Hi Peeps,
I am 35 and still could not find a gentle non-comodegenic oil-free cleanser that is suitable for my bugger skin, which seems to be a combination skin with very oily scalp, forehead and nose and the rest seems to get drier. Also, I think my skin is sensitive.
I am looking for something that does not have any of the offending (pore-clogging or irritating) ingredients listed on some websites. My mission has been going on for so many years and failed thus far. I wasted so much money over the years buying cleansers/soaps and then ended up stacking them in my cupboard!
Things I bought in the past include:
- Purpose Gentle face wash Con: Has SLS and fragrance.
- Purpose and Basis gentle cleansing soap bars: I like the feeling but they are too drying and broke me out.
- Cetaphil gentle cleanser: contains SLS.
- Spectro Jel.
- Garnier exfoliating face wash: found to be two harsh.
- Oxy & Clearasil face washes: broke me out.
- Simple face wash (meant for sensitive skin): contains Sodium Chloride.
I am never consistent with using any single product for more than a few days or weeks maximum and I always seem to go back to washing my face with just water fearing that those make things worse.
So any recommendations please? As I said I am looking for a gentle cleanser with none of the offending ingredients that I can use without worrying that it might be contributing to the problem.
I do have a few blemishes and small frequent spots mainly on my forehead but not in great numbers.
Preferably something that I can use once or maximum twice a day without drying my skin so that I do not have to use a moisturizer.
Thanks for any help.
These are the only store bought cleansers we use in our home:
Dickinson's Original Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/dickinson%27s-original-witch-hazel-foaming-facial-wash/ID=prod6103709-product#BVRRWidgetID
Dickinson's Hazelets http://www.amazon.com/Hazelet-Witch-Hazel-Pads-Wipes/dp/B00142DT2O/ref=pd_sim_bt_2
These are the only store bought cleansers we use in our home:
Dickinson's Original Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash http://www.walgreens...ct#BVRRWidgetID
Dickinson's Hazelets http://www.amazon.co...ref=pd_sim_bt_2
Thank you very much for the recommendations. I live in the UK and I do not want to repeat the mistake of paying too much for shipping things from abroad and then end up not using them! I done that many times before buying Spectro, Purpose, Cetaphil and other products and then finding out that not for me!
The Witch Hazel wash sounds good though.
Why not just stick with water and do an AHA mask a few times a week? If you can get past the smell, yogurt is an effective cleanser and also works great as a mask. I like the non fat type (for our oily skin) and it can stand in as a spot treatment for small blemishes too.
Try going to the home page of the message board and scroll down to
Mild to moderate acne - whiteheads, papules and pustules
from there, go to the first post
Biggest Mistakes People Make to Treat Acne:
from here, try choosing a cleanser, it gives you a full list of ingredients you should avoid/ingredients that are good etc.
Hope this helps!
Try going to the home page of the message board and scroll down to
Mild to moderate acne - whiteheads, papules and pustules
from there, go to the first post
Biggest Mistakes People Make to Treat Acne:
from here, try choosing a cleanser, it gives you a full list of ingredients you should avoid/ingredients that are good etc.
Hope this helps!
I am aware of that list and over the years I have been trying to find a gentle cleanser that does not have any of those irritating ingredients but still could not find one that satisfies the criteria! I have wasted so much money over the years buying and trying different cleansers (sometimes paying a high shipment fee for them to be delivered from the US or Canada) but still could not find the one that I can use without worrying.
You can check my reply in her post. Even those she lists as gentle cleansers have at least one offending ingredient: either SLS or Sodium Chloride.
Thanks
Water!!! It always makes my skin feel clean, but not stripped. But, for times when I wear makeup, I love CeraVe's Foaming Cleanser. I was skeptical about using anything that didn't have any sort of scrubby beads in it, but, wow, I was wrong! This CeraVe cleanser is so gentle on my face, which has resulted in my oily skin being well balanced. 
I use the cetaphil gentle skin cleanser when I shower. It's gentle, cleans your face and won't cost more than $11 or $12. Have had no problems with it.
I see you have very specific chemicals you don't want in your cleanser. At the end of the day, those MIDLY harmful ingredients are actually what cleans your face. Flower extracts, natural oils, and other ingredients that sound nice and pleasant really will do little to clean a days worth of oil and dead skin cells off your face.
I too had a real problem finding a wash that wasnt too drying. I have very sensitive skin. I tried them all.
So I then tried this...
NATorigin facial cleansing milk
http://www.natorigin.co.uk/NATorigin-facial-cleansing-milk-200ml-cleanser-NAT0561.html
You can use it as a wash.
Was really nice... but I now just use water though... as its cheaper, and (for me) works just as well. I just splash my face a couple of times with room temperature water every morning, thats it. My face has never looked healthier.