Fairface Podcast Episode 18:
8 Face Washing Tips for Healthy Skin
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Fairface Podcast transcript / show notes
Hello there my friends! Welcome back to another episode of the Fairface Podcast.
In our last eposide, "Do I really need to wash my face?", we talked about why it is important to wash your face. If you haven't listened to that episode, number 17, I would highly recommend it. I went into more detail about the benefits of face washing, and why it's important for healthy skin but here's a quick recap of the top 3 points.
1st, we discussed how there really is something on your face that you need to wash off, even if you can't see it.
2nd, we talked about how your skin can absorb what is on it, (meaning the harmful things like pollution, dirt, bacteria, left-over makeup, etc.) so it's not a good idea to leave it on there.
3rd, we discussed how dirty skin can actually block what can nourish it, and why it's important to give your face a clean slate.
So again, if you haven't listened to that episode, #17, Do I really need to wash my face?" make sure to go back and listen to that one too.
Now in that last episode, I promised you an extra episode with
8 Tips for Healthy Face Washing,
so let's get to it
The first tip for heathy face washing is
1. Wash gently.
This first tip probably doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who follows along with us or uses our soft washcloths. Over-washing can be just as harmful, or even more so, than not washing your face at all.
One of the tips we give our Fairface Washcloths customers, is to wash gently, without scrubbing their skin. A little gentle exfoliation is ok, but it becomes a problem when you are over-exfoliating the heck out of your skin thinking the harder you scrub, the cleaner it will be.
What happens, is your skin can becomes red and ruddy - almost a pained perma-red coloring to your skin due to washing too harshly. An esthetician friend of mine in Portland said this is one of the problems she sees most often in her spa - over-exfoliated skin.
The redness is really due to micro tears that you create on your facial skin that can let the moisture escape and things like pollution, dirt, make-up and bacteria in to your skin.
In face washing, there really can be too much of a good thing! Which, speaking of overdoing it, my husband and I were eating some of those gummy sour patch kids the other night and I could not stop grabbing just one more. I literally ate those until I had a stomach ache, and even after I had a stomach ache, I kept eyeing the bag thinking that I might have just one more. Really?
So I finally had to say to my husband, please take these out of the room. Evidently I can't be trusted with those sour patch kids, but anyway, that's totally off topic about my unhealthy habits, but what I'm saying is, it really is possible to have too much of a good thing, so it's important not to overdo it with your face washing and just to use gentle products and methods.
And now you know that evidently I can't have just one sour patch kid.
The 2nd tip for Healthy Face Washing
2. It is recommended for most people to wash your face in the morning, and at night, and after you exercise and work up a sweat.
This general rule applies to most people. You can refer back to our previous episode as to why this is important. So, at least make sure you're washing your face in the morning and at night, so that's 2ce a day, unless you exercise.
3. Use warm water to wash your face, not hot.
Hot water can actually strip the healthy oils away from your skin and cold water washing, just doesn't do the job.
I recently shared on Instagram:
When washing your face, water temperature matters
TOO COLD
Cold water doesn't remove the grime effectively
TOO HOT
Hot water can be too harsh and cause dryness
JUST RIGHT
Warm water helps loosen the dirt while preserving the natural hydrating oils on your skin
I learned this information from Maffi Skin Care Clinics out of Arizona and I thought it was good information to create and share @mafficlinics
The 4th tip for Healthy Face Washing
4. Use clean soft cloths to wash and dry your skin and not the same towels and washcloths you use on your body.
This goes in line with #1, to wash gently but it goes a step beyond that.
You should always be using a clean washcloth and clean towel on your face, that is different than the one you've been using on your body.
In one word, bacteria. No one wants that. You don't want to transfer bacteria from your bath towel onto your clean face.
I didn't always do that, shockingly.
I remember back in the day when I was a teenager and maybe even young adult, just grabbing the towel off the rack that I used for the week, and drying off, face and all.
But the last several years, probably after being diagnosed with Rosacea, I became obsessed with always using a clean washcloth to wash my face and another clean cloth to dry my face every time I wash it. I can still use the same body towel throughout the week, but a clean cloth and clean towel for my face (and your face!) is a must.
5. If you wear a lot of make-up, or thick sunscreen on your face, you'll want to consider washing your face 2ce, which is also called double-cleansing.
