WHY YOU SHOULD DOUBLE CLEANSE

(or, How I Trashed My Skin In Four Months)

I’ve spoken at length about my skin woes. Towards the end of last year I was getting to a point where I felt I could see a noticeable improvement which seemed to be lasting and I was feeling so happy about that.

Fast forward to today and… well, let’s just insert ALL the horror face emojis shall we? My skin is currently dreadful, close to the worst it’s ever been and I have absolutely nothing and nobody to blame but myself. 

Through a combination of factors that I won’t bore you with, but all can come under the cateogory of being so ridiculously busy and exhausted I’ve just not taken proper care of myself, I’ve not only failed to take good care of my skin, I’ve failed to take even basic care of my skin.

Without any exaggeration, there has not been a single night of this year to date that I haven’t slept in my make up. Which is so bad. Then I’ve been getting up in the morning and either dragging a wipe over my face or, if I’m feeling particularly ashamed, giving it a quick wash before slapping on a bit of moisturiser and then piling on the make up again to face the world. But, that’s not even been the daily norm, there have been far too many days where things have been so crazily hectic that I’ve leaned out of bed, picked up my laptop and just got straight to work. Those days, I’m lucky if I’ve cleaned my face by lunchtime. I feel like Caroline Hiron’s would bitch slap me so hard for this state of affairs.

So, today marks the point where I make myself a bit more of a priority than I have been doing. I’m reluctant to jump straight back into an intensive skin care regime as I think it might be a bit too much for my skin in it’s current state but, as a bare minimum, double cleansing is back on and I’ve ordered the Pixi x Caroline Hirons Double Cleanse – given the way the past few months have gone anything that makes it easier for me to re-establish a routine seems like a good thing.

I’d had a skin care regime in place for a couple of years, heck I even had a dedicated skin care week on the blog to talk about all things skin care, so I know the difference it makes to take the time and look after my skin properly.

Honestly, our skin needs it. Double cleansing is exactly what it sounds like – cleansing your face twice. We all know how important it is to remove your makeup every night (yes, despite my utter stupidity I totally know this!), but why double cleanse your face?

Essentially, the first cleanse is designed to loosen your makeup and remove the majority of it from your complexion. Regardless of what product you prefer to use one cleanse really isn’t enough. Even the most powerful of cleansing products can’t remove every trace of makeup or dirt from your skin, so a second cleanse is required. The first cleanse targets the makeup, and the second cleanse focuses on your skin. If your skin is not cleaned thoroughly, your pores can end up blocked which in turn results in breakouts, blackheads and dry patches. UM, HELLO TO MY FACE RIGHT NOW.

It’s up to you whether you simply use the same product for both cleanses, or whether you opt for two different types of cleanser to remove impurities from your skin – personally I tend to use a cheaper cleanser to remove makeup, like Soap & Glory’s Peaches & Clean Deep Cleansing Milk (£8 › available here), and then a more expensive one, with additional benefits for my second cleanse. Oskia’s Renaissance Cleansing Gel, (£28 › available here) is a cult favourite for a reason and leaves my skin feeling incredibly clean and nicely hydrated but I’m looking forward to trying out the Pixi x Caroline Hirons Double Cleanse and seeing how that works.

Do you double cleanse – what products do you use? Because in case it isn’t obvious I really need to step up my skin care game right now…