MooGoo Ultra Gentle Ceramide Cleanser 500ml

Water (Aqua), Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, GlucoTain® Flex, Lauryl Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Propanediol, Glycol Distearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Piroctone Olamine, Ceramide NP, Hypoallergenic Fragrance, Citric Acid.

Who is Ultra Gentle Ceramide Cleanser best for?

Because it’s so gentle (as the very creative name implies), we also think it’s particularly suitable for those with eczema-prone, hypersensitive and fragile skin, or those going through chemotherapy or radiation treatment. We always make our products suitable for all skin types, and this one is no exception! It’s made for absolutely every-body. This means all ages, skin types and genders, from your face to your feet. Whether you have sensitive skin or not, we believe it’s so important to wash your skin with something gentle as to not over-strip your skin of its natural oils. Cleansing your skin shouldn’t cause any kind of dryness, tightness, itching and irritation.

What makes this formula so gentle?

When creating this product, the goal was to use the gentlest cleansing ingredient we could find in a new, innovative formula. The ultra-mild cleansing ingredient we found was called Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate (SCG) and it is listed 2nd on our ingredient list (only after water) meaning it’s the primary cleanser in our formula. SCG is more expensive to source than other cleansing ingredients out there and can also be a bit tricky to formulate with. SCG has an irritation score (the way they measure gentleness) that’s 38% lower than leading clinical cleansers on the market, and 75% lower than Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS). SLS is the leading synthetic cleanser found in just about everything from commercial toothpaste, shampoos and hand soaps to floor cleaners and engine degreasers, a harsh ingredient that doesn’t play well with skin, often causing dryness, irritation and even skin flare-ups. It can also cause irritation and stinging if washed into the eyes.

What are Ceramides, and how are they beneficial?

Ceramides are fats (lipids) that exist in high concentrations in the skin, particularly when it’s healthy. Not only do they make up more than 50% of the skin’s composition, but they assist in retaining water and protecting the skin barrier from irritants. Think of them as protectants that hold the skin together. Those that suffer from skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, acne etc., may have a Ceramide deficiency, so for those we recommend supplementing with our topical products. Over time, factors like sun damage, aging and other irritants can decrease Ceramide content in the skin. The skin barrier is more susceptible to weakening when Ceramides are depleted, causing the skin to become drier, more easily irritated and show signs of ageing. By topping up Ceramide levels in the skin, they can help rebuild skin strength and improve skin barrier function. They also work wonders to help the skin maintain moisture, your best defence against ageing.

What type of Ceramides do you use?

We use Ceramides 3 and 3B as they are the types that are most similar to the skin. Ceramide 3 is a skin-identical barrier lipid that works to strengthen the skin’s barrier function. Essentially, as they are identical molecules to the ones found in our skin, they are easily absorbed, and you’ll receive long-term protection and support.

How’s the new and improved formula different?

We surveyed some of our cleanser customers and we discovered that many of you love the look and feel of a creamy cleanser, so we made some tweaks to provide a thicker, creamier texture and lather. This is thanks to a new surfactant (cleaning ingredient) system that brings about this viscous texture. We also learned that many of our customers prefer a cleanser with a subtle fragrance. Not smelly or overpowering, just enough to notice something pleasant. Since we make our products for people with sensitive skin, to do this we had to make sure that the inclusion of any fragrance wasn’t going to compromise the ultra-gentleness.

How’s this different from your Milk Wash?

While both of our cleansers are wonderfully gentle and designed for even the most sensitive skin, there are a few differences. The primary cleanser in the Ultra Gentle Ceramide Cleanser is Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, which is the gentlest cleansing ingredient available anywhere. In saying that, the primary cleanser for our Milk Wash is Cocamidopropyl Betaine, which is also super gentle and non-irritating. Our Milk Wash also does not contain any Ceramides.

Are your Cleansers made of Milk?

We aren’t called MooGoo because our cleansers are made of milk. No cleansers or moisturisers are made of milk, or in fact, have any meaningful amount of milk in them at all. Despite what labels may claim. If you think about it, putting milk in a moisturiser and then sitting it on the shelf for a year or so would make it very smelly! The only exception to this is our Goats Milk & Hydrating Buttermilk Cleansing Bars, which go through a saponification process to make them stable.   We do also use Milk Protein in some of our products, like in our bestselling Milk Wash,  because the protein helps with skin elasticity. Milk Protein doesn’t go rancid, it is the fats and sugars in milk that go sour.

