There’s no denying the importance of a cleansing balm in your nighttime routine. It removes all of your makeup and sunscreen, providing a clean slate for your skincare. But finding the right cleansing balm (or cleansing oil) is one of the most difficult things.
Some cleansing balms don’t melt evenly. Some cleansing balms don’t emulsify with water well. Some cleansing balms don’t rinse off completely. And the worst is when some cleansing balms don’t even get makeup off. WHY.
Enter: Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm. It’s a cult-classic, loved amongst skincare and makeup lovers throughout the US and likely beyond.
I used it as my sole cleansing balm for the past 2 months and emptied it just this week (it was a 50 ml jar).
And the very disappointing truth is that the Farmacy Green Clean is unfortunately very much worth the price. (It’s available at Amazon and Sephora.) Here’s why…
Cleansing Balms: What’s the Point?
Have you ever used a water-based cleanser to take off your makeup and you’re stuck scrubbing for a while? And you still have makeup leftover… Yeah, that’s because your makeup (and sunscreen) are typically oil-based (especially if they are waterproof). And while micelles (the main chemistry in soap that helps pull off oils, dirt, and grime) do work to get makeup off, they are further bolstered with a cleansing balm.
The science of cleansing balms and oils
Cleansing balms have the surfactants (what will make the micelles) already baked into their solid oil/balm components. And like many things in the world, like likes like. In other words, fatty and oil-based products will go into solution in an oil easier than in a water.
Cleansing balms essentially lift off all of your sunscreen and makeup into a layer of oil. And then when you add some water in, you’re emulsifying the mixture to make it more water-soluble.
And that water solubility is clutch for your second cleanse with a water-based cleanser (like my favorite Youth to the People Superfoods Cleanser or my newly discovered Farmacy Whipped Greens). The surfactants will basically make little bubbles that contain your dissolved makeup and sunscreen products in them. And then you can more easily wash them off with water.
The result? A clean, fresh face.
When to use a cleansing balm versus cleansing oil
And yes, for all intents and purposes, a cleansing balm and a cleansing oil will give you the same result. The only reason to choose one over the other is if you like a solid or a liquid better. When I travel, I prefer a solid (because TSA is never fun). When I’m at home, I don’t mind either way. It’s actually faster to use a cleansing oil than it is to use a cleansing balm because you don’t have to melt it in your palms. And you get to save those precious 5 seconds of your life.
What Makes the Farmacy Cleansing Balm Better?
$39 for a product you literally wash down the drain is a big commitment. But if you compare it to others like the Elemis ($42), Youth to the People (formerly available for $39), Tatcha ($38), Byoma ($15 at Target and Ulta), Milk (formerly available for $36), or True Botanicals ($52), the price does not seem nearly as bad. And for performance, I think the Farmacy one does better. Note: I am only going to compare balm to balm for a true apples to apples comparison.
Key ingredients: What’s actually inside?
For something that’s got a simple job, it does have a lot of ingredients in it. And that’s a good thing, so that it can be effective.
plant-based oils
The sunflower and ginger root oils are good for breaking down the makeup and sunscreen films that are formed. These are what are responsible for picking up the little makeup molecules and putting them into the oil layer.
turmeric and moringa extract
These are nice-to-haves, particularly because this is just a wash off product. But together, they are good for congested skin, so it is good if you’re acne-prone. And shockingly, there is no yellow-ness from the turmeric!
papaya enzymes
This also includes papaya fruit extract, which is well known for its papain enzyme that helps gently exfoliate the skin. Notably, the front of the product does not call out that it is for exfoliation (in contrast to the Glow Recipe Papaya Cleansing Balm). But the nice thing about this is there’s a little bit of light exfoliation in here. You won’t see an immediate change like you would with more concentrated exfoliants. But it’s a nice add.
Available scent options
What’s crazy is there are as many fragrances for this cleansing balm as there are shades of lip glosses out there. And they release limited edition ones all the time too. And while I wish I could say I have tried them all, I haven’t. I’ve only been lucky enough to use the Green Clean and Clearly Clean (the fragrance-free option). And yes, I am old school before their newly rebranded packaging. So they name everything Green Clean now.
The standard Green Clean fragrance is fresh and pleasant. It’s not overpowering at all, despite having so many fragrant oils in the ingredient list.
Melts down and lifts makeup
In the jar, this product is almost flaky and comes out in jagged edges, rather than a smooth scoop that you get with the Elemis one. It’s much more like scooping coconut oil out of a jar. And the Tatcha one has a similar texture experience to this (but Tatcha is a little bit softer).
