Good Skin Care Element#1:
Choosing Skin Cleansers
First Step To Great Skin

Is your skin reflecting healthy results OR are you struggling with break outs and/or skin irritations? 

Using an inappropriate skin cleanser is one of the most common culprits behind skin problems and the inevitable cycle of demise in your skin's health and appearance.  

If you have been using harsh cleansers or even worse, soap (not to be confused with "cleansing bars"), you are likely in the frustrating cycle of treating symptoms of a skin type, which will often mask the true nature of your skin, instead of meeting the needs of your actual skin type.

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Cleansing the skin...

The objective of cleansing the skin is to remove all makeup, dead cells, oil and dirt, and to do so without irritating the skin. Using the right type of skin wash product, will thoroughly cleanse without stripping the skin of it natural pH balance.

Choosing the right cleanser...

All skin cleansers share the following ingredients; detergent, cleansing agents, and thickeners. Often the very ingredient designed to deal with the skin type issue, will exasperate the problem; i.e.. oily skin cleansers, may use detergents that are so harsh, they strip the skin, leaving it dry and tight. This status will be received by the oil glands and the oil glands will respond by increasing production. In this example, you actually make your skin oilier...Not exactly, the goal.  

On a positive note, skin cleanser formula advancements, not only feature gentle effective cleansing, geared to all skin types, they can also (not all do) act to protect and nurture the skin with ingredients such as vitamins, antioxidants, emollients and exfoliants.

How to Cleanse:

Thoroughly wet the skin with warm water (not hot, not cold; both are irritating to the skin) by splashing. Take the advised amount of cleanser and gently massage over your entire face. Rinse thoroughly with warm water by splashing your face. Although, less messy to your sink area, wash cloths are considered rough and irritating to the skin by some experts.

Note*: If you are wearing makeup, I would advise using a gentle specially formulated eye makeup remover lotion (especially if you are wearing waterproof mascara). Although, cleansers can remove makeup, they are still often too harsh for the very delicate eye area. If you have discovered one that removes all your makeup without wear and tear on the eye area, by all means skip this.

Ideally, the less wear and tear on your very delicate eye area skin, the better as repetition of pulling etc. will take its toll over time. I once again emphasize the word gently. Saturate a cotton ball, gentle place on the closed eye lid at the eye lashes for some soaking to occur, and then slowly and carefully dab over the areas of the eye, followed by light short strokes (apply light pressure that does not involve pulling the skin).

I recommend this gentle, inexpensive eye makeup remover L'Oreal Plenitude Refreshing Eye Makeup Remover, Oil-Free. This formula does not sting the eyes and is effective.

The face should be cleansed twice daily.

You would be amazed at how many wonderful sounding, "natural" ingredients are actually irritating and responsible for  sensitizing the skin to allergies.

For an in-depth list of irritating ingredients used in cosmetics including skin cleansers, this book comes highly recommended A Consumer Dictionary to Cosmetic Ingredients by Ruth Winter.

One of the best skin cleansers of the past, and still is today, is Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. It is excellent for all skin types, it is a skin cleanser that is gentle yet effective, it is water soluble, it will not strip the skin or leave it feeling greasy, it comes recommended by many doctors, and is a very inexpensive skin cleanser.

Some other recommended skin cleansers are SkinCeuticals Foaming Cleanser for normal to oily skin, and Dr. Brandt Anti-Irritant Cleanser for very sensitive, highly reactive skin  or skin that has undergone treatment.