In this post I’ll rank the best Anua products for acne prone skin.
Anua is a super popular Korean skincare brand with a lot of buzz surrounding the heartleaf extract products especially.
So, if the brand has piqued your interest, stay tuned for the best Anua serum, toner, cleanser and more.
Jump to a section
- The best Anua products for acne
- The best Anua products for oily skin
- Best Anua products for combination skin
- Best Anua products for dry skin
- Best Anua serum for all skin types
- Best Anua toner for all skin types
- Does the Anua cleanser cause purging?
- Anua oil cleanser breakout causes
- What are the best Anua skincare products?
The best Anua products for acne
In this section I’ll share the Anua products that have the best chance at improving acne-prone skin.
1. Anua Heartleaf Quercetinol Pore Deep Cleansing Foam
This is a basic water based cleanser with key ingredients of salicylic acid and houttuynia cordata extract.
Salicylic acid is generally very good for acne-prone skin, with some exceptions.
Me personally, I prefer to use a retinoid to control my acne-prone skin. However, so many people with acne respond well to salicylic acid.
If you get on well with salicylic acid, this is definitely one of the best Anua products for acne.
I’d recommend using it as a second cleanser in the evening.
However, don’t forget that this counts as exfoliating. Lots of people use salicylic acid cleansers and completely forget they’re exfoliating!
Too much exfoliation can weaken your skin barrier, leading to more annoying breakouts.
This is also one of the best Anua products for oily skin, but I would not recommend it for sensitive skin.
2. Anua BHA 2% Gentle Exfoliating Toner
This is basically a copy of the best-selling toner from Paula’s Choice (2% BHA toner), but a Korean skincare version.
Because it contains salicylic acid, again, it is definitely one of the best Anua products for acne prone skin.
Salicylic acid is a chemical exfoliant that gently sweeps away dead skin cells.
However, it works differently to exfoliants like AHA, for example. This is because it penetrates deeper into the pore and breaks up clogs and sebum blockages that cause acne.
Lots of people use the 2% BHA toner as a daily lotion, but I still think you should proceed with caution to preserve the skin barrier.
The Anua BHA toner benefits are:
- Improved skin tone with continued use
- Anti-inflammatory properties, skin looks calmer and clearer
- Smoother surface of the skin
- Reduced acne breakouts
The best Anua products for oily skin
In case it wasn’t clear, I think the above salicylic acid cleanser and toner are both suitable for oily skin and acne prone skin.
However, just remember not to bombard your skin with BHA!
Less is more when it comes to skincare if you want to maintain healthy skin.
3. Anua’s Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Oil
Anua’s Heartleaf cleansing oil went viral on TikTok not too long ago.
It may seem counterintuitive to suggest an oil cleanser for oily skin, but hear me out on this one!
Oil cleansers can really change the way your skin feels and behaves, I find.
Oil cleansers do such a good, thorough job of cleansing that I think oily skin types may actually find some relief from their high sebum production.
This is how I’d use it in skincare routine:
- In the evening, apply the oil cleanser to dry skin to break down SPF and grime from the day.
- Massage in for 60 seconds, focusing on problem areas like the nose.
- Add a splash of water to emulsify the oil cleanser and massage for 10 seconds
- Rinse off, then apply your water based cleanser
A word of warning with this cleanser, though. Lots of people have reported it to break them out, which is unfortunate.
You’ll only really know if you try it out yourself by patch testing, for example.
4. Anua Heartleaf LHA Moisture Peeling Gel
If salicylic acid is too much for your skin, you may like the LHA cleanser instead.
This is a nice treatment cleanser for various skin concerns, such as rough or crusty texture or evening out skin tone.
LHA is generally gentler than salicylic acid, but still oil-loving, making it great for more sensitive, oily skin types.
There aren’t many LHA cleansers at moment, so I think this is one of the best Anua products for oily skin.
Best Anua products for combination skin
Combination skin is a tricky one because really, everyone has combination skin.
Skin types were only really created to make it easier for us to pick products, skin types don’t truly exist.
To find the best Anua products for combination skin depends on your unique combination, but I’ll suggest some I think will work best.
5. Anua Heartleaf 77% Toner Pads
These toner pads are one of Anua’s most viral skincare products.