Why is the Ultra Gentle Ceramide Cleanser so expensive?

Our Ultra Gentle Ceramide Cleanser is more expensive than our other cleansing products as it includes Ceramides, which is a very costly ingredient, as well as Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate as the primary cleanser, which is the gentlest cleanser available, but also quite expensive to source.

Why is it only available in a 500ml size?

As more customers start using this product and the demand is there, we’ll bring it out in our larger 1L bottle and 2.5L Refill Pouch size.

What ingredients do you avoid when making a cleanser?

There’s lots of things you won’t find in our cleansers (or any of our other products for that matter) because they were all formulated for family members and close friends, and we wanted the best for them. We steer clear of ingredients like SLS and SLES, which can be found in many commercial toothpaste, shampoos and hand soaps to floor cleaners and engine degreasers. It’s quite a harsh ingredient and doesn’t play nice with skin, often causing dryness, irritation and even skin flare-ups.

I see fragrance in the ingredients list, what is the fragrance exactly?

When it comes to fragrance, in the past we tried to keep our products fragrance-free as many of our customers were allergic to them. At the same time, the overall response from our customers is that they prefer our cleansers with a subtle fragrance. To do this, we had to make sure that the inclusion of any fragrance wasn’t going to compromise the gentleness of our formulas. The main concern with most fragrances is that they’re often made with phthalates. Of course, we don’t use these in our formulas because they’re well-known to be irritating to the skin, often causing dryness and itching. Instead, we use a blend of non-irritating, hypoallergenic fragrances that are suitable for even the most sensitive skin. Each part of this fragrance blend is below the EU’s allergy threshold, and we have used it in many of our products for years now without any reactions. The fragrances we use are proprietary blends from a company we work with, so unfortunately, we cannot reveal their exact details. Think of it as our top secret, reaction-free recipe!

Are your cleansers suitable to use on the face?

Yes, all our cleansing products are suitable for use on the face and body. In general, most generic body cleansers are made with very average, cheap detergents that clean the skin. While skin, of course, needs to be cleaned, it doesn’t need to be done with harsh ingredients that strip the skin of its natural oils, often leaving it tight and dry. BUT, if your cleanser is made with high-quality, skin-friendly, natural ingredients like ours are, then YES, they’re absolutely suitable for use on the more delicate skin of the face, and also suitable for all ages, skin types and genders – the whole family!

Is this product pH balanced? What does that mean?

Yes, it sure is! The pH level of our cleansers is balanced to 5.5, which is similar to human skin. Essentially, pH can be measured from 0 to 14 depending on how acidic or alkaline a substance is. Since our skin sits at a pH of about 5.5, it’s slightly acidic. Healthy skin can retain moisture, maintain a robust microbiome and keep irritants away. We of course want to support this, so using a cleanser that’s pH balanced to match our skin is one of the best ways to do this. The only exception to this is our Cleansing Bars which have a higher pH, as is the nature of all cold-processed, cleansing bars.

What does “Dermatologically Tested” mean?

You may have seen the term “Dermatologically Tested” on lots of products before, but did you know there’s not an actual definition or regulation for this term? Because that didn’t sit right with us, and because our aim is to make products for people with very sensitive skin, we decided to send a bunch of them off to be tested in an independent lab on 54 people who reported having sensitive skin. The results were given on a scale of 0 to 5 with 0 being no irritation or redness and 5 being a reaction. We’re happy to report that other than one person who had a reaction to the adhesive on the patch and another who found the patches painful to remove, all subjects reported 0 for redness and irritation for all the products we sent for testing. To check out the full report and summary of the test we did on this product, click here.

Why don’t we make different cleansers for different skin types?

We often get asked why we don’t make different cleanser specific to different skin types such as dry, oily, normal or combination skin. While we believe that people have different skin types and different skin needs, if you look closely at ingredient labels, you’ll notice that there often isn’t much difference between products specifically made for each variation. In our opinion, we don’t think all the different types of cleansers are needed if you have a good formula (we think ours are pretty darn good). A cleanser made for oily skin would have a higher concentration of cleansers than one made for dry skin, but you can achieve much the same result by varying the amount of cleanser you use or washing your skin twice, if needed.