Hopefully, at this point in your life, someone has advised you to wash your face. How often to cleanse your face might be your next question. It is generally recommended by experts to cleanse your skin morning and evening; but in truth, the answer isn’t so straight forward. Keep reading as we get down and dirty with this hot topic.
IN A NUTSHELL
Main Takeaways: Whether or not you wash your face once a day, twice a day, or more depends on your skin type and your daily activities.
Good to Know: Be sure to dry your face with a fresh towel to avoid getting bacteria from the towel on your freshly washed face.
Recommended Products: So Clean! Facial Cleanser and Prince Charcoal Detox Mask.
What Do You Wash Your Face With
Sorry, but simply splashing your face with water does not count as washing your face. To thoroughly and properly cleanse your complexion, you’ll need a facial cleanser.
Facial cleansers come in a variety of forms and are often sold as loose gels or creams. Some cleansers also contain exfoliants, such as microbeads, sugar, or certain chemicals– but more on that later.With a plethora of cleansers on the market, choosing the right one for you can feel like a daunting task. Many formulas claim to offer various benefits: acne-fighting, tightening, moisturizing, etc.
It’s important to stay away from sulfates and other detergents, as these can be too harsh on the skin. Here at Fleur & Bee, we prefer to side with simplicity and advocate for the use of gentle, naturally derived ingredients to properly nourish and revitalize your skin.
Should You Cleanse Your Face Once, Twice, or Three Times?
Answering the big question of how often to cleanse is not so cut and dry. Many professionals advise incorporating this step into one’s routine twice a day, starting with once in the morning. This initial cleanse removes dead skin, oils, lingering night time products, and even impurities and allergens that may collect on your pillowcase and be transferred to your face while you sleep.
The second wash in this dual-cleanse plan should take place just before bedtime. This will help bid farewell to everything that comes in contact with your face throughout the day (things like makeup, sunscreen and other products, oily buildup, dirt, bacteria, viruses, environmental pollutants, etc.).
This may seem obvious, but if you are working out at the gym during or going for a morning run, and you come home with a face full of sweat– that is definitely another time to wash your face during the day.
Deciding How Often to Wash Your Face
Every face is one of one, so there’s no one size fits all approach. A number of factors may be at play here; when deciding how often to wash your inimitable mug, you may want to consider the following:
- Skin Type. With a properly formulated, gentle cleanser, like our So Clean! cleanser, most skin types will benefit from cleansing twice a day. However, if you happen to have extremely sensitive skin that is better off with a “less is more” approach, an evening cleanse may better suit you.
- Locale. Those who live and work in more urban environments, where pollution levels are undoubtedly higher, could be faced with more skin stressors, even at night. This makes a strong case for that morning cleanse and can better help set the stage for a fresh new day.
- Lifestyle. Those who have an active lifestyle or engage in midday workouts might be wise to tack on an extra wash, even if they already engage in a twice-per-day routine. While breaking a sweat offers a number of benefits for your skin, it does so by purging pores of oils, bacteria, and other impurities, which if not properly washed away, can potentially wreak havoc on your skin.
To summarize: washing your face morning and evening is typically recommended, but based on your particular skin care needs and lifestyle, you may need to cleanse a little more or a little less. Just note that it is important to refrain from overdoing it, as you may strip your skin of its necessary oils and damage its natural protective barrier.
Other Ways to Keep Your Skin Clean
It’s important to note that there’s more to keeping your skin clean than just using the proper cleanser at a certain frequency. If you routinely wear makeup, starting your nighttime skincare routine with a remover may help make the most of your cleanser, allowing it better access to pores.
Exfoliating is also super important for sloughing off dead cells and other pore clogging impurities, but it should be done separately from cleansing. Exfoliating every time you wash can wear at the outer layers of our skin and cause dryness, irritation, and even possibly lead to premature aging. Instead, opt for a separate exfoliant, appropriately formulated for your skin, and limit your use to 1-3 times per week.
You may also want to consider amping up your cleansing routine with a mask, like our detoxifying Prince Charcoal. This “spa in a jar” naturally draws out stubborn impurities, radically cleanses pores, and proactively provides added protection against environmental stressors with a variety of antioxidants.
Finally, after working so hard to keep your pores squeaky clean, the last thing you want to do is smudge ‘em up with a bacteria-laden cloth. Similar to the clean pillowcase thing, one can’t over-estimate the power of a fresh towel. Don’t use the same one for each wash and be sure to refresh yours regularly.
No matter how often you wash your face, be sure to do so naturally and with great care.
