A lot of people may think facial cleansing is common sense. Washing your face should be no harder than eating a piece of cookie. Turn on the faucet, lather the soap, rub your face a little, rinse and done! Easy...right?
Well, not quite as easy as that. Just think about the following questions for a bit. What’s the right temperature for washing your face? Should you choose the temperature based on season or your skin type? What kind of cleanser should you choose? Should you be washing your face using soap or special facial cleanser? Can body soap be used on your face? Do you lather first in your palms then apply the foam to face? Or wet your face first and then apply the cleanser directly? How should you rub your face to achieve the most effective cleaning? The manly way of palm over face and rub around or daintily use your fingertips to brush the dust off your face?
Feel overwhelmed? (I promise this is the last question.) Washing your face incorrectly can worsen your skin problems or cause other issues to arise. On the other hand, correct facial cleansing can increase the absorption of subsequent serum/lotion that you apply, lessen the severity of other skin problems, promote cell growth and circulation, etc. So here is a few tips to washing your face...the right way.
1. Water temperature should be lukewarm. I never actually know how warm/cold that is, so here is what I do: test the water (with my palm) to be slightly cooler than my body temperature.
Well, not quite as easy as that. Just think about the following questions for a bit. What’s the right temperature for washing your face? Should you choose the temperature based on season or your skin type? What kind of cleanser should you choose? Should you be washing your face using soap or special facial cleanser? Can body soap be used on your face? Do you lather first in your palms then apply the foam to face? Or wet your face first and then apply the cleanser directly? How should you rub your face to achieve the most effective cleaning? The manly way of palm over face and rub around or daintily use your fingertips to brush the dust off your face?
Feel overwhelmed? (I promise this is the last question.) Washing your face incorrectly can worsen your skin problems or cause other issues to arise. On the other hand, correct facial cleansing can increase the absorption of subsequent serum/lotion that you apply, lessen the severity of other skin problems, promote cell growth and circulation, etc. So here is a few tips to washing your face...the right way.
1. Water temperature should be lukewarm. I never actually know how warm/cold that is, so here is what I do: test the water (with my palm) to be slightly cooler than my body temperature.
2. Do not use the shower head to spray your face. I know it feels great, but high pressure can rinse away too much of the oil on your face, leaving your face feeling dry. The best way to wet/rinse your face is scoop up the water and gently splash onto your face.
3. Choose a gentle facial cleanser. I would highly recommend going through the ingredients. I believe in that the fewer the ingredients the better (and I don’t have to filter through too many). Watch out for ingredients that you are allergic to. I know a lot of ingredients names are all frightening and long, and most of us wouldn’t bother memorizing what’s good and what’s bad. So...listen to your skin. If your face feels dry/tight after washing, your facial cleanser is too strong.
4. The harder you wash...NOT the better. You only want to clean off all the dust, dirt, sweat, extra oil and dead skin cells. Rubbing your face really hard would take away too much of your skin’s protectant. Just gently massage your face with your fingers. To know how “gently massage” would feel like, find a table/desk and put both of your forearms on the tabletop. Overlap your hands so that your fingers of one hand is on top of the back of your other hand. Relax your wrists and feel the pressure with the back of your hand. That’s how “gently massage” would feel like. You can put your head on the table/desk too, but that requires some flexibility and a secluded location.
5. Do not wash your face often. The maximum number of facial cleansing is twice a day. Washing your face too often is the same as washing too hard or using strong cleanser. It takes away your skin’s natural defense barrier.
