The need to wash your face each morning has to be among the most debated concepts in skincare. Should we or shouldn’t we? During a quick instalive recently, someone asked me that very question. Luckily, Susie Wang, a dear friend, Co-Founder of the 100% Pure brand and ingredient dominatrix, was watching the feed and jumped in with her professional take.
Intrigued and always ready to learn more, I had the opportunity to ask her a few questions when we saw each other in San Francisco. Hope you’ll find our chat useful and please share how morning cleansing works best for your skin!
Many rely on a simple splash of warm water first thing in the morning. Is that sufficient to prep your skin for your AM skincare routine?
You would think so! But, if you’re using sun sensitive ingredients like retinol, vitamin C, hydroquinone, AHA / BHA’s, essential oils, any citrus ingredients, you want to make sure you wash your face in the morning to remove any residue before UV exposure (even fluorescent lights in the grocery store, office, school, etc.).
You mentioned the need for a morning cleanse especially after using a retinol product the night before. Details, please.
Many ingredients create photosensitivity/phototoxicity when exposed to the sun, so you want to make sure to fully remove any residue before going out in the sun.
Are there disadvantages to using a facial wash that contains active ingredients (acids, enzymes, etc) in the morning?
Active face washes are better at night. Gentler/milder cleansers are better in the morning. At night, any extra exfoliation means better penetration of your PM treatments and the extra layers of dead skin cells (although nobody wants them) will be better protected from the UV rays. My approach is gentle and protection-focused in the morning and active and more aggressive at night.
Double cleanse in the morning: a waste of time or waste of time and two products?
Double cleansing is really only necessary to remove heavy duty sunblock and makeup. In the morning, you only need a mild, gentle cleanser.
What is the most universal texture one should consider for a morning cleanse? Gel? Lotion? Cream? Foam?
That’s really a personal preference. I use a facial oil. My PM active products are fat soluble (more stable than water soluble), so I like using a gentle foaming cleanser.
As a product formulator, which ingredient(s) in morning cleansers do you recommend we avoid?
AHA/BHA; citrus
If we cleanse in the morning, should we incorporate popular cleansing devices (Clarisonic, Foreo, etc) into our routine?
Absolutely skip them and leave the exfoliating for night!
How do you feel about micellar water cleansing in the morning? Do you recommend it as a refresher or is it strictly to remove makeup?
I love micellar water! It’s wonderful! But I would still rinse with clean water after using.
Micellar water removes spf. It’s nowhere near as nourishing or beneficial as a toner! Be sure to rinse well since it contains cleansers (oil molecules).
Head to 100percentpure.com and explore Susie’s beautiful line of pure, vegan, and nourishing formulas!
This is awesome. Thank you.