Cleansing does just that, it cleans your skin. By cleansing, you are removing any dirt, oil (sebum), bacteria, microorganisms, yeast and makeup . Cleansing is a critical daily skin care step. Don't ever skip a day of removing makeup. A cleanser also help remove or exfoliate dead, surface skin cells.
A good cleanser is the most important product in the skin care regime. Primarily because your face is the most exposed part of your body. You should never compromise with a low quality cleanser, it will show as time goes on. If a cleanser is too harsh it will strip the skin of its natural protective oils that in turn causes your body to produce even MORE oils to make up for what was stripped off.
Also, if a cleanser is too harsh, a moisturizer will have to work twice as hard to make up for the damage done by a clenaser.
How can you tell if your cleanser is too harsh? Does your face feel tight and dry after you wash it? I mean right after you wash it, not after applying a moisturizers. After you lather up with a cleanser, rinse and pat dry, if your face feels tight, chances are your cleanser is too harsh.
We all have some degree of oil on our skin. When you wash your face with a cleanser, many times you are stripping it of it's pH balance. Skin can best be classified as an acid. Soap, on the other hand, is a base By combining the acidity of the skin with the alkaline properties of the cleanser, you are creating a reaction that can dry the skin.
Gentle cleansers tend to be closer to the natural pH of the skin (which are between 4.5 and 5.5). If you have been washing your face in the shower with your regular body soap, you’re making a mistake. Yes, you’ll save a few minutes, but you will end up spending a lot more time trying to find a moisturizer to make up for the dryness.
Most bar body soaps are way too drying for the average face. In fact, most of them may even be too harsh for the rest of your body.
Don’t overdo washing your face. Vigorous washing and scrubbing, and/or the use of an inappropriately harsh cleanser could irritate your skin and strip off it's oil protective mantle.
On the other hand if a cleanser is too weak, this will cause problems to the skin as well. Because mascara is so difficult to remove, women will aggresively rub a washcloth over her eyes which stretches and injures the delicate eye tissue surrounding the eye and subsequently sending the chemicals found in eye mascara even into the eye.
Furthermore, washcloths contain residual detergent and fabric softener from the rinse cycle. These harsh chemicals play havoc to the skin, and actually penetrate a most sensitive area.
It has been observed that by purchasing a cheap cleanser, a person will spend more money in destroying wash cloths or time in washing them. And will spend a great deal of time and money in search of a moisturizer. The overall benefits of a good cleanser can not be overstated.
Always use a cleanser with lukewarm water. Never wash your face with hot water, it dries and damages skin over time, and cold water won’t dissolve and take away embedded dirt and grime as well as lukewarm water. Sponges and washcloths are actuall bad for your skin. They are not necessary for effective cleansing if you use a quality cleanser: your fingertips can do just as good a job. Wash your hands thoroughly before you use a cleanser on your face, or you will be working dirt into facial skin. Use a headband to secure hair away from the face. Apply the cleanser with your fingertips using gentle circular massaging motion. Too much scrubbing with a cleanser will stretch skin and irritate it, especially the delicate skin around the eyes. Rinse with lots of lukewarm water. Don’t forget to rinse off cleanser from the neck and hairline. Cleanser residue can irritate the skin and cause dryness. Follow immediately with a water-based toner and a moisturizer appropriate for your skin type to seal in surface moisture and offer nourishment when skin is receptive. (Do you have sensitive skin? Sometimes skin problems can result from imbalances inside the body. Often, however, skin reacts to harsh detergents and chemicals in skin care products and suffers damage from topically applied skin care products. Chemical preservatives in body care products are the number one cause of contact dermatitis. Facial skin problems and even rashes on other parts of the body may be caused by your shampoo, hair conditioner, perfume or moisturizer. There are soaps that can be derived from natural ingredients and humans have known about its cleansing properties for thousands of years. When your body comes in contact with pure a pure natural cleanser, it readily recognizes it as natural. It can be blended in such a way with oils to not strip the skin of its protective layer.
There´s nothing like a good, fluffy lather to clean your face, right? Not necessarily. In many cases, lather is hype to to make you think you’re getting your skin clean. The truth is, a good cleanser will produce little if any lather.
The simple daily routine of washing the skin depletes the skin of its natural moisture. It is more common today to shower and bathe daily than it was centuries ago. Soft water increases the cleansing potency of detergents that act upon our skin. This is especially true for the daily routine of washing the hands, because this is performed frequently during the day. Also the daily task of washing dishes has contributed to the depletion of moisture in the hands. Oil removing detergents and antibacterial chemicals found in dishwashing detergent coupled with the use of soft water used by the majority of modern homes has only contributed to the daily attack to our skin. All of these daily aggressions to a large part have contributed to the need to use a natural cleanser and replenish our skin with a common moisturizer.