Spring Clean Your Skin, Naturally

Lots of people think that a quick once-over with a flannel or wipe is enough to keep your skin clean and healthy. They couldn't be more wrong!

With Spring being the traditional time of year for a thorough clean and tidy up, why not start by overhauling your natural skincare and cleansing routines this April...

If you want the lovely specialist serums, anti-ageing moistursers, radiance restoring face oils and natural nourishing balms to work effectively, you need to make sure you put them on skin that has been thoroughly (but gently) cleansed.

When people are selecting skincare products and are conscious of budget (who isn’t in these hard times), it’s often anti-ageing skincare products that we splurge on – things like moisturisers, specialist serums and skin saving face oils.  Cleansing is something that gets overlooked and cleansers tend to be the products people often skimp on.

Cleansing morning and night is key. At night you need to remove not only make-up but also daily dirt and grime.  It’s at night that our skin repairs itself so make sure you give it a chance by preparing your skin by thoroughly cleansing it.

In the morning it’s important to have a fresh, clean canvas for your daily skincare.

You also need to select the right cleanser for your skin type.

For me, I like to use a richer, thicker cleanser at night – something that I can take time over – to massage in and thoroughly rinse off with an organic muslin face cloths.  Rich balms are especially good if your skin is dull, dry or damaged as they often contain nourishing ingredients like organic Shea Butter that can soften skin.

When removed with an organic muslin cloth, you’ll very gently polish your skin, helping to remove dead, dull skin cells.  Your skin will have a lovely radiance to it.  Rich balms do take more rinsing off and it is important that you remove all traces of cleanser – again, that’s why a cleansing cloth is perfect for this job and I like to follow with a facial toner.

If you have oily skin or oily combination skin, you may find that a rich balm is too much but don’t be put off using oily cleansers – just choose something lighter that contains ingredients like jojoba oil which is a great natural cleanser. Face washes are also great – but make sure they don’t contain alcohol or harsh detergents.  These just strip the skin of its natural oils. Now you may think this is a good thing – getting rid of the excess oil – but actually it has the reverse effect as our skin just panics and produces even more oil – so you never get rid of the oil.  You need to use products that are mild and gentle – that will balance your skin’s natural sebum production.

If you wear lots of eye make-up and aren’t keen on a rich cleansing balm, then make sure you select an eye make-up remover oil.  This will allow you to gently wipe away your eye make-up without dragging or pulling the skin around your eyes – which is very delicate and much thinner than the skin on the rest of our face.  Organic Argan oil is a great ingredient to look for in eye make-up removers as it is both nourishing and can also restore elasticity to the skin.

Good natural organic cleansers should last you a long time – you should only need to use a small amount of cleanser to do a good job.  Try and make time for cleansing – incorporating a facial massage does wonders for radiance and using a cleansing cloth can really help clear pores.  You will also find that investing in a cleanser will also mean the other products you apply after will work more efficiently – you should need to use less of these too so actually a good cleanser is really worth investing in and can save you money and help your skin!