If you have ever washed your face and still see make-up on your drying towel, or you slathered thick sunscreen on your face and still feel it after washing once, it's best to wash your face again to make sure your face wash has totally removed the make-up or sunscreen.
And take your time washing your face, this really could be its own tip. You want to give your cleanser time to do its job and loosen and pull away the make-up, sunscreen, dirt, and grime, away from your skin so you can wash it away with water.
The 6th tip for Healthy Face Washing
6. Stay away from products with fragrance, which is a common skin irritant, even for people without sensitive skin.
This is a hard one for many people, because part of the draw of many skin care and hair care products is the lovely way they smell. I'll admit I do it too sometimes, I buy products for my hair and body with a scent, usually minimal scent, but I just never put anything like that on my face because my skin would not tolerate it.
Often my body skin can tolerate it or my hair but sometimes it can't. I put it on and think it will be fine and at some point my skin can start to itch and even get rashy.
This can even apply even to "all natural" products that use flower extracts and natural sources for their scents. Some skin just can't tolerate fragrance, it's too irritating, and even if you don't have sensitive skin, you can still have a reaction to different scented products. If you just can't help yourself because it smells too good, I would just tell you to be aware, that there might be irritation, especially if you use it on your face.
7. Wash your face with a gentle cleanser and water rather than using cleansing wipes.
The reason I say this, is, a podcast I like listening to, @pureskintalk, Devyn, a licensed esthetician in CA, really nice person, really helpful, and always answers my questions when I reach out to her, she tells it like it is, and in a way you can understand....In one of her episodes, she talks specifically about not using face wipes because, essentially, they just smear everything around on your face and leave a residue behind.
Without using a cleanser and water, it doesn't actually wash anything away and off of your skin. And that makes sense. She said some people still really like using face wipes and they would disagree with her, but I happen to agree with everything she said. I don't use face wipes on my skin. They probably would be irritating, first of all, and 2nd of all, I want to wash it off, and remove it, take it off of my skin.
I'll tell you some products I recommend to wash your face with in this last point.
The 8th and final tip for Healthy Face Washing
8. Pay attention to how your facial skin reacts to the products you're using.
If your face wash causes redness or itching, or heaven forbid pain, stop using it. That's not what normal face washing should feel like. Washing your face should leave your skin feeling calm and hydrated.
That's why I always like recommending what I call the, "Sensitive Skin DreamTeam", even to people without sensitive skin or who's skin has become sensitized due to pregnancy, skin procedures, or some bad skin care product reactions.
The sensitive skin dream team consists of
- Fairface Flannel Face cloths
- Vanicream gentle cleanser (affiliate link)
- and CeraVe moisturizing cream (or Vanicream lite lotion for lighter coverage) (affiliate links)
(*see affiliate link disclosure below)
All of these products are made for sensitive skin and don't cause irritation.
They are all gentle, effective products that I use myself.
It's okay to stop using something that doesn't work for you. I know it's hard, you feel guilty, "but I spent money on this." But what works for one person with presumably the same skin type, maybe you saw something on Instagram through an influencer, it might not work the same for you.
You know your skin better than anyone and if something irritates or doesn't feel right, stop using it. There's no reason to keep using something that hurts your skin, thinking it's got to hurt to be working. That's not the case. The only exception I can think of is if it's something you and your skin care professional have discussed and it's supposed to be uncomfortable at first, but again, that's the only exception I can think of. If it hurts, stop using it.
If you have any face washing tips that work well for you, I'd love to hear them! Drop me a message or comment on Facebook or Instagram, where I tend to hang out the most, @FairfaceWashcloths is our handle.
I want you to make face washing something to look forward to. I, personally, love to come home and wash the day off, like Rachel Hollis has said she loves to do.
The best nights are getting ready for bed early, where I wash my face, brush my teeth, and put on my pajamas before watching my favorite show, so that then when it's over, I can just climb into bed. Ahhh, that's a great, comfy feeling.
Thanks so much for being here! I really do appreciate it! I always look forward to sharing this time with you, and I hope you've learned something today. And I will see you next time!
*Affiliate link disclosure: We share links to our favorite products so you can find them quickly and easily. As an Amazon associate, we earn a small commission on products purchased through our links which helps us continue to share helpful skin care tips with you through this blog.
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