So after sharing that We're All Wrong and don't know how to clean our faces properly, I got a few offline questions from friends that I should probably address for you all.
Quick re-cap: Apply cleanser to a DRY face. Only use a tiny bit of water to move it around if it's too dry. Wipe off with a warm-hot, wet washcloth. Repeat if you've worn a lot of makeup, or sunscreen.
I know...it's still mind blasting.
So let me clear up some things.
Do I wash my face twice a day?
- Yes. For now. And I use a new wash cloth each time. Yes, this means a few more items in the laundry basic but it's totally worth it. There are the occasional days where I work from home and never leave, in which case it only gets one wash.
Do I wash my face and repeat?
- Yes I do and it's surprisingly great. I wash my face twice at one time if I'm taking makeup off or after a gym session. But I believe my Bare Minerals cleanser has a lot to do with this success. I wouldn't even attempt this with some of the things I've used in the past. And like Caroline says...no foamy stuff!
Can I still wash my face in the shower?
-Yes. I am not trying to add steps to my routine. I spend my life trying to shorten it actually. So getting out of the shower and washing my face is not going to happen. But here's what I do. I get into the shower and put a dry wash cloth in the corner. I no longer stand fully under the water like the movies teach you. I don't hold my face under the running water any more. Here is my shower sequence:
1) Wash and condition hair first, by tipping head back into shower spray rather than standing in it fully. I use my hands at my hairline to try and keep as much water off my face as I can.
2) scrub/wash body
3) Misc. That's right, I just used Misc in a shower sequence. This is for anything else. shaving, pumicing, and/or practicing your dance routine for your never to performed show. You know..Misc.
4) LAST, I wash my face. I use the dry cloth to pat off any water that is on my face and palms. Then work the cleanser onto my face, wet the wash cloth and take it off, and repeat if necessary.
I wash my face last because once you use the washcloth there isn't a lot of water left on your face. And if you do it first, your face will dry before the end of your shower. And you don't want that. Because if your face dries before you pat off the water with a towel, that means the water evaporated and with it evaporated the moisture that was in your skin.
I learned in the winter, when I was having a bad case of eczema, that if I dried my face last after coming out of a shower that it left my face with a lot more moisture. This was a pretty big revelation for me and my skin changed a lot because of it. But now that I'm coming out of the shower with hardly any water on my face, it's a matter of getting the timing right. I dry from the feet up and try to go as quickly as I can. NO RUBBING. Be nice to your skin people. I mean, think of the ridiculous things you've put it through. The scrapped up knees, the bug bites, the prom glitter. Treat it with some care. Try and pat as much as you can.
I make sure I get to my face before it has dried on it's own and promptly get some Yes To Grapefruit serum on it, which locks in all the moisture! After that, I can take my time a bit and go into my lotioning schedule.
It's now been weeks since my face has been under running water. In fact, it's in contact with water very very little. When I think about it, it all makes sense. If you think about how your skin feels after a day in a pool or the ocean than you realize how drying it is. And all those times I stand in a hot shower for ever, contemplating life and fixing the world's problems, I always come out looking worse than I went in and use a thousand products to counteract my dull skin.
There's another amazing benefit to this whole thing. When I travel, my skin goes nuts. The water is so different everywhere that I have no idea what my hair will turn out like and I have no idea what rando skin issue I'm going to be forced to tackle in a hotel or friend's bathroom. This washcloth business really saves me from all of that! Not with my hair, but definitely with my skin! Because it's minimal water contact, I'm not attacking my skin with all these new elements that this new water contains! I haven't tested this theory out heavily, but it just makes sense right? I did do this one weekend at my sisters and my skin really stayed in tact more than it ever has before, so I'm going with I'm right on this one.
If I had the chance to go back and talk to Young Nikki, I wouldn't stop her from all the ridiculous junk she did, but I would share with her all my new skin knowledge. Who knows, if I wasn't wrestling with my skin so much maybe I wouldn't have done all those ridiculous things.