Even if your skin leans more dry, these are generally well tolerated, so I think they should work well for combination skin, too.
These contain gluconolactone, otherwise known as polyhydroxy acid. It’s a very gentle type of exfoliating acid.
Over time, these can reduce dark spots, fade acne marks and smooth skin texture.
They also offer some intense hydration and barrier repair benefits, because they contain heartleaf extract, centella and madecassoside.
6. Anua Peach 70% Niacinamide Serum
This serum looks so good I could seriously eat it.
It’s really a simple niacinamide serum that contains peach fruit extract.
I do think this would suit combination skin, but I’m not sure it’s the best niacinamide serum available.
Niacinamide is great for reducing sebum production in an oily T zone, for example.
It also fades hyperpigmentation and reduces acne breakouts.
However, this one contains fragrance which I’d suggest avoiding for most skin types.
Whilst I like that it also contains polyglutamic acid, ceramides and centella for added hydration, I just don’t think a niacinamide serum needs fragrance.
Best Anua products for dry skin
The best Anua products for dry skin tend to be the cream and lotion-based products in the range.
Hopefully my run down of each of these will help you find the right product for you.
7. Heartleaf Intense 70% Intense Calming Cream
This is a predominantly silicone-based cream with a minimal ingredients list.
Silicones are great at trapping hydrating within the skin, but not all skin types get on with them equally.
I would suggest this cream if you have dry skin that’s not prone to breakouts.
Is this Anua cream for oily skin? I would say that comes down to personal preference.
Just because skin is oily, doesn’t mean you can’t use a richer cream at night.
Often people with oily skin find that their skin produces less oily when you give it products that hydrate it well.
8. Anua Heartleaf 70% Daily Lotion
This is a new product from Anua that I haven’t seen before.
It’s essentially a more lightweight version of the calming cream.
The ingredients are not too dissimilar, but it’s a lighter lotion rather than a thick cream.
Just because it’s thinner, doesn’t mean it’s less hydrating for dry skin.
For this reason, I think it’s one of the best Anua products for dry skin.
It can layer nicely under sun protection, for example, in a way that thicker moisturisers are just too much.
This contains 70% heart leaf extract, hylauronic acid and a silicone and to trap in moisture.
I am not sure this will work too well if you have very clog prone skin, check out my other moisturisers for acne prone skin.
Best Anua serum for all skin types
The serum I like the most is one that works for all skin types – the Anua Heartleaf 80% Moisture Soothing Ampoule.
9. Anua Heartleaf 80% Moisture Soothing Ampoule
I think this serum is great because anyone and everyone can benefit from it, whether you have oily or dry skin.
It only has 12 ingredients, which I love. The less ingredients in a product means the less likely it is to cause breakouts.
It contains heartleaf extract and panthenol to soothe, with glycerin to add hydration.
It’s simple and for that reason I love it.
Best Anua toner for all skin types
There are two toners in the Anua skincare range, but only one is suitable for all skin types.
10. Anua Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner
This toner is super viral but has very mixed reviews. It feels like you either love it or you hate it.
Ingredients wise, it has a mild exfoliating effect, due to the sugarcane content.
It’s also very hydrating and soothing, because of the heartleaf extract, centella and glycerin.
This is one of the best anua products for all skin types, because it is very lightweight and hydrating.
Out of the two toners they have, I think is is the best Anua toner, too.
Does the Anua cleanser cause purging?
Now I’ll answer some frequently asked questions from my socials, specifically about Anua products.
The Anua oil cleanser won’t cause purging, because it doesn’t contain anything in it that causes a purge.
Purging happens when you either speed up cell turnover, like using a retinoid, or chemically exfoliate.
If you’re breaking out while using the Anua cleanser, your skin probably just disagrees with it and you should discontinue it.
Anua oil cleanser breakout causes
Lots of people find that the Anua oil cleanser causes breakouts, it seems.
If you’re having an Anua oil cleanser breakout, this might have a few different causes:
- Your skin dislikes one or a few of the ingredients
- You haven’t washed the oil cleanser off properly by using a water based cleanser afterwards
- Perhaps you are allergic to centella or heartleaf, or are having a reaction in general
What are the best Anua skincare products?
There are no ultimate top Anua products, I think it heavily depends on your skincare routine and concerns.
