Cleansing your skin is a foundational step of your skincare routine. Facial cleansing removes oil, sweat, and pollutants from your skin and provides a clean slate for the products that follow. Everyone benefits from twice daily facial cleansing. The key is choosing the correct cleanser for your skin type.
Oily Skin
People with oily skin can safely use foaming cleansers. However, it's misguided to believe drying up oils will control shine. This leads to the common sub condition called surface dehydration, lack of water in the skin due to harsh skincare products. (Surface dehydration will be a topic for another blog post.) Even for oily skin, finding a foaming cleanser that doesn’t leave the skin stripped and maintains the skin’s pH can make or break a skincare routine.
Dry Skin
A few months ago, it became a skincare trend to not cleanse your face in the morning. The belief was that washing dry skin less would improve lipid (oil) retention. What dry skin actually needs is a non foaming cleanser that keeps the skin hydrated and prepares it for products that follow. Non foaming cleansers have gentle surfactants that prevent a degreasing effect on the skin. The issue most people find with non-foaming cleansers is that they are heavy, don’t cleanse the skin well, and clog pores leading to breakouts.
Acne Safe Cleansers Regardless of Skin Type
Many non-foaming cleansers on the market are rich with pore clogging and acne forming ingredients. While oily skin types are more commonly associated with having acne, having dry skin and acne is possible and often overlooked. At the Skin Alcove, it was imperative that we carried products that were acne safe, regardless of your skin type.
Our non-foaming cleanser of choice is the Balancing Cleanser from Viktoria Deann. Balancing Cleanser is a clear gel, antioxidant rich formula that removes makeup and impurities without stripping the skin’s natural barrier.
The Skin Alcove’s foaming cleanser of choice is the Hale and Hush Quiet Wash. Quiet Wash gently showers skin with an expert blend of botanical extracts that combat inflammation, irritation, itchiness, and redness leaving the skin clean, comfortable, and fortified.
Foaming Vs. Non-Foaming Cleansers
The technique used for foaming cleansers are different from non-foaming cleansers. Foaming cleansers require water to foam up the cleanser before washing your face. It’s important to foam it up before use for it to be rinsed completely. Surfactants in foaming cleansers want to cling to your skin's oils, making it difficult to rinse completely. Foaming them up before use is key.
Non foaming cleansers need to be applied from dry hands to dry skin, massaged in, and then add water to massage again and rinse clean. This increases the length of time the mild surfactants get with your skin for an effective facial cleansing.
30-60 Second Cleansing, Time Flies
Now that we’ve delved into different types of cleansers, let’s move on to technique. The 60 Second Rule was popular a year ago but has since lost favor because it seems daunting to time yourself washing your face. Instead of counting down until you can get it over with, I want you to cleanse with intention. Washing your face extends from your hairline, to your ear line, and ends at the base of your neck. You want to work your cleanser into your hairline, into your eyebrows, your eyelashes, the creases of your nose, your sideburns, your lip line, your jawline, and your neck. These are important zones where skin issues often accumulate. Cleansing with intention means considering all of the features of your face. You’ll find that washing your face for 30-60 seconds passes by quickly, no stop watch necessary.
What is Double Cleansing and Who Needs It?
Double Cleansing is, as you’d expect, cleansing twice. Think of it as sweeping the floor before mopping. You’ve been wearing sunscreen and/or makeup for hours. Your skin has produced oil to varying degrees and has been sitting on your skin, acting like glue and attracting pollutants from your environment. We need to remove the day with an initial cleanse before doing a second, proper facial cleanse. Everyone benefits from double cleansing, especially those with acne concerns. Both cleansers available at The Skin Alcove can be used for this technique because they’re both nonirritating and nondrying formulas.
There is an art to facial cleansing and doing it correctly highlights how important it is in your skincare routine. It’s the foundational step necessary to improve skin barrier function, cleanse pores, and prep the skin for treatment products. Improper cleansing can lead to dry, flakey, irritated, and congested skin. Cleansing with intention is all about using the right products, techniques, and frequency.
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