Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser

The name is a flex. 'Beste' is German for 'best,' and the 'No. 9' tells you that Tiffany Masterson went through eight failed attempts before landing on a gel cleanser she considered worthy of the label. That kind of obsessive iteration sounds like marketing mythology until you actually use the thing and realize it's one of the few cleansers that genuinely does what gel cleansers always promise and rarely deliver: cleanse without stripping.

The original Beste Jelly Cleanser launched alongside Drunk Elephant's debut line in 2013 and promptly collected complaints about mild eye stinging and a cap that leaked in travel bags. Rather than quietly tweaking the formula and hoping nobody noticed, Masterson went back to the lab and rebuilt it from the ground up. What emerged in 2017 was a four-surfactant system — cocamidopropyl betaine, coco-glucoside, sodium lauroyl methyl isethionate, and cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine — that works like a relay team where each runner is slightly gentler than the last.

Here's why that matters: most gel cleansers rely on one or two surfactants to do the heavy lifting. That means they either clean aggressively and leave your face feeling like it just went through airport security, or they clean so gently that your sunscreen is still there waving hello after you rinse. Beste No. 9 spreads the cleansing workload across four surfactants, each handling a different portion of the dirt-and-oil spectrum. The result is thorough cleansing at a lower total surfactant concentration, which is why your face feels clean but not vacant afterward.

The texture is immediately appealing — a clear, wobbling jelly that catches the light and dispenses from the tube with a satisfying heft. Add water and it transforms into a light, almost creamy lather. It's not the voluminous foam that some people crave — if you want clouds of suds, this is the wrong product. But the foam it does produce feels substantive and slippery in a way that signals 'this is actually working' without the squeaky tightness that follows most foaming cleansers.

Glycerin sits in the number-two spot on the ingredient list, which is unusual for a gel cleanser and tells you a lot about the formulation philosophy. Most cleansers relegate humectants to the back of the list as an afterthought. Beste No. 9 treats hydration as a primary function of the cleansing step, not a consolation prize. The marula oil — Drunk Elephant's signature ingredient and the reason for the brand's name — works double duty here, both helping to dissolve makeup and depositing a thin lipid layer that bridges the gap between rinse and moisturizer.

The supporting cast is quietly effective. Dipotassium glycyrrhizate, a licorice root derivative, calms the micro-inflammation that even gentle surfactants can trigger. Aloe vera provides a brief soothing pulse during the thirty-second wash. Cantaloupe extract delivers superoxide dismutase alongside the marula oil's vitamin E, creating a layered antioxidant presence in a product category that rarely bothers with antioxidant protection.

At pH 5.5, this cleanser respects your acid mantle in a way that matters for everyone but especially for people using actives. If you're applying retinol or vitamin C after cleansing, starting with a stripped, alkaline canvas makes everything that follows more irritating. Starting with a hydrated, pH-appropriate canvas makes everything that follows more effective.

The fragrance-free formulation deserves a nod. Drunk Elephant's 'Suspicious 6' philosophy excludes essential oils, synthetic fragrance, and dyes — and in a cleanser, that restraint pays practical dividends. You get zero interference with sensitive nostrils, zero risk of fragrance-triggered irritation on reactive skin, and zero lingering scent competing with whatever you apply afterward.

Performance-wise, Beste No. 9 handles daily grime, light makeup, and chemical sunscreen with ease. It is not, however, a heavy-duty makeup remover. Waterproof mascara and full-coverage foundation will require a dedicated first cleanse — an oil balm or micellar water — before Beste No. 9 steps in as the second cleanser to sweep up what remains. This is a feature, not a bug. Trying to make one product remove theatrical-grade makeup and also be gentle enough for bare-skin mornings is how you end up with something that does neither well.

The limitations are straightforward. Very dry skin types may find even this gentle surfactant system slightly depleting, especially in winter or in hard-water areas. The lather is modest by American cleanser standards, which some users interpret as 'not working' even though foam volume has approximately zero correlation with cleansing efficacy. And then there's the price.

Thirty-six dollars for five ounces of cleanser is a lot of money for a product that touches your skin for thirty seconds before going down the drain. The surfactant system is genuinely well-engineered, and the ingredient quality is high — but the active ingredients in this formula are not exotic or expensive to source. You're paying for the R&D behind those nine iterations, for the brand's rigorous exclusion of potential irritants, and for the orange-capped tube that looks correct on your bathroom shelf. Whether that premium feels justified depends entirely on how much you value the certainty that your cleanser won't be the thing causing your skin problems.

After nearly a decade on the market in its current formulation, Beste No. 9 has earned its reputation through consistency rather than hype. It doesn't promise miracles. It promises not to mess things up. And for a cleanser — a product whose primary job is to get out of the way so the rest of your routine can work — that restraint is exactly right.

