The most important bottle
Does your head spin when you walk between the shelves or browse the offers on the Internet? You saw something on Instagram, something "I bought really good" was suggested by a friend, something else had a big discount at the pharmacy. Instagram isn't an expert, a drugstore isn't a temple, and what's good for your girlfriend is usually not good for your skin. That's why I say - you don't need another bottle of cream(!), you need something that is suitable and necessary only for your unique, beautiful and beloved skin. How to do it? There are two ways. The first and quick is to contact specialists, the second is longer but meaningful - to get to know your skin and learn to choose products and ingredients that are really appropriate, necessary and beneficial for you, not harmful.
Where to start dating? Of course, from determining your skin type. In the cosmetology literature, the main skin types are highlighted: dry, oily and mixed skin, which can be accompanied by different skin conditions (sensitive, dehydrated) or problems (acne, rosacea, dermatitis, hyperpigmentation, etc.) or with machines, because this is the foundation of the basics, on which the success of your skin's health and beauty depends.
Once you've got the basics down, as you've probably heard many times, you need to establish a routine . What and how to use in the morning/evening, summer/winter, in solving complicated cases, exacerbations of diseases. Always at the beginning of the routine will be the king, what I call - the main bottle in your bathroom - the WASHER . Why is there such an emphasis here, you will say, and I say that clean skin equals healthy skin, or at least a straight path to it.
So what do we need to know about washers.
The main function of facial cleansers is to remove sweat, dirt, make-up, and excess oil from the skin . This primary step in skin care not only allows the skin to breathe, recover, and renew itself, but also gives the opportunity to enrich the skin with active ingredients that are a component of face washes. If you use a lot of make-up or waterproof make-up, you will have to use special make-up removers or micellar water.
You need to wash your skin with a cleanser both in the evening to clean off all the accumulated wealth accumulated during the day, and in the morning . At night, when we sleep, all the main biological renewal processes take place in the skin, and the by-products are removed through the sweat glands and pores. In the morning, we often feel a greasy film on our skin, which is the result of the night's work. If you have the desire and the opportunity, you can use a milder cleanser in the morning than in the evening, since there is much less dirt.
The formula, composition and type of facial cleanser depends on: what skin type and skin condition it will be used for. The composition of the cleanser that would be most suitable for our skin can also change due to the seasonality of product use or changes in the external environment (for example, traveling to other climate zones to which the skin is not used). Listen to your skin!
I will repeat - choosing the right cleanser that meets your skin's needs and condition is the most important part of skin care. The wrong type of cleanser can create an environment for skin irritation, sensitization, rashes, and weaken the barrier-protective function of the skin.
OIL WASHERS
At first glance, it seems suspicious, how can you wash clean using oil? However, in this case, one of the basic principles of chemistry "like dissolves like" applies. The oil is lipophilic, which means it naturally attracts other forms of oil, including excess sebum on our skin or makeup products rich in oily ingredients. In addition, together with mineral or vegetable oils, emulsifiers are used in the composition, which, when the product is applied to the skin, the oil turns into a soft white emulsion that washes off easily and does not leave a greasy feeling.
Various vegetable oils are used in the formulas of cleansers: macadamia, apricot pits, sunflower, soybean, which not only clean, but also strengthen the skin's bayer function, can reduce irritations and dryness of the skin. Oil cleansers are often used for "double washing", when the first step is to use an oil cleanser, followed by a cleanser with agents that dissolve dirt in water, e.g. gel or foam cleanser. There are already oil cleansers on the market that have both cleaning phases in their formula, so it is enough to use one cleanser and double washing is not necessary.
They belong to the group of gentle cleansers and are especially suitable for owners of dry and very dry skin. My recommendation (from personal experience) is to use an oil cleanser when you feel skin irritation, sensitivity, tingling, when you need a gentle cleanser after frostbite in cold weather or sunburn.
MILK
Cleansing milk is one of the most popular make-up removers from the group of facial cleansers. It is an emulsion "oil in water" (A/W). It contains more water (70-90%) and fat-like substances (vegetable oils, mineral oils, triglycerides, synthetic fat compositions, surfactants, plant extracts). Milks are produced with different compositions and for different types of skin: the composition of the milk for oily/combination skin contains more anti-inflammatory, antiseptic substances (marigold, tea tree, aloe, lavender, rosemary essential oils, fruit acids, etc.). Milks for dry skin have an increased amount of fatty additives (valuable vegetable oils are especially important: sunflower, olive, etc.). Milks clean dirt particles that are soluble in both water and fat and belong to the group of mild detergents. It is important that they contain few surfactants (foaming soaps) and that the protective hydrolipidic film of the facial skin is not broken.
GEL WASHERS
Cleansing gel is another form of cleanser designed to cleanse/wash the skin and as the name suggests, has a gel consistency. It contains gel-forming substances and washing components (mainly active substances) whose main function is to dissolve dirt on the skin of the face. In the compositions of cleansers, they are combined with other active active ingredients that have different effects on the skin: soothing, such as panthenol, bisabolol or aloe, regenerating, with AHA or BHA acids, vitamin C, etc. A wide variety of combinations allows you to adapt the cleanser to the individual needs, type and condition of the skin. The washing gel cleans the skin well, creates a "squeaky clean" skin effect, but if the product contains a high concentration of surfactants, foaming soaps ( Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Ammonium Laureth Sulfate, etc. ), frequent use can cause skin dryness, irritation, weakening of the protective-bayer function. Gel cleansers are classified as deep skin cleansing and are more often recommended for oily or combination skin types.
WASHERS - FOAM
Due to their light texture, foam type cleansers are an intermediate choice between cleansing milks and gel cleansers, so they are often recommended for combination skin types. Foam cleansers are rich in deep cleansing ingredients (surface active substances - SLS/SLES), which create a foaming effect, but due to the deep effect, they can wash away the lipids in the epidermis, thus creating conditions for the deterioration of the skin's condition: dryness, irritation, weakening of the protective-barrier function of the skin. Therefore, when choosing a foam cleanser, it is recommended to pay attention to the fact that the formula contains enough skin-softening and non-irritating ingredients such as glycerin, betaine, and glucosides.
The options are really wide, so try and experience the joy of discovering how your skin changes and beautifies.