Description
The COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser is a foaming face wash built around 0.5% salicylic acid and tea tree leaf oil, aimed at oily and breakout-prone skin. It is one of the few cleansers in this price range that tells you exactly how much acid is in it — though you have to read the tube to find out, because COSRX does not publish the figure online.
For comparison, COSRX does still list its Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser — a useful reference point for the pH question further down this page.
Two things we will be upfront about before anything else: COSRX appears to have withdrawn this product from its international range, and the word “gentle” in the name deserves a closer look. Both are covered below.
Table of Contents
- The 0.5% Is Real — and It Is Printed on the Tube
- Is It Discontinued?
- About the Word “Gentle”
- A Note on the Foam
- 50 ml or 150 ml?
- Not the Low pH Good Morning Cleanser
- Key Benefits
- Key Ingredients
- Who Should Use It
- How to Use It
- How Often
- Where It Fits in Your Routine
- Realistic Results
- Authenticity and Storage
- Full Ingredient List
- Warnings and Precautions
- Product Specifications
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Should You Buy It?
The 0.5% Is Real — and It Is Printed on the Tube
The one number that matters for the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser, and where to find it:
Almost every listing for the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser leaves the percentage blank, because COSRX’s website never states it. But the tube itself does. The back panel reads, word for word:
“Formulated with botanical ingredients and 0.5% Salicylic Acid, this cleanser gently whisk away impurities and excess sebum.”
So: 0.5% salicylic acid, confirmed on the pack rather than guessed. That is a modest, sensible strength for a rinse-off wash. It is not a treatment percentage — a 2% leave-on product does far more — but in a cleanser the contact time is seconds, so a high number would be pointless anyway.
The tea tree oil content is not published, in any market, and we are not going to estimate it.
Is It Discontinued?
The supply picture for the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser, stated plainly:
We would rather tell you than have you find out later. The COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser no longer appears on COSRX’s international website at all — the product page is gone, and at least one major ingredient database now lists it as discontinued. A 150 ml listing still exists on COSRX’s Korean store.
What that means practically: we are selling from stock, not from an open supply line. COSRX has never announced a discontinuation or named a replacement, so we cannot tell you what to switch to when it runs out. If this cleanser works for you, buy the size you will actually finish rather than assuming you can repurchase indefinitely.
About the Word “Gentle”
Worth understanding before you buy the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser:
COSRX markets the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser as suitable for “all skin types including sensitive”. The ingredient list tells a more complicated story, and you should decide for yourself.
This is a saponified soap-base cleanser. Myristic acid, stearic acid and lauric acid are reacted with potassium hydroxide to make the foam — that is traditional soap chemistry, and it produces a high-pH wash rather than the low-pH formulas most sensitive-skin cleansers use. COSRX itself makes a low-pH cleanser and markets it on exactly that difference.
On top of that, the formula contains Fragrance and tea tree leaf oil, which is a recognised sensitiser for a minority of people.
None of that makes it a bad cleanser. It makes “gentle” a relative claim — gentle compared with a scrub or a strong acid, not gentle in the way a fragrance-free, low-pH, soap-free cleanser is gentle. If your skin is genuinely reactive, this is not the COSRX cleanser to start with.
50 ml or 150 ml?
The COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser comes in two sizes and one formula:
Both sizes are on this page — pick one above. They are the same formula.
| Size | Best for | Barcode |
|---|---|---|
| 50 ml | Trying it, or travel. Roughly three to four weeks at once daily. | 8809598453661 |
| 150 ml | The main size. Roughly three months at once daily. | 8809416471112 |
Given the supply situation above, the 50 ml is the sensible first purchase if you have not used the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser before. One caution when buying elsewhere: at least one international retailer has the 50 ml barcode attached to its 150 ml listing, so check the tube, not the listing.
