Cleansing Your Face and How to Do it Right

Image credit: Mathilde-Langevin, Unsplash

Cleansing is the first and maybe most important step of your skincare routine not only because it helps get rid of dirt and pollutants but also because it can make all the difference when it comes to how well your other products are going to work.

The cleanser you use and how you use it can make or break the overall health of your skin and it can either help your skin or cause more problems.

It should go without saying that using a 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 product is a terrible idea but I'm saying it here so that you have no excuses. Now let's get into some more specific details.

Let’s Chat All Things Skin Barrier (No, It’s Not a Buzz Word)

Let's start by discussing the skin barrier, in other words, the outermost layer of your epidermis a.k.a. the stratum corneum. Its job is to stop environmental stressors such as UV rays, everyday pollutants and microbes from reaching the layers beneath your skin.

When this barrier is weakened either by thinning or damage, the skin becomes more sensitive.

Sensitive skin reacts the way it does because it's more sensitive to the effects of common irritants such as perfumes, pollutants and bacterium.

These irritants can pass through the barrier into the layers beneath the stratum corneum which causes deep-set inflammation and damage.

This can also worsen or add to the skincare problems you already have. On a more tangible and maybe superficial note, the epidermis is the layer of skin that we can see so if it's not taken care off, it'll be very obvious.

Appearance may not be the most important thing but when it comes to skin it can indicate overall health which I would argue is an important consideration.

The strength and state of the stratum corneum are affected by age, colour/ tone and moisture level.

Aging not only thins the skin, it also depletes its ability to hold onto moisture which makes it weaker.

Paler skin is typically thinner and more susceptible to the effects of UV rays which means that rashes, redness and overall irritation are more likely to occur.

Over-cleansing i.e. washing your face too much can strip the skin of the natural oils it produces which affects its ability to hold onto moisture.

This weakens the barrier and can cause inflammation, dryness, flakiness and rashes. You should wash your face daily to remove dirt and help unclog your pores, however, you most likely don't need to wash it more than twice daily.

There are exceptions to this rule of course and you'll need to wash more if you're exercising lots or need to take off makeup for example.

Some skincare experts go as far as to advise against washing your face in the morning. Now, that's up to you and your skin but I believe this proves that we don't need to wash our faces as much as we have been.

You Might Be Over-Doing it

If your skin feels 'squeaky clean' or very tight after washing, that's a pretty good indicator that you're over-cleansing. Using the wrong cleanser can have a similar effect.

The usual culprits are cleansers marketed for oily and acne-prone skin.

The harshness of these cleansers and the drying they cause tend to make the skin overcompensate/ over-correct by producing excess oil.

This not only makes you oilier, but it will also clog your pores and it may not affect resulting moisture levels.

You can easily tell how harsh a cleanser is by using it, but if you're out shopping, here's my advice - skim over the ingredients list.

If sodium lauryl sulphate is in the first third of the ingredients listed, avoid that product. This ingredient is commonly used for the suds it helps form but on many skin types [mine included], it's more stripping than it needs to be.

Sodium laureth sulphate sounds similar but it's an ingredient that works well for most skin types. Not all sulphates are bad. Just some of them.

Using harsh scrubs and makeup wipes is a skincare pitfall that catches too many people.

I don't think makeup wipes count as cleansers. At all. Firstly, some wipes sting when you use them which indicates that the ingredients used are harsher than necessary.

Secondly, they don't remove all your makeup and to compensate for it, we up rubbing our faces too hard and irritating our skin barriers.

A surefire way to help get rid of makeup without as much elbow grease or irritation is to use an oil cleanser and a microfibre cloth.

This dream team more than does the job and you're less likely to scrub your skin raw this way. So you win twice.

What About Physical Scrubs?

Speaking of scrubbing your skin raw, let's discuss physical exfoliants. I, like many of you, am a big fan of the polished finish that physical exfoliants leave.

Whilst I don't have anything against physical exfoliants, I think we need to be pickier about the ones we use on our faces.

Not all exfoliants are created equal and too often, facial scrubs contain abnormally large or ragged-edged particles that would be more suited for use on the body.

When used on the face, these particles are likely to cause microtears or cause sensitivity by irritation.

Like when using makeup wipes, many scrubs users use waaaay more force than necessary when cleansing in pursuit of that silky smooth finish.

