and why you should, too…
Oh the morning routines… how we love to hate them. Waking up, eating, brushing our teeth, getting dressed, doing hair and makeup, there are just so many steps. So I decided to take one out. I stopped washing my face in the morning every day for six weeks. The results? Far different than I had expected.
WHY I DID IT
Every morning, I would wash my face then use a toner, serum, and moisturizer. It was going well, but I would always have one or two blemishes and, with my sensitive skin, a red spot or dry area. I wanted to see what would happen if I let my skin take a break and build its own oil instead of constantly stripping what my skin is supposed to make to protect itself. And so I set out to do so. I only washed my face at night or after particularly sweaty workouts. In the morning, I continued to use a toner, serum, and moisturizer, but just after splashing a little warm water on my face to wake myself up.
WHAT HAPPENED
The first change I noticed was that my skin felt incredibly oily in the morning. It finally got to produce and hang onto its own oil and boy did I notice it. I didn’t look shiny, but I felt like a grease ball. This certainly wasn’t a fun time for me. After about a week, I stopped feeling so greasy and my skin stopped looking so dull. It just looked healthy and…stronger? I was expecting some MASSIVE breakouts during this experiment of mine, but actually didn’t experience any. Maybe a few more clogged pores during the first week or two, then, I actually got less acne than I had before starting this
THE REASONS
Let’s look at why we wash our face. We wash to remove dirt, oil, makeup, and buildup from the day…sounds great. And yes, I’d say we need it, especially if we wear makeup or live in areas with high pollution, like New York City
BUT…
By washing the face, we also strip the oils and, with an aggressive cleanser, may be stripping skin cells. Oils are there to protect our skin. It creates a barrier from the outside world to keep our lower layers safe and healthy. To constantly strip it of oil isn’t doing our skin justice. And as far as stripping skin cells goes; sure, exfoliation of excess dead skin cells is great and can help a dull appearance, but over exfoliating is taking away cells that we need.
BOTTOM LINE?
Wash your face if you sweat, wear makeup, or have been in a dirty or high pollution area. Maybe skip a wash or two if you’re not doing any of those things. For me, washing my face only at night or after particularly sweaty workouts made my skin look and feel its best. And if it also saves me one skincare step in the morning, I’m all for it!
By Alexis M.
@kissofdew