Not the Low pH Good Morning Cleanser
The COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser has two siblings it gets confused with:
COSRX makes several cleansers and they get mixed up constantly.
| Product | What it is |
|---|---|
| Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser (this one) | Foaming soap-base wash, 0.5% salicylic acid, tea tree oil, fragranced. |
| Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser | Low-pH gel, no salicylic acid. The genuinely mild one, and still in production. |
| BHA Blackhead Power Liquid | A leave-on essence, not a cleanser at all. |
If someone recommended you a “gentle COSRX cleanser for sensitive skin”, they may well have meant the Low pH one.
Key Benefits
What the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser is genuinely good at:
- A stated 0.5% salicylic acid — oil-soluble, so it works inside the pore rather than only on the surface.
- Real foam. The soap base gives the dense lather people who dislike gel cleansers are usually looking for.
- Cuts oil properly. This is its strongest quality — skin feels genuinely clean rather than coated.
- Tea tree leaf oil, long used in breakout-focused formulas.
- A botanical tail — willow bark water, saccharomyces ferment, lotus leaf and evening primrose sit at the end of the list.
- Two sizes, so you can trial before committing.
Key Ingredients
What is doing the work in the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser:
- Salicylic acid, 0.5% — eleventh in the list. The BHA doing the pore work.
- Myristic, stearic and lauric acid with potassium hydroxide — the soap base. This is what makes the foam, and what makes the pH high.
- Glycerin — second, so it is a major component and the reason it does not feel completely stripping.
- Tea tree leaf oil — note the packaging prints it as “Melaleuca Alternigolia”, a typo for Alternifolia, on the tube itself.
- Willow bark water and saccharomyces ferment — botanical support, present at the tail end.
- Fragrance — stated plainly, because a lot of buyers filter on it.
Who Should Use It
The COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser suits you if you have oily or combination skin, you get congestion and blackheads, you prefer a foaming wash to a gel, and fragrance does not bother you.
Look elsewhere if your skin is dry, if you are avoiding fragrance or essential oils, if you react to tea tree, or if you specifically wanted a low-pH cleanser — COSRX makes one, and this is not it.
A Note on the Foam
People either love this texture or find it too much, and it is worth knowing which camp you are likely to fall into before you order. A saponified soap base makes a dense, squeaky-clean lather — the kind that leaves skin feeling properly stripped of oil. For someone with genuinely oily skin who has spent years feeling like gel cleansers leave a film behind, that sensation is the entire appeal.
If you are used to low-pH gel or cream cleansers, the same texture reads as harsh. Neither reaction is wrong; they are just different skins meeting different chemistry. Use less product than you think you need, keep the massage short, and moisturise while your face is still damp.
How to Use the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser
COSRX’s directions: dispense a moderate amount into your hand, add water and lather, massage onto face and neck avoiding the eye area, then rinse with warm water.
Lathering it in your hands first matters with a soap-base wash — applying it neat concentrates the surfactants on one patch of skin. Follow with a moisturiser while skin is still slightly damp.
How Often
How often to use the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser — and a gap in the brand’s guidance:
COSRX publishes no frequency guidance and no AM/PM split for this product, which is a real gap on a salicylic acid cleanser. Our suggestion: once daily in the evening to start, adding a morning wash only if your skin stays comfortable. If it starts feeling tight, drop back — a soap-base cleanser will tell you quickly when it is too much.
Where It Fits in Your Routine
The COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser is a second cleanse, not a first:
Evening: remove makeup or sunscreen with an oil or balm cleanser first, then the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser as the second cleanse.
Morning: on its own, if your skin tolerates twice-daily washing.
Follow with a moisturiser every time, and sunscreen in the morning. Browse our other face washes and gel cleansers if you want something lower-pH for alternate days.
Realistic Results
What the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser can reasonably deliver:
| Timeframe | Reasonable expectation |
|---|---|
| First wash | Skin feels clean and matte. Possibly a slight squeak — that is the soap base. |
| 1–2 weeks | Less midday oil. Blackheads look less prominent. |
| 4–6 weeks | Fewer small congestion bumps with consistent use. |
What it will not do: clear cystic or hormonal acne, fade marks, or replace a leave-on BHA. COSRX publishes no timeframe claim, so the above is our estimate rather than a brand promise.
