We all want clean, fresh-looking skin but, modern lifestyles do not make this easy when you consider that environmental dirt and toxins as well as make-up, creams and foundationare added to skin every day.
In the main, women spend only about 20-seconds each day washing their faces, which is a very small amount of time considering the amount of time spent washing hair or applying make-up. In a nutshell, 20-seconds isan insufficient amount of time to keep your skin clean.
Whenever you leave the house and expose your face to the environment, your skin must cope with pollutants but couple this with sebum or the cosmetic barriers applied, many of your skincare products simply won’t be able to work.
When skin becomes blocked or too oily, spots and acne can occur. If you have problem skin, choose an active product containing glycolic acid, niacinamide or salicylic acid as this will help with the prevention of spots.
Toxic substances which include drugs, pesticides and fats or inorganic minerals are deposited underneath the skin’s surface. If your skin is not processing and eliminating substances of waste, a backlog of these toxic wastes can accumulate.
Substances may deposit in the fatty tissue which may then re-enter the bloodstream and this will only lead to health issues. Once skin efficiency improves, a cleanse may even help with allergies or sensitivities so from this you can see the importance of looking after your skin.
Using a cleanser is important although just one cleansing bout at a time is not likely to be enough. A double cleanse may still leave residue i.e. oil-soluble substances especially if your skin is oily. It’s also best to cleanse morning and night-time to make sure that your skin is fresh and clean.
Cleansers contain surfactants that are responsible for the cleansing motion and these emulsify fat or debris which includes make-up, sebum, sunscreens or hydrocarbons and this allows them to be solubilized when it comes to rinsing the cleanser off.
There is a water-based section of the cleanser which works on the sweat and environmental pollutants.
When a double-cleanse is utilised, dirt is removed but, once cleaned, your skin can then absorb all the healing products which you will apply once you have finished the cleansing process.
If you don’t do this, all those expensive products will simply sit on top of dirty or dead skin cells and so, will not make any difference to the health of your skin at all.
Note that active ingredients work best, penetrating the skin once it is fully cleaned.
Those cleansers containing plant-based oils may also dissolve any layers of oil-based dirt and oil molecules bond and emulsify with water so to trap and remove any debris that might be there, this means, when you cleanse a second time, the cleanser is able to penetrate much further and so, the results are better.
Harsh cleansers are not ideal for any skin so it best to begin cleansing with an oil -based cleanser which is suitable for either oily or acne skin.
When you do this, the ingredients dissolve through sebum much more easily and do not strip the protective barrier. Oil cleansers will help with most skin types.
When you apply your cleanser, start in the centre of your face. Massage in an upwards direction and then, move your hands outwards.
Keep pressure soft so not to stretch or drag your skin. A massage will help to boost blood circulation which delivers even more nutrients and oxygen to the skin.
Leaving your face dirty with dead skin cells or even left-over make-up can lead to your having skin irritation, blocked pores and spots.
If the blocked pores are not treated and cleansed, you may get blackheads or whiteheads and then, inflammatory acne can develop.
Don’t make the mistake of not cleansing sufficiently, but start a new skincare regime like proactive and cleanse each day, morning and night and make your beauty regime work for you and not against you.