STEP 01 · CLEANSE
Cleanser
Soft foam. Never strips.
Melts away oil, sunscreen, and the day’s buildup, then knows when to stop. Rinses clean with no film, no squeak — and leaves skin soft and comfortable, never tight. Fragrance-free, on purpose.
$48
No added fragrance · No essential oils · No drying alcohol
Most cleansers work by stripping.
That squeaky, tight feeling after you wash is not your face getting clean. It’s your barrier getting damaged — the thin layer of lipids that holds water in and keeps irritants out. Strip it often enough and skin gets dry, reactive, and harder to treat, and every product you put on afterward has to work through the damage you just did.
The Cleanser is built the other way around. It removes oil, sunscreen, and the day’s buildup, and it stops there.
01
Foams
A soft, cushioned lather — dense enough to feel like it’s working, never so stripping that it squeaks.
02
Rinses clean
Lifts off in seconds under water. No film, no residue, no slip left behind.
03
Leaves comfort
Skin feels supple and calm after — comfortable, never tight. That’s the whole point.
Skin that's had enough.
Skin doesn’t get stripped at one age. It gets stripped at fifteen by acne washes, at thirty-five by acids and retinoids, at sixty-five by time and dry air. The damage looks the same. So does the fix.
The Cleanser is fragrance-free, dye-free, and made for skin that reacts — which, sooner or later, is most skin.
Part of the PaxDerm Barrier Complex™ system
Cleanser is step one. It lifts away oil, sunscreen, and buildup without stripping the barrier lipids the rest of the system rebuilds. Serum and Cream carry the PaxDerm Barrier Complex™ — skin-identical ceramides, cholesterol, and phytosphingosine — while Cleanser makes sure each wash protects that work instead of undoing it. One routine, three steps, one barrier.
Every ingredient, and what it's doing there
We publish the full ingredient list, in order, with the job each one does. No proprietary complexes, no numbers next to names, no asking you to trust a marketing term.
Never in this bottle
Fragrance. Essential oils. Drying alcohol. Dyes.
Fragrance is the most common cause of cosmetic contact allergy, and it is in most premium cleansers on the market — including several that cost three times this one. It does nothing for your skin. So it’s not in ours.
How to use it
- Wet your face with lukewarm water
- One – Two pumps. Work it into a light foam in your hands, then rub over your face for 15-20 seconds.
- Rinse and pat dry.
Morning and night. If you wear sunscreen or makeup, this is your second cleanse.
Tip: follow with Serum while skin is still damp — barrier lipids absorb best before skin fully dries.
Questions
Will this dry me out?
It’s built specifically not to. The surfactant system is chosen to lift oil and sunscreen without pulling lipids out of the skin with them — which is the mechanism behind that tight, squeaky feeling. You should be able to wash, walk away, and not think about your face.
Can I use it with retinol or acids?
Yes, and it’s a reasonable thing to pair them with. Actives put stress on the barrier; a non-stripping cleanser is the cheapest way to give some of it back.
Is it really fragrance-free?
Yes — and not as an afterthought. No parfum, no essential oils, none of the citrus or lavender oils hiding in most “clean” formulas. Fragrance is the single most common cause of cosmetic skin reactions, so we left it out on purpose. It’s not a box we ticked. It’s the whole point.
Is it OK for a teenager?
Yes. Nothing in it is age-specific, and teenagers using acne treatments are among the people whose barriers take the most damage.
Is it OK for sensitive skin?
It’s formulated for it — fragrance-free, dye-free, no drying alcohol. We haven’t yet completed third-party sensitivity testing, so we won’t put a claim on the label we can’t back. When we have, we’ll say so here.
Why glass bottle?
It’s inert, it doesn’t leach, and it doesn’t end up in a landfill in eighteen months. It’s also heavier and more expensive, which is a trade we made on purpose.
Returns?
Contact us and we’ll sort it out.
Does this remove makeup and sunscreen?
It’s built to lift oil, everyday makeup, and SPF as part of a normal wash. For full-coverage or waterproof formulas, we recommend it as a second cleanse after an oil-based cleanser, balm, or micellar water.”
Complete the Routine
“Cleanser works best paired with what comes next.”
Serum
- Ceramides and peptides that dry down fast, not tacky.
- Barrier lipids and peptides, without the residue.
- Hyaluronic acid and peptides that sink in, not sit on top.
$68
Cream
- Shea and ceramides that lock hydration in overnight.
- Rich enough to hold it in, light enough to wear all day.
- The seal — ceramides and emollients that hold moisture where it needs to stay.
$64