The Cult Of Cleansing

We do it everyday. Sometimes we do it twice a day. But washing our faces – once a chore – has now become almost a religious right. Here’s why that’s not such a bad thing.

- Jolene Edgar

When smartphones have a nightly purification ritual – PhoneSoap (it’s a whole thing) – you have to wonder: has our collective cleansing obsession grown certifiable? “There’s a new level of mania around face washes and cleansing rituals,” says dermatologist Dr Laurel Geraghty. This fervour signals a 180 in our attitudes and appetites. Just three years ago, Glossier founder Emily Weiss created a cleanser because, she says, “no one on the team had a holy grail cleanser that they swore by.” Now her brand is widely worshipped and has its own hashtag. “Washing your face was once a daily chore – now it’s a step worthy of its own focus,” says Dr Geraghty. “It’s part of a new stop-and-smell-the-roses approach to skincare.”

THE WAY THEY WERE

Once upon a time, “people used plain water or harsh soaps on their faces,” says dermo Dr Dendy Engelman. Cleansers weren’t deserving of discussion, never mind devotion – and for good reason. Old-school suds had a high pH level, so they’d dry your skin and irritate it. In the last century, most facial cleansers have become soap-free; they contain synthetic detergents with lower pH levels (like sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate) instead. But these modern detergents aren’t without fault. They work by dissolving oils, but they do so indiscriminately, removing hydrating natural lipids along with the sebum and grime you want to get rid of.

CLEANING UP THEIR ACT