Don’t Make These Mistakes When You’re Washing Your Face

In your quest for smooth, soft, and beautiful skin, you might forget to pay attention to your face. Makeup and dirt quickly clog pores, leading to breakouts and early signs of aging. In some instances, those clogged pores produce bacteria, and that can lead to seborrheic dermatitis, a type of eczema.

One way to keep these problems at bay is to wash your face properly. Believe it or not, there is actually a right and wrong way to do it.

Here’s a look at mistakes you might be making when washing your face.

1. The Wrong Water Temperature

Really hot water dries out the skin, while cold water doesn’t allow the pores to open up. To wash your face properly, use tepid water. It’s not too cold or too hot.

2. Pressing Too Hard and Using a Cleansing Brush

Have you ever applied a facial serum only to feel like it’s stinging your face, especially on your cheeks? This is probably because you’re pressing too hard with your cleansing brush. Rough facial scrubs and washcloths can cause this, too.

When you rub the bristles of a cleansing brush over your face, it lifts off the dry skin and pulls off any makeup attached to the dead skin cells. But we tend to press too hard on our cheeks. That’s because they’re right in front of you when you’re looking in the mirror, so you tend to focus on them more. Also, due to our bone structure on our face, the cheeks tend to protrude, making your skin taut and making way for the brush to push harder. This is also true of the chin and forehead.

The trick is to be careful when using your cleansing brush. Try to use it evenly over your face with light pressure.

3. Not Washing Before Bed

Washing your face before bed should be part of your nighttime routine, even if you don’t wear makeup. Sweat and natural oils build up on your skin during the day. Your face is exposed to the environment and that means pollution and dirt accumulates on the outer layer of the skin. Failing to remove all this dirt at night time can result in skin irritations, breakouts, and inflammation.

4. Only Using Cleansing Wipes for Makeup

While cleansing wipes seem to remove your makeup, they don’t clean your skin thoroughly. All they really do is spread debris across your face. Think of it like applying cleanser with soap and then just not washing it off. Using a cleanser without water does dissolve the dirt, but it doesn’t effectively remove it. Then some of it lands up on the cleansing wipe. But rinsing with tepid water will properly remove dirt and clean your face.

The best tip we can give you for this one is to rather save your cleansing wipes for rare occasions such as camping! A wipe just isn’t going to be effective enough as a thorough cleanser.

5. You’re Reusing Your Washcloth

Using a soft, clean washcloth is the most effective way to clean your face (with tepid water, of course!). However, unless you use a new, clean washcloth every day, it’s probably better to use your hands to gently scrub your face clean.

In fact, we’d like to suggest you go a step further and change the towel you use to dry your face every few days. This will help keep bacteria away. It’s tough for a lot of people, but it’s something else you could include in your nighttime routine. After all, a moist tell breeds bacteria and you’re trying to avoid these face-washing mistakes.

6. Rushing Off in the Morning Without Washing Your Face

Just as it is important to properly wash your face at night, you need to wash it in the morning, too. Making time for your first cleanse of the day will leave you feeling fresh, clean, and alert. It’s also the perfect time to wash away saliva, oil, and dirt that can build up on your face when you’re sleeping. By washing your face in the morning, your skin will also be ready to absorb your preferred skincare products.

Soapbox’s skincare range is soft enough to cleanse, moisturize, and gently exfoliate your skin. Shop our range today.