Written by: Katie Ladner, L.E
You’re tired and exhausted from the work day, kids, or just life. You have had a glass of wine and it’s getting late, you’re kinda lazy and just want to say screw it and go to bed. SSSSTTTTOOOPPPP DON’T DO IT! You need to go wash your face. I hear you saying “why do I need to do that?!” I didn’t wear make-up, my skin doesn’t feel dirty so give me a good reason why I shouldn’t be lazy. My friends by the end of this blog you will NEVER go without washing your face twice a day again.
So why is cleansing your face so essential in the evening? Washing your beautiful face at night will help you look younger longer. First step of any beauty regimen is cleansing because it helps clean off the impurities of the day that we accumulate on our skin and in our pores. Most women wear make-up or a tinted moisturizer that leaves a film after a long day’s work. Men typically have oiler skin and tend to perspire throughout the day. Research has shown physiological changes occur overnight in our skin. Our skin is our biggest organ and believe it or not it can tell the difference between day & night. There is even evidence linking circadian rhythms to cellular cycles (where cells divide to replenish dead cells) and DNA repair, which is a natural process to detox itself. So my folks this means while we are fast asleep our skin is using oxygen to repair itself. When we don’t wash our face we are preventing this process from happening. So when you say “aw screw it I am too tired to wash my face” you are depriving your skin of nutrients and you’re actually your own worst enemy and responsible for your skin’s aging. The aw screw it method blocks your skin’s natural exfoliating process causing build up and dull looking skin. Our blood flow is at its peak while we are sleeping, this nocturnal flow is where skin increases our absorption and penetration of the products that are left on our face. A missed opportunity at night can lead to excess sebum, build up of dead skin cells, larger pores and dehydration. A simple cleanse will emulsify all the junk from the surface of the skin. So again my beauties missing your nightly cleansing routine is a missed opportunity to help your skin look and feel its best.
So now comes another question…
If I washed my face at night , why do I have to get up in the morning and wash it all over again, isn’t it still clean??? The answer is NOPE!
So we just got done chatting about all the wonderful things our skin does at night while we are getting our beauty sleep, so if you were paying attention this means rise and shine baby cakes time to slough off your dead skin cells. Ladies and gents I don’t want you washing with just water either. You need a cleanser to emulsify and exfoliate off the dead skin cells and excess sebum the skin produces over night. Here’s a good analogy. If you were in the kitchen cooking with meat you wouldn’t just wipe down the counter with water afterwards right?! You would use a disinfectant to ensure the counter top was clean. Same thing for your face, water will only remove 65% of the dead skin and excess sebum. So you wouldn’t want to put make-up on skin that is not prepped and cleaned properly. So my friends this is why cleansing morning and evening is so essential to your skin’s health and the anti-aging process.
Okay now that we got why you need to cleanse morning and evening, let’s talk about what type of cleansers are good for your skin type.
Most normal to oily skin types prefer a gel cleanser, and let’s be honest no matter what skin type I think most people like the squeaky clean feeling of a gel cleanser. But there are some people that just need more moisture. For those who are normal to dry skin a milky cleanser seems to do better for them and is less stripping.
My opinion…
I am a true normal to dry and tend to run on the dehydrated side as well. So I tend to use a gel cleanser at night to remove dirt and debris off of my skin and a milky cleanser in the morning to cleanse, hydrate and nourish my dry and dehydrated skin.
So what I would give a client who is normal to oily or slightly acne prone? I would have them use a gel/exfoliating/treatment cleanser in the evening and gel cleanser in the morning to help hydrate the skin. Here’s a little secret, some people that are oily aren’t truly oily, but dehydrated. When the skin gets dehydrated it will produce more oil to help put moisture back in the skin. Proper hydration and skincare routine will help combat the oiliness among other issues with problematic skin.