There are some beauty-related things I find really tedious, like painting my toenails or blowing drying my hair (which is why you’ll usually find me with curly hair and chipped toenail polish). But cleansing? Call me shallow, but I love it.
Washing off the day, or indeed the night, is so satisfying and gives me a real ‘let’s start afresh’ feeling. And apart from that, cleansing is good for your skin, removing as it does pore-clogging makeup, ageing pollutants and dullness-inducing dead skin cells. Plus, if you cleanse properly, you’ll provide subsequent products with a better chance of effective absorption. So what have you got to lose?
I love an oil cleanser, especially for removing makeup. It really feels like it’s getting into every pore. RMK Cleansing Oil S (£29) isn’t just a pretty addition to your bathroom shelf. Zingy and grime-busting, it contains orange, apricot and almond oil and rinses off without a greasy residue.
Lighter than an oil, but not as refreshing as a foamy cleanser is a cream or milk – my choice if my skin is feeling delicate. Even as I race through my thirties my skin is nowhere near dry though – so I use something gentle but not-too-nourishing like Clarins Cleansing Milk With Gentian (£17.50) which is perfect for combination or oily skin.
Sometimes you can’t beat the feel of something foamy and rinsey in the shower though, especially after running (yes, I am still doing that). My current pick is Vitage Revitalising Daily Cleanse (£24), which doesn’t disrupt the skin’s natural barrier so you don’t get any of the tightness.
Still not clean enough? Time for some soap. But don’t panic, this is Baby Face Cleansing Beauty Bar (£14.95 with a flannel) from niche brand Prendsletemps. It’s made from asses milk, which contains high levels of proteins, phospholipides and ceramides, along with chamomile and marshmallow. So the last thing it feels is soapy. Gorgeous.
Finally, how about nothing at all? It is possible to clean your skin sans cleanser if you have the right tool – in this case, a Konjac Sponge (£5.99). Made from konjac, a kind of vegetable, it cleanses the skin naturally while exfoliating too.
You can use a cleanser with it if you want, but you don’t have to, and the sponge is suitable for sensitive skin, those with eczema and even babies. Ingenious.