Why facial cleansing is so important

Why is Facial Cleansing so important?

Many of you may be leaving out the most important step of your skincare routine: cleansing. Either you haven’t really thought about facial cleansing and feel that water works fine, or you just don’t feel that daily cleansing is necessary and you’d rather spend your money on products that claim to ‘transform’ your skin. I believe that most people who don’t cleanse haven’t been taught how important it is; if you’re one of those people, I’m going to tell you why you should.

Picture yourself getting up in the morning and your routine throughout the day. You have a shower, get dressed, put on some make-up; you head off to work, but before you even get to work you turn the door handle to leave your house, you open the car door and you grip your steering wheel; you stop to get a coffee, pushing on the glass door of the café to walk in, and you take the coffee handed to you by the person behind the counter; when you get to work you again open the door, maybe you also push an elevator button before you finally reach your desk and you sit down; then you look at all the emails you’ve received overnight and the pile of paper work already starting to build on your desk and you put your head in your hands, rub your eyes and get to it.

And just like that 50 people have touched your face and it’s not even 9 am.

Okay, so that might seem a little extreme but my point is that throughout every day, whatever your routine, your skin can be subjected to some pretty harsh environmental factors. By the end of the day, dirt and surface impurities build up, acting as an unhealthy barrier and contributing to breakouts, sensitivity and ageing – even more so if make-up is added into the mix.

The barrier created by make-up and daily impurities prevents beneficial skincare products from being correctly absorbed into the deeper layers of the skin, instead leaving them sitting on the surface, wasted and ineffective. Unfortunately, water is simply not effective enough at removing this barrier – you need to cleanse correctly morning and night to create a ‘blank canvas’ that is receptive to treatment products and moisturisers.

Which facial cleansing products should I use?

The products that you cleanse with need to be suitable for your skin type, and should ideally contain nutrients that ‘feed’ the skin and prepare it for the treatment products and moisturisers that follow. It is because of these reasons that I love Sodashi’s range of Clay Cleansers so much. Not only do they effectively remove my makeup and any build-up of dirt, but they are so full of skin-loving ingredients that I can feel my face saying “THANK YOU!!” after every cleanse.

All Sodashi cleansers are jam-packed with beautiful natural ingredients that benefit different skin types, and because of the carefully selected essential oils, they contain Sodashi’s cleansers all smell divine. They smell so good, in fact, that even after many years of using Sodashi l still get excited to cleanse when I wake up in the morning and before I go to bed at night.
If you don’t get excited to use your skin care products, let me tell you, you are using the wrong the products. Now stop reading this and go cleanse your face!

DO’S AND DON’T OF CLEANSING 

DO

• Double Cleanse. The first cleanse will remove make-up and surface impurities that act as a barrier. Your second cleanse will then penetrate deeper into the skin.
• Cleanse both mornings and evening. The morning cleanse balances overnight oil production, while an evening cleanse will remove make-up, dirt, surface impurities, improve hydration and assist with the anti-aging process that occurs overnight.
• If you suffer from breakouts or congestion, try leaving your cleanser on for a couple of minutes before removing to give your skin a deeper clean.
• Follow your cleanse with treatment products and a moisturiser that meets your specific skin needs.

DON’T

• Don’t use a cleanser that leaves your skin feeling tight or dry. Many cleansers are formulated to foam excessively, giving the appearance of a deeper cleansing action. Don’t be fooled – more foam does not equal a better clean, and many of these cleansers strip the skin of important natural oils.
• In fact, the ‘foaming’ agent (Surfactant) is actually an ingredient which creates bubbles! Usually Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate or SLS.
• Don’t use a bar of soap designed for the body to wash your face – many bar soaps contain harsh detergents and additives that can strip the skin of natural oils, causing breakouts.