Cutting through the crap...cleansing tools

How to get the most out of your cleanser

Now this depends on type of person you are, I have tiered this in levels of skin care obsession/a results driven hierarchy

1.       Wash and go community: If you are a wash and go kinda person…remove your make up with an oil or eye make up remover, use your cleanser with your fingers tips and splash off with water.

2.       Kind of concerned about your skin but also have a level of CBA (can’t be arsed)… remove your make up with an oil or eye make up remover, use a cleanser with your fingertips and remove with a muslin cloth or flannel.

3.     Kind of concerned with your skin and love a product but don’t want to spend a fortune…remove your make up with water +/- cleanser and THIS wondrous thing.These in fact work with no cleanser and just alone to remove your make up, or supercharge your make up removal step with it.
If you want to be a cheap skate like me…primark do one that is EXACTLY the same. £15 vs £2. Just saying…
You should then do a second cleanse and remove this

 

4.       Concerned with your skin and love a gadget… remove your make up with your oil or eye make up remover and the above cloth, then GADGET TIME

Gadget type	Info	Examples	Who for and tips
Cleansing brushes	There are a lot of these “cleansing brushes” appearing on the market. The truth is that the Clarisonic (see below) is the ONLY brush with patented technology which allows the brush head to vibrate, rotate, pulsate etc giving the “sonic cleansing effect”. All of the other brushes – Clinique, number 7 and so on are literally a vibrating handle with a brush attached. This make them literally no more effective that rubbing a manual toothbrush on your face. Fairly pointless really, as whilst they are cheaper than the Clarisonic, they are still an investment. So…don’t bother unless you are going to do it properly and buy a Clarisonic.	I will only recommend the actual Clarisonic https://www.clarisonic.co.uk/shop-our-products-clarisonic-mia-2/CL12.html I use the Mia as cannot see what I would need the much more expensive smart profile for. The brushes need changing so I would rather save the money to spend on these.	If you have very sensitive skin, this may be too much for you, only use it once a week as your basic exfoliation or if you are wearing a lot of make up. It removes A LOT more make up than cleansers alone. I found the first time I used it, my nose blackheads disappeared within a week. I could also be sure there was no make up or dirt left in my pores which removed at least one worry. DO NOT USE WITH CLEANSING BALMS. You will end up with a really messy brush that is impossible to clean.
Silicone sonic devices	These vibrate in a similar way to the clarisonic but are much easier to clean The benefit of both devices is that you can also incorporate facial massage. Just as it is vital for muscle tone and lymphatic drainage to move the body and exercise, the same applies for the face. Especially in the dawn of botox-for-all, adding a tool or your hands to massage is great. Use it to sculpt along the jaw and raise the eyebrows. I can do a separate post on this if you would like	The original foreo luna is around £130. Unless you have a gianormous face that you need a big device to clean, there is no benefit getting this one over the luna mini/luna mini 2. You can also save a lot of money https://www.thehut.com/foreo-luna-mini-2-various-shades/11692734.html	Suitable for all skin types as less abrasive. Easier to clean. Can be used with all cleansers but you will need a foaming cleaner e.g. a hand or body wash to clean it after an oil to avoid it getting sticky and gross.

Muslin cloths

https://www.paiskincare.com/products/organic-muslin-face-cloth-pack?variant=26946013127 – these need to be changed either every time you remove make up, or every other if you are careful and only ever use one side at a time. If just using for second cleanse then you can stretch to every couple of days.

http://girlyessentials.com.ng/product/the-original-makeup-eraser-pink/

Cutting through the crap (on your skin) part 1 - science and cleansers

First things first, the most important step to your skincare is cleansing your face. 

1)      1f you leave make up on your skin, that means you are leaving oil, silicone, chemical spf (my nemesis) along with all the rubbish from the environment that has become trapped in it throughout the day - namely your own oils, pollution (blow your nose after spending a day in the city and see if you'd want that left on your skin) , and bacteria particularly from phone surfaces or touching your face. None of this is beneficial to good skin. 

Yes some people may be blessed - we all know the story "ooo my friend has slept in her make up for 50 years and she still looks 12". Unfortunately "she" is a myth 

Not only will this dirt lead to problems such a blocked pores and spots, it will also increase the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Think of painting a wall, imagine continuously layering and layering more and more paint. Is that last layer going to look smooth and shiny? No. Its going to crack. Do you want this for your face?

This leads to issue number…

2)      If you do not remove the make up, dirt and debris and dead skin, whatever product you put on next, whether it costs £2 or £200 will be completely pointless as it will not be absorbed. You will effectively just be paying to apply nice treatments to your finger tips, which fine if all you’re hoping to do is ant age your finger prints.

Now consider you have a good habit with cleansing, are you doing more damage that the above 2 points would cause? You may well be if you are using the wrong cleanser.

Generally if you have a “normal” skin. That means, not prone to skin conditions such as acne, rosacea, eczema etc you can use pretty much anything you like…..EXCEPT foaming cleansers. Would you shampoo your face? No (and if you would, you are probably not the target audience of this blog).