Authenticity and Storage
How to check the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser you receive:
Check the barcode against the size: 8809416471112 on the 150 ml, 8809598453661 on the 50 ml. The back panel should carry the 0.5% salicylic acid sentence quoted at the top of this page.
Store the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser capped, at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.
Country of manufacture is South Korea. COSRX publishes no period-after-opening figure that we could verify from a reliable source, so use the batch and expiry printed on your tube. We tried to read the Korean statutory disclosure block directly and it returned inconsistent data, so rather than quote something we are not sure of, we are telling you we could not confirm it.
Full Ingredient List
The COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser declaration, in order:
Water, Glycerin, Myristic Acid, Stearic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Lauric Acid, Butylene Glycol, Glycol Distearate, Polysorbate 80, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Salicylic Acid, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin.
Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Water, Saccharomyces Ferment, Cryptomeria Japonica Leaf Extract, Nelumbo Nucifera Leaf Extract, Pinus Palustris Leaf Extract, Ulmus Davidiana Root Extract, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Flower Extract, Pueraria Lobata Root Extract, 1,2-Hexanediol, Ethyl Hexanediol, Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA.
An older version of this list places the botanical extracts higher and salicylic acid near the end. Both circulate; COSRX has never published a changelog. Formulations can change, so the panel on your tube is the authority.
Warnings and Precautions
Everything published for the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser, plus three cautions of our own:
- Avoid the eye area. Rinse thoroughly with water if it makes contact.
- For external use only.
- Discontinue and consult a dermatologist if irritation develops.
- Contains fragrance and tea tree leaf oil. Patch test if you react to either.
- Wear sunscreen daily. COSRX does not instruct this for the cleanser; we do, because it contains salicylic acid.
- COSRX publishes no minimum age and no pregnancy guidance for this product. Ask a doctor if either applies to you.
Product Specifications
The COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser at a glance:
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Product | COSRX Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser |
| Brand | COSRX |
| Sizes | 50 ml and 150 ml |
| Format | Foaming soap-base cleanser, tube |
| Salicylic acid | 0.5% — printed on the tube |
| Tea tree oil | Present — percentage not published |
| Fragrance | Yes |
| pH | Not published. Soap-base chemistry means it is not a low-pH cleanser. |
| Country of manufacture | South Korea |
| PAO / shelf life | Not confirmed — use the printed expiry |
| Barcodes | 150 ml 8809416471112 · 50 ml 8809598453661 |
| Availability | Withdrawn from COSRX’s international range — sold from stock |
Frequently Asked Questions
What buyers ask us about the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser:
How much salicylic acid is in the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser?
0.5%, printed on the back of the tube. COSRX does not state it on their website, which is why most listings leave it blank.
Is it good for sensitive skin?
COSRX says all skin types including sensitive. We would not recommend it for genuinely reactive skin — it is a soap-base wash with fragrance and tea tree oil. Their Low pH Good Morning Cleanser is the milder choice.
Is it discontinued?
It has been removed from COSRX’s international site. A Korean listing remains. We are selling from stock.
Does it contain fragrance?
Yes. We would rather say so here than let you find it on the tube.
Can I use it twice a day?
COSRX gives no frequency guidance. Start once daily and build up only if your skin stays comfortable.
Which size should I buy?
The 50 ml if you are new to it, especially given the supply situation. The 150 ml if you already know it suits you.
Is it the same as the Low pH Good Morning Cleanser?
No. Different formula, different pH, no salicylic acid in that one.
Can I use it with a leave-on BHA?
You can, but you may not need both. COSRX publishes no interaction guidance.
Should You Buy It?
The honest verdict on the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser:
Buy the COSRX Salicylic Acid Cleanser if you have oily, congestion-prone skin, you want a proper foaming wash with a stated acid percentage, and fragrance is not a dealbreaker.
Skip it if your skin is dry or reactive, you avoid fragrance or essential oils, or you wanted a low-pH cleanser.
It is a well-priced, effective oil-control wash that is unusually honest about its acid content — on the tube, at least. What we would not do is call it gentle without explaining what that word is doing, or sell it to you without mentioning that COSRX seems to have quietly stopped making it.
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