My Sister and I Have Totally Different Skin Types. We’ve Still Used the Same Makeup Remover for 10 Years.

Some of my fondest childhood memories took place in the bathroom.

When we were growing up, my sister and I shared a bathroom. It’s where we’d bookend our days together, laughing through foamy, toothpaste-laden mouths and scrubbing our way through our skin-care routines. Our sink was always littered with cleansers, serums, and moisturizers, but our skin couldn’t be more different, even to this day.

She’s now in her late 20s, and I’m in my mid-30s. I’ve got dry skin, am prone to hormonal acne, and live in New York City, where pollution and congested skin are concerns. My sister has oily/combination, acne-prone skin, and she lives in humid, tropical Mumbai.

Yet despite our different skin types, climates, and lifestyles, we’ve both used the same makeup remover for a decade: Farmacy’s Green Clean Cleansing Balm. So I was thrilled when it was recently dubbed one of our top picks for the best makeup removers.

Top pick

This hydrating, silky makeup remover includes papaya, moringa, and sunflower seed oil, and it removes waterproof makeup.

My sister found this balm first, claiming it was the only one that fully and properly removed her makeup. As someone who wears a mineral SPF daily and is devoted to my waterproof mascara, I was intrigued but skeptical — I had tried plenty of micellar waters, cleansers, and balms that were good but not great. Plus, our skin concerns were vastly different.

But from the moment I reached for her jar, I noticed the difference in this product. Unlike half-melted-cleansing balms, Farmacy’s balm feels more like butter straight from the fridge: soft but not greasy, slightly drier, a little clumpy. As you massage it into your skin, the balm transforms into a silky, water-like consistency. It melts through foundation, mascara, and SPF, removing everything in one go.

The Farmacy balm nails the holy skin trifecta. It removes waterproof makeup without stripping my already-dry skin, hydrates without overwhelming my sister’s oily skin, and leaves zero filmy residue. We are demanding! We want it all! And this makeup remover is the only one that consistently delivers.

The way I used it the first time, back in 2015, is the way I continue to use it to this day, and my technique takes just 30 seconds. I scoop a little into my dry hands and start with my eyes. Even with contacts in, there’s no stinging. Then I move outward, massaging my face until it is thoroughly covered with the silky formula. I finish by applying a small towel, soaked in warm water, to my face.

Though I’ve never wavered from my love for the Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm, it hasn’t remained exactly the same over the past 10 years. In 2018, the brand reformulated it, replacing the synthetic emulsifiers with plant-based ones. But I didn’t notice any change in texture or efficacy.

The original is fragrance-free, but Farmacy has also released “flavors,” like Honey Vanilla and a limited-edition Very Cherry. If you have sensitive or rosacea-prone skin, you might want to go for the fragrance-free formula, said dermatologist Tiffany Libby. That’s because scented versions contain essential oils and fragrances, which can be irritating. But I don’t have sensitive skin, and my sister and I have never had an issue with these variations, so I prefer using the Honey Vanilla one because the yummy scent is a more indulgent experience.

I mostly use this balm at the end of the day, but in a pinch it works as a morning cleanser, too. Sometimes I’ll use it to wash away the retinol from the night before, and I always pack it when I travel, so I don’t have to bring more than one cleanser.

This cleanser didn’t change my skin or life. But it made removing my makeup dramatically less annoying. No more flakes, raccoon eyes, or residue sticking around. Just clean, soft skin every time. And, after a decade of testing (roughly) a small nation’s worth of products, I’ve found this type of reliability to be rare. The Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm is one beauty staple that’s grown up alongside my sister and me — from our bathroom antics to our two very different lives today. We may live 7,800 miles apart, but this little green tub keeps us in sync.

This article was edited by Hannah Rimm and Maxine Builder.