You better believe me when I say I found the Holy Grail of Drugstore face cleansers.
Let me start by a summary of the few cleansers I've used in my life. I have used Morning Burst by Clean and Clear for the most part of high school. I simply used it because that is what my mom bought herself, so she automatically bought it for me when it was time for me to start cleansing. I was not very fond of it, and I truely hated cleansing so much because of it that I would refuse to cleanse. I remember how much my eyes burn after cleansing my face with it and the sensation of it on my skin was not the best.
One day during my senior year of high school, I was at the drugstore and noticed Aveeno products that looked very natural. I had never owned anything from the brand at that time, but I ended up walking out of the store with their Ultra-Calming Foaming Cleanser. I bought it with the hopes that it would not burn my eyes like my previous cleanser, and the only time it did burn my eyes is if I, by mistake, opened my eyes while cleansing. The product did give a good feeling to my skin so I was content with it. Today, I like to use this cleanser in the shower!
Now, to the final cleanser that has changed my opinion of what cleansers should be forever! (drum roll please)... CETAPHIL Gentle Skin Cleanser for sensitive skin (normal to dry skin). To be honest, I cannot even think of a single negative aspect of this cleanser (and trust me, if there was something I did not like, I would be straightforward about it). So, a few weeks ago, I was strolling down the aisles of Costco, and out of some type of impulse, I picked the product up and threw it into my grocery cart. SERIOUSLY OUT OF IMPULSE. I did not know what I was putting in my cart and why I was putting it in my cart. The things Costco does to your brain...
I knew Cetaphil was a skin product company. I knew what Cetaphil bottles looked like, but I was never really interested by the company to start buying their products. I think the reason why I never considered buying something from them is because of their plain boring bottles. As a student majoring in business, I know it is a very typical behaviour for "teenagers" to judge a product by its packaging. If the bottle what a bright colour with a modern logo, chances are I would own to product, or atleast have picked it up at a store to read the back of the bottle. Now I will stop giving this product a marketing analysis.
So, I got home, unpacked my (reusable) grocery bags and saw the Cetaphil bottle and said "Ohhh yeah, I bought this". Then I instantly regretted buying it because, you know, Costco sells everything either in bulk, or in huge formats. So at this point in time, I have a 1L bottle of this cleanser from a company I hardly know, and I really dont want to adventure myself in the horrible Costco return lineups. Finally, I decide I might aswell start using it if I ever want to finish this liter bottle, and put in my bathroom.
That night, I washed my face with the cleanser, probably with the lowest expectations ever. First observation: I obviously open my eyes in the middle of cleansing, my eyes are not burning what-so-ever. Second observation: the liquid spreads so nicely on my face that it sort of feels like I'm giving myself some sort of face massage. I remove the cleanser with luke warm water, pat my face with a towel and return in my room. My thoughts: the cleanser was not that bad after all. A few minutes later I touch my face and WOW, it SERIOUSLY felt like a babies butt. My entire face was soft, it was not dry, it was not oily, just perfect.
Considering I did not have the best experiences ever with cleansers in my life, this cleanser tops them by 1,000,000,001 times! This was definitely the BEST impulse purchase I have made in my life, and I am seriously looking into buying their moisturizer and a bunch of other Cetaphil products because if they are as good as the cleanser, I will be more than satisfied.
Maybe those $50+ cleansers are better than Cetaphil, I do not know, I have not tried them. But if you are looking into a good inexpensive cleanser, I recommend this one, especially considering I go a whole liter for $19.99 at Costco. I know they have smaller sizes at Drugstores and Wal-Mart. If you try it, tell me how you feel about it, because after all we all have different skin types!