Formula

The Science

The surfactant system in Beste No. 9 is built around a principle that cosmetic chemists call 'surfactant synergy' — combining multiple mild surfactants that work more gently together than any single one at higher concentration. The lead surfactant, cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB), is an amphoteric molecule that gained notoriety as the American Contact Dermatitis Society's 2004 'Allergen of the Year.' However, a landmark study published in Dermatitis in 2012 demonstrated that allergic reactions attributed to CAPB were actually caused by manufacturing impurities — specifically aminoamide and 3-dimethylaminopropylamine (DMAPA) — rather than the purified ingredient itself (Fowler et al., Dermatitis, 2012). High-purity CAPB, as used in premium formulations like this one, carries a significantly lower sensitization risk.

Sodium lauroyl methyl isethionate (SLMI), the third surfactant in the blend, belongs to the isethionate family widely considered among the mildest anionic surfactants available. Clinical testing on infant skin — a population far more reactive than adults — has shown SLMI-based formulas produce measurable improvements in facial erythema and scaling with significantly lower transepidermal water loss compared to traditional surfactant systems.

The inclusion of dipotassium glycyrrhizate brings evidence-based anti-inflammatory action to the cleansing step. A 2023 study in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences demonstrated that this licorice-derived compound modulates the inflammatory cascade through multiple pathways, including inhibition of hyaluronidase — the enzyme that degrades hyaluronic acid in the skin (IJMS, 2023). In a cleanser context, this means the brief exposure window still provides a soothing counterpoint to any surfactant-induced irritation.

Sclerocarya birrea seed oil (marula oil) contributes approximately 69% oleic acid alongside tocopherols. A 2015 study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology confirmed marula oil's non-irritant profile and documented its moisturizing properties and antioxidant capacity derived from its polyphenolic content (Mariod & Abdelwahab, J Ethnopharmacol, 2015). While the oil's contact time in a wash-off product is limited, its lipophilic nature allows it to interact with sebum-soluble impurities and deposit a thin conditioning layer during the rinse phase.

References

1. Safety and efficacy of Sclerocarya birrea (A.Rich.) Hochst (Marula) oil: A clinical perspective — Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2015)
2. Dipotassium Glycyrrhizininate Improves Skin Wound Healing by Modulating Inflammatory Process — International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023)

Dermatologist Perspective

Dermatologists frequently recommend gel cleansers with balanced pH for patients on active treatment regimens — retinoids, chemical exfoliants, and prescription topicals all perform better when the cleansing step doesn't compromise the skin barrier. Board-certified dermatologists note that Beste No. 9's four-surfactant system at pH 5.5 aligns with current understanding of barrier-supportive cleansing. The absence of fragrance, essential oils, and sulfates makes it a commonly recommended option for patients with contact dermatitis, rosacea, or post-procedure skin. Dermatologists also appreciate the inclusion of licorice root derivative for its anti-inflammatory properties, though they note that any wash-off product has limited active ingredient delivery compared to leave-on treatments.

Guidance

Tiffany Masterson developed the Beste (German for 'best') cleanser after struggling to find a gel cleanser that was truly non-irritating. The original version launched with Drunk Elephant's debut line, but customer feedback about mild eye stinging and a leaky cap led to a ground-up reformulation in 2017 — the ninth iteration that finally met Masterson's standards.

About Drunk Elephant Established Brand (5–20 years)

Drunk Elephant was founded by Tiffany Masterson in 2012 and launched at Sephora in 2013. Acquired by Shiseido for $845 million in 2019, the brand built its reputation on avoiding its 'Suspicious 6' ingredients and has become one of the best-selling prestige skincare lines in the U.S., though it relies more on consumer loyalty and clean-beauty positioning than peer-reviewed clinical research.

Brand founded: 2012 · Product launched: 2017

Myth vs. Reality

Myth

Gel cleansers always strip the skin and are only for oily types.

Reality

Beste No. 9 uses a multi-surfactant system at pH 5.5 with glycerin as its second ingredient, which allows effective cleansing while maintaining hydration — many combination and even some sensitive skin users find it comfortable.

Myth

Expensive cleansers work better because the ingredients absorb into your skin.

Reality

Cleansers are wash-off products with very brief skin contact time. The value here is in what the surfactant system doesn't do — it avoids barrier disruption — rather than in active ingredients that penetrate skin.

FAQ

Common Praise

"Extremely gentle and non-irritating even on sensitive skin"

"Rinses completely clean with no residue"

"Fragrance-free with no essential oils or dyes"

"Pleasant jelly texture that lathers lightly"

"Leaves skin feeling clean and soft without tightness"

"Works well as a second cleanse in a double-cleanse routine"

Common Complaints

"Expensive for a wash-off cleanser at $36 for 5 oz"

"Can feel slightly stripping for very dry skin types"

"Doesn't foam as much as some users prefer"

"Not powerful enough for heavy or waterproof makeup removal"

"Travel-size cap prone to leaking"

Notable Endorsements

Dr. Adarsh Vijay Mudgil (board-certified dermatologist)

Appears In

best cleanser for sensitive skin best gel cleanser for oily skin best fragrance free cleanser best sulfate free cleanser best cleanser for acne

Related Conditions

acne sensitivity oiliness compromised skin barrier

Related Ingredients

glycerin marula oil licorice root aloe vera