I can honestly tell you that I never anticipated trying to hold off fine lines and wrinkles while still battling acne that would rival the face of my 14-year-old self. I just figured that I’d “outgrow” my pimples and be left with effortlessly clear skin for many years until I turned “old” and had to start using night cream and all those other potions that my Nana slathered on her face every night when I was little.
WRONG.
I’ve always had oily skin prone to breakouts and that didn’t go away once I turned 18, or 25, or 30.
While I learned in my tween years that washing my face twice a day with a cleanser was necessary, my skin care routine didn't mature with age. I simply stuck with that simple routine until I found myself hovering around my 37th birthday facing faint but traumatizing fine lines (which I have discovered have names like “bunny lines,” “crow's feet,” “accordion lines,” and, my personal nemesis, “elevens”). I realized that I needed to up the ante a little bit.
Enter countless different skin care regimens ranging in cost and effectiveness. They were all OK, but they all left me wanting more.
Then, one fine day, I was listening to my favorite Instagrammer talk about something I’d never heard of: Double cleansing. After listening to her explanation and personal experience of success with this cleansing method, I did a little research on my own.
A quick Google search told me that double cleansing is a method popular in Korea that involves washing your face twice (go figure). First, with an oil-based cleanser and then with a water-based cleanser. The idea behind this method is that oil attracts oil. So when you wash your face with an oil-based cleanser it will attract the oil-based products on your skin like sunscreen, makeup, and sebum (oil that your face produces). A water-based cleanser will attract water-based impurities like sweat and dirt.
It made sense, but I was a bit skeptical. I mean, I’d always been told that oil-based cleansers were practically poison for oily skin, plus, didn’t washing that often cause skin to dry out?
If it weren’t for that Instagram influencer, I might not have given it a shot. But boy, am I glad that I did.
I ordered the products that she recommended from Amazon: CeraVe Hydrating Face Wash for the oil-based and Bioré Rose Quartz Charcoal Daily Purifying Cleanser for the water-based cleanser. Both cost me less than $25.
I was excited to try what I hoped would be the magical routine for my skin.
As soon as the Amazon box arrived, I got to it. I started by removing my eye makeup and then washed my face with the oil cleanser. Immediately, I followed with the oil-free cleanser. Right after washing with both my skin felt amazing and smooth and fresh. I completed my usual routine of toner and moisturizer and called it good. The next morning I was excited to do it again. Something about that feeling right after the double cleansing was addictive and left me feel so refreshed.
Very quickly after I began double cleansing I noticed that my skin behaved much more evenly. Normally, I would a very oily t-zone, but my face texture felt the same all over. I also noticed that my pores were becoming much less noticeable. My skin was more supple and felt healthy throughout the day.
It’s been two months since I started my double cleansing regimen and I can honestly say that it is the single most effective skin care routine that I have ever used. It outperforms all the expensive products that I desperately splurged on over the year and costs just a fraction of what I was paying. While my skin still breaks out about once a month, it's far less severe and goes away quickly.
So if you are in the market for something new, give double cleansing a try. It’s quite literally twice as nice!
