The choice is mostly about the wash you enjoy. Special Cleansing Gel works into a light lather and rinses off; UltraCalming feels creamier, makes no foam and can be rinsed or wiped away. Both come in the same 8.4 oz size.
8.4 oz / 250 ml
This lightweight gel turns into a refreshing lather in wet hands, then rinses away. Dermalogica recommends it for normal, combination and oily skin. It suits a wash-with-water routine, and its lavender, lemon, bergamot and citronella oils are worth checking if you avoid aromatic ingredients.
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8.4 oz / 250 ml
This creamier gel cleanses without lather and can be rinsed away or lifted off with cotton pads. Dermalogica recommends it for normal, dry and sensitive skin. Panthenol and cetearyl alcohol help explain its different formula, while oat and cucumber add to its botanical blend.
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See how the cleansers get their different textures and what they share. These are selected ingredients, with a check for each product that contains them.
12 of 12 ingredients shown
Cleansing surfactant
Helps the gel loosen oil and dirt so they rinse away with water.
This surfactant is part of Special Cleansing Gel's wash system. Together with other cleansing ingredients, it helps deliver the lather that distinguishes the gel from UltraCalming.
Cleansing surfactant
A second surfactant that helps the gel cleanse and build foam.
Surfactants help water mix with oil and residue so they can be rinsed away. This one also has a foaming role, fitting the gel's lather-and-rinse routine.
Foaming botanical
The soapbark extract that Dermalogica highlights for natural foaming.
Quillaja comes from soapbark. Dermalogica points to its natural foaming properties; the gel also uses cleansing surfactants to create its washable lather.
Fatty alcohol; texture and emulsion support
Gives UltraCalming's non-foaming gel/cream body and helps keep it mixed.
This fatty alcohol thickens and stabilizes creams. It helps explain UltraCalming's creamier texture and is quite different from the fast-evaporating alcohols people often mean by 'alcohol' in skincare.
Source: Cosmetics Info: Cetearyl Alcohol
Humectant
Attracts water; one of the moisture-supporting ingredients in UltraCalming.
Panthenol is provitamin B5. Dermalogica highlights its humectant role in this formula, alongside the cleanser's non-foaming texture and rinse-or-wipe routine.
Humectant
Attracts water and helps both cleansing formulas retain moisture.
Glycerin is a humectant shared by these two cleansers. UltraCalming adds panthenol, but the gel is not without moisture-supporting ingredients.
Source: Cosmetics Info: Glycerin
Solvent and humectant
A shared formula ingredient that helps dissolve other ingredients and hold water.
Butylene glycol serves as both a solvent and a humectant. Both formulas use it, even though their lather and textures differ.
Source: COSMILE Europe: Butylene Glycol
Aromatic botanical oil
An aromatic oil in Special Cleansing Gel's botanical blend.
The gel uses lavender oil, while UltraCalming uses lavender flower/leaf/stem extract. They are different preparations of the same plant, so check both products if lavender matters to you.
Botanical extract
A lavender botanical in UltraCalming, distinct from the gel's lavender oil.
Dermalogica includes this extract among UltraCalming's featured botanicals. A dash beside the gel here only means that exact extract is absent; the gel contains lavender oil instead.
Aromatic botanical oil
Adds to the gel's aromatic botanical blend, with bergamot and citronella oils.
This is oil from lemon peel. UltraCalming uses a lemon fruit extract instead, so the products' citrus ingredients are different even though both have a lemon-derived component.
Botanical extract
An oat-derived skin-conditioning botanical in UltraCalming's blend.
UltraCalming pairs oat kernel extract with cucumber and raspberry extracts. These are botanical ingredients in the creamier formula, not the agents that make the gel foam.
Skin-conditioning ingredient
A skin-conditioning ingredient used in formulas aimed at comfort.
Bisabolol has skin-conditioning and soothing roles in cosmetics. It fits UltraCalming's comfort-focused formula, alongside panthenol and its non-foaming cleansing base.
Source: COSMILE Europe: Bisabolol
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This is a selection from Dermalogica's US product pages, not the full formulas or a hands-on test. Formulas can change; check the package if a particular ingredient matters to you.
Special Cleansing Gel is the straightforward lather-and-rinse choice. UltraCalming also rinses off, but gives you a wipe-off option when that is more convenient.
Dermalogica recommends Special Cleansing Gel for combination skin. It is the natural starting point if you enjoy a rinse-off lather; choose by texture as well as a skin-type label.
No. It contains lavender, rosemary and lemon extracts. The gel contains lavender, lemon peel, bergamot and citronella oils. If you avoid a particular plant ingredient, compare the package labels.
Dermalogica says UltraCalming removes light makeup and recommends PreCleanse for heavier makeup. Both product directions begin after PreCleanse, so keep your existing first-cleanse step for a heavier makeup day.
Compare the 8.4 oz / 250 ml size at Dermstore.
Based on US manufacturer information, checked 20 October 2026. This is not a hands-on test. Photos are from the brands; ingredient explanations link to their sources. Check the current package for formula changes and the retailer for price, size and availability.