My social life wasn’t the only thing that went to shit during quarantine. In fact, at the beginning of this year’s COVID-19 lockdown, I decided to abandon the pill and subsequently my relationship with my skin was re-defined.

After making the decision to permanently (at least for the foreseeable future) go without the contraceptive pill that I had ingested on and off it for the last five years, my face became rampant with acne. And with a history of relatively clear skin, I was in completely new territory.

My trusty skincare routine was no longer serving me; my rich moisturisers were too intense, my clay masks disrupted my skin and my exfoliators left me in nasty rashes. Unsure how to control these painful breakouts, I took a deep dive into the world of skincare to figure out what would work best for my newly temperamental skin.

Initially, I decided to pare back my routine totally and minused all and any actives, harsh exfoliants and rich oils from my routine that I had religiously used in the past. Instead, I opted for minimally fragranced gels and creams that had basic and trusted ingredients.

While I tested and tried a range of products for my skin and found that the cleansing step was one of the hardest to get right. So in my quest for a trusty cleansing gel, cream or milk, I decided to try out a few at varying price points and ingredients list, giving each of them around two weeks to show what they could do.

PRODUCT #1 FLUFF Cleanser

DETAILS $32.00, 30mL dropper glass bottle

CLAIMS Herbal, silky, gluggy, non-drying, it won't strip you of essential oils, instead it will calm, soothe, and revitalise all skin types including sensitive, dry, combination, Eczema & Rosacea, acne-prone.

REVIEW As a lover of Fluff and everything they do, I was jumping out of my skin excited to try their cleanser. It arrived in the brand’s signature glass bottle with dropper packaging, this time in an opaque purple, that’s both luxurious, weighty and aesthetically fits nicely among the rest of my skincare.

For the cleanser itself, I noticed straight away that it had a thick, creamy and quite oily texture. It has no smell which is a huge tick from me Thick and hard to get out of the dropper.

They recommend to apply two pumps to dry skin, massage in circular motions, leave on for however long you can be bothered, and remove with a cloth.

Extra points for the fluffy muslin cloth they throw in as an extra.

Perfectly silky and fluffy. 4/5

PRODUCT #2 QV Gentle Cleanser

DETAILS $13.49, 250g squeeze bottle

CLAIMS Enriched with Safflower oil, this gentle and lightly foaming facial cleanser is ideal for dry and sensitive skin types. Use morning and night for a healthy glow and soft, supple skin.

REVIEW This was my cleanser of choice throughout lockdown. When I first had my acne breakout earlier this year, this simple and sensitive friendly cleanser saved my face (along with the CeraVe moisturiser).

I was initially attracted to this product, not because of any wild claims or flashy marketing, but because it looked like it would be reliable or at the very least, not aggravate my skin further. And that, it did.

Containing pretty standard ingredients including petrolatum and glycerin, the product performs in the way that you would expect it to. This cleanser comes without any frills and doesn’t promise to change your life, just keep your skin nice and clean.

Basic but great. 4/5

PRODUCT #3 Skinstitut Gentle Cleanser

DETAILS $49.00, 200mL squeeze bottle

CLAIMS A kind and calming cleanser that any skin can use. It purifies, calms, and hydrates the skin without irritating it in the process. It’s all-skins appropriate and gentle enough to remove eye makeup and lipstick.

REVIEW This one is a surprising new favourite of mine. With some interesting ingredients, that may be questionably effective, including Green Tea, Goji Berry, Aloe Vera, Cucumber Seed Oil and Vitamin E - I was at the very least interested to give it a go at first glance.

It’s a gel consistency and very light on the skin. Hard to regulate how much comes out of the tube but only need a small amount to go a long way. Easily remove makeup. Smells and feels like aloe vera and lathers up.

After using this for about two weeks, I’m hooked on it and it has not become my favourite cleanser. It didn’t irritate my sensitive skin like I was worried it might considering the consistency and scent. It doesn’t leave me feeling dry or too squeaky clean.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this one straight off the bat due to it’s thick gel texture as I usually lean towards a creamy, milky cleaners but I was positively surprised. The gel lathers up really nicely, not too much or too little, and has a great feel on the skin both during and after the wash.

A nice surprise. 4.5/5

PRODUCT #4 Aesop In Two Minds Cleanser

DETAILS $53.00, 200mL glass bottle

CLAIMS A gentle gel-based formulation that cleanses thoroughly without drying the skin or stripping its natural oils. Key ingredients: Witch Hazel, Salicylic Acid, Sage Leaf.

REVIEW This cleanser was an old favourite of mind that I decided to re-visit to see if it could calm any of my skin-related blues.

Although extremely luxurious, in the current state my skin was it I found it to be a little too harsh. Smelling strongly of botanicals and citrus scents, the initial application was indeed as pleasant as you would expect from a bougie Aesop product.

Although, after I washed the product off I felt like it stripped the top layer of oils from my skin, leaving it feeling a bit too squeaky clean and eventually leading to my skin rashing, breaking out and feeling irritated.

This would be a great choice for someone with oily texture or even more robust skin than mine.

Luxurious product, but not for me. 2/5

PRODUCT #5 Skinstitut Glycolic Cleanser

DETAILS $49.00, 200mL squeeze bottle

CLAIMS Made for multi-taskers, Glycolic Cleanser 12% is an AHA-fuelled cleanser that is our most active cleanser and exceeds basic cleansing expectations. Note: it’s not for you if you have inflamed, red, irritated, or sensitive skin.

REVIEW As the name would suggest, this one is a bit more intense and specifically targeted to buffing away dead skin then that of the brand’s gentle cleanser.

With a slightly gritty and extremely thick texture, this cleanser is great for more heavy duty makeup removal and smoothing unwanted texture. However, the product left my skin in a similar state that an exfoliating product would leave it in which is currently a little too harsh than what I’m after.

While the product came with a note for people with inflamed or sensitive skin to steer clear of this product, I didn’t notice significant irritation after using the product. At this point I was hoping that maybe my skin was getting better after all!

For my skin personally, I wouldn’t need to use this cleanser twice daily or even daily and would instead opt to incorporate it into my routine on a more bi-weekly or weekly basis, as I would with a masque.

Nice for once in a while. 3/5

In my on going quest for glowy, dreamy skin, I’m currently taking suggestions via my DMs @rubystaley_ for moisturisers, creams and serums for the next instalment of Iso Skincare Roadtesting.

Iso Skincare Roadtest: Cleansers