Cleansing balm for sensitive skin

Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm has the best record for sensitive skin at 18 of 20, with Banila Co Clean It Zero Original Cleansing Balm at 21 of 24 and Garnier Erase It All Cleansing Balm with Vitamin C at 14 of 16 close behind. Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm has the weakest record here at 21 of 33, from the largest group on the page. Each record counts just shoppers who said they have sensitive skin.

  • 215 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Feb 2021 to Oct 2026

Updated . How we count

Did it avoid stinging or breakouts? What shoppers with sensitive skin said
  1. Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm 20 said either way
  2. Banila Co Clean It Zero Original Cleansing Balm 24 said either way
  3. Garnier Erase It All Cleansing Balm with Vitamin C 16 said either way
  4. Drunk Elephant Slaai Butter Cleanser 20 said either way
  5. Garnier Cleansing Balm with Hyaluronic Acid 14 said either way
  6. Glow Recipe Papaya Sorbet Cleansing Balm 22 said either way
  7. Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm 33 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for skin reactions. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm Best record Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm 18 of 20 say it took off their makeup without stinging, burning, itching, redness or breakouts See price & reviews on Amazon

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points reviewers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1 Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm

Clinique

Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm

18/20 say it took off their makeup without stinging, burning, itching, redness or breakouts

Soft skin comes up in 17% of its 30 reviews and easy melting in 10%, though 13% say it left makeup behind.

What buyers praise

  • Removes makeup 43%
  • Leaves skin soft 17%
  • Melts makeup easily 10%
  • Leaves skin hydrated 7%
  • Good value 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Leaves makeup behind 13%
  • Smell 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 18 of 20
By skin type (from reviewer profiles)
  • Combination5 of 7
  • Dry7 of 7
  • Normal3 of 3
By skin tone (from reviewer profiles)
  • Fair to light9 of 11
  • Light-medium to medium4 of 4
2 Banila Co Clean It Zero Original Cleansing Balm

Banila Co

Clean It Zero Original Cleansing Balm

Best for removing makeup

21/24 say it took off their makeup without stinging, burning, itching, redness or breakouts

Makeup removal is praised in 76% of its 29 reviews, and 31% say it left no greasy film.

What buyers praise

  • Removes makeup 76%
  • No greasy film 31%
  • Melts makeup easily 24%
  • Leaves skin soft 24%
  • Leaves skin hydrated 21%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 21 of 24
3 Garnier Erase It All Cleansing Balm with Vitamin C

Garnier

Erase It All Cleansing Balm with Vitamin C

Best for good value

14/16 say it took off their makeup without stinging, burning, itching, redness or breakouts

Shoppers call it good value in 27% of its 30 reviews, though 7% mention a greasy film and 7% mention the smell.

What buyers praise

  • Removes makeup 57%
  • Good value 27%
  • Leaves skin soft 17%
  • Leaves skin hydrated 13%
  • Melts makeup easily 10%

What buyers complain about

  • Greasy film 7%
  • Smell 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 14 of 16
4 Drunk Elephant Slaai Butter Cleanser

Drunk Elephant

Slaai Butter Cleanser

17/20 say it took off their makeup without stinging, burning, itching, redness or breakouts

The smell draws complaints in 13% of its 30 reviews and a greasy film in 13%, while 63% praise how it removes makeup.

What buyers praise

  • Removes makeup 63%
  • Leaves skin soft 17%
  • Melts makeup easily 13%
  • Leaves skin hydrated 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Smell 13%
  • Greasy film 13%
  • Too expensive 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 17 of 20
By skin type (from reviewer profiles)
  • Combination11 of 13
  • Dry5 of 5
By skin tone (from reviewer profiles)
  • Fair to light9 of 11
  • Light-medium to medium3 of 4
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Say it took off their makeup without stinging, burning, itching, redness or breakouts8 of 9
5 Garnier Cleansing Balm with Hyaluronic Acid

Garnier

Cleansing Balm with Hyaluronic Acid

12/14 say it took off their makeup without stinging, burning, itching, redness or breakouts

Among its 28 reviews, 32% say it left skin hydrated and 32% say it left no greasy film, though 11% mention the smell.

