Not only do cleaners land in the milder category of skin-care products, Olay says this is entirely intentional in its formulation. “Our formulation and product goals for Olay Cleansing Melts are to ensure the final skin benefits are delivered in a form that can drive compliance without trade-offs for people of diverse skin tones, with the needs of those with a higher concentration of melanin in mind,” Rolanda Wilkerson, PhD, an R&D chemist at Olay, tells Allure. That includes oil production and hyperpigmentation issues, which Olay says its multicultural audience over-indexes in. In other words, they formulated these cleansing melts to, yes, cleanse the skin, but also work for oily skin types or those struggling with hyperpigmentation.
Cosmetic chemist Shuting Hu, PhD, who is also not affiliated with the brand, noted that while the hyaluronic acid formulation would be her choice because she believes the benefits would be most effective, the other two formulations (vitamin C and retinol), while safe to use, may not yield dramatic results. “Hyaluronic acid is a great ingredient for a gentle cleanser because it soothes irritation and prevents dryness,” she says. “However, I don’t think vitamin C and retinol are suitable for cleansers. These active ingredients would need to remain on the skin for a prolonged period, such as 28 days, to show visible improvements, which is not feasible during the cleansing process.” (The brand claims its proprietary technology allows the actives to be left behind after rinsing, but does not claim any benefits tied to a specific ingredient).
Ingredients and formulation
But how does it work, you may be asking? Well, good news and bad news. Olay is keeping the proprietary “fabric” technology (as in how it’s actually woven together) under wraps, but Dr. Wilkerson says the ingredients are bare bones. “[The cleansing melts] have only eight, noncomedogenic, sulfate-free ingredients,” she says, noting that some traditional cleansers on the market have anywhere from 20 to 68 ingredients. “We wanted it to be very purposeful, effective, and beneficial—without anything unnecessary.”
The ingredients include two mild cleansing agents (disodium cocoyl glutamate and sodium cocoyl glutamate), water, citric acid, polyvinyl alcohol (which cosmetic chemist Ginger King says allows a surfactant film to be formed that can encapsulate the rest of the ingredients in one square), citric acid, and one of the three hero ingredients—hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, or retinol—depending upon which formulation you choose.