Cleansing is a vital step in your skincare routine. As simple as this may seem, it is true. This means it is important to do it correctly. Good skin cleansing forms a foundation for the rest of your beauty routine and contributes to healthy radiant skin.
The steps listed below will form a good foundation for your skincare routine.
- Cleanse your skin twice a day:
Ideally you should cleanse your skin in the morning and the evening.
Morning cleansing is necessary to remove your treatment products and night cream from your skin in order to create a clean canvas (your skin) for the application of your day time products. (We also know that for those of us, who are not morning people, it helps to wake us up)
The evening cleanse removes makeup, perspiration, dirt and your day cream from the skin.
- Do a double cleanse:
In the evening it is best to perform a double cleanse. People often complain that, despite their best efforts to cleanse their skin with the correct products, that they have more blackheads and congestion on their skin than they would like.
Part of the reason is that even though they are cleansing and using the right product, their methods are not correct. Performing a double cleanse means that you cleanse your skin thoroughly, wash off the cleanser and repeat the process again.
During the day we often apply more products to the skin- moisturiser, sunscreen and make up. In addition, there are the added factors that can congest the skin- perspiration, oil, dirt and pollution.
Performing a double cleanse ensures that you have removed all your products and make up along with any dirt, perspiration and congestion that may be sitting on the skin.
Once again, it is the first step in making sure that your skin is prepped for the products that you are going to apply in the evening so that you get the maximum benefit from them.
- Use correct methods and techniques
In addition to cleansing twice a day and doing a double cleanse in the evening, make sure that you use the correct methods and techniques. Do the following:
- If you cleanse your skin when you shower or bath, it should be the first thing you do. Alternatively, do it before you hop in.
- Make sure the water is warm. Water that is too hot can over stimulate the sebaceous (oil) glands- not desirable if your skin is oily. Or it can aggravate sensitivity and dehydration on the skin.Water that is too cold will not remove the cleanser and dirt as effectively.
- Massage the cleanser into the skin in small circles. Take a minute or two to do this so that the cleanser can work into the pores and dissolve oil, make up and perspiration on the skin.
- Don’t forget those hard to reach and awkward creases and crevices on the face. Often, as a skin care therapist, I can see where people don’t pay as much attention to their cleansing as there is more congestion, blackheads and flaky skin in these areas.These tricky places are:
- The sides of the ears-there are often blackheads here. Because of the little crease of the ear; dirt, make up and dead skin cells accumulate here, along with the area not being cleansed properly.
- The hairline- not only can products and make up accumulate here, so can hair products- mousse, gel and balm, which can also contribute to skin breakouts around the perimeter of the face.
- The creases of the nose, below the lip and around and underneath the jaw line are also require extra attention.
Rinse your cleanser off with your warm water and make sure you get to all those hard to reach places listed above.
Once all the cleanser is off, pat the skin dry with a clean, dry towel. Be gentle.
- Tone
Toning comes after cleansing and patting the skin dry. Often people say that toning ensures that you get all the remaining dirt off the skin. The truth is by the time you tone your skin, the cotton pad should be clean, then you will know that you have cleansed your skin properly. If there are still traces of dirt, make up or cleanser on the cotton pad, then it means you have not cleansed the skin thoroughly.
Toning should help to restore the skin’s acid mantle back to normal, not finish off the cleaning process.
- Exfoliate to deep cleanse:
Exfoliating once or twice a week helps to deep cleanse the skin. Exfoliation comes after cleansing and before toning. It helps to remove dead skin cells on the surface of the skin. Doing this means that when you apply products to the skin afterwards, they will have maximum penetration into the skin as they are being absorbed into fresh healthy cells rather than dead skin cells waiting to flake off. This is important because it means you will be getting better absorption of your products.
This proper cleansing routine ensures that your canvas is well cleansed and prepared for the next step. It will go a long way in helping you to get the best benefit and use from your skincare products. This means a healthier, better looking skin.