I will explain the reasons behind this. Foaming cleansers contain products such as sodium laureth/lauryl sulphate as well as some new fangled derivatives of these that they like to disguise but generally end in sulphate. These strip the skin of oil. Surely this would be beneficial for acne? The answer is no. The body wants to maintain equilibrium and so if you remove oil, your body will work to make more. Just as when you pluck that pesky chin hair, 2 more will come to its funeral.

In this way, foam which strips is counter intuitive to pretty much everyone except those with a clinical oily skin, which is pretty much no one, and even for those people, there are better options.

It is a similar case with physical exfoliating cleansers. As an acne veteran I used to have an obsession with all things scrubby. I felt if I could just remove the top 500 layers of my skin, the dirt would be able to release and maybe I would find a layer that didn’t have acne. This was not the case. Acne is an inflammatory process. If you scrub and weaken the barrier of the skin, not only does this inflame it, it leads to bacteria being able to enter and boom, spots ahoy.

Similarly, if you scrub and have any dryness of sensitivity you will be left with more of it.

You are best to stick to chemical exfoliants – which I will discuss in a separate post.

It is worth noting at this point that make up wipes are banned in my skin religion. They do not effectively remove make up. They mostly contain a load of crap. They have no place in a skin care routine unless you are a drunk student and you use one whilst hugging the toilet. This is a similar case for micellar waters. A lot of them contain alcohol or other nasties. They should be used for eye make up removal only prior to a proper cleanse.

So…that’s a lot of what not to use…what SHOULD you use.

Bear in mind ALL skin is sensitive. If you use the wrong product or abuse it, it will flare up. It can also become sensitised to ingredients at any point. My skin used to be like a rhinoceros, I could put anything on it and it not cause a reaction. Now, I can’t use fragranced products, go in the sun etc. Just in the same way you can develop food allergies, the same can occur with skin.

Skin type	Cleanser type	My faves
Dry. No rosacea or acne	Anything nourishing, you are some of the few that can use a cleansing balm or oil	EMMA HARDIE Moringa Cleansing Balm https://www.cultbeauty.co.uk/emma-hardie-amazing-face-moringa-cleansing-balm-with-cleansing-cloth.html This is a solid form of balm, you scoop out a 50p size, warm it in your hands and it transforms into an oil SARAH CHAPMAN SKINESIS ULTIMATE CLEANSE https://www.lookfantastic.com/sarah-chapman-skinesis-ultimate-cleanse-100ml/11165911.html Botanics Organic Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm 97% Organic 70ml This one is pretty much undistinguishable from the significantly more expensive elemis pro collagen cleansing balm. http://www.boots.com/botanics-organic-hot-cloth-cleansing-balm-97-percent-organic-70-ml-10231452
Combination. Dry in some patches, get the occasional spot around the time of the month, maybe the odd blackhead around the nose but no whiteheads	Cream cleansers The reason why I say you should not be prone to regular blocked pores, is that a lot of these cream cleansers contain shea butter or other emollients which can cause serious cloggage problems on those prone to closed comedones. It is ok for blackheads as these are solely caused by poor cleansing habits. If the oil is exposed to the environment (which is what makes it go black), the it can easily be removed.	Lixirskin Electrogel Cleanser https://www.cultbeauty.co.uk/lixirskin-electrogel-cleanser.html Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser – oldie but goodie http://www.boots.com/liz-earle-cleanse-and-polish-hot-cloth-cleanser-100ml-10189830 MONU Gentle Cleanser https://www.lookfantastic.com/monu-gentle-cleanser-180ml/10555374.html
Oily Acne prone Closed comedones Rosacea Sensitivity Post procedure or after too much product application	Basic, fragrance free gel cleansers	CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser  http://www.boots.com/cerave-hydrating-cleanser-236ml-10246701 I only link one, as there is only one that I have found which is oil free, fragrance free, and works.
	Bear in mind, any of the other skin types can also use a generic gel cleanser too. It covers all bases, will remove the dirt from your skin but cause no irritation. The other benefit is that these are CHEEAAAPPP. So, save with your cleanser, spend on your treatment products.
People with bulletproof make up	Make up remover oil. You can use the cleansing balms or oils mentioned in the dry skin row, but you are only using it to wash off make up so I do not see the point of spending a lot of money to waste it. Similarly if you are broke to blocked pores – even blackheads – in any form, these balms will be too heavy. So à	L'OREAL PARIS DERMO EXPERTISE SKIN PERFECTION 15 SECOND MIRACLE CLEANSING OIL - ALL SKIN TYPES https://www.lookfantastic.com/l-oreal-paris-dermo-expertise-skin-perfection-15-second-miracle-cleansing-oil-all-skin-types-150ml/10766071.html This turns milky once you massage into the skin and add water. As the name suggests, it takes seconds, and you look like a hilarious panda in the process which is always a joy. You then follow with the appropriate cleanser for your skin type LA ROCHE-POSAY RESPECTISSIME WATERPROOF EYE MAKE-UP REMOVER https://www.lookfantastic.com/la-roche-posay-respectissime-waterproof-eye-make-up-remover-125ml/11355388.html

Tune in for part 2 to discuss how to get the most out of your lovely new cleanser!