Skin Care Basics - Cleansing

Ever since I started thinking about this post I have had Julie Andrews singing Do-Re-Mi on repeat in my head. "Let's start at the very beginning, A very good place to start."

Anyway, taking care of your skin is the first and last step in wearing makeup. Makeup looks best on healthy skin and following a skin care routine to remove your makeup at night ensures the continued health of your skin. Even if you forgo makeup for the day you should be wearing sunscreen (just trust me on this for now, I will have plenty of posts on sunscreen later) and that will need to be washed off at the end day. Best to just get in the habit.

Skin care does not have to be expensive. In this post I will outline a basic routine and suggest some affordable products. While this is just the basics there is still quite a bit of information. This was actually getting rather long so I am going to break it up in to multiple posts. Don't try and take it all in at once. Use this and the future posts as a reference to come back to again and again.

If you are not already in the habit of washing your face every night just pick up some cleansing wipes and use those. They are quick, easy, and better than nothing at all. Great for establishing a habit.

If you are already in a routine do not rush out and buy all new products. It is very important to only introduce one new product every few weeks. Even if they are all the same brand! If you try several new products at once and then have a reaction you won't be able to pin point what caused the problem. Be patient, try one new product at a time and when you are sure it agrees with your skin add another product.

Some of my current products.

Basic Routine: Step 1 Cleanse

Some skin problems can actually be caused and exacerbated by over cleansing. Most people only need to cleanse their skin once a day. In the morning you can simply splash your face with water. At night you will need remove the accumulated grime of the day, your sunscreen, and makeup. I recommend a double cleansing method of using oil first as a makeup remover and then a regular cleanser.

Oil Cleansing

Why: Oil is incredibly effective at dissolving makeup, sunscreen, and grime. Most regular cleansers are not effective at dissolving these things so you end up either not removing them completely and/or physically scrubbing them off. Neither of which are great for you skin. So, using an oil first more completely removes the day's grime and it far more gentle. Oil cleansing is even great for acne prone skin (it will help pull dirty oil away from your skin much better than a cleanser alone) as long you use a non-comedogenic oil. Many people practice oil cleansing as their only method of cleansing with great success. 

How: Gently massage all over your skin and then wipe off with a tissue or warm wet cloth. This will leave a residue, but that is alright. Some people find tissues and wash cloths to be too harsh and use microfiber cloths instead.

With what: I am currently using Pond's Cold Cream to remove my makeup. Cold cream is an emulsion of oil and water and is a bit easier than using straight oil, but also may contain other irritating ingredients (Pond's Cold Cream was recently reformulated and now includes cetyl alcohol and ceteth 20 which can be problematic for some people prone to breakouts). There are many brands available, you don't have to use Ponds. I used to not like removing my makeup, but cold cream seriously makes it so easy. I enjoy using one product that removes both my face and eye makeup.

Many people like simply using mineral oil to remove their makeup. I hear this is just as easy as a cold cream and even more inexpensive. I am actually going to give it a try soon. Contrary to popular belief mineral oil is not at all bad for you skin. I will eventually have a complete post on that myth.

Coconut oil is also a popular choice. However, use coconut oil with caution as it is actually comedogenic (tending to clog pores) for many people. Instead give olive oil, almond oil, or avocado oil a try. The world of oil cleansing is vast and could be many posts on its own, this is just a start.

Cleansing

Why: As I mentioned above, using an oil to cleanse will leave a residue on your skin so now we are going to use a regular cleanser to remove the residue and prepare our skin for exfoliation. Occasionally if I haven't worn makeup that day I will skip the oil cleansing step and go straight to simply cleansing. In the exfoliation section it will become clearer why I am recommending double cleansing. Once you get the big picture you can decide what is best for your needs.

How: Simply wet your face, dispense a bit of cleanser in your hands, gently massage all over, rinse, and pat dry.

With what: If your face feels tight and dry after cleansing your cleanser is too harsh. This is often mistaken for a good clean feeling, but in fact your skin has actually been stripped too much of its natural oil. Which in turn can cause your skin to try and correct the problem by over producing oil.

The cleansers recommend below are inexpensive, good for both oily and dry skin, non-comedogenic, and free of harsh irritating ingredients. Whether you choose foaming or hydrating is more a matter of preference than skin type.

• CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser
• CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser
• Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser Foaming Formula 
• Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Hydrating Cleanser Cream Formula

Now you have the basics of cleansing. I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions let me know in the comments below. The next skin care post will be on exfoliation.