How I Changed the Way I Washed My Face

Hello and Happy Labor Day!  Though it's kinda weird this year, like so many other holidays have been.  But in any case, I hope you have a good day wherever you are and whatever you have decided to do ... or not.

At the beginning of the summer, I went to wash my face one morning and realized that I was out of the cleanser I generally use, and have used for years.  Generally, I'm more on top of things, but like so much else that has fallen through the cracks, my ability to pay attention to those kinds of things and be prepared before it happens had failed.

I knew that regular soap didn't feel good on my face, and that it also made it feel really really dry.  So that morning, I turned on the cool water, and just wet my washcloth and "washed" my face three times in a row, with a rinse in between.  Then I did my usual sunscreen, etc.  It actually felt better than when I would use the cleanser.

After some thought, I decided to try an experiment.  I mean, I was going to be home anyway, and so if things didn't go all that well, it's not like I'd have to go to work or whatever anyway.  I gave myself a week to try it to see if anything was different.

Here was the plan:  In the morning, I would do the washcloth-and-cool-water wash, followed by sunscreen, etc.  Then at night, I would use my aforementioned cleanser (which I had replenished after a trip to CVS), moisturizer, etc.  The idea behind it was, how "dirty" did my face get overnight, when all I was doing was sleeping?  Why did I need to use cleanser at all in the morning? 

Now that it's been months instead of just weeks, I'm very happy to report that my skin actually looks better than ever!  My new routine seems to have worked well enough that I don't have as much redness overall (I suffer from rosacea), and my skin is smooth and brighter, I swear (or I am really good at convincing myself of this).  

Now, please note that if I have done a morning workout, or been working around the garden or house first thing in the morning, I do use cleanser when I wash my face - but that's because I have been sweating, or been outside, or been moving dirt/dust around, and I want to make sure any of that kind of grime gets washed of completely.

And it may well be that once winter comes, I'll want to do something else for extra moisturization, I'll have to see.  But for now, my simplified face-washing is doing the trick better than I could have anticipated!

(Not me.  Not even close!)