Skincare: Step 1 - Cleansers

The first and foremost step of any and all skincare routines is a Cleanser. The purpose of a cleanser is to remove dirt, make-up, excess oils and dead skin cells from the face and I suppose give you a clean base for when you apply other products.

I always have two cleansers at hand – one for pre-cleanse and one for cleanse. Pre-cleanse is basically when you wash away make-up and other impurities on the face before going in and using a cleanser. It is also my alternative to using make-up wipes.

The pre-cleanse product I’m currently using is The Body Shop –Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil (£10). I only ever use this whenever I’m wearing make-up because it practically melts the make up off my face - the reason I opt for this as opposed to make up wipes is because I feel like I’m scrubbing my face with the wipes which is possibly way to harsh for my skin.

Advantages of using an oil-based cleanser

-        It’s softer on the skin

-       Make-up is removed really fast

-       Leaves your skin nice and soft after use

-       Works well with all skin-types

Disadvantages of using an oil-based cleanser

-       Washing off oil is sticky business

-       The product is expensive compared to wipes

Before cleansers I used to stick to a normal bar of soap but then I took that straight out my skin care routine because it wasn’t helping much at all – one of my friends did research on bars of soap and found that some don’t actually remove as much dirt and bacteria as you’d hope it would. Anyway, I’m going to review two of the foaming cleansers that I’ve been through.

Cleanser No.1

Normally when I want to start using a certain product I refer to Simple as I think they’re a good starter brand and they’re pretty cheap. So the first product is obviously Simple’s Moisturising Foaming Face Wash (£3.59). 

This cleansing foam was quite gentle and didn’t dry up my skin, however it didn’t give me 'the clean feeling'. Before people think I’m crazy, what I mean by clean feeling is basically that feeling where it feels like your face has not an ounce of dirt on it – almost squeaky clean. This actually makes me feel like I’ve got something good out of the product.

Another thing I didn’t like about this specific cleansing foam was that it did not have a very appealing smell. It’s a very ‘chemically’ smell, it slightly puts you off using it. The product is translucent and when massaged into the skin, it eventually becomes foam – which is great because it did it's job.

I would recommend this as a starter product and for anyone that doesn’t want to immediately expose their face to other cleansers on the market. This product is also 100% soap-free which is good for anyone with dry skin because soap pretty much makes your face drier than what it already may be.

Cleanser No.2

After finishing my Simple Cleanser I wanted to try something else which was just a gentle on my face and also something that would cause breakouts because sometimes changing products and brands can cause breakouts on the skin. So, this is Ritual’s Creamy Foam Cleanser (£12.50), if you want to just test it out there is a smaller one for £4.50.

This came in such beautiful packaging…that was probably what drew me to the product. I was amazed by the content when you use it; it comes out as a white extremely creamy texture. I can’t actually describe the colour because it’s also slightly holographic at the same time (its cool!).

When you wash off the product it gives that clean feeling that the Simple product failed to give me. So I love this already. Oh, let’s not forget how amazing it smells. The cleansing products at Rituals mostly all use Moringa and Lotus flower extracts – so the smell is actually amazing. In my culture, fresh Moringa Flowers are actually worn in the hair as an accessory when you’re dressed in Sari’s or other cultural outfits thus I’m a massive fan of the smell.

I think this product is a pretty awesome product IF you want to spend a bit more money on your skin. It’s not as expensive as a lot of high end products so it’s a good alternative. I haven’t decided whether I want to repurchase this or try another foaming cleansing OR if I want to try milk based cleansers - I’ve recently started seeing the odd milk based cleanser so I may try those.

Thank You for Reading J

P.S. I hope I was able to help with everyone Step 1 of a skin care routine, I’ll probably do Toners very soon.