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Product Comparison

Here's our complete breakdown comparing the ingredients, attributes, and more of CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser versus COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser .

Last updated on August 04, 2023. Published on January 17, 2021

Overview

What they are

These products are both reef safe face cleansers. They have a total of 7 ingredients in common

Cool Features

They both contain BHA

Suited For

They're both likely to be good for fighting acne, dry skin, brightening skin, oily skin, reducing pores and scar healing

Free From

They both do not contain any harsh alcohols, common allergens, parabens, silicones or sulfates

What's Inside

They both contain fragrances and oils

We independently verify ingredients, and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Spot a product that need an update? Let us know.

Face Cleanser Canadian Brand Canada
Face Cleanser South Korean Brand South Korea

Face Cleanser

Face cleansers are used to remove makeup, dead skin cells, pollutants, oil, dirt, and/or clean out pores on the skin. Face cleansers may specialize in having one function (exa. just removing makeup) or may have multiple functions (exa. Removing makeup and cleaning pores).

Face Cleanser

Face cleansers are used to remove makeup, dead skin cells, pollutants, oil, dirt, and/or clean out pores on the skin. Face cleansers may specialize in having one function (exa. just removing makeup) or may have multiple functions (exa. Removing makeup and cleaning pores).

Price

Shop

Buy Renewing SA Cleanser

Starts at $12.39
Shop

Buy Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser

Starts at $5.99

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and view relevant ingredients.
alcohol-free
silicon-free
fragrance-free
sulfate-free
paraben-free
oil-free
fungal-acne safe
reef-safe
eu-allergen-free
vegan
cruelty-free
ph level
5.5
alcohol-free
silicon-free
fragrance-free
sulfate-free
paraben-free
oil-free
fungal-acne safe
reef-safe
eu-allergen-free
vegan
cruelty-free
ph level
9.5

At a glance

Click on any of the items below to learn more

Notable Ingredients

BHA
PHA
Niacinamide
Ceramides (3)
Hyaluronic Acid

Benefits

Hydrating (5)
Good For Oily Skin (2)
Redness Reducing (5)
Reduces Irritation (3)
Skin Texture
Reduces Large Pores (2)
Anti-Aging (4)
Dark Spots
Scar Healing
Acne Fighting (2)
Brightening (3)

Concerns

Drying (2)
Acne Trigger
Irritating
Rosacea (2)
Eczema

Notable Ingredients

BHA

Benefits

Hydrating
Good For Oily Skin
Reduces Large Pores
Scar Healing
Acne Fighting
Brightening (2)

Concerns

Drying (2)
May Worsen Oily Skin (3)
Acne Trigger (3)
Irritating
Rosacea (2)
Eczema (2)
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Ingredients Side-by-side

Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.

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Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

1
What it does: Skin Conditioning, Solvent
Community Rating: Loved

Water. It's the most common cosmetic ingredient of all. You'll usually see it at the top of ingredient lists, meaning that it makes up the largest part of the product.

So why is it so popular? Water most often acts as a solvent - this means that it helps dissolve other ingredients into the formulation.

You'll also recognize water as that liquid we all need to stay alive. Talk about multi-purpose! If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water

CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 1.

COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 1.

2
What it does: Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting, Solvent
Community Rating: Loved

Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.

A study from 2016 found glycerin to be more effective as a humectant than AHAs and hyaluronic acid.

As a humectant, it helps the skin stay hydrated by pulling moisture to your skin. The low molecular weight of glycerin allows it to pull moisture into the deeper layers of your skin.

Hydrated skin improves your skin barrier; Your skin barrier helps protect against irritants and bacteria.

Glycerin has also been found to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Due to these properties, glycerin is often used in wound and burn treatments.

In cosmetics, glycerin is usually derived from plants such as soybean or palm. However, it can also be sourced from animals, such as tallow or animal fat.

This ingredient is organic, colorless, odorless, and non-toxic.

Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.

Learn more about Glycerin

CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 3.

COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 13.

3
What it does: Cleansing, Foaming
Community Rating: Very Disliked

Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate isn't fungal acne safe.

CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 8.

COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 7.

4
What it does: Masking
Community Rating: Very Disliked

Chances are, you eat sodium chloride every day. Sodium Chloride is also known as table salt.

This ingredient has many purposes in skincare: thickener, emulsifier, and exfoliator.

You'll most likely find this ingredient in cleansers where it is used to create a gel-like texture. As an emulsifier, it also prevents ingredients from separating.

There is much debate on whether this ingredient is comedogenic. The short answer - comedogenic ratings don't tell the whole story. Learn more about comegodenic ratings here.

The concensus about this ingredient causing acne seems to be divided. Research is needed to understand if this ingredient does cause acne.

