The Chronic Consumer

I have very sensitive skin, so it’s tough for me to find a decent, affordable facial cleanser that won’t cause irritation or breakouts. I’ve been using Purpose by Johnson & Johnson for the past 10 years, and while it doesn’t irritate my skin, I have a feeling that it’s not a strong enough cleanser. I still get a lot of clogged pores when using Purpose, so it’s not doing much to help in that respect.

So after reading about some different products, I decided to try Cetaphil Antibacterial Soap. This item is not advertised as something that can help prevent acne, nor is it even specifically a facial cleanser. It’s an all-purpose “gentle” soap that can be used on hands, face, and body, but lots of people have reported that it’s effective at unclogging pores — probably because of its antibacterial properties. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

First of all, Cetaphil soap is very soft and gentle. I am always worried about trying new products on my face, but I could tell almost immediately that Cetaphil wouldn’t cause any problems for me. Still, I have to be cautious, so I only used it once a day for the first few weeks, while continuing to use my Purpose bar once a day as well.

After encountering no problems, I switched over to Cetaphil only, and have had mixed results. On the one hand, it does seem to work slightly better than Purpose as far as cleansing and unclogging pores. My face feels a lot cleaner after using Cetaphil than after using Purpose — but that might be a psychological thing. On the other hand, Cetaphil seems to dry my face a lot more than Purpose ever did. I think my skin eventually got used to the Cetaphil effect because now things seem to be ok, but for the first few weeks, I was extremely flaky.

Overall, I don’t think Cetaphil is all that effective at fighting acne, and probably wouldn’t do anything for severe cases. But again, that’s not what it’s designed for. It works wonderfully well as a gentle cleanser, though, so if you have sensitive skin and are looking for a cheap product that won’t cause redness and irritation, then give Cetaphil a go!