Cetaphil Completist…Or Not
I came into this one with high hopes, but alas, it ended up being a huge letdown.
I’ve been a Cetaphil loyalist for the past ten years. Besides their beloved Gentle Skin Cleanser, most of their other products have let me down. I have tried the Daily Facial Moisturizer, the Daily Facial Cleanser for Normal to Oily Skin and now this Moisturizing Cream. Each time, my skin reacted horribly. This time, it got all red and puffy. Does anyone else have this problem, or am I just a freak? Wait, don’t answer that.
Just so I’m not slandering the name of Cetaphil, I will say that the Moisturizing Lotion worked very well on my body. (I have had a bottle of it in my gym bag for the past three years. Ok, that sounds really unsanitary, but that should testify to my devotion to the product. Or else that just testifies to my laziness in leaving it in my bag for so many years. But anyway.) I have a hunch that the Moisturizing Cream will do the same. But for my face? Oh no. No no no no no.
December 22nd, 2006 at 12:33 am
Hey! Just dropped by to say, Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year, Christina!
December 22nd, 2006 at 9:55 am
i also had a horrible reaction to their daily facial cleanser. It left my skin red, itchy and dry.
December 22nd, 2006 at 10:05 am
Me too! And it made me break out - even worse!
December 22nd, 2006 at 4:02 pm
Assuming this is the same stuff that comes in the green tubs, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with it as well. I use their gentle cleanser every day, which I love, and I use this as my default body moisturizer, and have been very happy with it. I used it as a face moisturizer as well, but after about 6 months my skin started rebelling against it, and when I put it on it only got more dry and red. Very strange. But for those 6 months it worked great for my super dry, acne-prone skin (although it is shiny, so you have to wear powder over it).
The Cetaphil line seems to inspire very extreme reactions. It either works wonders for you or makes you break out (or in my case, dry out).
I would use it as a body moisturizer though, it sinks in pretty quickly and leaves skin super soft.
December 22nd, 2006 at 10:24 pm
I have to join the list of “me toos!” as well. I always, always used Cetaphil as a backup when I had ran out of my regular cleanser and never had any reaction. But I used it for about two weeks last month and my skin all of a sudden reacted terribly to it. What gives?
December 24th, 2006 at 10:44 am
Could you all possibly be having an allergic reaction to the stuff. I don’t like it as it tends to make my skin dry and tight. I tried it because of the high recommendation in “Don’t go to the cosmetic counter without me” and hated it. But then again, I have found alot of the things in that book are off the mark also.
December 24th, 2006 at 4:26 pm
It probably is an allergic reaction, you’re right. Are you talking about the Gentle Skin Cleanser that makes your skin dry and tight? I’d be surprised to hear that because I find it fairly moisturizing, especially compared to a lot of the other cleansers out on the market.
I think she’s pretty dead on in Don’t Go To the Cosmetics Counter Without Me, actually. But that’s because whenever she says, such-and-such-an-ingredient may cause an allergic reaction, I’m the person she’s talking to. It seems anything that can be potentially irritating, usually IS irritating on me. So for me, I find her commentary very helpful in filtering through different products.
December 29th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
I used the cleanser (not sure which Cetaphil product) when I was visiting my parents’ house and my entire face broke out into tiny red bumps. I’ve never had a reaction to a product like that before and had heard great things about Cetaphil. Needless to say I’ve stayed away from it since.
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:33 am
We’ve used Cetaphil cream on our son (now six) since he was five months old - it’s brilliant, and the only thing that saved him from his atopic dermatitis. But the daily facial moisturizer drives him MAD - I have to heavily dose him with an oral antihistamine to stop the itching (though he doesn’t get a rash from it - possibly because it makes him so crazy immediately, I medicate him instantly). I’ve been searching and searching to try to work out what ingredient he’s reacting to, but have eliminated nearly all of them (and both active ingredients, on the basis that he doesn’t react to them in other sunscreens). What I wouldn’t give to find out why this one causes such a reaction!
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:22 am
hey there, me again. I’ve been attacking this one like a forensics expert on the CI channel… only without the “expert” bit. Anyway, I found this definition for the last ingredient listed on the daily facial moisturizer with SPF 15:
alkyloamides. Identified on skin-care product labels as DEA (See diethanolamine), triethanolamine (TEA), and MEA (monoethanolamine), these are used primarily for their foaming ability in shampoos, but can also be used as thickening or binding agents. They can be skin irritants. In addition, alkyloamides contain a free amine that can combine with formaldehyde-releasing preservatives in cosmetics, and there is concern that they may form carcinogens.
I think we found our culprit. But why on earth would they put this ingredient in a product specifically made for people with sensitive skin?? I’ll never know.
I’m posting this here, though, in the hopes that it will help other people to avoid the itchiness. This blog is the only place I’ve been able to find where people talk about adverse reactions to this product. I’m a huge Cetaphil fan - couldn’t have gotten through the last six years without the cream - but it’s been pretty important to us to find out why this product causes such discomfort in our little boy.
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:28 am
Hi Amy - I’m sorry to hear about the problem with your son. Skin sensitivities are such a pain to deal with. Have you looked into homemade remedies? I have skin sensitivities as well and I started making my own bath and body products. The difference in how my skin feels is incredible. There are a number of good books out there, if you go to your local library. Or I would even check out your local craft fair where people sell homemade soaps and lotions. Oftentimes, these products don’t have the harsh chemical additives that are the culprits of skin irritation.
February 5th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
On Saturday, Feb. 3rd, I applied Cetaphil moisturizing cream to my face and almost immediately noticed my eyelids turning red. Soon, the rest of my fact turned red. I continued on to work, thinking this reaction would fade away, but my face grew hot and felt burned. I washed my face several times, gently, and applied different moisturizers to the face, took a anti-allergy pill, and still, because of breathing difficulties, headache, and weakness, had to go home sick. Yesterday was my day off, and today I had to go home sick again because my face and eyelids are as puffy and splotched and sandpaper-like as yesterday, along with headache and vision difficulty. This has never happened before to me with this product, though admittedly I do not use it much. Any hints? I can’t miss more work and this Elephant Man look is not working out for me.
February 5th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
BTW, a friend of mine who has sensitive skin says that the Cetaphil facial cleanser does work well for her.
February 5th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Yikes!! Renee, I’m sorry to hear about your terrible reaction. I use Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser with no problems whatsoever, but I have had nearly no luck with the other products from the Cetaphil line. Don’t understand what that is.
If you’re having headaches and difficulty breathing, I’d say it might be time to visit the doctor/hospital - I’ve never heard of a skincare product eliciting those types of reactions!!