Some By Mi's Yuja Niacin line is named for two ingredients, and in the toner and serum, both pull real weight — 5% and 10% niacinamide respectively. So you'd reasonably expect the cleanser that anchors the line to carry a meaningful niacinamide dose too. It doesn't. Buried in the ingredient list is the figure: niacinamide, 1ppm. That's one part per million — a trace so small it's essentially a rounding error, present so the word 'niacin' can stay in the name rather than to do anything for your skin. Spotting that number is the key to reviewing this cleanser honestly, because once you stop expecting niacinamide brightening from it, you can appreciate it for what it genuinely is: a nice, gentle, low-pH gel cleanser.
And on those terms, it's good. The foundation is a low-pH surfactant system — sodium C14-16 olefin sulfonate softened with cocamidopropyl betaine — that lathers into a dense, satisfying foam and cleanses oil and grime thoroughly while staying at a skin-friendly pH. Low-pH cleansing matters: it respects the skin's acid mantle and avoids the tight, stripped feeling that high-pH foaming washes leave behind, which is better for the barrier and especially for anyone prone to over-cleansing. This cleanser gets that right, and it's the main reason it's worth using.
The gentle brightening that does exist comes not from niacinamide but from gluconolactone, a polyhydroxy acid. PHAs are the milder, more hydrating cousins of AHAs — larger molecules that exfoliate more gently and tend not to sting or sensitize. Joined by citric acid, the gluconolactone provides light surface exfoliation that, over a couple of weeks of daily use, leaves skin a touch smoother and brighter. It's a real, if modest, benefit, and the right kind of exfoliation for a daily cleanser: gentle and gradual rather than aggressive. The 11% yuja adds a fresh citrus character and some whole-fruit antioxidant content, though as a brief-contact rinse-off, its brightening is more about freshness than treatment.
What genuinely elevates the formula is the hydration roster, which is unusually generous for a foaming cleanser. Several molecular weights of hyaluronic acid, plus panthenol and glycerin, mean skin comes away soft and comfortable rather than squeaky and tight. Combined with the low pH, that makes this a non-stripping cleanser that even drier skin can tolerate, which is not something you can say about most foaming washes. It's a thoughtfully built daily cleanser.
In use, it delivers exactly that experience: a small amount makes a dense, cushiony foam, cleanses well, rinses clean, and leaves skin fresh and soft. It works as a standalone daily wash or the second step of an evening double cleanse, and it slots naturally into the rest of the Yuja Niacin routine. The fresh citrus scent is a pleasant lift for most people.
The limitations are two, and both are honest. First, the brightening is light — this is a gentle exfoliating cleanser, not a brightening treatment, and no rinse-off product fades dark spots; the real tone work belongs to leave-on niacinamide and vitamin C products plus sunscreen. Second, the fragrance: added fragrance plus limonene and linalool make it less suitable for sensitive, reactive, or rosacea-prone skin, despite the otherwise gentle formula, and that's the main reason it scores lower on irritation. If your skin tolerates fragrance, it's a non-issue; if not, a fragrance-free low-pH cleanser is the better choice. On the plus side, it is oil-free and fungal-acne safe, which broadens its appeal.
The value is good, with one caveat: at around $13 to $16 for 100ml, the price is fine, but 100ml is a relatively small size for a daily cleanser, so it runs out faster than larger-format washes. A little foams a lot, which helps, but heavy users will repurchase more often than they might like. The vegan, cruelty-free formulation is a plus.
It's worth being clear about what 'all in one' is doing in the name, since it implies more than the product delivers. The phrase gestures at the cleanser handling cleansing, mild exfoliation, and brightening in a single step — and it does technically do a little of each — but the brightening is negligible in a rinse-off and the exfoliation is gentle. In practice it's a very good low-pH cleanser with a light PHA touch, and that's the honest way to value it. Treat it as the gentle cleansing foundation of a brightening routine whose real tone work happens in your leave-on steps, and you'll be happy; expect the cleanser itself to brighten or do three jobs at full strength, and the name will have oversold it.
Where it lands: this is a genuinely pleasant low-pH, gently exfoliating gel cleanser for normal, combination, and oily skin that tolerates fragrance and wants a non-stripping daily wash with a fresh citrus character. Buy it for the low-pH gentleness, the PHA smoothing, and the generous hydration — not for the niacinamide, which is trace, or for brightening, which is light. Set those expectations correctly and weigh the fragrance against your own skin, and it's a solid, affordable cleanser that does the real job of a cleanser well. Just don't let the name convince you it's doing more.