Because of that texture, you sometimes get the tiniest bits of product stuck between your fingers that have not melted completely. To help mitigate this, I usually will use a little bit less than I think I need. And then as I massage it into my skin, the little parts between my fingers have melted in and given me enough to cover my face. And yes, it does melt very quickly.
On dry skin, this cleansing balm has the perfect slip to it. There’s never any tug or pull. It just glides over your face from your forehead to sticky brow gels down to the lips. It’s so soothing to use, and I take this as an opportunity to do my hand gua sha (because I could simply never be disciplined enough to wash an actual gua sha everyday). And compared to other balms I’ve used, this has more than enough slip and slide to give you a great experience.
And yes, there’s no eye sting or blurry vision from this product!
And while I am not the world’s heaviest makeup user, I do wear it everyday (thanks to being in office…). My makeup routine is pretty mild (lots of sunscreen, a tinted sunscreen, contour, blush, highlighter, brow products, and lips). But I’ve never had any issues with getting my makeup off with Farmacy Green Clean. And I’ve had friends praise it for working well on waterproof mascara.
Emulsifies and washes off completely
My biggest pet peeve is when oils or balms get all of your makeup off but then it just stays on your face, even after a second cleanse. It’ll just leave a white film, which is a combination of your makeup/sunscreen and also the surfactants trying their hardest to be rinsed off. But they’re just not going.
The Farmacy Cleansing Balm does not have that issue. It will “milk” well, so it turns into an opaque fluid. But it rinses off very well. And if you wanted to, you could even skip the second cleanse (your face will feel clean and not stripped at all). But I actually find cleansing to be one of my favorite steps. So I will always do a second cleanse, so that I can get a squeaky clean face.
Compared to the Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm, I think the Farmacy Green Clean leaves less of a residue behind. But they both are equally as effective in the removal of SPF and makeup.
What I Did Not Like about the Farmacy Cleansing Balm
My biggest gripe about this product is how it is marketed as a sorbet. But in reality, it is more of a rolled ice cream texture. What I mean by that is it will make little shards of the product as you scoop it. It’s most evident when you make the first scoop on an untouched product. But you also notice it when you’re at the end of the jar too. It’s very much like room temp coconut oil.
I also don’t get as many uses out of this product that I would for other cleansing balms. I don’t know if I am using too much (probably not) or if it is a smaller fill size (definitely is smaller than the Elemis one, $72). But for something so expensive, I would imagine I would get a lot of uses out of it. I think this is because my older packaging/product is only 50 ml versus the current “standard” size of 100 ml ($39) or even their value size for 200 ml ($68 but no fragrance-free option)!
Who Is Farmacy Green Clean For?
In terms of skin types, I think this product is highly agnostic whether you’re dry or oily or in between. Because you’re only using it for a short amount of time, immediately rinsing it off, and having no residue left behind, I believe it would be good for acne-prone folks as well.
If you have sensitive skin, Green Clean (original) might not be a good fit for you with the fragrance. But thankfully, they have the fragrance-free option! And it performs just as well.
If you cake on your makeup, I can’t say this will work for you (because I simply do not have personal experience with that). But with my light makeup I wear daily, it works flawlessly.
Who is it not for?
If you can’t be bothered to take an extra minute or two to do an oil cleanse, this is not for you. The process is kind of long, but I find it to be therapeutic. You have to scoop it out, rub it in your hands, massage it onto your face (on dry skin) for a while to dissolve the makeup and SPF, then add a splash of water on your hands, emulsify/milk it on your face, then finally rinse it off. It can be a daunting process, but I promise you’ll be impressed by the results.
If you’re a diehard makeup wipe fan, I guess this is not for you. But it realistically should fully be for you. There’s way less tension on your skin. And you will get a much more thorough clean out of Farmacy Green Clean than you ever would from your Neutrogena makeup wipes. And it’s better for the environment.
Is the Farmacy Green Clean Worth the Hype?
Immediate yes. It earned cult classic status for a reason. From my experience, it beats out more expensive cleansing balms and it gives a more luxurious experience than cheaper ones.
It gets the best of both worlds: oily enough to get all of my products off my face but emulsifiable enough to milk and rinse off cleanly. There’s really nothing I would change about it to make it better. And while I don’t love the brand’s texture misrepresentation, it is not a dealbreaker for me at all.
So if you’re looking for a cleansing balm at Sephora that is an effective first cleanse, I’d recommend this one. It’s a staple in my nighttime routine.
You can find the Farmacy Green Clean at:
And a cheaper alternative would be the Byoma Melting Balm Cleanser ($15 at Target, Amazon, and Ulta.
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