Last Updated on December 8, 2025 by Giorgia Guazzarotti
Finding a cleanser when you’ve got combination skin is like trying to please two completely different people at once. Your T-zone’s over here producing enough oil to fry an egg, while your cheeks are flaking like you’ve been stuck in the Sahara for a week. Most cleansers pick a side. They’re either stripping enough oil to leave your dry patches feeling like sandpaper, or they’re so gentle they leave your oily zones feeling grimy by lunchtime. So, what’s a girl to do? I’m turning to Korean skincare to see if they’ve cracked the code on this balancing act. In this guide, I’m breaking down the best Korean cleansers that actually work for combination skin – ones that’ll clean your oily bits without turning your dry skin patches into the Atacama Desert.
What To Look For In A Cleanser For Combination Skin
- Skin-friendly pH levels: Your skin sits at around 4.7 to 5.75 on the pH scale. Use something way too alkaline and your face goes haywire. Your oily spots start overproducing oil because they’re panicking, and your dry bits get even drier. It’s a mess. Look for something between 4.5 and 6.5. A bunch of Korean brands actually put this info right on the bottle, so you don’t have to dig through Reddit threads to figure it out.
- Gentle surfactants: Sodium lauryl sulfate is in so many cleansers and it’s absolute garbage for combination skin. It takes everything off your face: the oil you need, the oil you don’t need, probably a layer of actual skin cells. Go for gentler options like decyl glucoside or sodium cocoyl isethionate. I know these names sound like chemistry homework, but they clean without damaging your skin barrier and making your face feel tight and angry.
- Moisturising ingredients: Even the oily parts of your face need hydration. Sounds weird, but it’s true. The trick is finding stuff that hydrates without making you look shiny by 10am. Hyaluronic acid and glycerin are good for this. They add moisture without weight. If your cleanser has oils, stick to light ones like jojoba. Heavy oils will just clog everything up and you’ll be dealing with breakouts on top of everything else.
- Simple and gentle formulas: Skip cleansers loaded with fragrance and a million plant extracts. All that extra stuff just irritates your skin for no good reason. Your dry patches especially don’t need the drama. And honestly, why would you put retinol or vitamin C in a cleanser? You’re washing it off in 30 seconds. Put those in serums where they can actually do something.
Related: The Best Skincare Routine For Combination Skin
Don’t know which skincare products you can mix and match together and which ones deactivate each other? Download your FREE “How To Layer Actives Like A Pro” cheat sheet to get the most out of your skincare products:
What Are The Best Facial Cleansers For Combination Skin Types?
Beauty of Joseon Green Plum Refreshing Cleanser ($13.00)
This gel cleanser is honestly pretty solid. It foams up just enough to feel like it’s working without turning into a bubble bath situation. The texture’s kind of bouncy and light, almost watery, which threw me off at first because I’m used to thicker stuff. But here’s the thing: it actually cleans without making your face feel like the Sahara afterward. My oily zones stay reasonably matte and my dry patches don’t immediately start peeling, which is basically all I’m asking for. It’s got plum water and mung bean extract (yeah, beans on your face, stay with me), and the pH sits around 5.5 so it won’t mess with your skin barrier. Takes off sunscreen and daily grime fine, though you’ll want an oil cleanser first if you’re wearing actual makeup. The scent’s barely there: vaguely fruity but nothing offensive. It’s not gonna change your life but it gets the job done without drama, and sometimes that’s exactly what you need.
Available at: Boots, Cult Beauty, Look Fantastic, Superdrug, and Yes Style
Active ingredients: Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate and Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine (gentle surfactants).
Benefits: Gentle cleanser with a low pH (around 5.5) that won’t disrupt your skin barrier, removes sunscreen and light makeup without stripping, helps control oil production without drying out skin, gentle enough for daily use.
Cons: Needs an oil cleanser first if you wear heavy makeup, texture is quite watery which might feel insubstantial, not particularly hydrating (just non-stripping), results are solid but not dramatic.
Skin types: All skin types, especially good for combination and oily skin.
Fragrance-free: Yes.
Sulwhasoo Gentle Cleansing Foam ($38.00)
Look, this cleanser is fancy as hell and it knows it. It’s a clear gel that foams up into these crazy dense bubbles, like way more foam than you’d expect. Feels luxurious, sure, but here’s where it gets weird: after you rinse, your face has this sort of…slippery? moist? finish. Not in a bad way necessarily, but it’s definitely there. Some days I’m into it, other days I’m like “did I actually wash my face or just rub expensive lotion on it?” For combination skin it’s fine. It doesn’t make my oily zones freak out, doesn’t turn my dry spots into sandpaper. But it’s not what I’d call a deep clean. Like if you wore actual makeup you absolutely need an oil cleanser first, this is not removing a full face on its own. The smell is STRONG: very herbal, very “I’m in a Korean spa surrounded by pine trees.” Either you’ll love it or you’ll hate it, no in between.
