Y’all after a busy ass three months, I’m back to attend to my abandoned struggle blog. I’m going to be reviewing CeraVe’s Hydrating Cleanser, which was a big fucking disappointment to be honest.
The Backstory: For months I have been valiantly searching for a new cleanser only to be met with fuckery and disappointment. For a while, I thought that natural cleansers were better than the “dangerous chemicals!!11!!” in other cleansers. I tried an activated charcoal soap which stripped the shit out of my skin and broke me out. I tried Glytone’s Oily Skin cleanser, which also broke me out. I tried African Black Soap which made my face feel like it was splitting open and also broke me out. You get the picture. After feverishly lurking on r/SkincareAddiction and r/AsianBeauty, CeraVe’s hydrating cleanser caught my eye. A pH balanced cleanser that was actually hydrating instead of stripping my skin? I placed CeraVe’s Hydrating Cleanser in my cart ASAP and eagerly waited for it to be delivered to my struggle abode.
The Claims
CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser claims to help repair your skin’s natural protective barrier. It also claims to contain ceramides and hyaluronic acid.
The Ingredients
- Purified Water
- Glycerin
- Behentrimonium Methosulfate
- Cetearyl Alcohol
- Ceramide 3
- Ceramide 6–11
- Ceramide 1
- Hyaluronic Acid
- Cholesterol
- Polyoxyl 40 Stearate
- Glyceryl Monostearate
- Stearyl Alcohol
- Polysorbate 20
- Potassium Phosphate
- Dipotassium Phosphate
- Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate
- Cetyl Alcohol
- Disodium EDTA, Phytosphingosine
- Methylparaben
- Propylparaben
- Carbomer
- Xanthan Gum
After taking a look at this ingredient list, I thought I had found the holy grail of cleansers. Ceramides and hyaluronic acids in a cleanser for only twelve dollars? My ass was lit as fuck for this cleanser to arrive.
Performance
Y’all, the first time I used this, I deadass thought I died and went to skincare heaven. The cleanser is somewhat of a jelly consistency and doesn’t foam much when I applied it. After I washed the cleanser off my face, my skin felt smooth as fuck. My skin literally felt smoother than a baby’s ass.After months of trudging through crappy cleansers that stripped my skin and broke me out, I finally thought I found the one.
Then, I realized that I got duped. For the first week I used this, everything was going well. My skin was hydrated, my moisture barrier was intact, and I wasn’t breaking out. By week 2, my skincare heaven went to shit. I got a cystic pimple on my cheek, which I chalked up to some other product in my routine. After both my cheeks and my chin broke out into a million cystic pimples and closed comedones, I realized that something was very wrong. In denial, I cut out every other product in my routine except for the cleanser and a basic moisturizer. I refused to believe that my beloved, r/SkincareAddiction praised, CeraVe cleanser could ever break me out. As the pimples consisted and got worse, I did the dreaded: I broke up with CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser. A sad, messy, bitter breakup it was.
Also, a note on the packaging. I rarely give a shit about packaging unless it’s really good, or really shitty, but the pump on this dispensed the perfect amount of cleanser. This was really helpful for me because I have a tendency to use a ridiculous amount of cleanser.
Conclusion
Even though CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser did leave my skin soft, smooth, and not stripped, it unfortunately gave me some of the worst breakouts of my life. While the cleanser did what it claimed to do, I would seriously recommend that my acne-prone people avoid this cleanser.
Rating: 2/5
Madblackthot’s Rating Scale
1 — What kind of fuckshit? Would give this product to my worst enemy.
2- Mess. Trash ass product with one redeeming quality.
3 — Meh. Wouldn’t repurchase.
4 — It’s lit! Great product.
5 — My edges have been completely snatched to the gods. Holy grail of holy grails!
Originally published at madblackthot.wordpress.com on May 22, 2016.