Anua Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Oil: the oil cleanser for sunscreen nights

What does a cleansing oil do for your skin?

A cleansing oil exists to remove the things a foaming wash leaves behind. Modern sunscreens and long-wear makeup are built to resist water and sweat, which is the whole point of them — but it also means a splash of water and a gel cleanser won’t shift them fully. Oil will: it loosens and dissolves the oil-based grime, lifting it off the skin instead of smearing it around.

The emulsifier is what stops an oil cleanser leaving a greasy layer. Massage the oil over dry skin, and it picks up your sunscreen and makeup; add a little water and the whole lot turns from oil to a thin, milky liquid that rinses off cleanly, taking the grime with it. Done right, you’re left with skin that feels clean but not stripped — no tight, squeaky feeling, which is usually a sign a cleanser has gone too far.

It’s the first of two steps, and it needs the second to finish the job. The oil clears the oil-based layer; a gentle water-based cleanser afterwards handles sweat and anything water-soluble. Skip the second step and you can be left with a faint residue.

A first cleanse should rinse away fully, with no film and no tightness.

What’s in it?

The base is a blend of light plant oils — sunflower, macadamia, olive, jojoba and grapeseed — plus an emulsifier that lets them rinse away once water hits. That blend is doing the actual work. Heartleaf sits well down the ingredient list, alongside a handful of other botanical extracts like turmeric and moringa.

Heartleaf does have a research base: a 2022 review in Pharmaceuticals catalogues the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity it shows in lab studies. The caveat is the format: a cleanser sits on your skin for a minute and then goes down the drain, so any soothing from a wash-off is slight. Treat the heartleaf as a pleasant extra; the cleansing is the point.

The one thing to flag is the fragrance. The range is sold on being gentle and sensitive-friendly, but the formula does contain added fragrance — fragrance is one of the more common triggers for reactive skin, so it’s worth knowing before you buy.

Texture and how to use it

Anua describes it as a lightweight oil. Use it on dry skin, before water touches your face: a few pumps, massaged over the face for a minute to break down sunscreen and makeup. Then wet your hands and keep massaging — the oil goes milky as it emulsifies — and rinse with lukewarm water. Follow with a water-based cleanser to finish the double cleanse, and that’s it.

A note for Australia: if you’re reapplying a water-resistant SPF through a hot day, this is exactly the kind of cleanser worth having at night — it’s the step that gets it all off.

Who’s it for — and who should skip it?

It suits most people as a nightly first cleanse, and it’s an especially good match for oily or breakout-prone skin that wants makeup and sebum gone without a stripped, tight finish. It pairs with whatever comes next — pat on a hydrating essence or a treatment serum once your skin is clean and still slightly damp.

Skip it if your skin flares at fragrance — that’s reason enough to choose a fragrance-free oil cleanser instead, and plenty do the same job. And if you don’t wear sunscreen or makeup, a single gentle water-based cleanser is all you need; an oil step is solving a problem you don’t have. As always, patch-test first if your skin is reactive.

Is it worth it?

This oil is made to do the main job of a first cleanse: remove sunscreen and makeup. The 200ml bottle is fair value. Anua also says it rinses off without a greasy residue. The heartleaf is mostly there for the label, and the added fragrance keeps it off the list for anyone sensitive to fragrance. Otherwise it’s a simple way to remove sunscreen each night.