Should you wash your face with hot or cold water?
Have you ever heard someone say that they don’t want glowy, flawless skin? Nope, us neither. When our skin looks its best, we often feel our best.
From cleansers, to toners, serums, moisturisers, acids, masks, and even “pimple patches”, the skincare world can feel completely overwhelming (even to those of us who aren’t newbies). However, often the best skincare routines are the simplest ones. We’re talking about a couple of products and using the right water temperature when washing your face. But which is it? Should you wash your face with hot or cold water?
What hot water does to the skin
Understandable, a lot of us prefer to wash our faces with hot water. Nothing is more relaxing or convenient than cleansing your face in the shower. However, hot water sadly isn’t the best option for your skin. Hot water can cause a number of different skin issues. It can strip your skin of its vital natural oils, causing dryness, dehydration, and increased sensitivity. If you’re prone to eczema or rosacea, hot water is well-known for triggering pesky flare-ups.
People with oily skin might think their complexion benefits from a good splash of piping hot water, but sadly this isn’t the case. When your skin becomes overstripped of its natural oils, your sebaceous glands try to compensate by producing — guess what? — even more oil! This will leave you looking even shinier than before, and it’s also likely to trigger acne breakouts.
What cold water does to the skin
Cold water can act like an astringent. It can help to tone the skin, calm down any puffiness, and restore a youthful glow. Sounds great, right? But, with this being said, you shouldn’t overuse cold water in your cleansing routine. This is because cold water tightens up the skin’s pores, and whilst this can be beneficial, it can also prevent effective cleaning of the skin. When your pores tighten up, bacteria and dirt can get trapped, and overtime, this can cause blackheads and acne breakouts.
The goldilocks temperature
Although an occasional splash of cold water might benefit your complexion, for the most part you should be aiming to wash your face with lukewarm water. Lukewarm water will work with your cleanser to remove dirt and bacteria from your skin, all without being overly stripping and drying.
Which facial cleansers are best?
Cleansers are undoubtedly an important step in our routine. Most dermatologists recommend cleansing at least once a day, or twice a day if you need to remove makeup and sunscreen before bed. However, the cleanser that works best for you is going to depend a lot on your skin type. The key skin types are: normal, combination, dry, oily, and sensitive. If you’re not sure what your skin type is, there’s no need to panic. There are plenty of online quizzes that you can take to help you work this out.
Sadly there isn’t a cleanser out there that’s going to be universally perfect for every skin type, but cleansing bars that contain activated charcoal are usually a great place to start. Activated charcoal has many superb benefits for the skin. Firstly, and most importantly for a cleanser, it’s great for giving your skin a really thorough and deep clean. Activated charcoal can also help with: reducing the appearance of pores, reducing acne and inflammation, helping with excess oiliness, is thought to help with the prevention of premature aging, and is gentle enough to be used on even the most sensitive of skin types. Plus, at KiteNest, our activated charcoal cleansing soaps are plastic-free, cruelty-free, vegan, and 100% natural. What a win!
Why SPF is the most important step in any skincare routine
Whilst it’s often the most unpopular step in a skincare routine, SPF is also the most important step. A whopping 90% of aging in our skin is caused by UV rays, meaning any unprotected time in the sun will speed up the appearance of crow’s feet, forehead wrinkles, and sagging skin. On top of this, UV rays can also lead to the development of skin cancer. In the UK, 100,000 people are diagnosed with the disease each year. As such, it’s really important that you wear an SPF of at least 30 each and every day, especially if you’re going to be outside for an extensive period of time, or your work desk is right next to a window. Try to carry your sunscreen lotion with you for frequent top-ups, and find a good sun hat to wear if it’s an especially bright day.
When it comes to achieving glowing, healthy skin, the best place to start is with a good cleanser, lukewarm water, and a trusty sunscreen lotion. Over time, you can add fancier products into your routine if you want to, but if you’re new to skincare, or just prefer keeping it minimal, you really can’t go wrong with these three simple things. Your skin will be looking its best in no time.