Autumn and spring are the season for renewal. After the extreme opposite seasons of heat and cold exposure — among other non-friendly weather conditions — your skin needs an extra help with its natural regeneration. Mastering the art of double cleanse is one of the main pillars for a flawless skin, follow these simple 2 steps and your skin will show you gratitude blossoming completely renewed, healthy and radiant as never before.
When I was on my 20’ I thought that “washing my face” was as simple as some soap and water. Maybe I would throw in a quick exfoliator scrub into the mix if I was feeling particularly motivated, and a mask if things got real fancy. After the initial soap-and-water combo, I would also swipe a cotton pad loaded with toner over my face — that without fail — would always come away covered in leftover makeup and/or dirt. Therefore, the soap and water weren’t removing everything my face had accumulated over the course of the day and there was probably still more left even after the cotton pad.
Rather than change my night-time routine, I assumed this was normal and just kept on doing my thing adding more steps in order to get finally a fully clean skin. On top of that, because of stripping away the natural oily barrier our skin produces to hold in moisture; my skin started to react defensively producing more oil and bringing the occasional undesired pimple. I thought my skin was not being cooperative and I resigned myself to just having a fastidiously fussy face.
Nowadays, as a cosmetic chemist and understanding clinically how the skin behaves, I know what was failing in my process and how to do it right: The Double Cleanse.
After nearly 3 months of religiously double cleansing every night, my skin looked happier and, while there were other natural beauty products that undoubtedly contributed, it all started with the double cleanse.
Even though it’s a bit higher maintenance than what you’re probably doing, in fact it only adds a couple of minutes top to your routine, I promise — and it’s totally worth it.
Here's Why and How
I don’t want to bore you to death with cosmetic chemistry nerd wording, but I’ll share a couple of relevant facts you will find interesting.
Cleansing is about polarity — every type of dirt has a specific electric charge; hence the cleanser needs to have the right charge that attracts or catches that dirt.
First Cleanse
In order to remove oil-based dirt (like makeup) you need to wet thoroughly your face first, so the water-soluble dirt is removed and exposes the oil-based dirt. To remove the oil-based dirt you will use a product that contains surfactants(*) — ideally mild and naturally derived one's, so they don’t strip away your skin natural protective barrier.
These products can be cleansers in the form of a cream or soapy face washes. It is important that these products contain mild surfactants, so they don’t cause irritancy. Ideally you want to find light emollients (oils) that soften and re-condition the skin like grape seed, cotton or apricot kernel oil without interfering in the cleansing process — although usually their percentage in these formulations is very low. To effectively remove oil-based grime you need to use the ‘roll up-roll back’ mechanism massaging your skin to successfully catch the dirt into the product used and completely wash it away when rinsed off. PS — Don’t be alarmed when your mascara and eyeliner raccoons its way up to your eyebrows and down to your cheeks…it means the process is working. Use slow, firm movements to work the cleanser into your skin. Rinse off with lukewarm water and finish using a soft cotton washcloth soaked in warm water to completely remove the product.
Second Cleanse
For your second step, a mild exfoliation cleanser will get to work on the dead cells still lurking on your skin. Our Floral Cleanser excels at removing effectively impurities and dead cells without stripping the skin of its natural protective barrier. It can simply be mixed with water, or you can add other active ingredients by mixing it with our nourishing Mist of Roses or our revitalising face mist Dew Drops as well as a beautiful oil like sweet almond oil for the most sensitive skins. Play with it, get creative and find your personalised beauty routine. While you’re massaging, you’re also helping improve blood flow and activate your lymph nodes for even brighter skin.
Pro tip: For supreme SPA like cleansing, take a clean cotton washcloth and let it soak in warm water for a bit. Squeeze it out, so it’s damp (but still warm) and lay it over your entire face for about 30 seconds. The warmth and moisture will intensify the treatment. Think of this step like a mini-steam for your face. Then gently use that same cloth to wipe everything away.
This second step will prepare your skin for the moisturising treatment. Apply your favourite serum, oil, moisturiser… whatever your heart desires. But do make sure you’re using something nourishing post-cleanse since this is prime time for your skin to receive active good-for-you ingredients.
Now you are ready to stand back and admire your thoroughly cleansed, deeply moisturised, happy and healthy skin!
Why is so important to correctly cleanse your skin? Because dust, makeup and any other sort of dirty build-up will interfere in your skin health. Besides, having thoroughly cleansed skin also makes it much easier for whatever products you use after — serum, moisturiser, oils, etc. — to be absorbed and do their jobs more efficiently.
Repeat every night before bed. Seriously.
This how you glow naturally 😉
Sonia x
Note: (*)I know surfactants have a very bad reputation, but as many other cosmetic ingredients there is a vast myriad of surfactants in the market, not all of them are the same. In fact, emulsifiers (ingredients that bind water and oils into an emulsion like a cream) solubilisers (ingredients that make soluble oils in water like essential oils in a water-based product) or superfatting agents (lipids that have a water loving portion, these are the types of oils normally used in wash off products) are also types of surfactants. The most important thing when looking at a surfactant is that no matter if a natural ingredient has gone through a transformation process the final ingredient remains natural and doesn’t have synthetic traces. I will talk about this in another post.
Comments