Cetaphil have changed their formula - WHY?

[TheOriginalMrsMoss]

Aaargh! I just bought a giant bottle and as soon as I used it I could tell the formula was different. I had my old bottle nearby and checked the ingredients and they are totally different. Glycerin is listed as the second ingredient and was never part of the formulation. In fact the ingredient list is totally different.

I have used this for years, face, body and especially to remove eye makeup. The new formulation makes my eyes stream and my skin feel odd and tight.

Why do they do this! A quick Google shows that the formulation had been used for 72 years and was a roaring success in recent years so 'if it ain't broke why fix it'?

Any suggestions for a similar product that won't make my eyes water?

I agree with you! Also bought a massive bottle. So bloody annoying - the formulation now causes extreme redness/reaction on me.

Still sitting here with stinging, streaming eyes 😭 and skin with a horrible waxy feeling.

Glad I'm not the only one but just cannot understand why they would shoot themselves in the foot like this.

I'm sending my 1 litre bottle back and am now on a mission to buy up old stock.

Any suggestions for similar alternatives that and reasonably priced gratefully received.

Oh no! I have a large bottle arriving today. Will probably have to send it back unopened. Cerave seems to get good reviews, though their hand cream made my hands dry out (a problem I have with some hand creams, I’ve never worked out why)

Ah, bugger. Been using Cetaphil for about a year now and it’s been brilliant for my skin. How annoying! Thanks for the heads-up, OP.

Just discovered this and loved the small sample I got in a subscription box

Was going to buy the big bottle!

If it is any help, I am sure whilst trawling through Amazon (UK) it came up with Cetaphil and mentioned it was the old style one.

I use the sensitive one and that seems to be the same

I have used the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser for decades. I was a bit worried about the reformulation but thought it would still be gentle and unfragranced. My skin has red stripes in places and it is really sore. I have moved on from heavy duty moisturizers to hydrocortisone and it still hurts. The Cetaphil stuff is going in the bin. I am going to investigate other brands.

Try La Roche Posay Toleraine Cleanser. DD uses Cetaphil and I use this. They're not the same but you might like it. I prefer it because it's a lighter consistency.

I buy it here where it's much cheaper than high street prices even with postage. Or was last time I checked.

My GP said that companies changing longstanding formulations is a leading cause of people suddenly developing allergic reactions. I have an allergy to limolene and found it in many brands including Clarins. It caused me problems for years.

And a new formulation of cosmetics is always marketed as a plus. Neither of there any warning of a change of ingredients.

Does anyone know if they've changed the one for oily skin? I'll be so pissed off if they have, I've been using it for years and have never found anything else that properly cleans my skin without drying it...

I managed to snag a bottle of the old formula. Then I went to the pharmacy and bought one of every likely looking brand of gentle skin cleaner after having a very close look at the ingredients. I'll be trying them out one by one.

I think for me it's the niacinamide (Vitamin B 3) which has likely caused the reaction rather than the glycerin. I react to it in a serum at 10% but I didn't realise the much lower concentration in the new formula would have that effect. I was also astonished to discover so many supposedly gentle cleansers had perfume or fragrance added.

Strangely, my reaction to niacinamide in the 10% serum was far less than the reaction I had to the niacinamide in the new Cetaphil. The serum just made my skin a bit sensitive rather than giving me a neck covered in bright red stripes and facial skin feeling like it was on fire. It took about 10 days for most of the redness to go and I still have a tiny stripe on my neck which shows up when I've had a warm shower.

Its because of IFRA 50th amendment. Every year there are amendments to ingredients or % of ingredients added to this type of product.
When this happens, often the whole recipe has to change.
The change can be by a tiny amount but the final mixture will need to change significantly