smartskin101

Part 1 (of 2)

Okay Ladies, I am going to say a few things in this segment that may rock some boats.   I am hoping that you will hear me out on this, because I am going to reveal some interesting information that could possibly change your lives.  The fact is, for most of us, cleansing is a basic step in our skin care routine; if we do nothing else, most of us at least wash our faces.  But is it really necessary?

One evening, my roommate and I were sitting in the living room when I began complaining about some recent breakouts.  Erin had perfect, poreless skin, and so I asked her to spill some of her tricks.  What she told me, I could not believe.  Erin swore she used nothing on her skin, nor did she ever wash it.  After calling her a liar in complete disbelief, she walked over to our other roommate’s door and knocked.  It turned out, Jennifer, our red-headed, freckled roomie with pristine skin herself, also did not wash her face… ever!  I began to think more and more about this.  Most of the guys that I knew at the time did not wash their faces either, and none had blotchy skin or traces of acne.  All this information seemed to be leading me to a divine truth, but I couldn’t for the life of me see how I could make it work for me?  After all, I wear makeup on a daily basis; surely I couldn’t expect to have stunning skin while spending day after day not washing my makeup off.  I decided I had to talk to Judy about this.

Judy was the representative manning my favorite counter in Saks – one that held a particularly famous line which continues to sport quite the celebrity following.   Judy always provided superb customer service, so I thought I would see if she could help me tackle this issue.  Her reaction was not much different than my initial reaction, including the twisted face and furrowed brows.  (Of course, Judy had no 11 wrinkles between her brows thanks to  the amazing super serum and cream duo which she coincidentally had available for me in a special promotion package.)  I got no further with her, and she gave me all the reasons why it ­is absolutely necessary to cleanse your face.  I’m certain she began to recite our “absurd” conversation to her colleagues the moment I seemed out of ear shot; it was only mere seconds later I heard a muffled, heated debate about how crazy I was.  “No, she can’t believe that!”  “I swear to you…”  “Let her try it and see what happens.”  And that’s exactly what I set out to do.  It was time to draw up my hypothesis and do some experimenting.

Again, I still had to figure out a way to get rid of my makeup without truly “washing” my skin.  As this was an experiment, I decided to stick with a drugstore budget.  I was already using the pre-soaked makeup removal towelettes to wash my face prior to my gym workouts.  I decided to use those as my one and only facial cleanser for one week.  What transpired over the next seven days would change the way I approached skincare for the years to follow.  By the end of the week, not only had I stopped breaking out with pimples, but my skin was less dry in the dry spots, less oily in the oily areas and the tone of my skin became even.  I was onto something… something pretty awesome.  Half a decade later, I have learned a lot more and tested out many products along the way.

In part 2, I am going to break down why this new discovery worked, but I am also going to discuss the reasons why washing your skin can also be a good idea.  It comes down to finding a good balance, something that rings true in all aspects of life.