Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser for Acne-Prone Skin? My Thoughts…

During my search for a new facial cleanser, I tried out Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser. It was developed to cleanse even the most sensitive and acne-prone skin (as it states on the bottle). It claims to cleanse the skin thoroughly by removing excess oil, dirt, bacteria, and makeup. Gentle enough to be used with acne treatments like benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid. It’s fragrance-free, soap-free, dye-free, hypoallergenic, and non-comedogenic. The ingredient list of this product is very short too. It contains only 11 ingredients. Here’s the ingredient list:

Water, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Polyglyceryl-10 Laurate, Phenoxyethanol, Panthenol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Caprylyl Glycol, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Ethylhexylglycerin

There’s really nothing fancy about this facial cleanser. It’s short and simple. By the looks of the ingredients, it appears to be a very basic facial cleanser. No-frills kinda deal. But I was pretty skeptical about this face wash. It gave me CeraVe vibes when I noticed that Cetearyl Alcohol is the third ingredient on the list. Also, because the product claims to be gentle while removing excess oil, dirt, bacteria, and makeup. This just sounds so familiar! But, this was before even trying the product. So this is what happened after I tried the product…

Did it live up to the claims? My expectations? Did it truly, actually work? Hmmm! So many questions. Well, I’m here to answer those questions. Here’s my experience with this face wash!

My experience with Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser…

The face wash comes in a 16 fl. oz. (473 mL) bottle. For the price of the product and size, it’s a good deal. One of the reasons why I picked it up. The product itself is a creamy gel. It feels super soft and moisturizing on the skin. On the bottle, it says that this face wash is non-foaming, non-medicated, and pH balanced. Even though it says that it’s non-foaming, it foams up just a tad bit. When I say just a tad bit, I can see a little tiny bit of foaming action going on. I guess it can fall under the non-foaming category. lol. But this is just an observation of mine. It’s just not super foamy facial cleanser.

The product feels super soft and hydrating on my facial skin. Doesn’t feel drying and irritating. IT’S SO SOFT!!! It feels like I’m applying lotion to my face in the form of a facial cleanser. I really liked the way it felt on my skin. It’s definitely non-drying and seems good for sensitive skin. It’s a very, very gentle facial cleanser. But after rinsing the facial cleanser off, my skin didn’t feel clean enough. It seemed to have left a layer of residue behind on my face. Honestly, it feels very similar to the CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser, and that face wash broke me out! Clogged my pores endlessly! It didn’t leave my skin feeling clean either!

Fortunately, I didn’t have to go through a breakout with Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser. I knew something was wrong when I felt that weird layer of residue left behind on my face after rinsing the face wash off. I knew if I had continued with my skin care routine (ignored the residue) that I would end up with tons of clogged pores. Something just didn’t feel right about this face wash, lol. So! I followed up with another facial cleanser to remove that layer of residue off. It’s too bad. I think Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser just doesn’t clean my skin well. It’s soft, gentle, and moisturizing, but I do have oily skin that’s acne-prone. If I don’t wash my skin the right way, I end up with breakouts.

Overall, from this experience, this face wash is just like CeraVe’s. They don’t have similar ingredients, but the overall feel of both products are very similar. This is just something I can’t use on my face. I know it says that it was developed for acne-prone skin…but just no…this isn’t going to work. I use acne treatments that are drying, but I still need to wash my face properly to prevent new breakouts. This is the face wash I’m using right now. It’s not a permanent face wash. I’m just using it for now, but it leaves my facial skin feeling and looking clean. I haven’t experienced breakouts from it.

I hope this review was helpful! Good luck to one and all. I hope everyone finds a good, effective face wash for their skin type! This one just wasn’t for me. On to the next! 🙂

For more reviews on Neutrogena beauty products click here!!