This may come as a surprise to a lot of people, but some high-profile name brand cleansers like Cetaphil may not be as great for your skin as we all once thought. Fashion and beauty magazines tout them as a must-have and dermatologists recommend most as a mild, non-irritating cleanser based on the simple fact that it is free of fragrance. But there are a lot of fragrance-free cleansers out there, so why is Cetaphil for highly recommended?

Our educated guess is that the marketing team at these name brand cleansers like Cetaphil has done a really great job of convincing everyone that they are the best. However, there is a lot more to being a cleanser safe for all skin types than simply being labeled "fragrance-free."

So what is it that makes Cetaphil no-so-great for skin?

 Most Recommended Cleanser

 

Let’s start out by looking at the ingredients:

Water, cetyl alcohol, propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate, stearyl alcohol, methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben

While there are only eight ingredients on the list, water is the only ingredient that is not chemically manufactured. Propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate and three parabens are included on the list of “Skincare's’ Dirty Dozen” as being potentially toxic. Doesn’t really sound like something you want to smear all over your face, does it?

 

Is there Good News?

It only gets worse. Cetyl alcohol is an emollient used in several cosmetics that is basically a wax. That’s right. A wax. Sitting on the surface of your skin. Have you ever tried to rinse crayon off of your child’s craft table? Rinsing Cetaphil off your face is about as easy as that.

While this cleanser may not actually harm your face, it probably won’t help it much either. There isn’t anything in it that nurtures the skin. Because of this, you may be asking yourself why a dermatologist, a medical doctor, would recommend this product. The answer is quite simple. Dermatologists are trained to know the skin, not products.(generally speaking, there are exceptions) So when Cetaphil sends out thousands of samples, it makes that recommendation an easy one.

 

So What Should You Do?

First of all, toss that Cetaphil in the trash and second, use a cleanser that is truly gentle, yet is effective in removing oils, dirt and even eye makeup. Theraderm Cleansing Wash is soap-free, oil-free and paraben-free making it the perfect cleansing solution for any skin type.