Pond's Flawless Radiance Even Tone Facial Foam, 100g

Niacinamide is the reason to pick this one off the shelf. It is one of the few brightening ingredients with real evidence behind it, it works on uneven tone and the marks left after blemishes clear, and it is unusual to find it in a face wash at this price rather than in a serum costing four times as much.

Alongside it there is vitamin E and allantoin, both there to keep the skin comfortable, and fine micro-exfoliating beads that lift away dead surface skin as you massage. The foam itself is light. It takes off makeup, sunscreen and the day's oil without leaving that squeaky, over-cleaned feeling.

Being honest about what a cleanser can do: this sits on the skin for under a minute before it is rinsed away, so treat it as the supporting act. It preps and evens, but the heavy lifting on pigmentation belongs to a serum and, far more importantly, to daily sunscreen. Skipping sunscreen while chasing an even tone is working against yourself.

Suits: normal to combination skin, anyone dealing with post-acne marks or patchy tone, and daily use morning and night. The 100g tube lasts most people around two months.

Worth knowing: it foams generously, so a pea-sized amount is genuinely enough. Keep it away from the eye area, where the exfoliating beads have no business being.