Have you ever wondered what happens to your skin if you wash your face the wrong way? That’s right – there are right and wrong ways to do one of the most important steps of your skincare routine!
Choose the wrong skincare routine and you could run the risk of using chemicals that are not just bad for your skin, but could accelerate your aging! That’s why it’s critically important to know your skin type, understand the options for your skin care routine, and craft a personal skincare regime that will properly prep, preserve, and protect your skin.
Why Washing Your Face Matters
One of the most important reasons to cleanse your face – especially at the end of the day – is for makeup removal. Leaving makeup on your skin can cause your skin to age prematurely, leading to crepey skin, excessive wrinkles, and a dry, tight feeling.
A woman in the UK didn’t wash her face for a whole month as an experiment to see if washing your face was actually important for skin, or just marketing from beauty brands. During the experience, she said that her face felt dry and tight like a mask – already a sign of the damage that lack of face-washing could do.
She had her skin examined by dermatologists after her experience, and they concluded that her skin had aged by ten years1 in just thirty days due to the damage not washing her face caused!
The signs that alerted the dermatologists that her skin had actually aged were the deeper wrinkles and enlarged, damaged pores – all just from not washing her face! These are both signs of collagen loss in skin, which is the number one underlying cause of aging.
How to Wash Your Face for Healthy Skin
So, how often should you wash your face to prevent premature aging?
For starters, If you wear makeup, it’s especially important to remove all your makeup before using your cleanser. This is because normal facial cleansers aren’t designed to remove long-wearing makeup, especially mascara and lipstick.
The exception to this rule are cleansing oils. These moisturizing formulas gently break down makeup and sunscreen. They’re best applied to dry skin and gently massaged on your face, then rinsed away with water. Bonus benefit – this gentle massage helps to stimulate circulation and blood flow for healthy, glowing skin.
As part of the double-cleansing technique, you can follow a cleansing oil with a pH balanced, gentle cleanser. This ensures that any lingering particles are thoroughly, yet gently swept away from your skin. Making sure that all traces of makeup are completely gone is essential for preventing premature aging on skin!
How Many Times a Day to Cleanse Skin
So, now that we’ve gone over how to cleanse skin at night, how many times a day should you be washing your face in total? This question is especially important if you have an oily skin type. Many people think that because their face is oily, they should wash more frequently to get rid of the oil on their skin.
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth! Overwashing could actually be making your skin feel even more uncomfortable – here’s why.
Washing your skin too frequently can lead to surface dehydration, where skin feels dry, tight, and itchy. This, combined with natural oils on skin, can make skin feel even more greasy than usual – the exact opposite of what you might be trying to achieve!
A study found that the sweet spot for cleansing skin – no matter your skin type – was twice a day2 with a gentle cleanser. Skin that was gently washed once in the morning and once at night was less red and irritated, and overall was healthier than skin that was washed just once a day in the study.
The Bottom Line About Cleansing
Washing your face properly is an essential part of keeping skin youthful and radiant. Removing makeup thoroughly can help prevent the premature signs of aging from appearing on skin! Plus, keeping to the suggested routine of gently cleansing twice a day is the best way to start your skincare routine.
