When you stand in front of the shelves of facial care products at a drugstore or perfumery because you want to cleanse your face, you can quickly become discouraged. There are so many different facial cleansers for sale, which should you choose? You can choose a cleansing milk, a tonic, an exfoliating cream and a special eye make-up remover.
Cleansing products
A facial cleanser is basically the start of facial care . The skin is exposed every day to all kinds of potentially harmful influences, including UV radiation (sunlight), exhaust fumes, wind and weather, make-up, air conditioning and central heating. Some of it, such as exhaust fumes, leaves a dirty film on your face. You usually don’t notice this at all during the day, it is only when you wipe a clean piece of cotton wool over your face in the evening that you see what mess has collected on your face during the day. You can remove this mess from your facial skin with a facial cleanser, so that subsequent facial care products can do their job better. What can you clean your facial skin with?
Cleansing cream
A cleansing cream is a creamy substance (often whitish) that you remove from a jar or tube. Cleansing cream is ideally suited for more sensitive and dry skin, because it does not dry out and leaves a thin protective layer on the skin. You usually apply cleansing cream to your facial skin with your fingers, after which you remove the cream – together with all dirt – from your face with a cotton ball or thin cloth.
Cleansing milk
Cleansing lotion is a somewhat thinner milky substance that you apply to a cotton pad, after which you clean the face by running the cleansing milk pad over the skin. Cleansing milk is also very suitable for people with more sensitive skin. Nowadays there is also a type of foam cleaner available, which comes in a pump and which you can generally remove with water.
Cosmetic soap
Some people use the bar of soap they use to wash their hands and body on their faces as well. However, facial skin requires specific care, which is why these general cleaning products often fall short. A cosmetic soap is formulated in such a way that all the requirements of sensitive facial skin are met. It is wise to get extensive advice when you want to buy cosmetic soap. Every skin type has different needs and you clean and care for your face optimally when you buy a soap that suits your skin type.
Tonic
A tonic is a watery substance that removes the last traces of dirt and cleansing milk or cleansing lotion. A tonic often contains alcohol and is therefore less suitable for dry or sensitive skin. However, people with a normal skin type or combination or oily skin can use a tonic without any problems. You generally dab the tonic onto the skin using a cotton ball.
Exfoliate
A scrub cream is a mild cleansing gel to which small granules have been added. By gently exfoliating your skin, you remove dead skin cells and impurities, leaving your skin looking fresh and with a healthy complexion. However, you cannot use the same exfoliating cream for your face as you do for the rest of your body because the facial skin is very sensitive and you can easily damage it with a normal exfoliating cream. Therefore, choose a mild scrub that is specially designed for the delicate facial skin.
Eye make-up remover
The skin around the eyes is very sensitive, which means that regular facial soap is often too aggressive and damages the skin. Baby oil is very popular these days as a make-up remover for the eyes. Baby oil removes make-up easily, often even waterproof make-up. But baby oil has the major disadvantage that it leaves a greasy layer (the baby’s bottom does not become soft on its own…) which can cause irritation and pain if it gets into your eyes. Non-waterproof eye make-up can usually be easily removed with a cotton ball soaked in cleansing milk. However, there are also special eye makeup removers on the market that remove even waterproof makeup with one simple swipe.