I got the Drunk Elephant Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser as part of this year’s Sephora birthday gift.

This is a gel foaming cleanser for all skin types that claims to remove all traces of makeup, sunscreen, excess oil and debris while supporting a healthy skin barrier.

Directions state to massage over skin, add water to lather and rinse. Drunk Elephant says to use this nightly, as they do not recommend cleansing in the morning.

With the warmer weather, my skin is oily, more so on the T zone.

Ingredients: Water/Aqua/Eau, Glycerin, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Coco-Glucoside, Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Sodium Methyl Oleoyl Taurate, Propanediol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Glycolipids, Linoleic Acid, Lauryl Glucoside, Cucumis Melo Cantalupensis Fruit Extract, Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Tocopherol, Citric Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Chloride, Polylysine

Key ingredients – Coconut-based surfactants and cleansers create a “rich” foam to dissolve makeup and oils. Marula oil helps remove makeup. Glycerin keeps skin hydrated. Cantaloupe extract contains antioxidants and helps sooth and hydrate the skin.

I’ve used this cleanser for about a month. It doesn’t have much of a scent, especially on adding water. The gel forms into a slight foam (I wouldn’t say a rich foam like that of Amarte’s Daily Wonder Cleansing Foam) on adding water. From the first use, I was surprised by how and dry and tight my skin felt on rinsing and patting dry. The texture of the cleanser is nice and it seems to rinse well (provided extra time/more water is used than has been my experience with other cleansers; otherwise there is a bit of a sticky feeling on the skin). When using in the evening, I would often notice larger breakouts on my jawline/lower cheek in the morning. I stopped use for a few days and upon resuming, got the breakouts again, so could assume this cleanser is the culprit.

It removed my light/medium coverage foundation and sunscreen quite well (I used The Ordinary sun care). For eye makeup I wore NudeStix Nude Metallics for Eyes and a non-waterproof mascara from Tarte. The Beste Cleanser left makeup smudges around my eyes.

While the Drunk Elephant Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser removes face makeup and sunscreen, eye makeup is left behind and it leaves the skin feeling dry and tight with (perhaps) breakouts on use. I would not purchase the Beste Cleanser.

Thank you for reading.