Yikes! I've never suffered with skin sensitivities but this stuff gave me an immediate, very negative reaction the very first time I used it. As I was cleansing, I noticed a burning sensation and so I rinsed the product off. For the next hour or so, my face was an angry, irritated red. It truly looked like I had a bad base of rosacea! Plus, it felt terribly dried out. Thankfully, I seem to have suffered no long-term ill-effects. Back to CVS it goes! Guess so-called natural doesn't mean gentle.

There are 3 variaties of this cleanser: the soap, purifying cleansing and fresh cleansing+makeup remover. This last one (Fresh Cleansing+Makeup Remover) is the one I am reviewing here. I like it for the money as it does NOT contain any sulphates or parabens as it's more natural in it's ingredients. It contains Peruvian Tara Seed which helps to calm and soften the skin. It lathers well and rinses very quickly with 3 or 4 splashes of water. It can be used to remove eyemakeup and waterproof mascaras and transfer resistant foundations and lipsticks so it's very efficient. You need the smallest amount (half a pump, if that) so a little goes a long way and you will not have to repurchase for a long time. What more can you ask for? It's around 6 bucks in Walmart.

I think I may have found my HG cleanser. I have combination, acne-prone, slightly wrinkle-prone skin. Recently, I was starting to have lots of cystic break-outs, which led to using so much benzoyl peroxide treatment that my skin was starting to get crazy dry. Up to that point, I'd been using Neutrogena Acne Wash in the Pink Grapefruit version. Normally, I use the non-grapefruit regular version, and I swear the PG variation was the culprit. I had gotten a Groupon deal for the Purifying Facial Cleanser, so when I ran out of the PG Acne Wash, I tried this. I had used the Naturals make-up removing cleanser before and didn't like it one bit, so the Purifying version was an absolute revelation! My cystic blemishes--less than a week later--are GONE. Red marks from old blemishes are fading. Small pimples are drying up with almost no benzoyl peroxide treatment (I'm down to now using just a very thin layer of that every few nights rather than the massive amounts I was using every single night). I am convinced there is something magical about the white willow bark. This stuff is AMAZING.

I bought this ONLY because I couldn't find the Neutrogena Naturals Face & Body Bar (I HIGHLY recommend the bar, I would rate that a 4.5 out of 5) which is so much BETTER than the Purifying Cleanser. I had used up the whole bar to a slither and was on the hunt for a replacement, couldn't find it anywhere all they had was this. I figured since it was the same line that this would just be the liquid form of the bar, but it's far from it.

The good:
-It seemed to do a good job of removing the dirt and makeup
-It's made without any sulfates, parabens, petrochemicals, dyes, and phthalates


The bad:
-It stung my face every time I used it. My skin isn't super sensitive and I haven't used a product in a while that has irritated my skin like this.
-The packaging is very cheap, the pump never worked at all for me.
-The fragrance. The fragrance smells nice and fresh but I prefer my products to be fragrance-free since a lot of the chemicals they use for these fragrances are known irritants. Also, in my opinion any ingredient that doesn't add to the effectiveness of the product should be left out. continued >>

I got this product in an effort to switch to a foaming cleanser with the warmer weather. I have used it a week, only at night after removing makeup. I should've stopped using it after the first couple of nights when it kinda made my skin sting a little. But no. When I started using this, I had a couple (two) of small cystic pimples starting under the skin on my chin. It happens sometimes. My normal cleanser (also Neutrogena) and some other care would have prevented them from coming up at all. Since I was using this instead, they not only came up, it was a cluster of huge ones. Not only that, they wouldn't go down and kept getting bigger, never coming to a head. Only boiling and hurting sooo much underneath. AND there were small pimples forming where I had never ever had a spot. I can only attribute it to this cleanser. I have been using the rest of my routine for almost a year and never had an issue. I have used my other cleanser and normal routine the past couple of days and the cysts are clearing quickly. Other than that: the texture was nice, rinsed cleanly, and the scent was tolerable. The ingredient list looked fine to me and I'm not prone to such things. So use at your own risk.

I really like this cleanser for taking off make-up. It's very gentle and doesn't irritate my skin. In addition, I have to massage my eyelids every morning because of an annoying gland dysfunction, and I like to use my cleanser to do this in the shower so that I don't pull at the skin around my eyes. This one does the trick - it doesn't sting my eyes at all and it's a good way to remove oil from my night cream and freshen my skin in the mornings. It has a lovely mild scent. I like the Purifying Facial Wash almost as much as the Earth Science Clarifying Facial Wash, which I adore, but which my local health food store always seems to be out of, and it's a great price. Highly recommended.

I was really surprised to see the poor reviews. This cleanser removes all of my makeup. It does not dry out my skin. It does not leave behind residue - so no blackheads or bumps. I have oily/combination skin that is over 40.

I recently began using this product with my Olay brush and it is a winning combination for me.

Gave me an allergic reaction as others have said. Do not recommend.

I am normally combo skin that is oily on my T-zone.

I tried this cleanser when I ran out of Boscia's Cleansing Gel as a cheaper alternative that was natural. It was $7.50 at my Target, which compared to the $26 that my other cleanser was, it was a steal. The smell is nice and is not overwhelming. It foams alright with my Clarisonic brush and washes off clean Unfortunately, after using this for a few days, my skin feels like an oil slick. I cannot go several hours now without my makeup sliding around, my skin feeling oily, and overall wanting to cringe. It did not break me out like other reviews, but this is definitely going back and I will be returning to my more expensive cleanser that WORKS.

This product seemed great, smelled good and didn't dry out my skin. After one night time use I noticed two new little red bumps the next morn, but I didn't think anything of it. However, after the next day of use I broke out in tiny bumps ALL over my face that weren't quite like pimples. Very frustrating and I hope they go away soon!

I read other reviews after the breakout to see if it was just me, but it clearly isn't. Be wary of the reviews; not everybody has such bad results, but knowing how many people have had breakout reactions, I wouldn't waste my money (and skin.)