Review: Cetaphil Gentle Exfoliating SA Cleanser on Oily, Acne-Prone Skin

I have been using this cleanser every day, twice daily, for a month. Read more to hear my thoughts!

When I came back from my trip in mid-June 2025, my skin suddenly broke out really badly. I am talking about deep cystic acne on my jawline and temples, red painful pustules on my cheeks and between my brows, and small bumps on my forehead. I know that with all the stress from travel and tasty food during the trip, I might get one or two spots, but this situation was surprisingly weird.

Before the breakout

To bring some context, I do have oily acne-prone skin, which has been undergoing dermatologist treatment since February 2025. I have been a longtime user of Retin-A (brand name of tretinoin) 0.025%, which I am using daily without any drying or irritation.

I do get spots sometimes, especially during and approaching my period; however, the condition was rather in control.

About Cetaphil Gentle Exfoliating SA Cleanser

Cetaphil Gentle SA Cleanser is from Cetaphil’s new line for rough and bumpy skin that consists of a triple blend of salicylic acid (a form of BHA), mandelic acid (a form of AHA), and gluconolactone (a form of PHA). Combined with soothing ingredients like glycerin, niacinamide, and panthenol, this product can help manage the appearance of whiteheads and blackheads by gently exfoliating the dead skin cells and controlling the excess sebum.

This reminds me of a similar product from Cerave which is their SA Smoothing Cleanser, which I have enjoyed and repurchased multiple times when I break out. The difference is that CeraVe’s do not have mandelic acid but have salicylic acid and gluconolactone.

According to their page, Cetaphil Gentle Exfoliating SA Cleanser is gentle enough to use every day. I personally chose this product compared to Cerave’s SA Smoothing Cleanser because of this claim. The latter can be too drying on me when used too often. I personally did not experience any dryness or irritation.

But do note that everybody’s skin is different, so if you experience dryness or irritation while using this product, it’s best to reduce the intensity of use until your skin acclimates to the product.

For a month-long, twice-daily use, I have used around half of the 236 ml bottle. Was that a lot?

Ingredients

Water,Glycerin,Cocamidopropyl Betaine,Coco-Glucoside,Gluconolactone,Betaine,Peg-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate,Sodium Cocoamphoacetate,Glycereth-26,Salicylic Acid,Sodium Chloride,Panthenol,Niacinamide,Mandelic Acid,Sodium Citrate,Sodium Hydroxide,Helianthus Annuus(Sunflower) Seed Oil,Tocopherol,Phenoxyethanol,Citric Acid,Ethylhexylglycerin,Disodium Edta,Pantolactone​​

My Experience

Disclaimer

A quick disclaimer before I describe my experience: my acne condition, as described by my dermatologist, is the type of hormonal acne that is best treated orally through prescription isotretinoin or spironolactone, which I could not take right now because of personal reasons. He diagnosed that the root cause of my acne is hormone-related, which causes problems that lie in the deeper layer of the skin. According to my derm, the creams, including Retin-A can only control the condition on the outer layer but not enough to completely cure my hormonal acne from the root. Which means exfoliating products, such as this cleanser, are too.

Therefore, I set my expectation for this cleanser to control:

1. Excessive sebum overproduction, so it won’t exacerbate my acne even further
2. Reduce lesions that might be caused by sweat, since I am exercising quite often. Plus, I can use it on my back and chest acne as well.
3. Help unclogging small comedones, especially whiteheads on my forehead, so they won’t grow into pustules.

With that in mind, I fully aware about this notion before purchasing and accepted the reality that this product alone won’t magically solve my acne problem 🙂 But it may have a role in controlling the smaller comedones from turning into full-blown active spots. Hope this could help you set your mindset too before consuming any skincare products.

Texture & Smell

It has a clear gel texture, similar to their Gentle Cleanser for Oily Skin range. It does not have any fragrance added, but the smell is similar to Cerave’s SA Smoothing Cleanser.

I think a lot of oily, acne-prone skin will love this texture. It removes oil and makeup well and leaves you feeling refreshed and clean without making your skin dry. Some days I feel a bit of tightness after cleansing my face with this; some days I do not. Not dryness or irritation, but rather feeling ‘squeaky’ and plump, if that makes sense. I personally like it because of just how much oil my skin produces just by sitting indoors. But I can understand if people with dry skin, for example my husband, would find this cleanser a tad bit drying on their skin.

How I Use It

Twice daily, I cleanse with these steps:

1. Wet my face with tap water. For evening, I make sure to remove my makeup first using micellar water and then double cleanse using this product.
2. Pump a small amount of the gel into my palm and lather it with some water
3. Massage the face using the foam with circular motion. I even wash my hairline and neck, because my acne somehow grows in weird places.
4. I leave it on my face for 1-2 minutes while I brush my teeth/shampooing/or take a dump. This is a tip that I learned from YT derms dr. Dray and dr. Idriss, which is letting cleanser with active ingredients to work on your skin for a while before rinsing it off.
5. Rinse off with tap water
6. Follows with gentle, non-comedogenic moisturizer. I used La Roche-Posay Effaclar H Isobiome Moisturizer that was prescribed by my dermatologist as a companion to my Retin-A routine.

One-Month Results

I found this cleanser to be quite lovely on my super oily and acne-prone skin. It does not irritate me even though I use it twice (and sometimes thrice) daily. While, as I have mentioned in the disclaimer section, this product alone did not single-handedly cure my hormonal acne, I feel it does help control the situation by removing excess sebum and pore-clogging debris by deep cleansing through the pores.

I said this because, except for my chin and jawline, the spots dried out fast. One month past using this, acne and comedones in my cheeks, nose, and forehead have calmed down.

Sadly, it has no effect on my hormonal acne area nor significantly lightens the post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH). But at least it did not get any worse.

Will I Repurchase?

I will repurchase this to keep in my skincare cabinet for when I do get breakouts again or when I feel like my skin is needing a little extra help to shed its dead cells. After my skin gets better, I will turn back to my daily gentle cleanser (no actives), though. This one is more like an ’emergency kit.’

Second, because my skin prefers this product as compared to Cerave SA Smoothing Cleanser, which often dries my skin and leaves the corners of my nose and mouth flaky. The outcome is rather the same to me, but Cetaphil feels more gentle on my skin.

I do not think this is a magical product that will solve your acne problem once and for all, but I could see this cleanser as a tool in your kit to help manage your acne because some of us could benefit from using active ingredients in our cleanser. As a person who lives in a humid climate 365 days a year and also sweats a lot, I can imagine this cleanser would be loved by those with very oily skin, as our skin often forms comedones when it is clogged.

Have you tried Cetaphil Gentle Exfoliating SA Cleanser or considered trying it? Let me know in the comment down below! 🎀

xx

Soda Syrup