Читать книгу The Complete Make-Up and Beauty Book - Leigh Toselli - Страница 17

If you want your skin to look and feel great, careful cleansing is important; after all, cleanliness is next to godliness, or so say ancient scriptures and over-zealous parents. True, nothing beats that freshly washed feeling, but there’s a fine line between a clean complexion and a scrubbed one. The latter does little to raise your beauty profile and plenty to destroy your skin’s pH balance.

Choosing the right cleanser can be daunting. There are wash-off gels, AHA (alpha-hydroxy acid) rinse-way liquid gels, tissue-off cleansing milks, and soap-free bars. If you experience spots, dry or sensitive skin, it’s worth looking very closely at your cleansing regime. Too much cleansing can cause problems with the protective layers if you are constantly stripping away essential oils.

Soap can dry the skin because it dissolves and washes away skin oils or lipids that seal the skin’s dead, horny layer. Normal skin should be able to make up this lipid deficiency within a few hours, but dry skin often can’t generate enough lipids to make up the shortfall before you next wash your face.

Skin is naturally acidic with a pH balance of around 5.5, soap is generally alkaline with a pH of 8 or higher. If you use soap with hard water you will find it difficult to rinse off. The residue left behind can upset the skin’s natural acid balance and may continue to dry out skin lipids long after the washing process is over.

Cosmetic cleansers are formulated to dissolve the most stubborn of make-up formulations, excess skin oils and dirt. The best cleanser is one that leaves skin lipids in place so that your skin feels supple and fresh without any clogged pores. In the past cleansing milks and lotions were prescribed for dry skins, while foaming washes or non-soap bars were indicated for oilier skins, but with the numerous choices available, texture and preferences are really up to you.

I’d suggest using formulations that rinse away with water – the action is very gentle and the water helps to soothe and hydrate. Tissues can be harsh on fragile skin and may not completely remove residue to keep skins spot free, although you can find moist towelettes that remove all traces of make-up in just one swipe.

The new-generation cleansers mean that old-school toners are no longer needed to sweep away the alkaline film left by some cleansers, but if you live in a hard water area you may need to rinse for a little longer to shift deposits of water’s naturally occurring minerals, such as calcium and magnesium.

Psychological needs aside, improved circulation and a more radiant complexion are probably the best results of a hands-on water-based routine.