Can Changing How You Cleanse Get You Youthful Skin?

Can changing how you cleanse be the answer to clear, youthful skin? Research says yes. Learn why a few easy tweaks can be transformational.

- Eric Ametzger

For years, the conventional wisdom about washing your face was that the process was so quick, its impact on your skin was inconsequential. Turns out that’s just not true. Experts now know that cleansing is the key to a healthy, radiant and youthful complexion. The grime you come into contact with daily inflames the skin, which can damage collagen and lead to premature ageing. “Proper cleansing not only gets rid of that gunk, it also makes the things you apply to help your skin, like serums, more effective,” says Dr Mona Gohara, an associate clinical professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine. In fact, new research suggests that cleansing may be all you need to manage your skin problems: A Japanese study found that simply washing your face twice daily with a mild cleanser reduced acne, without any medication. Still, this everyday habit is a critical balancing act. “Cleansing needs to remove all the stuff you don’t want without stripping skin of its moisture,” Dr Gohara says. “There’s a surprising amount that can go wrong.” Here, the plan for doing it right.

THE NEW BASICS

What makes cleansing deceptively tricky is the need to keep your skin’s natural barrier intact, starting with the beneficial, and precarious, biofilm that’s on top of the skin’s surface. “Inside the biofilm are antimicrobial peptides and good bacteria, which are meant to protect your skin – and body – from the outside world,” says Dr Zoe Diana Draelos, a dermatologist in High Point, North Carolina. “If you wash your face too much and too hard, or with a harsh soap, you disrupt the biofilm and remove the lipids that are underneath it, making your skin dry, flaky and itchy.” Conversely, if you skip washing your face, oil builds up, fuelling the bacteria living in the biofilm, which can lead to acne.