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The Skin Project: Cleansing review

Posted on Sunday, at • bought • 409 views

The Skin Project is a blog project showcasing bloggers' skin and skincare routines. It was started by Lianne over at UK beauty blog The Brunette Says. Posts go live every Sunday from December 1 2013 to January 26 2014. Want to see more posts? Look on Twitter for the hashtag #TheSkinProject.

IMPORTANT: if you have any sensitivities, or any skin problems, or even if you just want to know the best way to take care of your particular skin with its particular conditions, make an appointment with a dermatologist. Skin health is their medical specialty. They study skin's makeup, construction, health, and growth, and can help you deal with anything from problematic dry skin to rosacea to teen acne, to scars and hyperpigmentation and caring for aging skin. Reading beauty and skincare blogs is one way to get information. Speaking with an esthetician is another. But always remember: there are medical specialists whose primary job is to diagnose and treat skin problems, no matter how small or large.

The Skin Project: Cleansing

My cleansing routine is pretty simple: shower/cleanse in the morning, to get rid of overnight sweat and oils; and makeup wipes/face wash at night, to remove makeup and the day's SPF. I've moved away from using regular washcloths on my face and neck, because I want to be a little gentler with my skin as I get older. I also don't use any regular bar-soap on my face or neck, again to pamper that skin that's both the most often visible, and the most responsive to rough treatment.

When I was younger, I'd use Oxy or Stridex pads to cleanse my face in the morning. It got the oils off, and it *seemed* to help with breakouts. The active ingredient in both of those is salicylic acid - and too much can cause your skin to redden and dry out, even feel sensitive and raw. (But when I was a teenager, this was about all that would keep the daily oil slick in check.) For a brief while, at the very beginning of my teen years, I almost constantly smelled of Bonnie Bell cleanser - as, I'm sure, did lots of girls my age. My mom kept using this stuff well into her 40s, so it was always on hand. With Bonnie Bell or something like Stridex, using a toner afterward was almost necessary both to cut the sharp smell, and to ease the alcohol/chemical burning. (In hindsight, that should have been a big red flag right there…but for so many of us, that's how we grew up, so we didn't question it.)

I stick with Cetaphil for my morning face-wash, applying it with my hands and fingers. I've used special soaps from brands like Philosophy, microbead anti-bacterial face lotions, “gentle” face-wash bar soaps, and lots of other products. I've washed my face and neck with special face-wash mitts, super-soft facial cloths and wipes, plush microfiber fabrics, regular washcloths. I've come to the conclusion that special face wipes or facial cleansing cloths don't make enough of a difference in my skin's appearance or how it feels, for me to continue spending that money and storing those items. I just use Lever 2000 bar soap in the shower, and then use a scented moisturizing body wash afterward. For body washes, I tend to use either Oil of Olay or Dove - depending on what happened to be on sale.

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