Cetaphil : Gentle Skin Cleanser

This shouldn’t be looked at to “cure” acne alone, but rather should be viewed as a strong staple to a balancing skincare regimen. 

I have found for myself that using a gentle yet effective cleanser such as this one and saving the harsher “acne fighting” ingredients for my serums and lotions That I put on afterwords, has been the biggest key in finding balance in my skin. 

I have found that adding a cleanser that has more acne fighting chemicals in it may seem to work in the beginning, but ultimately my acne never fully went away and I now believe it is because I was over stressing it by using acne cleansers plus acne lotions plus acne serums (all with different ingredients over the years from benzoyl peroxide, AHAs, glycolic acid, etc.). But regardless of what combo I used, I have not seen my skin as clear as it currently is with just using this cetaphil cleanser morning and night and a high quality moisturizer (I’m using Tatcha - The Dewey Skin Cream) and then I also use Differin gel once or twice a week. I also use a vitamin C serum once or twice a week before bed underneath my moisturizer. I’ve been using this face wash for two weeks now and currently have zero active acne spots after battling with acne for the past 6 years. This is the best my skin has looked since that has all happened. 

I copied and pasted a comment I made on a blog. This will get rid of your acne. This product is mentioned. Read the whole thing.

 I also went on Accutane when I was 20. I am now 29. The acne was gone for some time and came back until I've discovered how to get rid of it FOREVER (recently about a year ago I discovered the missing piece). Before I tell you what to do, I'm going to educate you on how the skin works. Many people like to buy products or start harsh treatments without knowing what they do. It is important to know how the skin functions before using anything. First of all, your skin likes oil. Sebum, also known as an oil or fat is naturally acidic to keep bacteria away. Our skin is at a ph between 4-5-5.5 to keep acne away and healthy bacteria on our skin. The issue is humans like to strip their acidic mantle (oil) and dry out their barrier, which makes our skin OVERPRODUCE OIL AND MIXES WITH DEAD SKIN CELLS (your pore gets clogged). You are breaking out because you have dead skin cells sitting on your surface that aren't being properly shed. You have DRY dead skin cells. Our skin knows how to desquamate or shed unless the barrier is dry and damaged. We have certain enzymes that shed our skin but when it's disrupted we get inflammation or dry skin or acne. Our skin needs to be properly balanced with the right amount oil and water, similar to our natural barrier. Too much oil, you get acne. Too much dead skin you get acne. Cleansers and certain alkaline products do this (SOAP). Think about it: Why do you think some of your friends who do nothing to their skin have great skin? They aren't stripping the acidic mantle, or oil from their skin. Most of these people probably cleanse once a night or never. Now I'm going to tell you what to do for clear skin FOREVER.

At night ONCE A NIGHT: Use Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser (not the daily facial one) for thirty seconds up to a minute max. Why? cleansing the skin too long causes dryness which in turn causes skin cells to dry out and clog your pores. They stick to the pore and do not know how to exfoliate properly. You need to keep skin acidic. If you cleanse too long skin becomes alkaline and a breeding ground for bacteria to invade. 

Next: Apply Cetaphil Moisturizing CREAM (not lotion): With your palms melt this moisturizer on your face. Do not rub!!!!! Pat it into your skin so it absorbs. This cream is in a range of 4.5-5.5. It will keep acne away by being acidic and providing water to the skin that aids in exfoliation/desquamates. Never I mean ever again scrub your skin, rub it hard, never. Moisturizers exfoliate the skin that's a secret. People think they have to scrub and get rid of those dead skin cells that cause acne. NOPE. A moisturizer with oil and water will dissolve dead skin in about an hour and you'll glow. So as I was saying...melt it into your skin and put your finger on your face and if you see oil, good job. That oil is going to dissolve those dead skin cells that cause pore blockage (in about an hour your skin will glow bc all the dead skin went bye bye). Now when you pat it, pat it for about ten seconds or 15. You don't want to be patting it too long or rubbing. You also can sweep it on your face in an outward motion or downward. The point is youre applying heat to the moisturizer. and you are dabbing/patting You can even rub the moisturizer in your hands first then swipe it on your face (that works wonders). What you just did is you made the moisturizer absorb better into your skin and you created a barrier from air and harsh winds. Your skin needs to stay moisturized in order to be acne-free. Acne medications do get rid of acne bc they increase cell turnover and shedding as I mentioned, but guess what???????? MOISTURIZERS DO THAT TOO EXCEPT IT DOESNT DRY OUT YOUR SKIN. People who have healthy skin have acidic skin and moisturized skin. Okay so back to the regimen....you cleanse ONCE A NIGHT AND APPLY THIS CREAM. THIS PROCESSS SHOULD NOT INCLUDE RUBBING, SCRUBBING, LONG EXPOSURE TO WATER (DRIES YOUR SKIN OUT). Oh and when you shower, keep your face away from water.  Let water touch your skin only at the sink, once a night. Why??? bc water is a ph of 7 which is neutral not acidic. Also tap water has chlorine and salts which are drying and slow down the shedding of dead skin cells. In the morning, don't do anything at allllllllll. washing your face too much causes dry skin which causes that combination skin aka acne! comfortable skin is acne-free. When using the moisturizer, pat it in for not that long so you also let the water in the moisturizer get trapped in the skin to effectively exfoliate your skin. Skin needs water and oil to effectively shed. So your job is to provide a barrier overnigh, once a day, only at night. In a month, your skin will be a lotttttt better. it takes 28 days for skin to renew itself. why do u think acne meds take a while? they are shedding layers of dead skin which a moisturizer does the same thing, but bad dermatologists won't tell u that. Only the good ones will. The secret to clear skin to cleanse once a day and melting oil/water in your skin (moisturizer). have questions? message me.

the products mentioned above can be found in any drug store or supermarket and I don't work for the company btw. Those are the only products I like by cetaphil, the other ones haven't been good to me, for other reasons not due to acne. Other water in oil emulsions aka moisturizers can do fine but I just mention this one bc it's correctly ph-balanced and it has oil/water to dissolve that sticky layer that sits on your face. My skin is clear now and it glows every morning.