All scans / Cleansers / COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser
COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser ingredients: is it worth it?
This is a reasonably effective but slightly aggressive BHA acne cleanser with fussy fragrance choices and a soapier surfactant system than truly gentle options.
This is a reasonably effective but slightly aggressive BHA acne cleanser with fussy fragrance choices and a soapier surfactant system than truly gentle options.
READ MORE
Efficacy is driven by salicylic acid plus willow bark water and a contact time–friendly surfactant base, but with SA mid-list the likely concentration is modest (good for daily acne maintenance, not a high-strength treatment), and the formula leans on classic fatty-acid/alkali surfactants rather than the softest amino-acid systems, while lemon and tea tree oils add unnecessary irritation risk for sensitive skin.
We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases. Links never influence scores.
DemythSkin rates COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser 3.7/5 for efficacy and 4.0/5 for safety.
CONTAINS COMMON SENSITISERS⌄
Fragrance components and essential oils that more often cause reactions in sensitive skin: Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil. Most people tolerate them; patch test if your skin reacts easily.
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS BY TIER
Gold Standards
High clinical proof | Skin-transformativeReliable
Proven resultsPotent
Developing evidenceOverhyped | Marketing
Hype | Limited dataDocumented Irritants
Evidence-backed flagFORMULATION BASE (14)⌄
FULL INGREDIENT LIST⌄
Water, Myristic Acid, Sodium Chloride, Ethyl Hexanediol, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Oil, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Stearic Acid, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Polysorbate 80, Caprylyl Glycol, Glycerin, Potassium Hydroxide, Salicylic Acid, Lauric Acid, Butylene Glycol, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Water, 1,2-Hexanediol, Disodium EDTA, Glycol Distearate, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Citric Acid This list of ingredients represents all options or variants of this product. Actual ingredients in a given product option may vary from this list. Ingredients subject to change at manufacturer&
WHAT EACH INGREDIENT DOES (24)⌄
- Water
- Solvent for ingredients
- Myristic Acid
- Fatty acid cleansing agent
- Sodium Chloride
- Viscosity control and stabilizer
- Ethyl Hexanediol
- Solvent and humectant
- Cocamidopropyl Betaine
- Amphoteric co-surfactant cleanser
- Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Oil
- Fragrant essential oil component
- Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate
- Mild anionic surfactant
- Ethylhexylglycerin
- Preservative booster and humectant
- Stearic Acid
- Fatty acid, structure and cleansing
- PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
- Solubilizer for oils and fragrance
- Polysorbate 80
- Emulsifier and solubilizer
- Caprylyl Glycol
- Humectant and preservative booster
- Glycerin
- Humectant for skin hydration
- Potassium Hydroxide
- pH adjuster and soap forming base
- Salicylic Acid
- Beta-hydroxy acid exfoliant
- Lauric Acid
- Fatty acid, cleansing and foam
- Butylene Glycol
- Humectant and solvent
- Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Water
- Botanical extract, soothing/keratolytic
- 1,2-Hexanediol
- Solvent and preservative component
- Disodium EDTA
- Chelating agent for stability
- Glycol Distearate
- Opacifier and texture enhancer
- Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil
- Fragrance and antimicrobial oil
- Citric Acid
- pH adjuster and mild chelator
- This list of ingredients represents all options or variants of this product. Actual ingredients in a given product option may vary from this list. Ingredients subject to change at manufacturer&
- Non-ingredient text from label
EXTERNAL CITATIONS
Salicylic Acid: Kligman D. et al. "Topical salicylic acid as a comedolytic agent." Acta Derm Venereol Suppl (Stockh). 1989;143:31-34.
Cocamidopropyl Betaine: Ananthapadmanabhan K.P. et al. "Cleansing without compromise: mild surfactant systems." Dermatologic Therapy, 2004;17(s1):16-25.
Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil: Enshaieh S. et al. "The efficacy of 5% tea tree oil gel in mild to moderate acne vulgaris." Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol. 2007;73(1):22-25.
DISCLAIMER: THIS ANALYSIS IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. AI-GENERATED DATA BASED ON PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INGREDIENT LISTS. VERIFY WITH A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL.
A cheaper cleanser that scores as high or higher
A different formula for the same concern (acne / oil control) that scores at least as high on both efficacy and safety.
COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser: common questions
Is COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser worth it?
COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser scores 3.7 out of 5.0 for efficacy (Modest) and 4.0 out of 5.0 for safety (Gentle) on DemythSkin's independent ingredient analysis. This is a reasonably effective but slightly aggressive BHA acne cleanser with fussy fragrance choices and a soapier surfactant system than truly gentle options.
What are the key active ingredients in COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser?
COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser contains these gold-standard actives with strong clinical evidence: Salicylic Acid.
Does COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser contain fragrance or known irritants?
DemythSkin flags these ingredients in COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser as documented irritants: Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Oil, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil.
How is COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser scored?
DemythSkin grades every product on two independent scores: efficacy (whether the ingredients have clinical evidence of working) and safety (irritation and sensitisation risk). Ingredients are graded S through D against a database of over 3,000 compounds. Brand and price are not part of the score, and no brand pays for one.
Free scores for every product in the database, or see them on Sephora, Ulta and Amazon with the Chrome extension.