Cleansers

Patients are always asking me what I think is the best cleanser available. And I tell them to think about it like this:

We put a cleanser on our faces, and then wash it off very quickly.  So cleansers stay on our faces for only about 15 seconds twice a day.  It's hardly long enough to have any therapeutic effect on your skin.  

So you want a cleanser that cleans your type of skin, rather than a cleanser that promises a lot of skin therapy. 

If you have normal to dry skin, a cleanser that doesn’t dry out or strip oil from your skin is best.  A liquid cleanser, in particular, can be great for this.

Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t need to that squeaky clean feeling for your skin to actually be clean (that squeaky feeling is just the soap stripping all your natural oils off of your skin). As long as the product is not overly irritating or drying, it’s fine.

If you have very oily skin, on the other hand, you’re likely best off with a cleanser that’s formulated specifically for acne or your skin type; these do tend to be drying—a good thing for some of us.

Some good cleansers. 

Here is a link to some cleansers that I like.  For facial cleanser recommendations tailored to your skin profile, you can always take our Skin Care Test. 

Also watch this Video Demonstration on How to Apply Skin Care Products.

Dr. Irwin

From www.SkinTour.com and Dr. Brandith Irwin. Copyright 2008-2012 SkinTour LLC. All rights reserved. Journalists, bloggers, and media may reprint this without permission so long as they include this credit box with the article.