Chemical exfoliants like AHAs and BHAs can give you that silky smooth finish without any [or as much] of the irritation, redness and sensitivity.

If you don't want to bother with all that though, just please be gentle.

I can guarantee that you don't need to press that hard. You don't have to throw out that scrub, just maybe switch to using it on your body only.

With both scrubs and makeup wipes, be careful with when you use them. Avoid using them if you have any active breakouts/ acne to avoid worsening them or aggravating them.

How Long Should You Cleanse For?

When it comes to how long you rub a cleanser in, more is more.

Up until two years ago, I wasn't cleansing my face for long enough, honestly speaking, I'm not even sure I was doing anything of value.

The Golden Rx on Youtube [LA Beautyologist] has a whole video explaining her 60-second rule for cleansing which I live by.

I don't cleanse for exactly 60 seconds but aiming for this has helped ensure that I'm properly washing my face every time I cleanse.

This has helped reduce the amounts of breakouts that develop on my face and also it's been great for helping my other skincare products absorb properly which we love.

If you can't be bothered setting a timer every time you cleanse, pick a theme song to sing in your head or sing the first verse and chorus of one of your favourite songs. You can help your skin and get a little entertainment out of it too.

With all that being said, it's time for my cleansing recommendations. Now, I am not a licensed aesthetician or dermatologist and everything I've said above [and will say below] is mainly for educational and entertainment purposes.

Take my recommendations not as if they're coming from a professional, but more like they're coming from your skincare obsessed friend.

Because they are. Everyone's skin is different so these rules might not apply directly to you but I do believe that they will provide a good starting point from which you can build the cleansing routine that works best for you.

Additionally, if you can afford to, go see a dermatologist or aesthetician or skincare clinician and listen to the specialised advice that they give you.

Oil Cleansing

I use my oil cleanser whenever I'm trying to remove my makeup and every night to help get rid of the day's dirt.

My skin is naturally oily so oil cleansers used to scare me because I thought they would worsen the oiliness. This has not been the case at all.

Oil cleansing is outstanding for helping get rid of excess oils. The reason why is because of solubility. Oil dissolves oil. Water dissolves water.

Makeup products are usually oil-based and can be 'dissolved' much more effectively by oil than by water. In the same way, the oil on my face can be better cleansed off by an oil.

Not all oil cleansers are created equal, and not all oils should be used as an oil cleanser.

The Golden Rx goes in-depth on her oil cleansing routine as well as which household oils can be used as a cleanser on her YouTube channel.

I prefer to use ready-made oil cleansers because I know they're compatible with my skin and they wash off much easier than a household/ non-emulsifying oil would*.

Oil cleansing regularly is also incredibly satisfying because it helps to remove oil plugs which water-based cleansers would not stand a chance against.

Oil cleansers have also been proven to be gentler than water cleansers so if you're sunburnt, have just had a chemical peel or have lots of active acne, oil cleansing could be the optimal cleansing solution for you.

*oil cleansing products turn into a milky substance when water is added to them

Water-Based Cleansers

Everyday foaming cleansers are water-based. I use mine twice a day. For 60 seconds. Make sure that you've wet your skin before applying your cleanser to help it work optimally.

Using both an oil and a water-based cleanser is referred to as double-cleansing.

The main benefit is that it helps get rid of both the water and oil-soluble pollutants that may be on your face after a long day or a long night.

Like I mentioned before, cleansing properly helps reduce future breakouts and it provides your other products with a clean slate on which to work.

What this means is, your serums will soak in deeper and your moisturiser will be able to moisturise better.

Don't wait too long after washing your face to apply the rest of your skincare products however because

1. most of them need moisture to absorb and

2. your skin might feel dry and start overproducing oil.

I prefer to air-dry my face and move onto my skincare routine less than 5 minutes after washing but for those of you who like face towels - make sure the towel is clean and pat your face dry.

Summing Up

Okay, I'm done. I don't think there's much more I can say about cleansing and all the ways you're doing it wrong [or some of the ways you can improve] so I'm going to finish here.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this and I hope it was informative.

Want to read some more? Check out the below:

Get the Gloss | How to Build up Your Skin Barrier

Hyram: How to Clean Your Skin | Skin Care 101

Byrdie Beauty | Are You Overcleansing Your Skin?

Paula’s Choice Cleansing Agent Ingredient Dictionary

This article was shared with permission from the All Who Wonder Blog by Praise Fadzai. You can read the original post here.