How Often Should You Wash Your Face?
You are probably aware that conventional personal care products contain many harmful chemicals. The cosmetic industry is an unregulated body and can use any raw material or ingredient it deems fit. The FDA has banned only 11 ingredients while there are 1,328 ingredients forbidden in Europe.
Many conventional brands focus more on cutting cost and choose the cheapest ingredients like synthetic fragrances and cheap chemical fillers to manufacture products, in reality they can harm your skin. Whatever we apply on our skin, 60% goes directly into our body without being filtered. There are other reasons why you should avoid washing your face frequently.
Face wash usually contains 3 main ingredients; sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, and parabens.
– Sodium lauryl sulfate makes it foam and is responsible for stripping your skin, it’s contaminated with 1.4- dioxane, according to EPA it’s a probable human carcinogen.
– Fragrance ingredients host dangerous chemicals like phthalates which are endocrine disruptors. They can damage your hormonal system even in small amounts.
– Parabens act as a preservative which can harm hormones by acting as an estrogen mimicker.
– If your face wash contains alcohol it prevents dehydration but can be drying to your skin.
Moisture comes from the inside of your body, not the outside. Moisturizers help reinforce the barrier we already have to keep water in, our top skin layer. By applying these products we strip the skin, burn it, scrub it, foam it off our faces, then we need moisturizer to keep the water in as we have lost our natural barrier. It’s a clever trick to get you to spend more and more money.
By avoiding washing your face frequently with harmful products you can prevent acne. You can use other alternatives to wash your face, such as these:
• Oil cleansing
You may be surprised to learn that oil can remove all the dirt from your face and even remove your waterproof stubborn mascara or eye liner as effectively as face wash. Oil will also keep your skin safe without stripping. You can use coconut oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, shea butter, or argan oil – whichever you prefer. Apply oil at night. You can also use warm washcloths. Watch this video to learn how to wash your face using coconut oil:
• Eliminate bad sulfates
Avoid cleansers that contain lauryl sulfates and other unfriendly sulfate relatives. Choose cleansers that feel creamier, you might not feel squeaky clean at first but your skin will adjust to the less harsh regimen.
• If you have to, wash at night only
You can wash your face in the morning if you are waking up with sweat. There is no other reason to wash your face in the morning, a little fresh water in the shower should be all you need.
Edited By Stephanie Dawson