Scrubs may use salt as the primary exfoliating ingredient.

Learn more about Sodium Chloride

CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 15.

COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 3.

5
What it does: Masking, Preservative, Skin Conditioning
Community Rating: Liked

Salicylic Acid (also known as beta hydroxy acid or BHA) is one of the most well-known ingredients for treating skin that struggles with blackheads and acne. It helps to exfoliate both the skin's surface and pores, and also acts as an anti-inflammatory agent.

This multitasking property makes it a great ingredient for cleaning out pores, controlling oil production, and reducing inflammation.

Unlike AHAs which are water soluble, Salicylic Acid is oil soluble. This means that it's able to exfoliate the inside of pores and reduce blackheads.

Concentrations of 0.5-2% are recognized by the U.S. FDA as an over-the-counter topical acne product.

It can cause irritation and/or dryness if one's skin already has a compromised moisture barrier, so it's best to focus on repairing that before introducing a Salicylic Acid into your routine.

In general, Salicylic Acid is a great ingredient for oily acne-prone skin.

While salicylic acid does not increase sun-sensitivity, we still recommend wearing SPF.

If you are looking for the ingredient called BHA or Butylated Hydroxyanisole, click here.

Learn more about Salicylic Acid

CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 16.

COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 15.

6
What it does:
Community Rating: Disliked

Disodium EDTA plays a role in making products more stable by aiding other preservatives.

It is a chelating agent, meaning it neutralizes metal ions that may be found in a product.

Disodium EDTA is a salt of edetic acid and is found to be safe in cosmetic ingredients.

Learn more about Disodium EDTA

CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 22.

COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 20.

7
What it does: Skin Conditioning
Community Rating: Mixed

Ethylhexylglycerin (we can't pronounce this either) is commonly used as a preservative and skin softener. It is derived from glyceryl.

You might see Ethylhexylglycerin often paired with other preservatives such as phenoxyethanol. Ethylhexylglycerin has been found to increase the effectiveness of these other preservatives.

CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 27.

COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 8.

Here's what our community thinks of the ingredients in these two products.

44% are loved or liked
4% have mixed ratings
44% are disliked or very disliked
7% have no rating yet
22% are loved or liked
22% have mixed ratings
57% are disliked or very disliked
0% have no rating yet

Usage

Here's some more info on how this product is used by our community.

When to use

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Reviews

Here's what our community thinks

CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser 27 ingredients

3.2 /5
from 24 ratings
Drying (3) Works Well (2) Great Value (2) Irritating (2) Broke Me Out (1) Light (1)
AshN.'s avatar

AshN.

3 months ago · Dry Skin
Review

(Using Since 2020) Similar to the other CeraVe cleanser it hasn't let me down. I took off one star just because I feel that this isn't really ideal...

(Using Since 2020) Similar to the other CeraVe cleanser it hasn't let me down. I took off one star just because I feel that this isn't really ideal for every day use, especially if you have dry, sensitive skin (despite it being advertised as gentle). It's fairly stripping due to all the actives in it, so I found it to be a bit irritating to me. But once I stopped using it everyday and switched to only using it every other evening, the irritation stopped all together and actually helped with my occasional comedonal acne.

CarlaTriegaardt's avatar

CarlaTriegaardt

1 year ago · Combination Skin
Review

Think twice befor using on dry/combination skin
I was super excited to start using this product because of all of the benefits but found it to be...

Think twice befor using on dry/combination skin
I was super excited to start using this product because of all of the benefits but found it to be slightly drying and irritating to my skin.

COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser 23 ingredients

3.0 /5
from 12 ratings
Drying (2) Broke Me Out (1) Doesn't Work (1) Irritating (1) Strong Scent (1)
princessmelody2010's avatar

princessmelody2010

4 months ago · Combination Skin
Review

Okay.. but NO.. not safe for fungal acne.

skinogre's avatar

skinogre

3 months ago · Oily Skin
Review

I used to think it was good because of how it really goes DEEP into cleaning your skin, it feels like it’s been scraped out. It’s good if you...

I used to think it was good because of how it really goes DEEP into cleaning your skin, it feels like it’s been scraped out. It’s good if you haven’t washed your face in a week, other than that it’s really bad. And that’s coming from someone who has oily skin and uses Paula’s choice BHA every other day. There are so many better cleansing products than this, I highly advise getting the Etude house foam 6.5 whip cleaner instead and using an exfoliant alongside it. One thing I do like about this cleanser is its consistency, I always loved how it would squirt out but on the downside was it’s drying out of skin. It never “ruined” my skin per se, but there are a lot better products than this for daily cleansing. If you want your skin to feel EXTREMELY scraped of all oils and its essence, sure use this.

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