For many years, I was an avid fan of Neutrogena Deep Clean Cream Cleanser, because it made my face feel nice and cool after I rinsed it off. Recently, I was shopping for a new face wash, and I decided to check out my old favorite, to see if I wanted to try it out again after many years of absence.

I find drug store versions of name brand skincare products to be pretty fascinating. Recently I saw some pretty bold anti-aging claims on two SPF 70 sunscreen options at CVS. One was from the name brand (Neutrogena), while the other was CVS’s generic version, under a very similar name (Age Defense rather than Neutrogena’s Age Shield). A shield is a type of defense, so I think this is pretty much a case where the marketing team looked up “shield” in the thesaurus when it…

I recently received a request from a reader, asking me to compare the old CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser against the new formula. The reader wanted to know why the new formula was making her and her husband break out, whereas the old formula had been a favorite of theirs for years. First of all, reader, I feel your pain. I understand the frustration of realizing that a formerly holy grail product no longer makes your skin happy—simply because the company decided to change its formula for some…