SKINIPEDIA - Skin Encyclopedia: How to Clean Your Skin?
How to REALLY clean your skin? A double-cleansing method.
MODERN LIFE is just rife with irony.
Today, we keep our breath fresh with
evil-looking strips that dissolve on the
tongue. We deodorize several parts of our bodies with
many different, anatomically specific deodorants, and we
ward off germs with tubes of antibacterial gel we carry in
our handbags. Yet—and here’s the irony—most of us are
walking through the world with dirty skin.
Truly dirty.
Research conducted recently at The International
Dermal Institute reflects that most women only spend about
20 seconds on the process of washing the face. Consider how
much time you spend on hair and makeup in the morning …
and only 20 seconds to prepare the skin for the day, or to purify
and refresh it at the end of a long day’s journey.
Simply, 20 seconds are not enough to get skin clean. And
remember that our skin is actually “dirtier” than it was in our
mother’s and grandmother’s time, thanks to the presence of
hydrocarbons in the air (call it smog, grime, or environmental
pollutants) and the advent of long-wearing, nearly indelible cosmetics,
such as sunblock and waterproof makeup. Neither of these
elements came into play until recently, and now they combine
daily with the skin’s naturally sticky sebum secretions to form a
thick, slick, waxy coating on the skin by the middle of the day.
A splash of water and 20 seconds with your cleanser can’t
penetrate this layer of oil-based debris that coats the skin’s surface.
In fact, even a more thorough cleansing with a surfactant-
based cleanser won’t fully melt down this barrier. The
sebum/smog/cosmetic barrier remains on the skin, preventing
moisturizers and other skin care products from doing their
work, as well as dulling the skin’s appearance and contributing
to congestion.
Double-cleansing, beginning with an oil-based first step, is what’s needed to keep the urban warrior’s skin clean. The previous generation was not entirely off-base when they used heavy, rich cold creams to remove their makeup. Unfortunately, most of those old-school formulas contained mineral oil or lanolin that left a greasy afterfeel, which could only be removed with alcohol.
But things come full circle. While mineral oil, lanolin and
alcohol are still bad news for skin, oil once again has been legitimized
as a star player. However, look for cleanse-prep products
that contain light, plant-based oils, such as olive, rice bran, kukui
nut and apricot kernel oils. A basic chemistry law is that “like
attracts like”—in other words, oil attracts oil. Only oil can attract
and dissolve oil debris most effectively. These plant-oils attract
and encapsulate the oily sediment that has accumulated on the
skin’s surface. Then, when water and a surfactant-based cleanser
are introduced, the encapsulated debris can be effectively washed
away. It’s a new technique for a new definition of “clean.”
How to REALLY clean your skin article continues HERE.
Soft Clean Moisture Rich Exfoliator ( Dry Skin )
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