Effective Cleansing: A Guide Ft. Gentle Gel Cleanser

Effective Cleansing: A Guide

Washing your face. It seemed so easy just a few years ago, right? These days it can seem like the more you look for answers, the more confusing it gets. If a simple skincare routine is what you're looking for, read on, because we've got some pretty helpful tips. If we do say so ourselves.

So, why even bother washing your face, to begin with? Glad you asked. I'll keep this short(ish), but I could talk about this for hours. As we go about our day, to work, school, the grocery store, yoga class, your basement, etc., our face collects a nice layer of dirt, dust, bacteria, air pollution, and dead skin cells. A good cleansing not only removes all of those unwanted nasties, but also the stuff you intentionally put there. Like sunscreen and makeup. 

Not properly washing your face leads to dull, dehydrated, unhappy skin. If dead skin cells and daily grime were left on your skin, the pores would become clogged which leads to inflammation and acne. If you have oily skin, it will become oilier, dry skin becomes drier.  Oh, and you still want to use your treatments and moisturizers? forget about it. They would likely not be able to penetrate the layer of gunk already suffocating your skin, and would just add to it.

Hopefully, by this point, I've convinced you that you should definitely be washing your face. So now, onto the proper way to go about it. There is no one size fits all approach, but there are some general guidelines that apply to just about everybody. This is a simple and effective 1 1/2 -2 step cleanse, commonly referred to as The Double Cleanse:

Step 1: Remove makeup and/or sunscreen.  

Whatever your favorite way to remove makeup is, doooo it. I prefer and recommend to use a cleansing oil to remove my eye makeup and sunscreen at the end of the day.  Take a good minute to really soften and loosen up product and grime from your day. You can even keep it super simple and do this with just a few drops of olive or coconut oil. Spend a good 30-60 seconds here, gently massaging the oils into your lashes and congested areas.

Please. Please please please do not use makeup wipes. They are not good for your skin or the environment. Using them causes you to tug and pull on your skin, they leave a gross residue of preservatives, and you have to use a million of them to even get MOST of your makeup off. 

If you wear particularly heavy makeup or sunscreen, you may want to extend the oil-cleansing portion to the rest of your face. Take a few pumps of an oil or a scoop of cleansing balm and warm it up between your DRY palms and apply it to your DRY face. Just gently massage it all around, taking note of any rough, dry, or bumpy patches. Your hands should have some slip without feeling like a slip n' slide. Add more oil if it feels dry. This is a good time to check in with how your skin is doing, maybe you've been stressed, not eating your veggies, touching your face while on the subway(ew), not washing after workouts, switched to a new foundation, need to wash your makeup brushes, etc... Make a mental note and rinse your face. Geeeeently wipe away the oil with a towel, if necessary.

Step 2: Gentle Cleanser

Follow with a gentle gel or cream cleanser. Work up a lather in your palms and then massage onto your face. Take another 30-60 seconds here to make sure you don't miss anything. The corners of your nose, your hairline, down your neck and chest. Get. It. All. To rinse, splash your face 7-10 times with warm, not hot or cold, water. It's super important to fully remove your cleanser! They are not meant to be left on the skin, and if the cleanser is hanging around, so is the grime you're trying to wash away, right? Right.

And there ya have it! Pat/fan your face partially dry and continue on to the rest of your routine! 

Until next time,

Tory

 

 

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