Washing your face should be a gentle, enjoyable, and very mild process.
There’s just no need for extreme temperatures, harsh scrubbing, popping, picking, pulling, and furiously abusing your skin. No need to scald with excessively hot or shock with icy cold water. No need for that scrubby brush or mechanical exfoliator and never a need for chemical filled face wipes.
We hear so many people ask questions about the products they’re using in an attempt to understand the ingredients and the primary and secondary reactions with their skin. But we almost never hear questions about the “how” of it all.
Here’s what you need to know.
1. Only Use Your Hands
There’s no better way to wash your face than with your fingertips. Your fingertips have tiny ridges that actually remove old skin cells, leaving you with softer skin each time you wash.
Gently massage your cleanser into your skin with your fingers. In addition to cleansing, you will be giving yourself a facial massage, relaxing and lightly toning the muscles, improving circulation, and gently exfoliating. Your cleanser will be moved appropriately deep into your skin.
2. Temperature Matters
Washing your face thoroughly does not mean scalding it with hot water. It also doesn’t mean using cold water to shock your pores into submission. Kim always talks about "Goldilocks water," which means that it’s not too hot, not too cold—just right. Now, this isn’t just because warm water feels nice, although this is also true. Hot water will scald the skin, stripping it of its natural oils, which may eventually lead to an overproduction of sebum and breakouts. If the water is too cold, your pores will close up and the residual makeup or debris on your skin will get trapped inside, again causing your skin to flare up. Warm water keeps the pores open enough for the bacteria from the day to escape, lets your products penetrate properly, and leaves you with calmer skin.
3. Take it Easy with the Washcloth
After you're done washing your face, you're likely to reach for the washcloth nearby to dry off. That's not inherently bad. The trouble happens when you start to rub and scrub at your skin. Once you've rinsed your face, use a very soft, clean towel to gently dab and pat your face dry. You don't need to go overboard here; you can even leave some of the moisture on your face. Just pat it enough to be comfortable and let the rest of it sink in. Your skin will thank you.
