Why your Evening Cleanse is the Most Important
I love cleansing my face. Its actually a little bit of a joke at my house just how much I enjoy my evening skincare routine. Now, I realize many people may not share my zeal for skincare BUT maybe if you understood WHY your evening cleanse could perhaps be the best thing you can do for your skin, maybe, just maybe I could convince more of you to take the time to give your skin a really thorough cleansing before bed. Who knows, maybe you'll even eventually look forward to it as much as I do.
Sleep is so important to our health and body. While we sleep, our body is busy repairing itself and recovering from the environmental stressors of the day. For our skin, this is when our facial muscles are able to relax, blood flow increases to help repair the skin and collagen is rebuilt. To help optimize our skins ability to heal and repair, it needs the day cleaned off. Each day our skin is exposed to the environment. Dirt, dust and pollution can truly wreak havoc on our skin. Even if you have a stay at home day, your skin is constantly shedding dead skin cells and producing sebum. Touching our faces also introduces bacteria. Now, add to that the products we use: moisturizers, make up, sunscreen and maybe even a little something from one of your meals makes it way onto your face. Yup, if you really think about it, our skin comes in contact with so much during the day. All of these thing can accumulate on the skin and cause problems such as pimples and clogged pores. Your evening cleanse is important because it washes all of those things away, leaving a fresh and clean slate for all of the products you spent (a lot) of money on to do what they were designed to do. Cleansing prepares the skin for recovery and repair while you sleep.
When I say cleansing, I don't mean aggressive cleaning or scrubbing. Harsh scrubs and most foaming washes strip the skin and disrupt is protective barrier. Keeping that barrier intact is super important to keep all the good things such as moisture in and the nasties, like bacteria out. Plus dry skin is slower to heal and easier to wrinkle. I adore oil cleansing as it is super effective at gently removing excess sebum, dirt and makeup from the skin while respecting the skins barrier and microbiome. Plus the oil provides the perfect slip to take an extra moment to sneak in a little facial massage (you all know how much I love facial massage). I recommend Roccoco Botanicals Soothing Oil Cleanser as its good for all skin types, even acne prone and it rinses completely off of the skin.
Here's 3 easy steps to get your skin prepped for the night:
Cleanse your skin, preferably with an oil cleanser. Take a moment to gently massage it in and help to emulsify any products you have on your skin. Rinse and follow up with a warm wash cloth.
Spray a few pumps of an essence, toner (alcohol free, please) or rose water onto a soft cotton round and wipe across your face.
Follow with your serums, treatment products and moisturizers. Hydrating and moisturizing products are important at night as your skin needs both of those to effectively repair and function at its best.
Simple and easy, right? I suppose I took the wordy route to simply say "wash your face". Just do it, your skin will thank you- I promise.
Wishing you love, peace and clean skin,
Renée