Every ones skin is different. My skin likes this product. I was able to stop using aspirin mask after I started using this face wash. I had used aspirin mask for literally years until I found this. I have used an entire bottle of this wash and purchased a second, which I think I have never done in my entire life with any face wash before.
It is rather caustic, I'll give it that. If you have dry skin, RUN from this product. I have very oily skin that needs to be wrangled under control and this is just the ticket. I had been washing my face quite successfully with Johnson's Baby Shampoo for awhile before I started this face wash - and the Johnson's, paired with aspirin mask did great. However, I felt the need to moisturize with the combination of the two, and moisturizers ALWAYS break me out, no matter the type, no matter of oil free or not (which sucks). So, I would combat the dryness with moisturizer, and then combat the zits with aspirin mask and the cycle continued.
With this, I do not need a moisturizer because I am not pairing it with any other drying acne remedy. It did dry my face out A LOT at first. The first two weeks were tight-dry skin hell. However, I resisted the urge to moisturize, and soon enough my skin started to (yes) produce more oil than it had been, which naturally moisturized my face. I find that it works best if I use it at night before bed, and let my natural oils come out overnight and moisturize my skin so that in the morning I just blot before applying makeup and my skin is clear but moisturized from my natural oils. This has worked for me for about 2 months now and will update if there are any negative changes.
I love that it clears out clogged pores that came during the day as I massage it into my skin while washing. Please note: MAKE SURE that you squirt into hand and build a lather and use the LATHER to wash your face, not the straight liquid. It says this on the bottle and it is very important.
I have only gotten a couple of full blown zits since using it, and they were small. A few hormonal cystic ones popped up but were gone in a few days before surfacing with daily use of this product. Would recc for oily skinned and acne prone, NOT for dry or even normal skin really.

I use this to wash my face amd my makeup off, it seems to work for me. I use it everynight along with a scrub and it doesnt give me any problems. I like it.

Oh god, this product is a complete mess. I read that it worked well for oily skin, as I have oily skin I was excited to try it. I only used it on my nose, which is the only oil issue problem. After a week of using it, two painful cystic pimples and several other white-puss filled ones, I have decided to stop using this product.

Really bad.

A while back i had a small patch of pimples/blisters type around my chin! After being recommend by the Pharmacist I brought this product. It worked really well! After 2 or 3 days my pimples went away! The only bad thing about this product is you cant use it everyday! It is not made for an everyday cleaner only because it made my face feel strange plastic like! So i ony use this whenever i have a pimple or some sort of acne! After buying a large bottle it will last me forever so i dont have to be buying this overs and overs again! so for me this is a spot treatment not an all over face treatment! Maybe i will buy this again when i run out!

Okay, this is one Neutrogena product I can say I keep going back to. I've been down the Proactiv/Murad road for my loyalty, and I've tried alot of high end acne cleaners from department stores, such as Clinique's acne line (although I do still use this Toning lotion) and I've tried low tech Clearasil, Spectrogel and Noxzema ( was my favorite as a teen) I've even oil cleansed, From Clarins to EVOO to Shiseido.
I keep going back to this very basic, honest cleanser that seems to keep me free of breakouts for a long time. Im not saying I don't ever break out...I'm 32 and my hormones are nuts, so yeah I still do. But not as bad, and they heal quickly.

For shock value: Alot of people will tell you

☼Do not use a toning lotiong containing Salicylic acid if you're using a cleanser contain the same ingredient

•Simply not so. I do this, and its rare, that my skin is tight and dry. I use the Reviewed product and follow it with the Clinique toning lotion I mentioned. Then, I use...and this you're gonna say is bad...Proactive BP repairng lotion. I find these 3 things tend to keep me free of breakouts.

~~~Update~~~~
As I 'd menioned, I still purchase Proactive BP lotion. I've tried other's...Clinique was one, and and Benzoylotion, I did not like these. The main ingriedent in the Proactiv Bp lotion is water. In fact, there is no mineral oil in this product=bonus.
THAT said, Proactiv Customer service and Kit Options are a real b*tch. I tried to just order the lotion, no can-do...not enuff to ship. I tried picking out another product from their catalouge...no again. It had to be a combo of the three piece kit I'd originally ordered. Bummer. So I chose 2 BP repair lotion and the Cleanser, I think the toning solution is garbage. My skin hates Glycolic acid.
The CRUX of the biscuit: I tried the Proactiv cleanser again, because I thought my skin didn't look that great, it was there anyway, piling up...what the hell.

Uh. No.
It was good...for a week or two, then millia. I kept going. They turned into pimples. I stopped and went back to Neutrogena Deep Clean again. But yes, it has been a drying change over. I frigged up with the Proactiv cleanser, and Im using Sweet Almond oil as an extra moisturizer. *fingers crossed :L
***UPDATE***
Three years later...wow. I liked my skin better then. FAAAACK why can't I find what I want?!?!?

dries my skin out, doesnt take out my makeup as well as L'oreal skin genesis cleanser (pink bottle)...esp waterproof eye makeup.....thumbs down.

This really works well on my oily skin. It cleans without leaving skin too dried up and sloughs away rough, dead skin to reveal a fresh complexion. No downsides, but recently I switched up my skincare routine to be more natural and it's keeping my skin a bit more under control so this would be my alternative if I had to switch back to using a drugstore face cleanser.

This may work for those with hardier skin, but it completely wrecked my face. I started using it twice a day (my first mistake), and while I noticed my face seemed to be clearer (no longer dull), I noticed nasty clogged pores and blackheads appearing on my chin, and whiteheads all over. I thought this may be the initial effects of starting a new cleanser and decided to keep using it for a week, but to no avail - the clogged pores and blackheads kept getting worse, and my skin was getting drier and more red by the minute. I now use it only once a day in the p.m. and Cetaphil in the a.m., which seems to be working better for me, but I'm considering switching to the new redness relief cream cleanser by Neutrogena. Most dermatologists recommend using a 2% salicylic acid cleanser for those in your 20s, and although this cleanser does contain salicylic acid, it doesn't list the percentage, so it's probably not that significant. I'm switching to one that contains it that won't be quite so harsh on my skin...

hg. leaves my normal/oily skin so clean, fresh, smooth, and pretty! used to use the fresh foaming cleanser and tried this, and like this better. def less breakouts now. loveit

OW. I need to find my receipt to return this ASAP. After a mere two days, I have awoken to find my skin is red, raw, and drier than ever before in my life. It burns, too. My skin is by no means dry to begin with, and is actually very acne prone. This, however, has been awful for me.