Top Three Myths about Facial Cleansers

i have super oily skin, and growing up have had one ignorant belief about skincare after the other. my false ideas about what i actually needed from a facial cleanser have led to a lot of wasted time, torment and money.

the top three myths about facial cleansers:

they need to burn like hell and nearly melt my face off.

as a teenager, i was sure that pain was a necessary element of skin care. it was like i wanted to punish my skin for having acne.

when i look back, i realize the burning i experienced with certain “zit buster” drugstore brands was probably due to an allergic reaction or because it was too drying for my still developing skin. unless you’re under the care of a dermatologist, skincare shouldn’t be painful.

they need to be super drying.

my skin has been oily since puberty and growing up in a hot and humid climate didn’t help. like lots of folks i thought the more a cleanser stripped my skin of its natural oil the better.  wrong. drying cleansers like soaps (for me even all-natural black soap) actually cause your skin to overproduce oil because it’s trying so hard to restore its natural ph.

even if you have oily or acne-prone skin, gentle cleansers like cetaphyll are clutch. if you use something more drying, then you’ll have to follow it up with a top notch toner to balance things out. nobody wants to look like a bucket of friend chicken.

they need to be expensive.

i used to think i needed to spend a lot of money on a cleanser for it to be effective. if it had “exotic” ingredients like vitamin c, then i was sold.

i can’t believe i fell for the hype because if there’s anything in your skincare routine that you shouldn’t be spending lots of money on it’s your cleanser. i repeat, do not  spend tons of money on cleanser. it stays on your face for less than a minute and any active ingredients it claims to contain literally get rinsed off within a matter of seconds. save your coins for things like serums and night treatments that contain quality active ingredients and actually have time to penetrate your skin.

try these affordable and gentle facial cleansers as the first step in your skincare routine:

every person’s skincare needs are different, and some of these myths may be true for your skin type, especially if you’re using dermatologist recommended products. however, my goal is to encourage folks to see skincare as a form of self-care without the harsh chemicals, drying agents and high cost.