Ever wonder how many times a day you should be washing your face? People with acne tend to over wash their face stripping all of the natural oil from the skin and causing the barrier to impair. We take a kinder, more moisturizing approach to healing acne-prone skin. Our recommendation is to start almost every single client, even the oiliest of the oily, on Go Gently Cleanser. We don’t want to aggravate or over dry your skin with a medicated cleanser.
The American Academy of Dermatology recommends washing your face twice daily. According to them, washing your face upon waking up cleanses it of the dead skin cells that accumulated overnight. Washing it at night, after your daily commute or a sweaty workout, clears it of accumulated oil, sweat, and dirt.
Why It’s Important To Do A Cleanse Before Bed
Washing at night makes sense – all that sweat, oil, dead skin, and sunscreen needs to get the heave-ho before you get your beauty sleep. But even though the following 8 hours will be occupied by nothing but sleep, it’s still essential to give your face another cleansing in the morning.
Night is a period of restoration for the skin, and while it’s restoring itself, you’re perspiring and your complexion is shedding skin cells. As we sleep oils and dead skin cells build up on our skin.
What If you Work-out In The Morning or at Night?
Wash your face in the morning AFTER your workout. If you hit the gym in the mornings – there’s no need to cleanse your face before you get all sweaty. If you feel the need to do something upon waking, simply rise your face with cool clean water and be on your way.
If you work out in the afternoon, do the morning routine as usual and then work out. Don’t cleanse prior to working out. Just work out. Cleanse your face after your workout and do your evening routine… Yes, even if it’s only 4 p.m.
Working out during your lunch hour poses the biggest question. I recommend to try to do morning or later afternoon workouts, but if you have to do it at noon, I would suggest a simple rinse of the skin in the morning followed by moisturizer and spf. Hold off on applying all of your serums until after your lunchtime workout–complete your full morning routine after the workout, and then do your evening routine around 9 p.m.
AND – Always remember to keep a clean towel on hand for drying – use a dirty towel and you risk exacerbating any pre-existing skin conditions (or giving yourself one that never existed before).
Is It Possible To Wash Your Face Too Much?
Face washing is a good thing. However, as with anything, too much of a good thing can be bad.
As we previously discussed, experts generally recommend washing your face twice daily. Washing your face too much may irritate the skin. It dries it out and forces the skin to produce extra oil. This, in turn, will end up trapping more oil. The skin becomes dry, itchy, and red, which leads to acne.
Even if you’re not sweating, day-to-day life puts you in contact with elements that clog pores, and those elements should be removed regularly. Throughout the day, we are also exposed to environmental pollutants.
Those pollutants could be infectious, like bacteria or viruses. It could be allergens, it could be dirt, it could be all types of things, but they’re things that we don’t want to have prolonged contact with our skin. Healthy skin is skin that is cleansed of those kinds of things.
How To Choose A Face Wash
For most people, you should wash your face twice daily with a gentle, fragrance-free cleanser. But if you’re dealing with certain skin ailments, you should wash once with the gentle cleanser and the other time with a medicated wash that’s specific to your ailment.
If you’re curious about what kind of cleanser you need to be using, read this blog post on picking the right facial cleanser for your skin type and or book an appointment for a consultation and we will be more than happy to address any questions you have about your skincare regimen.
Skincare can be a constant struggle and may often seem like an uphill battle. However, when it comes to maintaining a radiant, healthy complexion, knowledge is power. Knowing the answers to questions like, “How often should you wash your face?” and “Should you wash your face twice a day?” can give you the upper hand on your blemishes and breakouts.
Cheers to Clear!
Rene