People are always looking for a good skin care regimen. For years, I had used Clinque, with great results. But every now and then the promise of a new and improved skin care line, Clarins, Channel, Prescriptives, would rope me in. I’d try it, and end up going back to my old stand by. I’d always been told that my skin was beautiful. My mother had, and has, gorgeous skin and I’d been lucky enough to inherit that trait from her side of the gene pool. That was, until I had my daughter. Practically overnight, my once porcelain perfect dermis turned to a patchwork of red, itchy splotches.

Three dermatologists later, I had a diagnosis, but no relief. I was told I had Rosacea, a skin condition that causes redness and bumps on the face, chest and back. One doctor said the condition would improve, another said it would not, and a third said it might improve with treatment. I was starting to feel desperate. I’d already been through the rounds of high end skin care systems in the cosmetics floor at Bergdorf’s — Le Mer, Laura Mercier, La Prairie — not only didn’t any thing work, all these products seemed to make my condition worse. I tried Skinceuticals, and a host of steroid creams prescribed by the three doctors. Nothing worked. I looked terrible, and I was starting to feel desperate.

I decided to try one more doctor. After examining me, he asked what I’d been using. I told him and he and rolled his eyes as I rattled off the list.

“Okay,” he said, scribbling something on a prescription pad and handing it to me. “I’m about to save you a whole lot of money. Cetaphil and Lubridurm. Twice a day. Call me in a month if your skin doesn’t clear up.”

“Cetaphil and Lubridurm?” I asked.

“That’s all you need. Forget all this other stuff. It might work for some people, but it’s obviously irritating the heck out of your skin.”

Priceline Pharmacy

I was skeptical. After all, three other doctors had diagnosed me with Rosacea. But, I did as he said, and, sure enough, my skin completely cleared up. Eleven years later, I’m still using Cetaphil and Lubriderm and my skin is still beautiful.

Of course, I’m aware of the arguments against Cetaphil. It apparently contains parabens, which many people feel cause cancer. If you google “health risks of Cetaphil,” you will come across quite a few articles expounding this point of view. I was so concerned that I briefly switched off of my Cetaphil routine after I first heard about this issue. I tired using “all natural” cleaners. Unfortunately, I could not find anything that worked for me, and my skin ended up much the way it was before, red, bumpy and irritated. I did a bit more research and ended up finding just as many articles that convincingly lay out the virtues of Cetaphil as those that argued against it.

So, here is where I came out in the end: It really works for me, so, until I find a credible study linking Cetaphil to cancer, I’m going to keep using it.

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