Naaah. I totally still would have. And probably more.
Quick re-cap: Apply cleanser to a DRY face. Only use a tiny bit of water to move it around if it's too dry. Wipe off with a warm-hot, wet washcloth. Repeat if you've worn a lot of makeup, or sunscreen.
I know...it's still mind blasting.
So let me clear up some things.
Do I wash my face twice a day?
- Yes. For now. And I use a new wash cloth each time. Yes, this means a few more items in the laundry basic but it's totally worth it. There are the occasional days where I work from home and never leave, in which case it only gets one wash.
Do I wash my face and repeat?
- Yes I do and it's surprisingly great. I wash my face twice at one time if I'm taking makeup off or after a gym session. But I believe my Bare Minerals cleanser has a lot to do with this success. I wouldn't even attempt this with some of the things I've used in the past. And like Caroline says...no foamy stuff!
Can I still wash my face in the shower?
-Yes. I am not trying to add steps to my routine. I spend my life trying to shorten it actually. So getting out of the shower and washing my face is not going to happen. But here's what I do. I get into the shower and put a dry wash cloth in the corner. I no longer stand fully under the water like the movies teach you. I don't hold my face under the running water any more. Here is my shower sequence:
1) Wash and condition hair first, by tipping head back into shower spray rather than standing in it fully. I use my hands at my hairline to try and keep as much water off my face as I can.
2) scrub/wash body
3) Misc. That's right, I just used Misc in a shower sequence. This is for anything else. shaving, pumicing, and/or practicing your dance routine for your never to performed show. You know..Misc.
4) LAST, I wash my face. I use the dry cloth to pat off any water that is on my face and palms. Then work the cleanser onto my face, wet the wash cloth and take it off, and repeat if necessary.
I wash my face last because once you use the washcloth there isn't a lot of water left on your face. And if you do it first, your face will dry before the end of your shower. And you don't want that. Because if your face dries before you pat off the water with a towel, that means the water evaporated and with it evaporated the moisture that was in your skin.
I learned in the winter, when I was having a bad case of eczema, that if I dried my face last after coming out of a shower that it left my face with a lot more moisture. This was a pretty big revelation for me and my skin changed a lot because of it. But now that I'm coming out of the shower with hardly any water on my face, it's a matter of getting the timing right. I dry from the feet up and try to go as quickly as I can. NO RUBBING. Be nice to your skin people. I mean, think of the ridiculous things you've put it through. The scrapped up knees, the bug bites, the prom glitter. Treat it with some care. Try and pat as much as you can.
I make sure I get to my face before it has dried on it's own and promptly get some Yes To Grapefruit serum on it, which locks in all the moisture! After that, I can take my time a bit and go into my lotioning schedule.
It's now been weeks since my face has been under running water. In fact, it's in contact with water very very little. When I think about it, it all makes sense. If you think about how your skin feels after a day in a pool or the ocean than you realize how drying it is. And all those times I stand in a hot shower for ever, contemplating life and fixing the world's problems, I always come out looking worse than I went in and use a thousand products to counteract my dull skin.
There's another amazing benefit to this whole thing. When I travel, my skin goes nuts. The water is so different everywhere that I have no idea what my hair will turn out like and I have no idea what rando skin issue I'm going to be forced to tackle in a hotel or friend's bathroom. This washcloth business really saves me from all of that! Not with my hair, but definitely with my skin! Because it's minimal water contact, I'm not attacking my skin with all these new elements that this new water contains! I haven't tested this theory out heavily, but it just makes sense right? I did do this one weekend at my sisters and my skin really stayed in tact more than it ever has before, so I'm going with I'm right on this one.
If I had the chance to go back and talk to Young Nikki, I wouldn't stop her from all the ridiculous junk she did, but I would share with her all my new skin knowledge. Who knows, if I wasn't wrestling with my skin so much maybe I wouldn't have done all those ridiculous things.
Naaah. I totally still would have. And probably more.
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