“We’ve always done it this way.
I try to fight that."
- Admiral Grace Hopper
I admit it. I’m a skincare addict. Well… former addict. I actually enjoy reading the ingredient lists of products and then desciphering their 20 letter names. Which led to finding out some scary discoveries about what is actually going on our faces…
Cleansers Made My Skin Feel Tight
I used to love that fresh, squeaky-clean feeling after using face wash. That is… I loved it.
But my skin didn’t. I started trying more gentle cleansers, thinking that the harshness of the cleansers was what my skin wasn’t loving. But I was still left with that tight feeling…
As dermatologist Ted Lain explained to Allure magazine, “That tight, squeaky-clean feeling you might experience after washing your face is the truest sign of cleansers with a high Ph. They, as well as other alkalising skin-care products, tend to strip away sebum and natural oils. As a result, undesirable effects such as redness, inflammation, scaling and dryness can occur.”
So even GENTLE cleansers can have a high Ph and be disruptive to your skin! But thankfully this realisation led to the discovery that you don’t even need cleansers to clean your face.
Microfibre Cloths Clean Your Face
Better Than Cleansers Can
Mirofibres are TINY fibres. Like 100 times finer than a strand of hair kinda tiny. This along with the manufacturing process that splits these fibres, makes microfibre incredibly effective at picking up and trapping dirt.
On the face, microfibre acts like a suction cup to remove ALL makeup and dirt. To remove all traces of makeup with a cleanser, you often need to double cleanse which takes time and uses more product. Not so with microfibre! Couple of swipes and you’re done.
You Even Get a Gentle Exfoliation
Super tiny microfibres also do a bang up job of gently exfoliating your skin! So not only are you more effectively and quickly cleaning your face, you get bonus exfoliation too.
Dr Howard Lancer, (dermatologist to Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham) recommends exfoliating daily as one of the secrets to your glowiest skin.
“Daily damage, age damage and sun damage need to be exfoliated before the face is cleansed” he explained to The Cut. He dives into alot of detail in his book ‘Younger, the Breakthrough Anti-Aging Method for Radiant Skin’. Interesting read!
Microfibre Does It All
A microfibre cloth is simply just a better multi-tasker than a cleanser! It can remove makeup, clean your face and gently exfoliate all in one. Minus that tight feeling you get from harsh cleansers, because a microfibre cloth only needs water to get the job done.
Before you rush off to your local supermarket to get a 10 pack of microfibre cloths, just make sure they are premium microfibre. The quality of microfibre cloths can be measured by their grams per square metre (GSM). Cheaper and lesser quality cloths will weigh anywhere from 150 -250 GSM. These cloths simply wont last longer than a few dozen washes with out having to be replaced. You want premium microfibre for maximum softness and longevity.
It’s liberating to let go of thinking you should be using a cleanser for no other reason than… you always have. And it can lead to a quicker, better way of cleaning your face.
Get your premium 450GSM microfibre face cloth by Elise Louise, the Cleanse & Polish Face Cloth here.
Elise Louise is the client certified 'brow wizard'. Seriously, she has the certificate her client made her to prove it.
Find her in her Melbourne salon, specialising in the Soft Powder Brow Tattoo, the Keratin Lash Lift and expert brow services.