Cleansing your face properly is the first and perhaps the most important step in your skincare routine to help you achieve healthy and beautiful skin. A good cleanser "prepares" your skin to receive the benefits from other skincare products. When your skin is clean, it's easier for other skincare products to absorb and deliver positive results!
Cleansers: What You Need To Know
1. Avoid harsh cleansers
Does your skin feel "squeaky clean" after cleansing? While you may think that's a good sign, that squeaky clean sensation might actually cause harm to your skin in the long run. Cleansers that make your skin feel "squeaky clean" risk removing important components of the skin such as cholesterol, lipids, or other natural moisturizing factors. After a while, you may notice your skin experiencing dryness, flakiness, peeling, redness, and irritation. This is because the skin has become more vulnerable as its natural barrier has been compromised. As a result, your skin is unable to hold and retain water.
2. Use low-pH cleansers
The natural pH level of our skin leans towards the acidic side, between pH 4.5 and 5.5. To ensure balance, you should look for gentle cleansers with a pH level within that range. Cleansers with a high pH (higher than pH 7) can be stripping to the skin, resulting in that "squeaky clean" feeling. If used in the long run, it may damage the skin and compromise your skin's ability to repair itself.
Kayman Beauty CoalFace Soap (pH level 7) and CoalBerry Cleanser (pH level 5.45) are both gentle cleansers that clean the skin thoroughly without stripping the skin.
When should you cleanse?
It is recommended to cleanse your face twice a day, in the morning and at night. However, it also depends on your skin and environment.
For example, those with dry skin can skip cleansing in the morning to avoid discomfort.
For others, it may be necessary to cleanse more than twice a day if they are exposed to the outdoors and sweat excessively, or want to remove makeup.
It is most important that you cleanse your face at night. During the day, dirt, pollutants, as well as dead skin cells build up on the surface of the skin. Therefore, nighttime cleansing is important to ensure that those impurities are removed as your skin rests and repairs itself while you sleep.
