Everything you need to know about Cleansers

Okay y'all, this week I am giving you the 411 about everything you need to know about cleansers. It is probably one of the most underrated part of your skin care routine. Think about how many times a day you touch your face, walk past running cars, debris flying in the wind, or even your kids touching your face, and so many more things come into contact with our skin that we don't think about.

Each of those scenarios add microbes, pollutants, dirt, and stress on the skin. BUT it is so easy to just cleanse the skin, and it takes away all those things from the day. (This is why I always recommend cleansing at night if you can only do your skin routine 1x a day)

You can also think of cleansing as an anti aging step, not just for washing away make up or "acne". The pollutants and grime that come into contact with the skin can cause changes in the skin, especially pollution. Those can actually cause free radical damage ( aka oxidative stress, aka damaged cells). Plus applying your products without cleansing first can trap the grime even more.

The tricky part? Finding something that doesn't affect your stratum corneum, and still can adhere to dirt and grime with leaving all "the good stuff" behind. Super sudsy high pH cleansers can actually affect the pH of your skin and make it too alkaline, which disrupts the microbes on the skin. Feeling tight and dry after cleansing is not the goal.

If you struggle with acne, I recommend you talk to a licensed esthetician (such as myself) to help really narrow down which kind of cleansers would be best for your skin and specific type of acne!

Types of Cleansers:

• Gel Cleansers - can be gentle or very powerful and stripping. Knowing how to read ingredients is a must. Especially in our Colorado climate.

  
  

• Cream Cleanser - cleanses very well, but some can actually be stripping as well!

  
  

• Cleansing Oil - one of my favorite ways to cleanse the skin! I love it for sebaceous filaments (those "blackheads" on the nose)

  
  

• Cleansing Balms - great alternative to cleansing oils if you aren't loving the oil texture, or travel a lot!

These are my FAVORITE Cleansers:

• Lira Clinical Bio Enzyme Cleanser - I have used this for 4+ years and is my hands down favorite. Super gentle gel cleanser. Smells good, and has other rockstar ingredients (plus you can use it as an enzyme mask)

  
  

• Face Reality Barrier Balance Cleanser - My favorite creamy cleanser that removes makeup! I love this for teens and young adults, or people who need a gentle cleanser in a dry climate. You can use it morning and night, and use it as a double cleanse!

  
  

• Epicutis Oil Cleanser - My favorite Oil Cleanser. Removes makeup, love to use as facial massage oil. PLUS I can remove it with cold water.

  
  

• Lira Clinical Iluminating Cleanser - I don't have cleansing balm I love, but I do love this creamy cleanser! Love it for dry aging skin, packed with antioxidants, olive oil, skin brighteners, and anti inflammatory ingredients too.

These are some surfactant ingredients that I prefer in cleansers I use!

• Coconut-derived surfactants such as Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, or Cocamidopropyl Betaine, and Coco Glucoside.

  
  

• Amino Acid based surfactants such as Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate.

  
  

• Oil Based cleansers that use jojoba esters or oil, Sunflower Seed Oil, Meadowfoam Seed Oil, or Safflower Seed Oil.

  
  

I tend to shy away from any SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) or classic soap ingredients like sodium hydroxide, or potassium hydroxide, as all of these have a high pH and can be very stripping to our acid mantle and skin barrier.

How to Cleanse:

I know it might seem silly, but actually not everybody knows how to cleanse their skin! That is okay, here I am to teach you the basics.

1. I like apply my cleanser to dry skin, then adding water as needed to massage into my skin. I apply about a nickel size amount of cleanser, and I massage into my face and neck for about 1 minute. (make sure to get near the ears, above the lip, and the eyelids/lashes too!) I typically will do an oil cleanser, or creamy cleanser on this step!

   
   

2. Rinse with cool water, and pat dry with a clean cloth.

   
   

3. In the evenings, I like to double cleanse, so I will either use the same creamy cleanser, or use a gentle gel cleanser, and repeat step 1 and 2. In the mornings I just do 1 cleanse.

   
   

PS! There is such a thing as washing your face too much! It will make your skin dry, tight, and can cause the skin to become imbalanced.

I really hope this helped provide you with some useful knowledge around cleanser and what to look for! There are bajillion cleansers out there and I know it can be overwhelming. I would love to help you find your perfect cleanser, so please don't hesitate to reach out to me! You can email me at sara@truepennystudio.com