A low irritancy cleansing composition comprises: (a) an anionic surfactant compound of formula (I): wherein R1 represents a C4-36 substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbyl group each of R2, R3, R4 and R5 independently represents a hydrogen atom or a C1-4 alkyl group and wherein at least one of R2, R3, R4 and R5 is not hydrogen and M+ represents a cation and (b) an amphoteric surfactant wherein the molar ratio of component (a) to component (b) is from 0.25:1 to 4:1 and wherein the composition comprises less than 3 wt % polyethoxylated non-ionic species.
