When to Clean Your Face?

Skin must be cleansed frequently enough or infrequently enough, depending on its needs. It really does not matter when you clean it: most people do this as the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, simple because these times are convenient. Scientifically, going to bed in your make up really will do your skin no harm, but it certainly won’t do your bed linen any good. And since it is much easier to remove make up from the face than from the linen, it would seem wiser to cleanse your face before going to bed. In the morning, cleansing the skin is very refreshing. Also, if you have to apply make-up would get a better finish on the just cleansed skin.

How Often Must We Clean Our Face?

Most of the people do this 2-3 times a day; this is adequate for normal skins. But if your skin is oily or if you are exposed to a lot of grime and dirt during the course of the day, a more frequent cleaning is very essential – even 4-5 times a day may be necessary, using either soap or some kind of cleansing agent. If, on the other hand, your skin is dry, too frequent cleaning may harm it, especially if you use very hot water.

With this skin type it is best to avoid too frequent washing and you may even have to use a suitable oil-based cosmetic cleanser instead of soap, which has a drying effect. How you clean your face is equally important. If at the end of the day cleansing involves removing make up as well as grime and dirt that have accumulated during the day, then it should definitely be a thorough job.

Ordinary soap is often dismissed as useless and harmful by many people. This is absolutely untrue. The purpose of any cleansing operation (a term favored by some skin care people for a process most of us know as washing) is to remove dirt and grease. Ordinary soaps do this effectively (and sometimes even too thoroughly!). Soaps contain fats which work effectively as cleansers of grease and grime. Soaps will also remove some cosmetics and the water proof eye make-up products are not easily removed with soaps – for these, a cosmetic cleanser is usually required.

You must always rinse the skin thoroughly with water after using soaps. Soaps, if allowed to remain on the skin, attract dirt; it can also cause irritation of the skin. In areas where the water is hard, soap residue if left on the skin can combine with the calcium and magnesium salts in the hard water form a scum, and this is really very difficult. One unfortunate effect of soaps is that they remove some natural oils from the skin, making it dry. A related action is that, being alkaline; soaps neutralize the natural acidic film on the skin. Though these effects are temporary, they can cause problem in people with dry skin, during cold weather and in conditions of low humidity.

The dryness, however, is easily countered by using a moisturizing cream after washing with soap. If your skin is dry, use soap and water for one cleansing and at other times use a suitable cosmetic cleanser. However, in hot weather even a dry skin may tolerate several washings with soap and water. If you have a normal skin, then 2 to 3 washes with soap will not do your skin any harm, while an oily skin will benefit from an even more frequent cleansing with soap and water.

In an attempt to corner profitable sections of the soap buying market, manufacturers produce a variety of special soaps and advertise those making tall claims. Each one of us has wondered, at some time or the other, about which soap to buy. Here is a checklist to help you, when you next go soap hunting.

Medicated Soaps:

These are often favored by people who have spots. The medication usually added is an antiseptic (natural or synthetic). Actually, ordinary soap does a fairly good job of removing the bacteria from the surface of the skin. Medicated soaps do not further enhance the effects because they are in contact with the skin for a very, very short period. As a matter of fact, these soaps can, these soaps can at times, cause allergic reactions (to the medication added) and are best avoided, unless your doctor specifically advises you to use them.

PH Soaps:

Soaps and detergents generally have an alkaline pH If, because of its formulation, the pH of a soap falls near enough to neutral so as not to disturb the pH of the skin, then these soaps are called ‘pH-controlled’ soaps. The exact pH is sometimes stated on the label. Since the skin has a tremendous reserve, the pH skin has a tremendous reserve, the pH altered by ordinary soaps are only marginally superior to ordinary soaps.

Moisturizing Soaps:

These do not have any advantage over other soaps because the rinsing, after the washing, removes the moisturizing ingredients.

Super Fatted Soaps:

These contains fatty materials (which are not saponified) to prevent excessive stripping of surface oils. They also deposit an emollient film to replace some of the natural oils removed in the cleansing process – these soaps can be used on dry skins.

Liquid Soaps:

These are nothing but a dent in your pocket, because they offer no advantage over other soaps except being aesthetically appealing and less messy to use.

There are several alternatives to soap and water cleansing – creams, milks, lotions, foams, oils, gels and liquids. All these are rather closely related – much more than you can imagine. All are basically a mixture of oil, wax and water but manufacturers modify the formula to suit different skin types – those for dry skins remove less oil form the skin, and many even add some, whilst cleansers for oily skins are designed to remove more oil and add none to the skin.

It is also possible to clean your face equally efficiently with baby oil, liquid paraffin or vegetable oils. All of these remove make-up and dirt. But they are not pleasant smelling. A cotton pad dipped in fresh milk is a cheap but equally effective cleanser. If you do use any of these, and especially if you have an oily skin, it is necessary to wash the residue off with soap and water and to dab your face well with an astringent.

Right Way to Use a Cleanser:

Gently is the right way. Do not stretch, drag or pull your skin. It is important to remember that it is the cleanser which removes the make-up and not you; you only remove the cleanser, so do not be too vigorous in your attempts to either rub it in or to remove it. With the cleanser in your hand, let your fingers glide over your skin, or use light patting movements with the pads of your fingers.

Upward and outward movements have frequently been suggested as the right way to apply all kinds of creams to the face – this is thought to prevent or delay the eventual loss of muscle tone and the resultant sagging of the skin. Leave the cleanser on for a minute or two so as to loosen the dirt and make-up. Then gently remove it either with cotton wool or with tissue paper, again using upward and outward movements. Wipe over the face again with a damp cotton wool ball, and if it does not come away clean, repeat the cleansing process. Finally rinse with water.

A recent concept in skin cleansing is epidermabrasion this is literally, mechanically rubbing off the dead cells from the skin surface. Various substances are available among the most familiar one are a variety of granules (sand, sawdust, silica and pumice) and slowly soluble abrasive materials (like sodium tetra borate decahydrate). These granules can also be incorporated into soaps and creams and form the basis of some of the peeling face masks available in the market. Other materials for epidermabrasion are sand paper, hemp cloth, cellulose of the luffa plant, sea sponges and manmade sponges of cellulose and polyurethane.

Woven webs can also be used for epidermabrasion, the best known being the ubiquitous wash cloth, which provides a very delicate level of epidermabrasion. The most recent development in epidermabrasion technology is the use of non – woven polyester webs. Most skins tolerate this treatment well, though it should definitely be avoided on the very dry skins. Moisturizers are cosmetic products which to some extent provide a practical answer to problems of water loss from the skin. Though water is the missing ingredient, in dry skins, application of water alone is not the solution as this has only a temporary effect because it evaporates too fast! Though oil equally essential (it serves to hold water on to the skin surface), it alone also can’t moisturize the skin.