How do you wash your face? It's something most of us do every day, so it's a bit of a shocker that experts say we may have been doing it wrong for all these years.
For starters, (bad news face wipe fans), face wipes are about as good for our skin as they are for the environment – although, we already kind of new that one. But even for those wedded to their creamy cleanser or micellar water, lots of us are making the same common mistakes that can mean we're not getting rid of all the grime effectively, or worse, we're causing damage and stress to our skin.
We enlisted the advice of cosmetic nurse, Nurse Alice Jenkins, and aesthetic doctor, Dr David Jack, for the in-depth skin cleansing tips everyone needs to know.
1. Always use a cloth and cleanse with water first
Remove most makeup and debris with a damp, clean cloth and use only water (this can be a micellar water). Then, using a cream-based cleanser on a damp, clean cloth remove any residual makeup and debris. The third cleanse should be with plain or micellar water again to remove any residue. Make sure you never ignore your neck or hairline; leaving out these parts can cause bacteria build-up and a break out of acne.
2. Never use hot water to wash your face
Use lukewarm or cold water to properly cleanse. Hot water is no friend to your skin so never wash your face in the shower. Hot water, saunas and steaming the face can cause dilation of blood vessels and breakage of delicate tissue.
3. Always spend 60 seconds cleansing
Ensure you always take at least 60 seconds to cleanse your face. It's a lot longer than you think so set a timer on your phone and give your face (and neck!) a mini facial massage while you're at it.
4. Add an exfoliator into the mix
Try to exfoliate 2-3 times a week. It helps remove any dead skin cells and helps your skin to absorb any products you put onto it. If you use an exfoliator with beads in it, do it before your cleanse - the cleanser will help remove the beads for fresh, clean skin.
5. Don't forget a serum
The final stage of any good cleansing routine should be using a serum to restore the acidic pH of the skin (to help balance the bacterial flora on the skin surface), and to deliver acid-pH antioxidants (such as vitamin C and AHAs) to the skin surface.
This was originally published on Glamour UK.
