Bothy Bootcamp - CLEANSING 💆🏼‍♀️

Over the years cleansing habits have changed; I remember my mum using a cleansing lotion and cotton wool, applying the cold lotion to the cotton wool and smearing it over her face and following with more dry cotton wool to remove it. Then my teens consisted of using 4-5 face wipes a night trying my hardest to remove the inch of ‘dream matte mouse’ and blue eyeshadow. When no one questioned the environment or what impact our disposable products would have, we were all about convenience.

Most recently we’ve seen Micellar waters becoming more popular, with its combination of oil and water. I personally tend to favour a foaming gel cleanser; I find it so simple to use and great at removing everything. If my skin is feeling more sensitive, I opt for a creamy cleanser, providing extra nourishment, however only when I’m not wearing eye make-up as I find it too rich to use over my eyes and not great at removing mascara (but who’s wearing make up any more with all the masks anyways!?) I also LOVE an oil cleanser they’re great as your first step in a double cleanse.

Double cleansing to me is ‘the norm’. I use my first cleanse, usually an oil-based product to remove all the dirt and grime off my face. A double cleanse is also useful for removing the days make-up, pollution, sweat and sebum produced by our skin day and night and that humid film over our skin after wearing a mask all day.

Once we’ve performed our first cleanse, we can then work the second cleanse into the skin using our chosen cleanser to treat our current skin concerns. When cleansing you need to really work the skin into the product, giving your skin a good feel and find areas of dryness, rough textured skin and possibly breakouts. I always use my cleanse to assess what products I’m going to use after, do I need to exfoliate, use a breakout treatment or hydrating booster or mask?

When using your cleanser check HOW to use it, do you need to add water, if so, how much? Should it foam or is it creamy? Quite often cleansers need water adding, if not the product can be too concentrated and dry out your skin. If using water and a cloth make sure you use lukewarm water as not to irritate your skin or if are you short on time, find a cleanser that suits your skin and that you can use in the shower.

Join our BOOTCAMP on Instagram and Facebook at 7pm on Wednesday 6th Jan for more tips.