Cleanser

It's easy to overlook the value of the cleansing part of a skincare routine, but it's the most important part. You can slather yourself in the latest and greatest cream designed to give you a glowing complexion, but if your skin isn't spotlessly clean, and by that I mean pores clean and clear, what good is it? Your skin won't reflect the light nicely no matter what you put on it and you won't have a smooth surface for your make-up.

Some of the products we use every day, such as sunscreen, will cling on unless you use a cleanser. Zinc, in particular, can be a real pore-clogger, so you need to wash it off every night.

But there's more to cleansing than just washing off the day's build-up of dirt. Massaging your face with warm water is a great way to gently stimulate the blood circulation that helps bring new oxygen and take away all the cellular grime in the lower levels of the skin, so effectively you're cleansing inside and out.

In short, cleansing your skin twice a day is really good for it.

How do cleansers work?

Two types of Gluey Oil on your skin,  

First is the sebum that comes out of the oil glands (inside hair follicles). It waterproofs your skin and traps bacteria, dust and pollution. 

Second is a fatty glue that holds your skin cells together known as ceramides. Exfoliators brush away or dissolve the ceramides so the dead cells fall off and new cells are revealed.

There are basically only two ways to wash away oil and fats and these are with detergent (called surfactants in the trade) or with more oil, and that's how cleansers work. If it feels like creamy then it mostly having oil and water emulsified. The ones that feel as though they wash away the oil altogether have detergent in them.

Choosing a cleanser

No matter how oily your skin, how many pimples, blackheads or white heads you have, how open your pores are or how grotty you may think your skin is, a good cleanser should never leave your skin feeling stripped, tingling, dry, irritated, flaky, red or itchy. If it does, bin it.

Harsh products only make oil problems and pimples worse. It's the same as washing hair - if done, it often like scalp that will get oilier between washes. Your oil glands try and compensate for feeling dry and go into overdrive.

Many dermatologists say dirty skin doesn't cause pimples and that they are caused by excess oil production, follicle blockages, hormonal reactions and types of bacteria. Over-washing will not be a solition.

It's okay to have a little detergent in a cleanser, but if your skin feels tight afterwards, that's too much. You can have a look on the items that are listed for detergents.

Detergents/surfactants commonly used in cleansers:

Sodium laurel sulfate

PEGs or polyethylene glycol

Coco amidopropyl betaine or coco betaine

If these are high listed, look for other products.

Oils commonly used in cleansers:

Cetyl alcohol

Olive and other naturally derived oils such as jojoba, macadamia and parsley seed.

Personally, I'm a fan of oil cleansers for any skin type, dry or oily. I recommend brands such as Shu Uemura, Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown, L'Occitane, The Jojoba Company or Aesop. Alternatively, you can try a completely natural option such as sweet almond oil, extra-virgin olive oil, sunflower seed, sesame or coconut oil. Rub the oil into dry skin, pat over with a little water so it turns a creamy-whitish color, then rinse off with warm water. Using a face washer helps remove the oil and also gently exfoliates dead skin cells.

//How often to cleanse//

There's no need to cleanse more than twice a day. If your skin feels sweaty and dirty at other times, wipe it with warm water and a flannel.

GalSkin