I've Been Secretly Testing Merit's New Cleanser for 6 Weeks—Here's What I Want You to Know

Around three months ago, I received an email with the subject line: Experience Merit's Latest Skincare Innovation. A few weeks later, I was sitting in the treatment bed of my favourite facialist in the game (Katharine Mackenzie Paterson, should you wish to know), being introduced to Merit Great Skin Double Cleanse. And while I am probably Merit's number one fan thanks to the brand's low-fuss approach to beauty (if you don't already know about Merit Flush Balm or Merit Retrospect perfume, get to know), the launch of a Merit cleanser wasn't on my 2025 bingo card.

And yet, with my skin being horribly prone to breakouts as a result of using the wrong cleanser formulas more often than I'd like to admit (I'm constantly testing products for my job, after all), a new cleanser from a brand I am already very loyal to seemed like a good thing to try. And boy, oh boy, have I been impressed. But, as with everything Merit touches, this formula isn't like anything else out there, so let me fill you in...

Merit Great Skin Double Cleanse, Reviewed

The Formula

Let's start with the formula and what's promised by Merit Great Skin Double Cleanse. While the brand has typically focused on lazy-girl-approved, foolproof makeup products, in recent years, Merit has started to enter the skin space, too. Great Skin Double Cleanse is the third product to be added to the Great Skin franchise, following the launches of Great Skin Priming Moisturizer and Great Skin Instant Glow Serum. The formulas are, true to the brand's style, low fuss, simple to use and offer glowing results.

What is special about Double Cleanse is that it promises to eradicate the need for that all-important double cleanse at the end of the day (where your first cleanse is there to rid the skin of makeup and SPF, and the second cleanse to really get into the pores).

How does it do this? Well, the bi-phase, foaming cleanser might look like it contains oil, but it actually doesn't. Instead, it contains a combination of gentle oat-derived surfactants to work hard on makeup and grime, as well as plant-derived humectants to restore moisture and hydration. The MVP of the formula, though, in my opinion, is PHA (that's polyhydroxy acid), an ingredient heralded for its ability to provide very gentle but effective exfoliation, boosting glow and limiting risk of breakouts, without majorly disrupting the skin's natural moisture barrier.

And as someone who just wants a simple cleanser that will rid her breakout-prone skin of pore-clogging dirt without drying things out so much that she loses her glow, my hopes were very high.

The Application

Foaming cleansers get a bad rap, but I'm going to let you know right now that there is no need to stress about them—whether or not a cleanser will be drying and bad for your skin depends upon so much more than whether the texture is foaming or not.

I apply the cleanser onto dry skin and massage it in for 30 seconds before adding water and removing with a flannel. It feels luxurious to use and definitely feels like it's melting makeup away. (I'd like to point out that I have been testing this product for six weeks, and have tried it in every scenario, from no-makeup days to full-face nights.) Within one application, it really does rid the skin of every trace of makeup, SPF and grime.

It is advised that you use 3-4 pumps for every application, and the directions say you can use it morning and night. On this point, I would say that you use a lot of product, considering the bottle isn't massive, but I found I can definitely get away with 1-2 pumps for days when I'm not wearing makeup—a 4-pump application is really only needed for a full-face of makeup, in my opinion.

As you massage the foam in, it thickens slightly as it gets to work. Unlike the cleansing creams I typically use in the morning, I can definitely feel the active cleansing nature of this formula—my skin certainly doesn't feel full of moisture immediately afterwards. But equally, unlike my typical gel cleansers of the evening, it doesn't feel like it's stripping my skin of any hydration, either. As soon as I have wiped the flannel over my face, my skin just feels like, well, my normal skin—just clean.

The only thing I would note here is that although the brand says you can use it to remove eye makeup, I won't be doing that again. While I didn't have any trouble in the first few days of use, on day three of testing, I wore a particularly stubborn mascara and really scrubbed the foam into my eyes—and yes, it did indeed sting. So, I'd still recommend using a cleansing balm or eye makeup remover on the eyes first.

My Verdict

While no cleanser is going to absolutely change your life, I'd go as far as to say this one has made a pretty good attempt at doing so for me. This is now my second bottle, and my skin hasn't experienced a single cleansing-induced breakout for the entire six weeks that I have been using it. My skin is glowing and bright, and I haven't experienced any irritation in the form of dry patches.

Plus, for those who are short on time, this 2-in-1 product really does deliver the benefits of a double cleanse in one—it is highly effective at what it does. This is something that further appeals to my lazy nature.

One thing I should caveat, though, is that after a few days of testing, I stopped using it in the morning. It's something I knew I was probably always going to do. You see, most skin simply does not require a surfactant-heavy or PHA-containing cleanser first thing in the morning, and when your skin is prone to reactivity like mine is, you should be careful not to overdo it. Instead, I used my normal cream cleanser first thing, and replaced my two-cleanser set-up in the evening with one application of Merit Great Skin Double Cleanse. And, frankly, I predict I'll be emptying many more bottles of this stuff for years to come.

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