Opened the new bottle. Knew immediately.
The texture is thinner — slips right through your fingers. That milky, lotion-like grip? Gone.
The new CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser. Still ~$15. Claims to be “gentle” and “non-foaming” for dry skin.
New Pump
Feels cheaper. The lock is flimsy.
Non-Foaming
True. But now it feels more like water than lotion.
Fragrance-Free
Still gets this right, thankfully.
Photo: Valerie Elash / Unsplash
They kept the big three ceramides and hyaluronic acid. The backbone is still there. But the feel? That’s all in the texture agents they tweaked.
- Ceramides NP, AP, EOP: Still repairing the skin barrier
- Hyaluronic Acid: Still holding water
- Glycerin: The main humectant
- Polyglyceryl-4 Laurate/Sebacate: The new emulsifier making it feel slick
It’s slick. Almost too slippery. You need three pumps to feel like you’re covering your face — the old formula needed two.
After two weeks, my skin didn’t feel stripped. But it also didn’t feel that soft, post-wash “cushion” the original gave. Just… clean. Fine. Boring.
No new breakouts. No tightness. But that supremely comfortable, borderline-moisturizing cleanse? Diminished. It’s now just a basic, gentle wash.
It’s not a disaster. But it’s a step toward mediocrity. They fixed what wasn’t broken.