Normal skin is anything but: It’s that exceptional middle ground between oily and dry, the status quo we all aim to achieve with a skincare regimen. Some people enjoy it naturally, while others experience fleeting moments of “normalcy” between yo-yo swings from one side of the spectrum to the other.
Whether you’re lucky enough to be normal genetically, or calculated enough to have arrived at this vaunted destination, you need a regimen that balances your skin’s moisture levels — not too dry, not too oily — without tipping the scales either direction. (Though you still need to rotate in your more prescriptive oil-balancing products whenever those scales start to tip back to your genetic skincare state.)
It all starts with a cleanser. You need something that doesn’t gut the pores of your natural oils, but isn’t so sensitive that it won’t remove gunk and excess sebum. It has to hydrate as much as it cleanses, putting nourishing ingredients to work alongside the custodial ones. Here are six that should help maintain your normalcy.
Pilot Men’s Grooming Finest Face Cleanser
This cleanser gently scrubs dead skin cells from the surface of your face, then hydrates and soothes with aloe and chamomile. It also uses charcoal and clay to lift excess gunk from the pores while preserving the delicate balance between oily and dry skin.
Boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel
This cleanser helps preserve the skin’s natural moisture barrier, which locks moisture in while defending against toxins. It employs hydrangea leaf to remove excess oil and minimize the size and appearance of the pores. Green tea balances oil production without overdrying the skin, so that it retains its harmonic balance.
Maapilim Face Cleanser
Extracts of argan, jojoba and rosemary nourish the skin while also pulling excess oil from the pores. Together they strengthen and preserve the skin’s natural moisture barrier. This cleanser is an Olympian, showing off on the balance beam that hovers above dryness and oiliness.
Biossance Squalane + Antioxidant Cleansing Oil
One of the best ways to prevent oiliness is, in fact, to use a cleansing oil. That’s because it’s different from the sebum produced by your skin. Biossance’s squalane oil cleanser pulls grime from the pores and gently dissolves dead cells. It also fortifies and hydrates the skin with plant-derived squalane, locking in moisture and preventing dryness in the process.
Fulton & Roark Face Wash
In the precious game of maintaining normal skin, Fulton & Roark’s cleanser does everything a cleanser should — without doing anything it shouldn’t. It carefully lifts grime from the skin using a soothing and balancing blend of oils (like eucalyptus and tea tree), and it preserves this moisture with Vitamin E and green tea extracts.
Mario Badescu Glycolic Foaming Cleanser
Mario Badescu’s foaming cleanser is gentle enough for sensitive skin, even as it exfoliates dead skin cells. It uses glycolic acid to flush the pores of toxins, and then hydrates skin with chamomile, safe, marshmallow, and more, to maintain the delicate moisture balance that your enviably normal skin enjoys.
