No Soap!
What should I be using to wash my face?
If youve been using bar soap, chuck it. Bar soaps traditionally contain a higher amount of detergents or other drying ingredients that can upset the skins balance and make a bad situation worse. Contrary to popular belief (and what your mom may have told you), you dont want a cleanser to make your face feel squeaky clean. You want a cleanser that will wash away just enough oil to clean your face, but leave just enough behind that your skin is still naturally moisturized.
For that reason, you should also steer clear of antibacterial soaps. They'l dry your skin out faster than you can rinse them from your face and really dont have a practical purpose. Unless your skin has an infection for which your doctor has prescribed an antibacterial cleanser, these soaps wash away so much excess moisture with bacteria that they can actually be a detriment to your skin.
Bottom line, you want something gentle and unobtrusive that'll wash your face without feeling like a chemical peel. Shoot for clear, unscented liquids these have a better chance of being purer and containing fewer additives, which means they'll wash your skin without depositing tons of other icky things on your face. And no matter what, make sure youre rinsing it completely from your face when you're finished washing, otherwise the residue can irritate your face more than if you didnt wash at all.
I use a toner when I'm done washing to clean my face more thoroughly. Is there something wrong with that?
Not necessarily, but there may be if you have dry skin. Toners main component is alcohol, which is very drying. Think about it: you have dry skin, so you're adding something that'll dry it out even further. Does that make sense?
If you have oily skin, you may be under the impression that toner will keep your skin from producing oil. Not so. Toner can get rid of oil on your skin temporarily, but nothing short of surgery can stop your skin from producing oil completely and you dont really want it to stop producing oil completely, because your face would become dry as the Mojave in August. The key is to work with your skins makeup, not against it.
If you just love the tingle toner gives you, you may want to try a cleanser with mint for an alternate source of tingliness. If that just doesn't cut it, use toner sparingly. If you notice any redness at all, stop using the toner as it'll just exacerbate any minor irritations you may have on your skin.
