How many times did your mother say, “Wash your face and don’t forget to wash behind your ears.” Mother was right. An important part of looking good and maintaining good skin condition is keeping the face clean of impurities. Not the scrubbing wildly with a washcloth kind of cleansing the way children do. That’s too rough on the skin. Learning how to cleanse the skin is an often overlooked first step in skin care.
The skin is the largest organ of the body and sometimes the most neglected. What we call our skin is literally millions of individual cells covering the body. As our outer layer of protection, the skin takes much wear and tear. To keep the skin clean, the product used for cleansing skin care needs to be suited to the individual’s skin type; dry, oily or normal. Using the wrong cleansing product is almost worse than not cleansing at all. The idea is to remove impurities, dirt and other damaging elements from the skin surface without leaving behind damage from the method or strength of the cleanser.
Cleansing skin care for dry skin needs to contain a moisturizing element because soap is naturally drying. Look for products that clean while hydrating the skin. Oily skin can handle a stronger cleansing skin care product and is not harmed by drying properties of the cleanser. Normal skin generally requires a cleansing skin care that is neither too dry nor too hydrating, a balance of these properties is desirable.
After choosing a product suited for either dry, oily or normal skin, the next step in cleansing skin care is to wash the face with warm water so that the pores open and loose dirt can be removed. The accumulation of tiny dirt particles too small to be seen with the eye gradually clog pores on the skin until acne forms. Failure to cleanse the skin properly and daily is to create a breeding ground for acne and other skin problems.
Follow the directions on the cleansing skin care product for application. Using very hot water on the face is not generally recommended because the heat can cause capillaries under the skin to break. Many products suggest applying the cleanser in a gentle, circular motion using the hands rather than a washcloth. After cleansing the skin, rinse with cool, not cold water to close the pores.
Good cleansing skin care can be done twice daily. Some people with oily skin think that washing the skin several times a day will dry it out and prevent oil. This may dry out the skin, but create more problems than it solves. Excessive skin washing actually leads to an imbalance in the natural oils and reduces the skin’s defenses.
Choosing a cleansing product that is part of a total skin care system is a good way to make certain the cleanser and moisturizer work well together because the chemicals are balanced. No matter how tired you are, wash your face in the evening so that the impurities of the day don’t have all night to settle in the pores.
