So my derm casually texted me “just use the Gleanser” and I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly passed out.
But then I looked at the ingredient list and it’s basically one thing. That’s either genius or a marketing trap — I had to find out which.
Prequel Skin sells this at $17 for 16.9oz. That’s almost double the size of a standard Cetaphil, so the price per ounce is actually insultingly cheap.
The Purity Thing
It’s 99.9% pure polyglutamic acid — no water added to bulk it up, which is weirdly rare in cleansers.
No Foam, No Drama
It doesn’t lather at all. If you need bubbles to feel clean, you’ll hate it. I almost did.
The Pump
One pump is the perfect amount. Two is too much. You’ll figure it out by day three.
Photo: Kalos Skincare / Unsplash
Here’s where it gets interesting — polyglutamic acid holds like 4,000x its weight in water. It’s not exfoliating or stripping, it’s just a hydration magnet that pulls water into your skin while you wash.
No fragrance, no essential oils, no random plant extracts pretending to do something.
- Polyglutamic Acid: Holds water to skin like a leech but in a good way
- Glycerin: The backup singer that keeps things slippery
- Water: The carrier — it’s fine
- Potassium Sorbate: Preservative, nothing scary
Photo: Elsa Olofsson / Unsplash
It feels like thick, slightly jelly-ish toner — not a foam, not a cream. You rub it on dry skin and it slides like a gel lubricant. Weird at first, then oddly satisfying.
By week two my skin stopped feeling tight after washing. That dry, squeaky feeling I thought was “clean” was actually my moisture barrier crying for help.
Photo: Sonia Roselli / Unsplash
My flakes disappeared in five days. My makeup applies smoother because my base isn’t parched. But my blackheads? Still there. It’s a cleanser, not a miracle worker.
Cetaphil cleans fine. This cleans and hydrates simultaneously — that’s the difference.
Photo: Laura Jaeger / Unsplash
It’s better than Cetaphil for hydration, but not a life-changing product. It’s just a really good, stupidly simple cleanser that does exactly what it says.