Skin Care Tips for Acne: How Often to Cleanse
I love sharing skin care tips, especially when it's something so simple that changes everything, like...
how often to cleanse your face.
Believe it or not, this makes a ginormous difference.
Did you know that adults tend to over-cleanse? It's easy to get caught in this trap.
You think that if you just keep washing and washing, there will be no bacteria, no clogged pores, no oil, and absolutely no way for acne to form.
But not only is this wrong, it's misguided.
You're doing way more harm than good when you cleanse too often.
You can't just wash the acne away.
I like to think of your skin as being similar to your gut.
Sounds weird, right? Stick with me.
You probably know that your digestive system has both good and bad bacteria.
When you take antibiotics, it kills bacteria, unfortunately killing the necessary good bacteria along with the bad.
To replenish good, healthy bacteria in your gut, you need to take probiotics.
Or if you didn't take antibiotics at all, and you eat a healthy and nutritious diet, your gut will be healthy and well balanced, though you could certainly benefit from some extra probiotics.
Your skin operates much the same.
We indiscriminately strip all the oil from our face when we cleanse (like antibiotics) and then have to replace the lost moisture with a moisturizer/face oil (like probiotics).
But if you didn't strip all the oil from your face in the first place, your skin would be able to balance itself out, though it wouldn't hurt to add a little extra moisture.
If you cleanse too often, your poor dried-out skin will likely kick into overdrive, producing too much oil to compensate, and you get stuck in this cycle of stripping the skin and replacing lost moisture twice a day, every day.
So here are my tried and true skin care tips on facial cleansing for acne: Cleanse once a day.
Take the challenge -- cleanse less.
I dare you! This simple step completely changed my life.
As winter is quickly approaching, my skin is getting drier.
Even though we associate oily skin with acne, dry skin can also cause acne as the dead skin cells build up and clog pores.
Cleansing is still important, but you want to take it easy on your skin.
A certain amount of facial oil is a good thing! This is what keeps our skin youthful and supple.
I choose to cleanse at night with an oil-based cleanser to remove any makeup, followed by extra virgin coconut oil.
In the morning, the only thing my face gets is just plain old water.
I also exfoliate twice a week with a gentle rice-based exfoliant.
Use a gentle cleanser.
Put aside those strong acne cleansers with salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, and sulfates.
Your skin is not a bathroom counter, so stop bleaching and dousing it in chemicals.
If your acne is severe (and I have so been there), try a new approach like African black soap.
If your acne is pretty mild, try cleansing with something simple, gentle and effective like an oil cleanser.
But steer away from mineral oil! I like DHC's cleansing oil because it's olive oil based.
Boscia makes a great one too.
Buff away dead skin.
Cold weather means dry skin.
To keep your skin soft and your pores clear, exfoliate 2-3x a week, but be sure not to scrub too hard.
If your face is red or you feel any pain, you've gone too far.
Try a scrub with rice or jojoba beads.
Change your pillow case.
If you never go to bed with makeup on, but you're waking up with new acne, then you should start changing your pillow case more often.
If possible, change it every night so you're never sleeping on old oils and bacteria.
how often to cleanse your face.
Believe it or not, this makes a ginormous difference.
Did you know that adults tend to over-cleanse? It's easy to get caught in this trap.
You think that if you just keep washing and washing, there will be no bacteria, no clogged pores, no oil, and absolutely no way for acne to form.
But not only is this wrong, it's misguided.
You're doing way more harm than good when you cleanse too often.
You can't just wash the acne away.
I like to think of your skin as being similar to your gut.
Sounds weird, right? Stick with me.
You probably know that your digestive system has both good and bad bacteria.
When you take antibiotics, it kills bacteria, unfortunately killing the necessary good bacteria along with the bad.
To replenish good, healthy bacteria in your gut, you need to take probiotics.
Or if you didn't take antibiotics at all, and you eat a healthy and nutritious diet, your gut will be healthy and well balanced, though you could certainly benefit from some extra probiotics.
Your skin operates much the same.
We indiscriminately strip all the oil from our face when we cleanse (like antibiotics) and then have to replace the lost moisture with a moisturizer/face oil (like probiotics).
But if you didn't strip all the oil from your face in the first place, your skin would be able to balance itself out, though it wouldn't hurt to add a little extra moisture.
If you cleanse too often, your poor dried-out skin will likely kick into overdrive, producing too much oil to compensate, and you get stuck in this cycle of stripping the skin and replacing lost moisture twice a day, every day.
So here are my tried and true skin care tips on facial cleansing for acne: Cleanse once a day.
Take the challenge -- cleanse less.
I dare you! This simple step completely changed my life.
As winter is quickly approaching, my skin is getting drier.
Even though we associate oily skin with acne, dry skin can also cause acne as the dead skin cells build up and clog pores.
Cleansing is still important, but you want to take it easy on your skin.
A certain amount of facial oil is a good thing! This is what keeps our skin youthful and supple.
I choose to cleanse at night with an oil-based cleanser to remove any makeup, followed by extra virgin coconut oil.
In the morning, the only thing my face gets is just plain old water.
I also exfoliate twice a week with a gentle rice-based exfoliant.
Use a gentle cleanser.
Put aside those strong acne cleansers with salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, and sulfates.
Your skin is not a bathroom counter, so stop bleaching and dousing it in chemicals.
If your acne is severe (and I have so been there), try a new approach like African black soap.
If your acne is pretty mild, try cleansing with something simple, gentle and effective like an oil cleanser.
But steer away from mineral oil! I like DHC's cleansing oil because it's olive oil based.
Boscia makes a great one too.
Buff away dead skin.
Cold weather means dry skin.
To keep your skin soft and your pores clear, exfoliate 2-3x a week, but be sure not to scrub too hard.
If your face is red or you feel any pain, you've gone too far.
Try a scrub with rice or jojoba beads.
Change your pillow case.
If you never go to bed with makeup on, but you're waking up with new acne, then you should start changing your pillow case more often.
If possible, change it every night so you're never sleeping on old oils and bacteria.
Source...