Banila Co vs. Heimish Cleansing Balm

Both are solid-to-oil balm cleansers meant as the first step in a double cleanse, and Heimish is explicitly positioned in the market as the accessible alternative to Banila Co's original. That makes this a genuinely useful pairing, not just two random balms, since the real question most people have is whether the cheaper option actually gives something up.

Banila Co Clean It Zero is widely credited as the original, most recognized cleansing balm in K-beauty, the reference point the category gets measured against. Heimish All Clean Balm is one of the most common budget-alternative recommendations to it, at a lower price and a similar solid-to-oil format. Comparing them directly answers the actual question shoppers have, rather than comparing Banila Co against an unrelated product just because it's also a balm.

Banila Co runs $0.21 per milliliter ($21.00 for 100mL). Heimish runs $0.17 per milliliter ($19.99 for 120mL, Amazon, checked 17 October 2026). Heimish is cheaper both on sticker price and on a genuine per-mL basis, not just a smaller bottle at a lower number.

Banila Co's formula centers on cleansing oils alongside vitamin E, rooibos extract, and angelica root extract, positioned simply as a first-step, makeup-removing balm. Heimish's formula is built on shea butter and coconut fruit extract for conditioning, with tea tree oil and vitamin E added, and is explicitly marketed as delivering similar performance to pricier balms like Banila Co.

This is where the two genuinely diverge. Banila Co's formula contains added fragrance. Heimish's goes further: it contains 10 essential oils, including several declared fragrance allergens (limonene, citral, linalool). Neither is fragrance-free, but Heimish's fragrance profile is meaningfully heavier and more specific, worth knowing if you're fragrance-sensitive, regardless of which one you'd otherwise pick on price.

If price and per-mL value are what matter most and fragrance isn't a concern, Heimish delivers a genuinely comparable balm for less. If you want the original, most established formula in the category, or you're at all fragrance-sensitive, Banila Co is the safer and more thoroughly reviewed choice.

For the double-cleanse method and how a first-step balm fits into it, see how to double cleanse, or browse the rest of our cleanser coverage.