This product made my skin very dry. For reference, I have very sensitive skin, so it turns red easily... My face was irritated and itchy after washing my face with this facial cleanser. I thought it didn't do anything to my face, except making it dry - I will not be purchasing this product.

Haven't used this very long but I admit it stung my face upon application, especially around the eye area! However, upon rinsing and drying I noticed that my skin was smooth, clear and tight-pored and felt clean. The sitnging really bothers me, though--cleansers should not sting and be painful. Probably will not repurchase.

This product made me break out like I've never broken out before. I don't usually break out on my cheeks or forehead and I have huge zits on my cheek and forehead that now won't go away. Also, the clay made some areas of my face so dry that it got flaky. It pretty much gave me the worst of both worlds with the breaking out and the dry flaking skin.

Like the label says, a good, non-stripping, non-greasy face wash that gets your face clean and fresh without over-drying. The clays feel nice. Great for my combination, acne-prone skin with flaking from benzoyl peroxide use.
Two lippies off because it contains sodium laureth sulfate, which supposedly is very comedogenic (though I haven't broken out from this), and because there are much cheaper mild, non-drying, oil-free, not-tested on animals face washes out there - my current choice is Daniel Kern's, from acne.org. (His BP gel is great too, but not the moisturizer, there I have to stick with Kiehls' Ultra Facial Moisturizer).

I have to admit that I have just been introduced to Kiehl's products. After having tried dozens of products from other brands and almost giving up on controling my horribly acne-prone skin I accidentally wandered over to the Kiehl's counter at Nordstrom. After having stopped using oral contraceptives and trying to get pregrant, my skin all of a sudden morphed into one giant permanent oil slick. for 7 weeks. I had been breaking out daily and my usually combination skin had become permanently oily, especially in the summer heat. Anyway, I stopped at the Kiehl's counter just to have a look at the various products. The salesperson was very helpful and friendly and told me she had heard of similar things happening to many women, and that it even happened to her. She recommended the Rare-Earth Oatmeal Milk cleanser and I also asked to try the Tea Tree Oil toner, having had some success in the past with pure tea tree oil. I took both home and tried them out. When I first used the cleanser, I didn't have high hopes because the formula was so gentle and milky, it just seemed much too mild to have any effect. Boy was I wrong! This deceptively mild cleanser really washed my face effectively, and it even made it feel squeaky-clean. Yet, I was amazed at how soft my skin was afterwards, like I had washed my face with pure cream. The most surprising thing of all was how effectively it actually clarified and seemed to diminish my existing acne. Despite the fact that the cleanser was so gentle and didn't irritate my skin, I actually could see it drying up and shrinking some of my blemishes before my eyes. Although the cleanser didn't dry or irritate my face overall, I could literally see it drying up nasty stubborn zits that just wouldn't go away. And this was before I even put the tea tree oil toner on.
I am incredibly pleased so far and so surprised that this creamy milk cleanser could clean so effectively that it actually fights acne on the spot. I have hope now that I didn't have before, and I will continue to use the cleanser as well as the Tea Tree Oil toner, which is also working very well. Now that I've seen such good results in such a short period of time from two Kiehl's products, it makes me want to try more of them. At $14.50, this cleanser hardly breaks the bank, though this is for the smaller bottle. Even so, it takes me ages to go through one bottle of cleanser, so it's still a pretty good value. And considering it effectively cleans my skin, makes it extremely soft, zaps blemishes, and doesn't irritate, it's really priceless!

I bought this because the BA at Kiehls recommended me this. I just told her I needed a cleanser that cleanses, doesn't irritate, or dry my sensitive skin out. I've used this for almost a week, and nothing bad has happened. I only use a small amount on my damp face, and it washes off clean with no residue left. I will come back and update later. UPDATE: with 2x/daily use of this product, my face started getting dry. So I use this once a day now. Still great!

well.. not a big fan of non foaming cleansers... just don't like the film that's left on my face... but this cleaner doesn't... leaves my skin soft and smooth... i would leave it on my face for a few more minutes beofre i rinse it...so it obsorbs more oil... :)

After my disaster with the #2 (medium strength) version of this cleanser, I decided to maybe give this one a try. After my skin was acting more combination during that period of time so I bought a bottle of this. It didnt burn on contact (unlike the #2 version, which I reviewed also) but the burning started after a few uses. What a pity. I wanted to like this as I needed a non-foaming cleanser for oilier skins and this came highly recommended. I haven't figured what it was in these two cleansers that gave me that reaction. I have tried tons of Kiehl'd products and these are the only ones which gave me a bad reaction. Oh well. Get a sample before you pay for this. Thank goodness they had a great return policy, and I gave it back for cash after a week.

