The core cleansing ingredients in facial cleansers are mainly divided into two categories: amino acid surfactants and soap-based cleansers. Amino acid cleansers use acyl amino acid salts as the main surfactants, such as potassium cocoyl glycinate and sodium lauroyl glutamate. Their pH value is close to the skin's slightly acidic environment, making them gentle and skin-friendly. Soap-based cleansers primarily contain potassium hydroxide or fatty acid salts (such as potassium myristate). They have strong cleansing and foaming abilities but may cause over-cleansing. Judging from the ingredient list, if potassium hydroxide or fatty acid salts (such as stearic acid and myristic acid) are listed first, or if the product name contains words like "deep cleansing" or "oil control," it is usually a soap-based formula. Soap-based facial cleansers are also a type, but due to their distinct characteristics, they are generally treated differently from cleansers using ordinary surfactants.
Currently, the trend in facial cleansing systems is to use compound formulations, such as "amino acids + APG (alkyl glucoside)" or "amino acids + amphoteric surfactants," aiming to balance cleansing power and gentleness.