Versus

Torriden Balanceful Cica Cleansing Gel Versus La Roche-Posay +M Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel - UK

Face Cleanser
Face Cleanser
Korean Brand South Korea
French Brand France

Updated on November 01, 2024

Overview

What they are

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

Suited For

They're both likely to be good for fighting acne, anti aging, dry skin, oily skin and scar healing

Free From

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

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

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and see relevant ingredients

What's inside (and what isn't)

What's inside (and what isn't)

At a glance

Click on any of the items below to learn more

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

found in both products
Balanceful Cica Cleansing Gel

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

Skin Conditioning, Solvent

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. If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water
Cleansing, Skin Conditioning

Coco-Betaine is the natural version of Cocamidopropyl Betaine. It is often derived from coconuts.

Coco-Betaine is a surfactant, meaning it helps remove dirt and oil from the skin.

Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Pentylene glycol is typically used within a product to thicken it. It also adds a smooth, soft, and moisturizing feel to the product. It is naturally found in plants such as sugar beets.

The hydrophilic trait of Pentylene Glycol makes it a humectant. As a humectant, Pentylene Glycol helps draw moisture from the air to your skin. This can help keep your skin hydrated.

This property also makes Pentylene Glycol a great texture enhancer. It can also help thicken or stabilize a product.

Pentylene Glycol also acts as a mild preservative and helps to keep a product microbe-free.

Some people may experience mild eye and skin irritation from Pentylene Glycol. We always recommend speaking with a professional about using this ingredient in your routine.

Pentylene Glycol has a low molecular weight and is part of the 1,2-glycol family.

Learn more about Pentylene Glycol
Emulsifying, Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Hexylene Glycol is a surfactant. Glycols are a class of alcohols. Hexylene Glycol is a surfactant and emulsifier.

As a surfactant, Hexylene Glycol helps gather dirt and oil on your skin to be washed away.

As an emulsifier, Hexylene Glycol helps keep water and oil together. This prevents them from separating in a product. Hexylene Glycol also thins out the texture of a product by lessening viscosity.

Hexylene Glycol has a small molecular weight.

Learn more about Hexylene Glycol
Masking

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
Emollient, Humectant, Skin Conditioning

Caprylyl Glycol is a humectant and emollient, meaning it attracts and preserves moisture.

It is a common ingredient in many products, especially those designed to hydrate skin. The primary benefits are retaining moisture, skin softening, and promoting a healthy skin barrier.

Though Caprylyl Glycol is an alcohol derived from fatty acids, it is not the kind that can dry out skin.

This ingredient is also used as a preservative to extend the life of products. It has slight antimicrobial properties.

Learn more about Caprylyl Glycol
Buffering, Masking

Citric Acid is an AHA derived from citrus fruits (think oranges, lemons, and limes!).

As an AHA, Citric Acid removes the top layer of skin cells from the newer layer of skin underneath. This helps skin to remove dark spots and even out skin tone.

If you spot Citric Acid near the end of an ingredient list, it's likely there as a pH adjuster rather than an active ingredient.

Read more about some other popular AHA's here:

Learn more about Citric Acid

When to use

92 Routines
41% use in am
59% use in pm
96% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->
137 Routines
42% use in am
58% use in pm
96% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->

Reviews

Here's what our community thinks

Torriden Balanceful Cica Cleansing Gel 42 ingredients

4.2 /5
from 5 ratings
Light (2) Works Well (2) Hydrating (1)
basmahkettat's avatar

basmah kettat

4 months ago
Review

1st use after oil cleanser and it dried my skin and burned the area around my nose and cheeks it was red and irritated
İ have sensitive/dry skin
——- update:
Since i spent money on it now i use pea size enough to remove the oil cleanser but not enough to strip my skin as i had damaged my barrier with over exfoliating since my skin gets flaky…
Maybe it will work better later when i fix this Show more

#hydrating
#light
#light scent
evafernndez's avatar

Eva Fernández

24 days ago
Review

Great cleanser, but is true that it’s more drying than what I expected.
Its scent reminds me of Vicks VapoRub. I don’t know why other reviews are saying that it has no scent or a light scent. I like it though.

#light
#strong scent
#works well

La Roche-Posay +M Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel 20 ingredients

4.0 /5
from 3 ratings
Light (2) Light Scent (2) Works Well (2)
Elfin1's avatar

Elfin1

7 months ago
Review

i have an incredibly oily skin. other cleansers always required me to wash my skin at least twice to get all the oil off even when i wipe with micellar water beforehand. this thing leaves my skin super clean after the first wash and cleared out my skin in 2 days. might be harsh and drying if your skin is not that oily.

#great value
#light
#light scent
#works well
seangurevich's avatar

Sean Gurevich

1 month ago
Review

So I am about 2 months on Tretinoin, to help fix my post acne scars, and was looking for a cleanser that would cleanse my skin but not overstrip it - and I found my fit!

I used to use an exfoliating cleanser with Salicylic acid which obviously mix really bad with Tretinoin; it harmed my skin barrier and made it red and itchy. So for a while I used only very gentle cleanser for irritated skin, Show more

#great value
#light
#light scent
#works well