Quick disclaimer: all products are my own, bought with my own money. No sponsorship and all views are my own. All prices quoted are as at June 2022 taken from and linked to the brand’s own website where possible.
March and April 2022 and the start of a new regime.
We’ve put the wipes away but not actually chucked them, as I had thought of doing, as they are useful for an emergency. But they really were leaving my skin dull, dry and corky in patches.
I started my research and began to read and listen to dermatologists and skin care specialists as to what might have gone wrong with my skin. Overall, the concensus was that I needed to go right back to basics and re-establish my skin barrier.
This means very mild cleansing, using a double cleanse: first, an oil or balm cleanser to get down into the pores and float off any makeup, sunscreen and/or general day-to-day grime and free-radicals. Second, a gentle skin cleanser to remove the last traces of the oil/balm and to cleanse the skin properly. My skin is dry to normal on the sides with an oilier central T zone, so I don’t need any acne treatments, just something unstripping and clean feeling.
I don’t double cleanse in the morning, just a quick cleanse to take off the residue of my overnight moisturisers and any sweat or oiliness I might have. Sometimes, this is the balm, if I feel my skin is feeling a bit dehydrated and in need of extra care, mostly it is the skin cleanser.
The first cleanse:
I’ve disinterred my precious Clinique Take The Day Off (TTDO) balm to use as my first cleanse. I love this stuff, it’s relatively expensive at £28 for 125ml/£39 for 200 ml, but it is very economical so lasts for a long time. It is quite stiff and waxy when you take a scoop (I only use a fingerful, about the size of an almond, to clean my whole face) and let it warm and melt on your fingers before smoothing it over your skin and massaging gently. It dissolves all makeup – even waterproof mascara – and sunscreen. An important step with a balm cleanser, in my opinion, is to then add a little water and emulsify the oil and debris into a fine lotion on your skin. Then, when you remove it with a washcloth (I use a flannel, replaced every morning with a clean one) it washes away cleanly. If you just try to rinse it by splashing, it doesn’t clear away and leaves a waxy film on the skin, so do use a cloth with it. INCI report on TTDO here.
The second cleanse:
I also pulled out an unused sample of Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser to use as the second stage skin cleanser. It’s only a tiny sample though, and whilst I like this a lot, the formula has changed from my sample, and the reviews on the new formulation are mixed. I’ll try the new formula – it’s inexpensive, £14 RRP (though currently £10 nearly everywhere) for a massive 473ml – when I need to replenish my second cleanser. You can see the difference in the ingredients from these INCI breakdowns: This is the old formula, and this the new one. It’s quite dramatically different. Gone is the detested Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (viewed as too stripping these days, though I didn’t find the old Cetaphil drying) and the parabens (evil buzz ingredient, though they are only preservatives, and not even in large quantities here, so… decide for yourself if they are as evil as they are believed to be), and in has come niacinamide (good stuff, but found EVERYWHERE so very easy to overdo), panthenol and glycerin.
However, the La Roche-Posay Toleraine range is well regarded, (good for my rosacea apparently) so after using up the Cetaphil, I bought La Roche-Posay Toleriane Softening Foaming Gel. Another like: a pea sized amount mixes to a light foam when rubbed with a little water between the hands, and then massaged into dampened skin, it takes away any final balm residues and leaves the skin clean but not squeaky and over-cleansed.
These two cleansers, the Clinique and the La Roche-Posay, are my mainstay cleansers. They don’t break out my skin and leave it fresh and ready for the next stage of my skin routine.
Do you have any favourites? What do you recommend me to try next?