Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser On your shelf ✓
€0.09 an application · about 120 usesOur review, in one look
Niacinamide is the reason to consider this cleanser, with Pro-vitamin B5 behind it.
The case for it
- Niacinamide, strong evidence for the barrier
- Pro-vitamin B5, strong evidence for the barrier
- No fragrance, alcohol, silicones or parabens
Mind this
- Morning or evening, whichever suits your routine
- Add it on its own for a week or two, so you know what your skin is answering to
Maya's readCetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser is a cleanser built around Glycerin, Niacinamide and Pro-vitamin B5. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair, brightening / tone. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and oily skin. Nothing in it we'd flag for most people.
Cost per use: what a day of it costs
€0.09 an applicationabout 120 uses from 236 ml
a usual amount, not a measured dose: a nickel-sized amount, about 2 ml; from €11 as read in September 2026 and a 236 ml pack.
how this is counted
About €0.09 an application, about 120 uses from 236 ml.
- a convention: no trial has measured a cleanser dose
- Measured or assumed: the rule, and the dose table
Skip it if you're looking for a treatment step: this cleanses, and nothing more.
What it washes off: sunscreen, makeup, the day
- daily oil and sunscreenlifts itthe day’s oil and a daily sunscreen film
- a mineral or water-resistant SPFa balm or oil firsta water-resistant film is made to stay through a wash
- heavy makeup or waterproofa balm or oil firstthe app seats a second cleanse for an evening with makeup
Fragrance, texture and film: what the label says of its feel
- fragrance-free by the label: no parfum, none of the 26
- a cleanser in a pump
- no film-former or occlusive named on the label
- no silicone on the label
- no plant or mineral oil on the label
Facts off the label and the pack only. How it feels on a face is not something this page will say without having used it.
The formula, in order
every ingredient at its place on the label
Coloured by the job each one does here.
6 of the 10 sit above the 1% line. The other 4, hatched, are each under 1%. Widths show the ORDER on the label and nothing else: the label never discloses amounts, so we never draw them.
- Actives & signals
- Hydrators
- Texture & base
- Preservation
- Not in our library yet
- fed it in culture
- inferred from the chain length
- No fragrance anywhere on the label
Fungal acne: what on this label feeds the yeast (Malassezia)
the yeast: Malassezia furfur, globosa, restricta
1 ingredient on this label fed Malassezia in culture (cetearyl alcohol), 1 is inferred to; the follicle species grew on it.
If your breakouts are the fungal kind: the Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser carries none of the ingredients measured or inferred to feed it.
Each result is a pure ingredient on a lab dish, never this product on skin.
where this comes from
- cetearyl alcohol
Unexpectedly, the growth of some Malassezia spp., especially M. furfur, was observed in the presence of a primary fatty alcohol, cetylstearyl alcohol.
DOI 10.3390/cosmetics6030045 - sodium cocoyl isethionateInferred from the chain length: The strongest growth was observed in the presence of natural oils and waxes, primary alcohols, as well in the presence of fatty acid esters with fatty chain lengths above 12 carbon atoms.DOI 10.3390/cosmetics6030045
What does it do? What its ingredients deliver
How it feels A low-lather, lotion-type cleanser that wipes or rinses off without stripping, and kind to dry or sensitive skin. (estimated from the formula)
Key ingredients: what in it does the work
Classic humectant with strong evidence for improving skin hydration and supporting barrier when combined with emollients.
Glycerin: This one works on contact: there is nothing to wait for.
how it was measured
Measured on stratum corneum hydration, corneometer capacitance after a single application; on contact, by mechanism.
Multitasking vitamin that improves barrier, reduces redness, regulates oil, helps with pores and pigmentation with strong clinical support.
Humectant and soothing ingredient that helps calm irritation and supports barrier repair and recovery.
What only this label says
Niacinamide is the 5th of 10 ingredients: above the 1% line.
why
Position 5 of 10 on the label as printed; compared with the 111 other labels in the catalogue that carry a vitamin.
≈ €0.047/ml, below the median cleanser in our catalogue (€0.067/ml).
why
~€11 for 236 ml, checked September 2026; the median of the 26 cleansers in the catalogue with a known size.
Shares 3 of its 3 known actives with Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser: the closest formula we have.
why
Actives our base knows on both labels: Glycerin, Niacinamide and Pro-vitamin B5.
All 3 actives carry strong evidence in our base (Glycerin, Niacinamide and Pro-vitamin B5).
why
evidence_level in our base, per row, as printed on each glossary page.
Water, then glycerin: a light, water-led base.
why
The first two ingredients on the label, in the order printed; the second's role is read from its name (a row in our base).
6 ingredients sit above the 1% line; from Xanthan Gum down, the order stops telling you anything.
why
The 1% line is inferred from Xanthan Gum at position 7 (see The formula, drawn).
