We all wash our face in the morning. It gets your skin ready for the day and leaves you feeling vibrant and rejuvenated. But what about as soon as you get home from work?
The big smoke
London is notorious for its smoke. Although things might have lightened up a bit since the days of pea-soup smog, the city’s air is still full of pollutants. If you live in any big city, the air quality is going to be worse than in the countryside, away from cars and factories.
All this air pollution builds up on your skin every day, damaging your skin cells via free radical action. Free radicals harm your skin cells, but also attack your skin’s DNA, causing it to mutate and become less efficient at making proteins like collagen and elastin which keep skin firm, supple and wrinkle-free.
Cleanse ASAP!
The longer you wait to cleanse your face after work, the longer you let these pollutants sit on your skin, causing damage and ageing.
The best thing to do is to cleanse as soon as you return home, ridding your face from pollutants as soon as possible. Be sure to wash your hands first, however. This will prevent you from transferring the dirt and germs from your hands to your face, where it can cause problems like spots and irritation.
Does it matter?
So how important is cleansing in the evening? As it happens, very! In fact, if you had to pick between cleansing in the morning or the evening, you should pick the evening.
Cleansing in the morning means pollutants and impurities will rest on your skin all night, whereas all your face has to contend with in the evening is your lovely, comfy pillow. Besides, cleansing after work gives you a second chance to apply post-cleanse treatments such as moisturisers or anti-ageing products onto dirt-free skin.
“Most dermatologists recommend face-washing twice daily, once in the morning and once before bed,” explains Joshua Zeichner, Asst. Professor of Dermatology at NYC’s Mount Sinai Medical Center.
“If you’re going to skip (a wash), then it’s better to skip the morning one than the evening one. At night, you want to remove the dirt, oil, and particulate matter that accumulate during the day.”
We couldn’t agree more!
Wash away that daily dirt with Mild Wash Liquid, a gentle daily cleanser that is suitable for removing makeup.