Available at: Look Fantastic, Sephora, Stylevana, and Yes Style
Active ingredients: Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate (all gentle surfactants)
Benefits: Creates rich, cushiony foam, doesn’t strip skin, leaves a hydrated/dewy finish, contains herbal extracts (mulberry leaf, mountain yam) for skin softening
Cons: Expensive (around $38 for 200ml), leaves a slightly moisturizing film that might feel too much for some, strong herbal fragrance, not the most thorough cleanse for heavy makeup.
Skin types: Best for different skin types, but especially for normal and combination skin.
Fragrance-free: Yes.
BANILA CO Clean It Zero Pore Clarifying Cleansing Balm ($22.00)
This is an oil cleanser, not a water-based one – just want to make that clear right off the bat. It’s that sherbet texture everyone freaks out about, and yeah, it’s kinda satisfying to scoop out. Melts into an oil when you massage it on your dry face, then emulsifies when you add water and rinses off pretty clean. The tea tree smell is there but not obnoxious. Here’s the thing: it’s got AHA, BHA, and LHA in it (their “Tri-Peel Acid” thing), which sounds intense but honestly I didn’t notice any tingling or irritation – because they’re really down the ingredient list so won’t do much. Takes off makeup and sunscreen no problem. Even waterproof mascara comes off if you really work at it. My skin feels clean after but not tight or stripped, which is the whole point of an oil cleanser. For combination skin it works well because it doesn’t leave that greasy film some oil cleansers do, but it’s also not so aggressive that your dry bits freak out. The acids are supposed to help with pores and texture but let’s be real, you’re washing this off so don’t expect miracles. It’s a solid first cleanse in a double cleanse routine. Price is decent for what you get. The tub lasts forever because you only need a little scoop each time.
Available at: Asos, Soko Glam, Superdrug, and Yes Style
Active ingredients: PEG-20 Glyceryl Triisostearate, PEG-10 Isostearate (emulsifying agents that turn the balm into oil then allow it to rinse off with water)
Benefits: Removes makeup and sunscreen effectively.
Cons: Struggles a bit with heavy waterproof makeup.
Skin types: Oily, combination, and acne-prone skin; the tea tree makes it better for oilier types but works fine for combo.
Fragrance-free: Yes.
FAQs
Do I really need to double cleanse if I have combination skin?
Look, double cleansing is when you wash your face twice: oil-based cleanser first, then a water-based cleanser or foam cleanser after. It’s all over TikTok and everyone in South Korea swears by it and acts like your face will fall off if you don’t do it. But like…no? If your cleanser actually works, washing once is fine. I mean if you’re wearing a full face of makeup every single day or you just really enjoy it, whatever, do your thing. But your combination skin doesn’t actually need it. Board-certified dermatologists will straight up tell you that washing twice can backfire: strips your skin of moisture, your oily parts freak out and make even more excess oil, your dry patches get crustier. It’s a whole mess.
What kind of Korean cleanser should I actually use: gel, foam, or those balm things?
Depends what you’re doing. Balms like Heimish All Clean Balm are oil-based cleansers, good for removing makeup without making your oily zones worse (it’s just not my top pick because it has fragranced citrus extracts that make it smell divine but can irritate sensitive skin). For actually washing your face, gel or a foam cleanser that’s not too intense usually works better for combination skin. Those deep cleansing foams can be brutal on dry patches. You want something that doesn’t pick sides between your oily and dry areas.
Are Korean cleansers actually better for combination skin or is that just hype?
Korean beauty brands and K-beauty brands do make some really good stuff with ingredients you don’t see everywhere: rice extract, green tomato, witch hazel, natural oils. A lot of favorite Korean cleansers are specifically designed for various skin types so they handle the oily-and-dry situation better. But it’s not like slapping “Korean” on a bottle makes it magic. What actually matters is the formula and whether it works for your skin concern, not whether some K-beauty experts on TikTok are obsessed with it. Plenty of Korean facial cleansers are excellent. Plenty of other cleansers are too. Your skin health comes down to finding the right ingredients for your skin’s needs, period.
The Bottom Line
Combination skin’s a pain because half your face is doing one thing and the other half’s doing something else, but honestly it’s not as complicated as everyone makes it out to be. The Korean cleansers in this article work because they actually get that your skin needs balance, not mattifying your whole face or drowning it in moisture.If your face feels tight after washing, that cleanser’s wrong for you no matter how many people rave about it. If you’re an oil slick an hour later, try something else. And quit double cleansing if one good wash gets the job done. Your skin doesn’t need to be a whole production. It just needs to be clean without feeling stripped or greasy.