How long to leave it on: a cleanser’s minute on the skin
rinse-off reality
- on the skinabout a minute, assumed: no source times a washassumed
- the rinsewhat the water takes
- what staysnot claimed: nothing here measures the residue
- humectantsIts glycerin and pro-vitamin B5 have about a minute on the skin; the evidence for them comes from leave-on use - here their job is to keep the wash from drying the skin, not to hydrate it afterwards.Glycerin · Pro-vitamin B5
- activesIts niacinamide has about a minute on the skin; the evidence for it comes from leave-on use - here its job is to do what a minute of contact allows, not what the leave-on trials measured.Niacinamide
Fragrance allergens: the ones this label names
This label names none of the 26 EU fragrance allergens. What the 26 are →
How to use it, and when
Massage over damp skin, then rinse. Morning and/or night, gentle enough for twice a day.
Where in your skin it works
1 of its 3 placed actives acts below the dead surface layer, 2 on or in it: the same cross-section as our 500 dalton page, with this formula's actives on the layer each one works on. Depth is the anatomy's, never an ingredient's.
Skin surface
The stratum corneum
- Glycerinderived from what it is
- Pro-vitamin B5derived from what it is
The living epidermis
- Niacinamideestablished, sourced
3 of this product's actives have a layer we can defend.
Sources for the sourced ones: Boo 2021: mechanistic basis for topical nicotinamide; Ebanks et al. 2009: mechanisms regulating skin pigmentation.
How it compares with the average cleanser
It scores higher than the median cleanser on brightening, barrier repair and oil control.
On hydration and anti-aging it is level with the median, so that is not what sets it apart.
A median, not an average: one unusual formula should not move the middle. The numbers are the same 0 to 10 reads the comparison pages use.
Full ingredients list, decoded
9 of these 10 ingredients are in our library, linked and named for what each one does, with anything that can irritate or clog flagged; the 1 we cannot place is left plain, nothing is hidden. Every ingredient on the label, in the order it appears (highest amount first).
All 10 ingredients, decoded
- AquaSolvent (base)
- GlycerinHumectant
- Cetearyl AlcoholEmollient
- PanthenolHumectant
- NiacinamideVitaminmild irritant
- PantolactoneHumectant
- roughly the 1% lineThe rules only require descending order above 1%. From Xanthan Gum down, these 4 can be listed in any order the brand likes, so position stops telling you anything.
- Xanthan GumThickener
- Sodium Cocoyl IsethionateSurfactant
- Sodium BenzoatePreservative
- Citric AcidExfoliantmild irritant
Copy the raw INCI list
Aqua, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Panthenol, Niacinamide, Pantolactone, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid
Worried about clogged pores specifically? The pore-clogging checker reads this same list against the published comedogenic ratings.
Using a retinol or an acid? Put this cleanser on your shelf and the app says whether the wash is gentle enough for them.
Read enough? Find it on amazon.com →
We don't make or sell skincare of our own. So there's nothing here we're trying to push, just an honest read of whether this formula suits your skin.
Against your shelf
Read from your own shelf, in your browser. We never see it.
Dupes? The closest formulas we have
The 3 products of the same kind sharing the most of its 3 actives. A count, not a likeness: the rest of each label, its base and its preservation, is what the count leaves out.
Compare it with…
13 duels are built for this cleanser, CeraVe SA Smoothing Cleanser and CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser among them: type a name, or pick one below.
Common questions
How high up the list is the niacinamide in Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser?
Niacinamide is the 5th of 10 ingredients: above the 1% line. Position is the only amount the law makes a brand declare, so 5th of 10 is the one number on this label a reader can check.
Is Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser expensive per ml?
≈ €0.047/ml, below the median cleanser in our catalogue (€0.067/ml). A price per millilitre says nothing about what the formula does; it only tells you how the bottle compares with the others of its kind we have priced.
What is the base of Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser?
Water, then glycerin: a light, water-led base. The first ingredients are the bulk of a formula; the actives come after them.
Where does the 1% line fall in Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser?
6 ingredients sit above the 1% line; from Xanthan Gum down, the order stops telling you anything. Above it the label is in descending order by amount; below it, it need not be.
Is Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser good for dry skin?
By our read of the formula, it suits dry, dehydrated, oily skin. Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser is a cleanser built around Glycerin, Niacinamide and Pro-vitamin B5. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair, brightening / tone. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and oily skin. Nothing in it we'd flag for most people.
How do you use Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser?
Massage over damp skin, then rinse. Morning and/or night, gentle enough for twice a day.
What are the key ingredients in Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser?
The actives that do the work are Glycerin, Niacinamide, Pro-vitamin B5. The rest of the list is texture, preservatives and emulsifiers that hold the formula together.
Does Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser contain fragrance?
No. By our reading of the ingredient list it is fragrance-free, which is a plus for sensitive or reactive skin.
What the 3D scene shows
The scene shows Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser beside a cross-section of skin, with 3 of its ingredients drawn at the layer each one acts on and at one shared molecular scale: Glycerin and Pro-vitamin B5 in the stratum corneum, the dead outer layer where most skincare works; Niacinamide in the living epidermis, among the cells that are still dividing. Depths come from the same sourced layer data as the rest of this site, and any ingredient whose layer is not established is left out rather than guessed.
