SKINCARE 101: Facial Cleansing Demystified 🤦🏼♂️💦
It’s not sexy, but it’s probably the most important step in your skincare regimen. You wouldn’t cook with a dirty pan, right? LOL But seriously, proper cleansing -- both AM and PM -- is the key to healthy skin. It’s right up there with eating healthy foods, going to the gym, and brushing your teeth!
In the AM, you want to cleanse to start fresh, removing any product from your PM skincare regimen. Your AM cleanse can be a simple one (you don’t need to overdo it!). I use just a micellar type cleansing water. Cleansing waters are super gentle and were actually created for French women in Paris where the water is so “hard,” their cleansers weren’t working effectively. Cleansing waters were formulated to work without additional water. My fave is the Dr. Jart Dermaclear Micro Water. It’s made with this cool technology based on hydrogen mineral water which penetrates the skin surface more deeply to cleanse more effectively. You just sweep it over your face with a cotton pad and, well, voilà! As a man with stubble, I’m not a fan of cotton pads because the cotton sticks to my face. So, in Japanese tradition, I use my hands by swiping and massaging the cleansing water over my face then gently rinsing off with lukewarm water (NYC water is perfect!).
In the PM, this all changes. Cleansing is a much more serious step as you need to remove makeup (no, not me!), sunscreen (def me!) and pollution (ugh me!!) from the day. The K-beauty double cleanse is ideal for this as it completely, thoroughly, undoubtedly clears everything way, wiping the slate clean so your skincare works as intended and you’re doing what you need to in order to maintain optimal skin health. That means a cleansing oil! Oil breaks down oil. It’s the perfect cleanser for removing makeup and sunscreen. Any cleansing oil will do, really. Unless it’s overly fragranced (say it with me “fragrance is bad in skincare!”), you can’t go wrong. I love the Mamonde Lotus Micro Cleansing Oil. It’s silky soft and smells like fresh flowers and botanicals — because it’s made with fresh flowers and botanicals. Then, I follow with either a gel cleanser or foam. My two go-tos are also from my fave K-beauty brand @drjart — the Dermaclear Micro Gel Cleanser and Dermaclear Micro Foam. Both contain the same hydrogen water tech and do the job perfectly. You can pick them up at Sephora! [IG: @sephora]
🖤 SKINCARMA
