Fresh faced for a new season

What it takes to truly cleanse the skin and spring into a fresh look this season, and how pharmacy can help.

Bad habits, people who are harmful or unpleasant in a pervasive or insidious way, old clothes that don’t fit now, and dead skin are all things we need to shed so we can start afresh no matter what the season.

It’s easy for people to get lost amid the never-ending skin care content that shows us the brand new cleansers and exfoliants that influencers are pushing on to their followers, so it’s important to stay on top of what works and what the best advice is for each individual and unique person when it comes to cleansing.

 Benefits of cleansing 

If people stopped washing their faces, then the world would stop. Actually, it wouldn’t, but their pores would increasingly become clogged, which may be just as bad. According to Dr Lela Lankerani, writing in the newsletter of Texas based Westlake Dermatology, without properly or deeply cleaning the face, the skin can experience a combination of severe redness, dryness and irritation, as well as appear dirty, oily, greasy and aged.¹

Regular cleansing is essential to keeping the skin looking radiant and healthy, she adds, and it helps other skin care products to be absorbed while assisting the maintenance of proper pore size. Cleansing encourages appropriate skin hydration and prevents the production of excess oils.

 The routine 

So, what is the perfect cleansing routine?

Key points to advise include not overdoing it, being gentle and using the products most suitable for a person’s skin type.

Not everyone must adhere to all the following steps suggested in Healthline’s article, ‘What order should I follow for my skin care routine?’² (In this guide, the steps experts recommend as compulsory in a routine are.)

Morning routine: 

• Antioxidant serum.
• Spot treatment.
• Eye cream.
• Sunscreen. 

Night-time routine:

• Makeup remover (if wearing makeup).
  
• Spot treatment.
• Eye cream.
• Face oil.
• Night cream.

Face cleansing

We all have our own unique personalities, and our own skin concerns, which means what works for one may not work for another. According to Healthline’s ‘How often should you actually wash your face?’ article, not everyone should cleanse their face multiple times a day.

Healthline suggests these cleansing routines suitable for different skin types and circumstances:³

• Dry, sensitive skin: Cleanse once daily, preferably at night.
• Oily or acne-prone skin: Twice daily, morning and night.
• Combination: Twice daily, morning and night.
• If you wear makeup: Twice daily, morning and night.
• If you exercise or sweat: Twice daily, as needed.

Cleansing myths 

According to beauty business and retailer Sephora Australia, these are the major cleansing myths that those aiming for effective skin care should forget:⁴

• Oily skin needs harsher cleansers.
  Intense cleansers that people often turn to if they have oily or acne-prone skin can actually do more harm than good. These cleansers can create an imbalance in the skin’s pH, which results in a tight and itchy feeling.
• Oil cleansing is not for oily or acne-prone skin.
  Oil cleansing can benefit all skin types. The appropriate cleansing oils should never clog or congest the pores. In fact, they make it easier for dirt and makeup to be removed.
• Double-cleansing strips skin of moisture.
  Using two gentle cleansers can cleanse the skin more thoroughly, but the very harsh and intense cleansers should certainly be avoided in a double cleanse.
• Exfoliating is bad for dry skin.
  While some exfoliators can be too abrasive or grainy, many are gentle on the skin. Exfoliants help get rid of dead skin and improve the overall texture.

Pharmacy products 

For acne prone skin

• Thursday Plantation Tea Tree Face Wash for Acne.
• Garnier Pure Deep Pore Wash.
• L’Oreal Paris Pure Clay Charcoal Detoxifying Gel Wash.

For sensitive skin 

• Sukin Sensitive Cleansing Gel.
• Bioderma Sebium H20 Micellar Water Cleanser.
• Natio Gentle Foaming Facial Cleanser.

For dry skin

• Biore Hydrate & Glow Gentle Cleanser.
• The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser.
• Thayers Hydrating Milky Cleanser with Hyaluronic Acid.

References 

1. Lankerani Dr L. 2014. ‘Skin cleansing 101: ‘Why washing your face is important’. com/blog/skin-cleansing-101-why-washing-your-face-is-important/#:~:text=Regular%20cleansing%20is%20essential%20to,the%20production%20of%20excess%20oils.
2. Healthline, 2023. ‘What order should I follow for my skin care routine?’ com/health/beauty-skin-care/order-of-skin-care
3. Healthline, 2019. ‘How often should you actually wash your face?’ com/health/beauty-skin-care/how-often-should-you-wash-your-face
4. Sephora Australia, 2019. ‘Forget these 4 cleansing myths’. com.au/beautyfeed/article/skincare-cleansing-myths

Published in Retail Pharmacy Assistants September pharmacy-assistants-september-2023/