FACIAL CLEANSING - improper vs proper
  - in morning or before bed

Improper cleansing is one of the fundamental reasons why skin care regimes fail to deliver results!

What is considered improper cleansing:
    1 - going to bed with makeup on
    2 - not cleansing at all
    3 - cleansing only once-a-day
    4 - cleansing with soap or only water

    1.  - Going to bed with makeup on: contrary to the advise offered by certain marriage "experts" going to bed with makeup on is a bad idea. Besides scaring your partner to death when getting up in the morning, makeup left on at night will grind itself into your skin, clog pores and inhibit the skin's ability to breath and get rid of toxins and waste materials. Makeup should be thoroughly removed before you go to sleep.

    2.  - Not cleansing at all: belief it or not there are those who, with pride, claim to never truly cleanse their skin. When you do not cleanse your skin, you allow dirt, sweat, makeup and other contaminants to accumulate. These clog your pores, interfering with the skin's ability to breath. This provides a wonderful environment for bacteria and other organism to live and multiply, which may lead to irritation, redness, infection or worse.

    3.  - Cleansing only once-a-day:
Cleasing should be done twice-a-day:  in the morning         
Why cleanse in the morning:
When you sleep, your body is in active repair mode, this activity produces metabolic waste products. This waste and other impurities present in your skin are moved to the skin's surface and expelled. Cleansing in the morning gives your skin the proper start by removing these.

       and at night - before going to bed
Why cleanse at night:
Throughout the day you are exposed to pollutants, which accumulate on the skin's surface and in its pores. A good night-time cleansing removes them.

     4.  - Cleansing with soap or only water: Cleansing with just water is not sufficient as it cannot breakdown the surface oils to which debris and dirt stick. Cleansing with soaps is not recommended as these invariably contain pore clogging ingredients, such as tallow, and leave a 'film' on your skin (but that is a whole other topic).

Your skin is your body's largest organ - as such it is highly active and produces substantial quantities of waste products. It also accumulates dirt, debris and pollutants from external sources.

The use of a good, well formulated cleanser is not only common sense, it is the very foundation for an effective and result delivering skin care regime.

this informational service is brought to you by Nancy K. Brown.