I stopped washing my face about 6 months ago and I wondered why I didn’t do this 20 years ago? My skin is the best it has ever been at 35 years old! Why did no one tell me when I was 15 and had teenage acne to stop washing my face? So I’m telling you now!
Stop washing your face!
Ok, so I do cleanse my face once a day, I use a gentle non-foaming cleanser at night. Only at night, my face isn’t dirty in the morning, so no need to wash it.
Why did I make this switch in my skincare routine?
I have always thought that I had combination skin, really oily in my T-zone and dry everywhere else. I had frequent breakouts and even more severe hormonal breakouts. Hated my skin, I struggled with makeup it wouldn’t stay on the oily parts of my face and clung to the dry patches. I had always believed that oil was the enemy. So, as a teenager the more I broke out the more I would wash my face, the harsher the cleansers I would use. I used gritty exfoliating acne wash that I paid hundreds of dollars for and my skin only seemed to get worse.
Like most Americans I was washing my face twice a day. This over cleansing was doing more to damage then good for my skin. I was stripping the natural sebum in my skin, sebum is produced by glands under your skin and secreted through the pores. This oily, waxy sebum is what naturally hydrates and causes skin to be waterproof. Harsh cleansers strip the sebum and can cause the sebaeous glands to work overtime to produce more sebum. This over production causes clogged pores and breakouts and less hydration causes the dry flakey patches.
Tres Leches for the Win!
I was given the Tres Leches skincare system to try, non-foaming mild cleanser, toner and moisturizer. The recommend use was nightly use only. So I switched to this new routine, but clinging to what I had always know I kept cleansing two times a day. It was a difficult change for me, I was used to the tight clean feeling of a soap or harsh cleanser. My skin seemed oily and my makeup seemed to melt off during the day. I thought, I guess this just doesn’t work for my skin type. Instead of stopping and going back to my old routine, I though, I’ll give it a try as they suggested. So, I gave up cleanser, tonner and moisturizer in the morning. I just quickly rinse or wipe my face with a damp cloth and put on my makeup. The difference was amazing! No more dry patches, no more oily, oily T-zone and my breakouts are primarily hormonal with the rare lone zit. The breakouts I do have seem to clear up quicker than they did before. My makeup goes on smooth and stays on throughout the day. For the first time in my adult life feel like I can leave the house without makeup (ok, ok I still can’t leave without mascara).
The textured skin that was always on my forehead and my chin from blackheads or whiteheads forming is all gone. My skin is smooth!! I am getting complements on how great my skin looks! So, even if you are 35 with kiddos, it’s not too late to have great skin. Plus when you have kids, do you really get time to wash your face in the morning anyway?
