I was reading an interview with Rachel Bilson from "The O.C." in the January issue of InStyle Magazine, where she said:

"When I was growing up I would never wash my face.  It really stressed my Mom out.  I had this theory for some reason that dirt kept pimples away; then once I started to wash my face, I broke out.  I was like, See, Mom?  I should've just stayed dirty."

I couldn't believe what I was reading.  I held firm in that very theory throughout my high school and college years, and frankly, I still think there might be some truth in it.

Deep down I think she hit the nail on the head when she said her skin is sensitive and so most cleaners will cause her to break out.  That's pretty much the story of my life. 

Since I've been trying out so many new products, I am prone to a lot more sensitive skin breakouts.  Still, I have to wash my face because I am wearing a lot of makeup these days. 

I picked out Neutrogena's Clear Pore Cleaner/Mask because I foolishly thought that I was breaking out here and there.   Really, I think my skin was reacting to all the new stuff I was throwing at it.  Then, when I started using this cleaner, just like Rachel experienced, my skin really started breaking out like mad. 

Now that everything is back under control, I won't be going back to using such a harsh product on my poor skin anymore.  However, I do still like the mask aspect. Put it on for 5 minutes and it feels cool and tingly.  When you take it off it feels like your skin can really breathe again.  I find that using it once a week does not cause me to break out and does a terrific job of keeping away blackheads.

So there are two lessons here: If you break out, make sure that it is really acne before you start applying harsh stuff to your face (this stuff actually bleached one of my washcloths).  And if you have sensitive skin, this might not be the skin care solution for you.

I am going to keep searching for a great cleaner for sensitive skin so that I can stick with this resolution with a clean, clear face.

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Reviewed By: Jen