In this first blog post, we start at the beginning of what we consider to be the basis of any skin care routine and that is Cleansing. We will build on this in each successive blog and would welcome any questions you may want to put to us relating to your own concerns.
Cleansing is the first step in any skincare routine. It is vital to remove any make-up at the end of the day and even if you haven’t worn make-up, your skin will still be carrying impurities that it picks up during the course of the day. Think of an apple that you have cut and left out in the open all day. Anti-oxidants will alight on it and turn it brown. The same can be said of our skin, which accumulates dirt and grime from the atmosphere in which we move.
There are a multitude of cleansers to choose from and it is often down to personal preference which you like to use. If you like to wash your skin then there is no point just having a milk or cream cleanser as statistically you won’t use it regularly which is what we all need to do, so rule number 1. Is- always choose a type that you like.
If you wear make-up, I always recommend doing a ‘Double Cleanse’. The first cleanse is to remove the make-up and the second is to cleanse the skin.
If using a cleansing milk or cream apply with your fingertips then use damp cotton wool or a disposable cloth or face-cloth that you can put into the wash to remove. If using a Micellar Water it is essential that you use DRY cotton wool. Damp cotton wool will reduce its ability to cleanse your skin and remove product.
Here are some of our favourite cleansers:
Thalgo Micellar Cleansing Water & Nuskin Day Away, Micellar beauty Water. Micellar waters are great for people on the go. They are quick and easy and great to remove the bulk of your make-up. I always recommend following this with a second cleanse( if you wear make-up) either with a cleansing milk or a facial wash whichever your prefer.
Environ: In the AVST line there are 2 cleansers- the lotion or the cleansing gel but our favourite in the Environ range is the C-Quence Cleanser. It’s so much more than a cleanser. Debbie loves this and says it is more like a treatment product. It has a very gentle formula and can actually be used as a mask to hydrate the skin. After cleansing reapply a layer to the skin and leave for 20 minutes to bathe the skin in moisture and reduce inflammation or redness.
Thalgo: The gentle cleansing milk is the most popular cleanser, especially for those with fragile/reactive skin. Its formula will not irritate the skin but is great for removing make-up. Apply with the fingertips and massage well into the skin and remove with damp cotton wool of a soft face cloth. Also from Thalgo is the Cleansing Gel Oil. This is really great if you wear a lot of Make-Up as it just dissolves it and means there is no need to rub the skin with the risk of irritating it.
Nuskin: My personal favourite is the 180 Cleansing Wash which is really rich in Vitamin C so a powerful anti-oxidant effect. It needs to be mixed with a small amount of water and massaged onto the skin being really careful to avoid the eyes due to the high Vit C content. I tend to use the Nuskin Micellar water to cut through my make-up and then cleanse my skin with the 180.
Another great cleanser from Nuskin is the Lumi Spa cleansing device which we use in the salon during all of our facial treatments. This cleansing device deeply cleanses the skin whilst stimulating blood flow and also having a massage & exfoliating effect.
The Lumi Spa IO pairs with your mobile device and uses artificial intelligence to map your skin and track your progress via the VERA app that you download to your mobile device. Please use the QR code below to download the VERA app. Simply upload a photo to VERA and it will analyse and recommend personalised solutions to you based on 14 million data points. It really is an extraordinary development, and we believe that more and more people will use this as a backup to their treatments and product choices.
All the above Thalgo & Environ products can be purchased in the clinic or online in our shop.
All Nuskin products can be ordered over the VERA app and they will be posted directly to you. We can of course order your Nuskin products for collection in the salon, but we recommend direct purchase to avail of their great loyalty programme.
In our next Blog post, I will talk about the importance of skin tonics and take you through our favourite ones.
Happy Cleansing,
Sheila
