Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser (Normal to Oily Skin)

I have a history of moderate acne and normal to oily combination skin. When I first discovered that most drugstore cleansers for normal to oily skin were over-drying and irritating my skin, I searched for an alternative. At the time, there was not much to choose from--almost every oily-skin cleanser was an acne cleanser with either benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid and harsh detergents. Beggars can't be choosers, and Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser became my go-to. Fast forward to now, and there are many more choices for somebody like me. Now that I have been able to try other cleansers, I see how terrible Cetaphil actually is.

Let me start with the fragrance--a "masking fragrance" that supposedly obscures the natural scent of the ingredients. The masking fragrance is a clean soapy scent, but not particularly pleasant when used on the face. Fragrance is fragrance, and this product is not fragrance-free, period.

Next is the irritation it causes. It doesn't matter how I use it--thick and concentrated or lathered with some water to thin it out. If I use this product daily, my skin condition degrades day-by-day, becoming increasingly sensitive. Even after taking a break from this product, when I resume, I get burning around my nostrils on day one, which is usually my indication that something is not going to work out for my skin type.

Finally, may I ask, "Normal to Oily"? Really? This product does not balance my skin, and if I use it in the AM, I am far oilier than if I use something like Paula's Choice Skin Balancing cleanser. In practice, I think it is really a cleanser for normal to slightly-dry skin.

The plusses, and the reasons I did not give only one lippie, is that this cleanser is really great at removing regular (not long-wearing) makeup with one wash. Also my skin feels clean but not overstripped when I use it. Bottom line, I am using the rest of my stash as a hand wash, and won't be repurchasing.

This used to be my holy grail cleanser; however, this has caused my skin to act weird. Sometimes my skin feels tight and feels slightly irritated if I use too much.

I went through two bottles of this and I can't say that I've seen any improvements to my skin. It's a functional cleanser - leaves my skin feeling clean, but my skin has seen a pretty bad year and it didn't do much to it. Doesn't do much to control oil either, I've tried going without it for a couple of days and it doesn't seem to give me much of a difference.

Also pretty expensive for the lack of results, would not purchase again.

I am 45 years old and just discovered this. I've had oily, acne-prone skin my whole life, and only stopped breaking out within the past 5 years. I still get oily in the T-zone in winter, all over in summer; and I still use foundations and powders for oily skin. I only use moisturizer in winter. So that's my current skin type, for your reference.

When younger, I blitzed the hell out of my face with a rotating crew of alcohol-heavy toners, alpha-hydroxy acids, acne drying creams... and of course, liquid soaps that stripped my skin bare. Maybe that's what I needed back then to keep zits at bay.

These days, though, those products are just too harsh and irritating. I tried the Clinique oily skin 3-step products last summer and couldn't stand them. I had been using Dove bar soap since then, but didn't feel it was really cleaning off the makeup, and I had little bumps under the skin. I picked up the Cetaphil Oily Skin cleanser just to try it, and I love it!

You have to get used to the fact that this doesn't lather. It's a clear liquid, not a cream, but it still just kind of melts into the skin without lathering. I use 3 pumps on wet skin, and I find that it cleanses very thoroughly, including a full face of makeup with foundation + powder, and rinses off very cleanly. Gets off eye makeup, too, without stinging. My skin feels great afterwards! Sometimes I use a dab of moisturizer if I've been in air conditioning all day, but it certainly isn't a harsh or drying product. And my skin is super-smooth and calm, with no bumps or redness. Worth a try, especially if you've aged out of acne but still have oily skin!

A pretty meh product. I heard good things about Cetaphil, but it just didn't wow me. The cleanser doesn't lather which I found weird. I didn't feel like it got into my skin and gave a good clean, which is what I want after a day of wearing makeup. However it did mostly keep my breakouts at bay which is great. I did finish the product but it just wasn't great enough for me to repurchase.

One of my all time favorites!!! Goes on so smooth, is light, is cheap, and does a great job at cleansing. Tip: Use with a warm washcloth after your face is already heated up and your pores are open. Immediately put on medication or creams after patting dry.

Honestly, I like cerevae a little more but cetaphil is a little more readily available. Consistency is very light, feels amazing on my skin, and is very light. Great product but if you have acne prone skin, you need to add something after this. This is unmedicated and just makes your face feel clean.

I'm going to share a piece of advice that saved my skin. Chuck this in the bin. And toss whatever other Cetaphil products you have lurking in the bathroom with it. Since age 13 I have battled with really painful awful cystic acne that just kept getting worse even as I got into my 30s. It was demoralising (and expensive) to have to constantly live under heavy makeup. I put it down to hormones. One day a skin therapist asked me if I used Cetaphil. I said yep, always have, after all it's dermatologist recommended and great for oily problem skin. She said most of her new clients with ongoing skin issues used it and promised me if I threw it out, my skin would improve. So I did. And instead I used natural sulphate free face washes. I got over my fear of using oils and embraced organic rosehip oil products. Six months later my skin is 100% blemish free. It's never been this good. I'm amazed at the difference. The moral of the story is just because it's marketed as the cure, doesn't make it so. Cetaphil is cheap, nasty and loaded with alcohol and chemicals that will only make your skin worse. I'm not saying stopping using it will work as well for you as it did for me but it's a good start!

My mistake was thinking because I have combination skin this would work for me. I was terribly wrong. This product dried out my skin so bad that my skin became cracked and painful especially around my cheeks. I had to use a heavy moisturizers right after using his product to try to ease the discomfort as this product stripped my skin so badly. Would not buy this product again sadly.

This stuff is seriously amazing. I am 30 and had really bad skin in my teenage years. Thru my 20's my skin was great. However in the last several months my skin had started breaking out really ad. So I had started using Rodan and Fields on face acne cleanser and it seemed to make it worse. Was reading reviews on what to use. I bought Cetaphil daily facial cleanser and it has been awesome! My skin is smoother and it cost me like $7 at Wal Mart. It doesn't burn when I wash it either. Awesome stuff. It may not work for everyone but I say it's worth a shot for $7