Knowing how to properly wash your face is a daily ritual that can make or break your skin. If you do it right, your skin will look pristine and absorb other skincare products and makeup with ease. However, if you do it wrong, you could strip your skin of its natural oils and, as a result, break out in spots, appear dehydrated, and feel irritated.
From using the wrong cleanser to over-exfoliating the skin, people make many common missteps when washing their face. Here, we’ll break down the steps you should follow to ensure that your face is washed correctly and your skin retains its natural oils.
Perfect your skin with a cosmetic treatment
While a daily cleansing ritual is essential for maintaining healthy skin, if you wish to achieve healthier skin by improving its tone and texture, a cosmetic treatment might be your best bet. There are many cosmetic treatments from which to choose, but the one that’s caught our eye is Morpheus8, a signature treatment at The Rae Clinic London.
Morpheus8 is a non-invasive treatment that uses radiofrequency energy to stimulate the production of collagen in targeted areas of the face or body in order to tighten the skin and reshape its contours. The treatment is rising in popularity due to the versatile benefits it provides, which include improving the appearance of wrinkles, eyebags, jowls, and other skin imperfections, as well as its long-lasting results.
Choose the right cleanser
A common error that people make when learning how to properly wash your face is using the wrong cleanser for their skin type. A formula that’s unsuitable for your skin type can wreak havoc on your skin. Typically, your skin type will either be dry, oily, a combination of both, or normal, depending on the level of oil and moisture in your body. Therefore, in order to maintain the natural oils in your body, it’s essential to find a cleanser with the right ingredients for your skin’s texture.
For instance, if you have dry skin, you should choose a cleanser packed with nutrients and essential oils that moisturizes your skin and prevents it from looking flaky. Whereas, if you have oily skin prone to acne, you should look for a cleanser formulated in order to avoid breakouts, which often contain powerful exfoliating ingredients such as salicylic acid.
Use the right temperature of water
Simply adjusting the temperature of your water when washing your face can affect the condition of your skin. Cold water has been shown to tighten pores and reduce puffiness in the skin. However, washing your face with cold water alone is a bad idea since it is ineffective at removing dirt and impurities from your skin.
On the other hand, washing your face with hot water can strip the skin of its natural oils. This can result in flaky skin if you have a dry skin type, and greasy skin if you have an oily skin type (which reacts to the stripping of oil by producing more oil). Therefore, once you’ve applied your cleanser, you should wash your skin with warm water that’s hot enough to effectively cleanse your skin but not too hot that it strips away the body’s natural oils.
Exfoliate the right way
It’s often the case when asking how to properly wash your face, that cleansing and exfoliation are viewed as the same step in a skincare routine. This common misunderstanding leads many people to over-exfoliate, and as a result, damage their skin. Cleansing involves removing the dirt, sweat, and other impurities on the surface of your skin, while exfoliation is designed to scrub away dead skin cells. Exfoliation can make your skin look brighter and help other skincare products absorb more easily into your skin.
However, unlike cleansing, doing it too often can dehydrate the skin and damage its capillaries. How often you should exfoliate depends on the type of exfoliant that you use and your skin type.
For example, if you have acne-prone skin, exfoliating daily is often recommended in order to prevent the build-up of bacteria. In such cases, it’s recommended that you use a manual exfoliator such as an exfoliation sponge which you gently apply onto your skin in a circular motion after you cleanse.
On the other hand, those with normal skin should exfoliate around 2-3 times a week with a chemical exfoliant in order to renew their skin without disrupting its natural oil levels.
Pat the skin dry
After you wash your face, you must pat the skin dry with a clean towel instead of making the all too common and instinctive mistake of drying the skin with rubbing motions. Rubbing your skin creates a frictional force that is too harsh for the skin on your face, especially the delicate eye area. It can also strip the skin of moisture and cause your skin to become inflamed and irritated.
Therefore, beauty experts recommend that you pat the skin dry with gentle dabs using a towel. Ideally, you should use a towel made of soft fabrics like cotton or microfiber and avoid materials such as muslin which are too harsh for the skin. Furthermore, you must use a clean towel to prevent bacteria from latching onto your skin.
Following these straightforward steps will ensure that your face is washed correctly and that your skin maintains its natural oils. However, if you want to enhance your skin’s health even further, think about a cosmetic treatment like Morpheus8 that will dramatically improve the tone and texture of your skin, giving it a radiant glow for a long-lasting period.
About the Author
Jennifer Bell is a freelance writer, blogger, dog-enthusiast, and avid beachgoer operating out of Southern New Jersey.
