazon.com →
We don't make or sell skincare of our own. So there's nothing here we're trying to push, just an honest read of whether this formula suits your skin.
Against your shelf
Read from your own shelf, in your browser. We never see it.
Compare it with…
All 6 comparisons
- Foaming Facial Cleanser vs CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser
- Foaming Facial Cleanser vs CeraVe SA Smoothing Cleanser
- Foaming Facial Cleanser vs Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
- Foaming Facial Cleanser vs Bioderma Sébium Gel Moussant
- Foaming Facial Cleanser vs COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser
- Foaming Facial Cleanser vs Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micellar Water
Common questions
Is CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser good for dry skin?
By our read of the formula, it suits dry, dehydrated, oily skin. CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser is a cleanser built around Glycerin, Niacinamide and Ceramide 3. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair, brightening / tone. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and oily skin. Nothing in it we'd flag for most people.
How do you use CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser?
Massage over damp skin, then rinse. Morning and/or night, gentle enough for twice a day.
What are the key ingredients in CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser?
The actives that do the work are Glycerin, Niacinamide, Ceramide 3, Ceramide 6-II, Ceramide 1, Hyaluronic acid. The rest of the list is texture, preservatives and emulsifiers that hold the formula together.
Does CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser contain fragrance?
No. By our reading of the ingredient list it is fragrance-free, which is a plus for sensitive or reactive skin.
What the 3D scene shows
The scene shows CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser beside a cross-section of skin, with 3 of its ingredients drawn at the layer each one acts on and at one shared molecular scale: Ceramide 3 and Glycerin in the stratum corneum, the dead outer layer where most skincare works; Niacinamide in the living epidermis, among the cells that are still dividing. Depths come from the same sourced layer data as the rest of this site, and any ingredient whose layer is not established is left out rather than guessed.
