I am admittedly not the type that will spend on cleansers. Eye cream? Sure, nothing worse than unsightly bags. Exfoliator? Of course, the after-scrub glow is priceless. So when I was assigned to try out Dermalogica’s Special Cleansing Gel, I wasn’t thinking, well, much. Turns out the 25-year-old, L.A.-based brand is getting all the buzzy promise it deserves. Dermalogica founder Jane Wurwand works with The International Dermal Institute to formulate the line’s products and it shows. The soap-free, cleansing gel formula goes on so lightly that it feels almost like water and the after-effects is both wonderfully clean, yet balanced– I barely had to put any of my moisturizer on afterwards. Plus one of the unique ingredients is Quillaja Saponaria, a naturally foaming extract that lifts away impurities. A special cleanser indeed. $32 for 8.4 oz