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Should we wash our face in the morning? The answer may seem like an obvious “yes,” but there s actually a lot of debate in the skincare community.
After suffering from a severe dermatitis outbreak for some time, my dermatologist suggested a shocking solution—to stop washing my face every morning, instead only using a couple prescription ointments.
The idea of simplifying my routine was actually incredibly appealing. Every time I washed my face it aggravated my eczema. But before I went for it, I wanted a second opinion—and French pharmacist Natacha Bonjout agreed this was a good idea. “Cleansing the skin in the morning removes the delicate layer of sebum that the skin produces during the night to protect itself from external factors, such as pollutants or bacteria,” she says. “This sebum is an exceptional natural shield that is very beneficial for the skin, so it is a shame to remove it.” I didn t need any more evidence; I decided to stop washing my face in the morning.
After six months, my skin felt much calmer, but there was a downside—it was also much duller and a bit oily looking, something I wasn t happy about. So I decided to to see in the last few weeks if rinsing with water only (no product!) would help, as well as seeing if dermatologist Paloma Borregón, medical director of the Kalosia Clinic, had any advice. Her answer shocked me.
“It is a mistake not to wash your face in the morning,” Borregón says. “It is actually important to do so. We need the skin to be clean so that the products applied in the morning are well absorbed. Also, when we wash our face in the morning, it removes the products applied the night before are removed, especially acids such as retinol, which should not be exposed to the sun.”
But what about the “exceptional natural shield” Bonjout told me about? “We should not stop washing our face in the mornings," Borregón says. “In fact, it is quite the opposite: That oil is the shine you are seeing, so it is preferable to wash it and then moisturize it with specific products so as not to shine excessively."
Borregón acknowledged that my case was a big unique because of my eczema, adding “in general, no one should skip washing their face, except for patients with very dry skin or atopic dermatitis, in whom there may be eczema in the area and it is not advisable to wash a lot with soap and water, since their skin barrier is not of good quality.”
Finally, the medical director of Clínica Kalosia defended the benefits of only washing with water in the mornings if you have sensitive skin, saying “although I would never do so in patients with oily skin, for example.” And of course, my skin, which is not very dry, felt oilier than usual, as I mentioned before.
All in all, it seems I wasn t doing too bad for my skin once I started using only water, all things considered. I will continue to double cleanse nightly at home to address the lack of radiance and boost cell renewal; and I will insist on sebum-regulating products. Wish me (and my skin) luck.
