Your facial skin is much more delicate than your body skin. Therefore you should never use body soap to wash your face. Also, water is not enough to remove makeup, oil, dead skin and all the environmental particles your face picks up during the day. For a bright complexion you must use a facial cleanser.
A loose cream or gel cleanser that is water soluble and easily rinses away is the best choice for most skin types. I do not recommend bar cleansers because they contain waxy ingredients necessary to form their bar shape, which can clog pores.
You should not feel residue on your face after rinsing. If your cleanser gives you a squeaky clean feeling after rinsing and makes your face feel tight it means the detergents in the cleanser are too harsh and have stripped the pH balance from your skin. This causes the skin to immediately go into “repair mode” to bring back its pH balance.
In an effort to help your skin return to normal, the oil glands often overreact and start pumping out excessive oil, which negates your cleansing routine. Cleansers with isopropyl alcohol and acetone give skin the same reaction. Stay away from cleansers with heavy fragrances that can cause irritation. Most facial wipes contain chemicals with very irritating ingredients.
Cleansers with alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) are good for almost all skin types except those with acne. The most common AHAs are glycolic and lactic acid. An AHA cleanser gives the skin a healthy glow by ungluing and washing away dull dead skin cells, allowing new skin cells to surface. AHA acts as a humectant to keep the skin hydrated. It also smooths and softens sun damaged skin, clears up occasional blemishes and minimizes pores.
If you are prone to acne and blackheads you should use a cleanser with salicylic acid, which is a BHA (beta hydroxy acid). BHA’s travel deeper into the skin than AHA’s to unplug clogged pores. Another ingredient to look for is Benzoyl peroxide, an organic compound that kills acne causing bacteria and acts as an antimicrobial. It is safer to choose a lower strength BP (2.5%) because they are less irritating to the skin and research shows that higher strengths are not significantly more effective in clearing acne.
Don’t use “all-natural” facial scrubs. They typically contain crushed nuts and those slivers can lacerate your skin tissue. Scrubs with a sandy feel perform most like microdermabrasion and should be used after cleansing. Never use a scrub the same time you’re cleansing to remove dirt, oil and makeup from your face. You will actually be grinding it all back into your skin. YUCK!
You don’t need to purchase a pricey electric face brush to get your skin really clean. The chemical exfoliation of an AHA or BHA cleanser penetrates into the skin and exfoliates it more evenly than mechanical scrubbing. For sensitive skin types, a gentle milk cleansing lotion is effective and soothing.
It’s easy to waste a lot of money on cleansers because you keep trying to find one that works. I recommend dropping by a reputable spa and talking to their resident esthetician to see what she recommends for you.
For those of you who are interested – I use Jan Marini Skin Care Research Bioglycolic Facial Cleanser and absolutely love it (www.janmarini.com) SRP $29.00 for 8 oz. pump. It contains glycolic acid and rinses so clean there is no need for a toner. I use it twice a day and one bottle easily lasts five months. And with my MakeUpMiser I’m able to scoop out 100% of the product from the bottle.
No comments:
Post a Comment