I don't understand why someone found this cleanser irritative. It's so gentle on my oily skin, and it's designed for oily type of skin. It's not greasy, easy to rinse off, better than most milky cleansers as they tend to be greasy. Like all the milky cleansers, it doesn't give a throughly clean feel. I use it in the morning when I don't have make up.

i hate this cleanser. my skin became itchy and very dry. useally my skin is NOT THAT sensitive but this cleanser is horrible. my skin/face hurted a bit so this cleanser is definitely nothing for dry or combo skin. maybe for very oily but i havent very oily skin. just a little but oily in t-zone but this part hurted, too. i will never buy this cleanser again. too aggressiv. cleans like other cleansers. cleansing is average. not something special. i think nothing is good...i dont recommend...

I got some generous samples of this from the Georgetown Kiehl's store. About a minute after I put it on, my face started burning. I rinsed it off immediately, but still felt the burn. 3 hours later I'm still irritated in spots. My skin isn't that sensitive, but this kicked my butt. Try it on a small area first! That was my mistake. I will not be purchasing this, and am tossing what I have left.

I initially purchased this as an intro to Kiehl's products. It was recommended to me in the Kiehl's store for my oily, acne prone skin. However, as others have noted, it is very drying. Also, it doesn't do a very good job at removing make up, so one needs to either do two washings or use a lot of toner. I personally don't think this cleanser is worth the trouble or the money. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone other than the extrememly oily who don't wear makeup.

i used this for a long time before realizing that it didn't cleanse as well as i thought it did.... didn't really wow me

This initially felt like a nice facial cleanser, but the clay in this product was too drying for my skin and I ended up breaking out. I think my skin might be able to tolerate this product for occasional use, but then why even bother?

this product is HORRIBLE! it gave me these itchy red bumps on my face.

Since I love Kiehl's Papaya and Pineapple Scrub so much I tried some of their other skin care products. I never felt clean with this cleanser, leaves a film on my skin that I didnt like. My skin also got oilier with this product. This broke me out like crazy, not going back to it.

I've got a sample of this cleanser. The consistency of this cleanser is thicker than normal cleansing milk. My skin feels soft after using it. It does not dry up my skin and it can really balance my skin, making my cheek soft and supple and my t-zone less oily. However, the downside of it is that after using the cleanser, my pores become more visible and so do my blackheads. That's really annoying and I think i'm not going to buy the full size.

This is a decent morning cleanser, as it cleans combo skin without overdrying. However, this is awful at removing face makeup- the cotton balls I use for my toner are covered with leftover makeup again and again after washing with this. It annoys me that I had to buy a separate cleanser for night.

So far so good. I've been using this for 2 weeks and I really like it. It took some getting used to with it not foaming. I'm so used to foaming cleansers. But what I love about this cleanser is that it doesn't leave my face tight after cleansing. It leaves it soft and get rid of the oilies. I wet my face, apply some cleanser and massage it in for a few seconds. Then I rinse and I'm left with a clean, smooth complexion. It takes off all my make up but I don't wear much. Oh but it DOES NOT take off eye make up. But for that I would use a make up remover anyways. Great product.
I have oily acne prone skin with large pores.
EDIT: ok. after using this for over a month...i've realized it's even too harsh for my super super oily skin. i had noticed that my lips stung whenever i used this so i started avoiding that area completely. well like a week ago i was feeling that stinging sensation all over my face. i find it really strange that this is the mild version. i would hate to see what the regular strenght feels like.

This was my first Kiehl's product ever. It was recommended to me by the SA in the London store for my combination skin. I will always remember the first time I used this and how soft and moisturised my skin felt instantly. Never before had my skin felt like this. My makeup went on much smoother and I had much less frequent pimples. You only need a small amount to cleanse your whole face, so the bottle should last you awhile. Unfortunately, after about 6mths of using this, my skin did start to tingle slightly. It was my sensitive skin (most likely) reacting to the clay. I'm using another Kiehl's cleanser now which is much more suited for my skin type. I still highly recommend this cleanser for those with combination (leaning towards oily) skin.