Guest Review: EGO Cleanser a buffed up Cetaphil

After a brief hiatus, the much-missed regular guest-reviewer on So Loverly, Eli is back! Hoorah!

The Cetaphil Challenger Cometh!

With its plain blue and white packaging, Ego’s QV range really does seem to be the Australian answer to Galderma’s Cetaphil. The fact that these products are nearly always placed side-by-side in pharmacies just reinforces the impression even more.

For non-Ozzies, Ego is an Australian pharmaceutical brand which (like Cetaphil) produces skincare products for dry and sensitive skin. They use very plain packaging in blue and white (like Cetaphil), and don’t fragrance their products either (like Cetaphil). The only differences I have seen so far is that Ego offers eye cream, moisturisers with SPF and does not test on animals.

After running out of my trusty Cetaphil a few months ago, I picked up the Ego QV facial cleanser instead. It was selling at around AUD10 for 200ml and I didn’t feel like buying a 500ml bottle of Cetaphil.

My cosmetic-whore fingers were itching anyway.

Outside appearances aside, these two products are completely dissimilar. The Ego cleanser is very milky, watery and froths up quite a bit compared to its counterpart. I have been using Cetaphil for such a long time, I have forgotten how it is like to use a cleanser which bubbles. It gave me a bit of a shock at first.

Those who found Cetaphil too emollient for their skin may want to give Ego a try. It removes oil and makeup so thoroughly, it eliminates the need for double-cleansing. Great for the nights (or mornings) when I come back from clubbing or stagger home late from the computer lab.

Other Cetaphil users may find Ego too drying on their sensitive skin though.

I have not tried Ego out on cheek stains yet but I think it would be much better than Cetaphil. I usually have to double-cleanse and then do the 2-minute trick (sing the “abc” song twice while cleansing) with Cetaphil.

Another great thing with this product is that it doubles up as a body wash while I am travelling. Bathing with Cetaphil gives me an “aiyee” icky feeling all over my body.

In the case of Ego vs. Cetaphil, I am choosing Ego. They are both great products which work great for me. In terms of convenience and travel though, Ego wins hands down. It is also much cheaper than Cetaphil in Australia.

So far, I have only seen Ego products being sold by Caring Pharmacy in Malaysia. I am not sure of the price though and it seems to run out fairly quickly. In Australia, you can get Ego products from any pharmacy and the facial cleanser is sold in bottles of 200ml and 500 ml for about AUD10 and AUD20 each.