Sun and sweat are a formidable opponent for your skin, so it’s time you start double cleansing and double cleansing properly. It’s a process that’s easy to adapt to your skin type and if you do it right, can be a real staple of your routine, as well as setting you up for that glowy, healthy skin you love to see.
For me, summer skin is all about managing the three S’s: Sweat, Sunscreen and Sebum. So, let’s work through each one together and discuss why a double cleanse helps tackle each concern.
Sweat
Regardless of where you live, summer can be a sweaty affair, even if you’re standing in the shade drinking your iced matcha. Sweat is a natural, healthy process and essential for your skin, but it can bring up some issues as well. When you sweat, it helps release impurities in the skin so if left on the skin for a long time, it can combine with the oil and dead skin cells, creating an ideal environment for bacteria to thrive. This can lead to that clogged pore feeling or breakouts, especially if you’re in a full face of skincare, sunscreen and makeup.
A double cleanse tackles both the oil and water based components of the products on your skin, as well as washing way the sweat and giving you a fresh faced feel. Sweat can also leave the skin feeling a bit dehydrated, so the Hydrating Gel Cleanser is the perfect way to boost those water levels again.
Sunscreen
Sunscreen is a year round part of your sun protection routine, but is especially crucial in summer when your exposure is likely increased, along with the soaring UV ratings. This means that properly applying and reapplying your SPF is an important part of everyday life. If you’re going over the top of your makeup, it can end up feeling like there’s a lot of layers going on, or even opportunities for dirt or pollution to get trapped in between.
All of this makes a double cleanse even more essential, since it helps to properly break all of these layers down and wash them away. While a lot of sunscreens are oil based, you can also get water based fluid formulas, so it’s important to go through both steps. When not removed properly, sunscreen can have a pore-clogging effect, so sometimes the reasons that people dislike sunscreen are actually because they’re not thoroughly removing it.
Serum
Dealing with oil on your skin is frustrating and can be a bit tricky. Sometimes it’s truly because you have skin that naturally produces a lot of oil and other times it’s because you’re actually dehydrated at that surface level and your skin is desperately trying to hydrate itself. Either way, the process of adding more oil into the mix, even if it’s a wash off cleanser, can feel a bit counter-intuitive, but it really can help. Using an oil based balm on skin that’s producing lots of oil can actually help to break down and remove that oil that’s sitting on the skin, again helping to reduce the chance of breakouts.
Following it up with a lightweight hydrating formula is also an excellent step in the right direction. If your skin really is struggling with dehydration, building in light layers of hydration with ingredients like hyaluronic acid and glycerin. You can then follow it up with more lightweight formulas that build up that moisture level in the skin, rather than always looking to take away or strip the skin.
Summer can bring a lot of challenges when it comes to looking after your skin, which is exactly why having a solid double cleanse in your skincare routine is truly setting you up for success.
