Clearing Up Cleansers!
Lets keep our skin glowing this Autumn!
Summer takes it’s toll on skin with the sun, salt and chlorine. But the cold drier air of Autumn can really dry you out.
So what to do?
Your cleansing routine can really make a difference to your skin. What you don’t want to do is wreck all the good work you do with active topical products. You could dry out your skin. You could break down the epidermal barrier that protects the deeper layers of your skin. You could clog up your pores.
So, firstly – do no harm! Second, it is possible to use cleansers with very active ingredients that work synergistically with your other skin products.
Can I mix brands of skin care?
Yes, that is possible, but you have to be careful and know a bit about what you are using. Of course, what all good skin care developers do is to make sure that all their products work together. They do this without overdosing on any ingredients, or interfering with the action of one another. Ultimately they should in fact improve the action of each other.
Cleansing Plan
Moderation in all things!
Too much washing is bad for your skin. I know it is tempting if you tend to have oily skin. Scrubbing and scrubbing and cleaning to get that squeaky clean feeling. But no! This will just remove the protective good oils of the skin that help to calm and care for your skin.
To balance oil in your skin there are a number of good topical ingredients to look out for, but that’s not our topic today. Enough to say that cleansing well with the right product once, or at most twice a day is best for your skin.
Death by Ceptaphil?
Cetaphil cleanser is a cheap product that has been around for many years. Dermatologists have been recommending it for about the same amount of time. They have loved it because it is mild enough for sensitive skin with high levels of hydrating acetyl alcohol in the formula for all skin types. It also has sodium laureth sulphate ( derived from coconuts found to be safe in studies) in the oily skin product.
It is true that there is nothing in it to improve the skin at all, but it has come under scrutiny mainly because it contains parabens. Many skin care products contain parabens because they are effective preservatives and correlate with a low incidence of dermatitis. (Remember the risk to you of bacterial infection in your skin care product is not insignificant!).
You can read more about parabens here. But the bottom line is that based on current research typical paraben exposure from skin care products does not seem to increase health risk. Never the less, more and more product lines are finding ways to effectively avoid using parabens, so we can have that choice. Oprah Magazine’s beauty editor, Valerie Monroe – that well known medical expert?!? – said ” If you’re the kind of person who triple-locks and checks her doors, you’ll use paraben free products”.
Am I there yet?
So now you aren’t over cleansing, you’re avoiding parabens, what else could you do? Well you can match your cleanser to your skin.
You can have AHA’s or other acids in your cleanser. You can have a cleanser that leaves hydrating ingredients in your skin after you wash it off. You can have a more efficient product for lifting the dirt of the day out of your pores. Technology is catching up with cleansers.
But some cleansers will list lots of great sounding ingredients that just wash straight off! Sigh! Yes as with all skin care, the aisles and aisles of empty promises in the local pharmacy can be very daunting. So, check with a professional and use well researched products.