What buyers praise

  • Removes makeup 57%
  • No greasy film 32%
  • Leaves skin hydrated 32%
  • Melts makeup easily 14%
  • Leaves skin soft 14%

What buyers complain about

  • Smell 11%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 12 of 14
6 Glow Recipe Papaya Sorbet Cleansing Balm

Glow Recipe

Papaya Sorbet Cleansing Balm

17/22 say it took off their makeup without stinging, burning, itching, redness or breakouts

Of its 30 reviews, 43% praise how it removes makeup and 20% say it left skin soft, while 7% mention a greasy film.

What buyers praise

  • Removes makeup 43%
  • Leaves skin soft 20%
  • No greasy film 10%
  • Rinses clean 10%
  • Leaves skin hydrated 7%

What buyers complain about

  • Greasy film 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 17 of 22
By skin type (from reviewer profiles)
  • Combination8 of 8
  • Dry6 of 7
  • Normal3 of 4
By skin tone (from reviewer profiles)
  • Fair to light11 of 13
  • Light-medium to medium2 of 3
  • Medium-tan to tan2 of 3
7 Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm

Farmacy

Green Clean Cleansing Balm

21/33 say it took off their makeup without stinging, burning, itching, redness or breakouts

Its 12 misses mostly said it irritated their skin or eyes, though 47% of its 38 reviews praise how it removes makeup.

What buyers praise

  • Removes makeup 47%
  • Melts makeup easily 16%
  • No greasy film 13%
  • Leaves skin hydrated 11%
  • Leaves skin soft 8%

What buyers complain about

  • Leaves makeup behind 8%
  • Drying 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 5 of 5
  • Sephora 16 of 28
  • Brand site 17 of 17 shown, not counted
By skin type (from reviewer profiles)
  • Combination3 of 7
  • Dry2 of 5

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 59,731 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for skin reactions and read the newest matching reviews, up to 40 per product and store, posted between Feb 2021 and Oct 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Ulta also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. They run much more positive than store reviews of the same products (across 19 products with both, 76% of brand-site reviewers said the product solved the problem, against 55% of Ulta shoppers), so we show them on product cards but never count them.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm Ulta and Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  2. Banila Co Clean It Zero Original Cleansing Balm Ulta (29 reviews counted)
  3. Garnier Erase It All Cleansing Balm with Vitamin C Ulta (30 reviews counted)
  4. Drunk Elephant Slaai Butter Cleanser Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  5. Garnier Cleansing Balm with Hyaluronic Acid Ulta (28 reviews counted)
  6. Glow Recipe Papaya Sorbet Cleansing Balm Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  7. Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm Ulta and Sephora (38 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which cleansing balm works for sensitive skin?

Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm has the best record (18 of 20), followed by Banila Co Clean It Zero Original Cleansing Balm (21 of 24), Garnier Erase It All Cleansing Balm with Vitamin C (14 of 16), Drunk Elephant Slaai Butter Cleanser (17 of 20), Garnier Cleansing Balm with Hyaluronic Acid (12 of 14), Glow Recipe Papaya Sorbet Cleansing Balm (17 of 22) and Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm (21 of 33). The first five are close together, and group size is built into the order, so a lower share can rank higher when more shoppers are behind it.

How many shoppers are behind each record?

The second number in each record is the group size. It runs from 14 shoppers for Garnier Cleansing Balm with Hyaluronic Acid to 33 for Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm.

Do these records test what is in each balm?

No. The counts are what shoppers with sensitive skin said after using each balm, not a test of ingredients or of how skin reacts, so follow the label directions.

Which of these cleansing balms are sold on Amazon?

Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm, Banila Co Clean It Zero Original Cleansing Balm, Garnier Erase It All Cleansing Balm with Vitamin C, Drunk Elephant Slaai Butter Cleanser, Garnier Cleansing Balm with Hyaluronic Acid, Glow Recipe Papaya Sorbet Cleansing Balm and Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm are all sold on Amazon by the brand or Amazon itself, and Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm is both the leader and the best pick sold on Amazon.

Related problems

Cleansing balm Cleansing balm for dry skin Top pick: Banila Co Clean It Zero Original Cleansing Balm 120 buyer reports Cleansing balm Cleansing balm that removes makeup Top pick: e.l.f. Holy Hydration Cleansing Balm 160 buyer reports Face wash Face wash for sensitive skin Top pick: philosophy Purity Made Simple Cleanser 283 buyer reports Micellar water Micellar water for sensitive skin Top pick: Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micellar Water 239 buyer reports

HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.