The ManicaPost
WE have all gotten used to washing our hands a gazillion times a day (and then moisturising them all night long), but when it comes to washing our face, there is still a lot of mystery involved.
On the one hand, you want to clear off all the gunk that accumulates on your cheeks, chin, and forehead during the day, but you also don’t want to over-wash your face, which can lead to the same kind of raw skin we’re seeing on our super-scrubbed hands.
In an ideal world, you should wash your face twice a day.
Experts agree that two is the magic number: wash once in the morning, and once at night.
Bacteria builds up on your skin when you sleep at night, so you need to wash it off in the morning, not only to give you a bracing wake-up, but to prime your face for your morning skin-care routine.
And of course, at night, you will want to wash off every trace of the make-up, oil, dirt and whatever other environmental pollutants that may have landed on your face during your daily travels, so your pores don’t get clogged.
But if you have to pick just one time, wash your face at night.
If you are worried that your skin is getting dry and flaky from scrubbing it too much, you can go ahead and take a break from washing in the morning, instead, splash some warm water on your face to hydrate your skin and start your day.
But don’t skip the night time cleanse!
The top later of the epidermis regenerates itself overnight, and you don’t want to obstruct that shedding process by clogging the pores with make-up, dirt, and oil.
Washing your face at night is a soothing part of your bedtime routine,which can help you fall asleep easier.
But make sure you are using the right products.
Your skin can get irritated from over-washing, so if you are cleansing twice a day, be sure to use a gentle, pH-neutral, non-sudsing cleanser for at least one of those.
There are two kinds of cleansers, medicated and non-medicated.
Swiping your face with micellar water at night after you have cleansed is an effortless way to get off every last trace of make-up.
Even if you are washing your face and think you did a great job, you use the micellar water after and you will see there are still little bits of make-up coming off.
How long should you be washing your face for?
It is difficult to remove sunscreen, make-up, or anything else on your face after just a few seconds of washing, experts say.
In a full minute, you should be able to massage the skin and work your way up to the hairline to remove dirt, contaminants, and oil.
How to wash your face like a pro
First off, you should use just your fingers, and not other tools like a loofah or wash cloth.
There’s just a lot of variability in how those interact with our skin.
Some of them have these exfoliating properties or a texture to them that can actually break the skin.
Also, use lukewarm water, since it interacts the best with skin and opens the pores, and then apply a few pumps of your cleanser.
Do a light circular motion across your face, starting centrally, and get it into the crevices around your nose and above your mouth, then work it out towards the forehead, ears, and jawline and then rinse. – Online.
