Double Facial Cleansing: My Experience Doing It for a Week

I’m not a fan of complicated skin care routines, largely because I’m not entirely sure I know how to wash my face properly.

Should I use hot or cold water? Should I use a towel to dry myself, or is it unhygienic due to bacteria buildup? Is it sacrilege if I don’t remove my makeup before washing my face at night? How do I know if I’ve rinsed off all the foam? Can people wash their faces by splashing water on them like they do at the end of Neutrogena commercials?

Given my propensity for laziness, when it comes to skin care I prioritize convenience above everything else. Even my process for choosing a new facial cleanser is really simple.

Usually, I’m so overwhelmed by the options available that I buy anything with a bit of salicylic acid, because my uncle, who is a dermatologist, told me it’s a good idea to use a facial cleanser with salicylic acid to control breakouts.

So I’ll use it until it’s gone, and then I’ll go back to picking any other cheap cleanser with a bit of salicylic acid that I find in a store. And sometimes I make this homemade version.

That’s why I’m probably the last person on earth you’d expect to give double facial cleansing a try, a method that requires washing your face twice! And I sometimes forget to wash my face!

But I’ve tried it because, despite my great genetics and recent increase in water intake, I’ve been having issues with breakouts and shininess on my forehead and chin.

I’ve also been suffering a nasty bout of dryness on my cheeks, partly due to the brutal winter we’ve had in the north, followed by a swift transition to spring.

I needed to take control of my skin care routine, as my lack of routine clearly wasn’t working.

What is double facial cleansing?

It’s exactly what it sounds like. You wash your face twice. First with a cleansing oil, then with a regular foaming cleanser like these ones I recommend here.

Starting the routine with oil seems like a good way to clog pores rather than clean them, but there’s an explanation for this nonsense, and the method has been practiced by Japanese and Korean women for centuries for a good reason.

The theory is that the cleansing oil removes the surface layer of dirt and grime, and dead skin cells, cleaning the pores and allowing the usual cleanser to do its job well.

It is also supposed to be a gentler way to remove makeup from the face; instead of dragging a cotton pad over your eyelids or using any other abrasive material or product, the oil supposedly removes it gently and efficiently.

Once I had the right products – each skin will need different ones, even you can resort to natural products -, I started with the first step of the night routine.

Despite my initial intimidation, the double cleansing process was actually quite simple. I washed my hands, because it’s a good thing to do before touching your face, and then dried them.

With my clean and dry hands, I squeezed out two pumps of the cleansing oil and simply rubbed it on my face, with no need for extravagant massaging.

It’s important to apply the cleansing oil with dry hands. If your hands are even slightly damp, you’ll emulsify the oil too soon, and it won’t be as effective.

Once applied, the oil dissolved any makeup residue I had on my face, even the thickest and darkest waterproof mascara. I’ve never used an easier and more effective makeup remover than this cleansing oil, and a little went a long way.

After seeing that the oil had dissolved all the makeup, I splashed my face with water. I didn’t worry too much about drying my face because I immediately used the other cleanser after.

I massaged it all over my face until it foamed, and then I rinsed my face well, patted dry with gentle taps, and that was it.

Find out here the differences between cleansing and removing makeup.

Did double cleansing work for me?

After doing this method for an entire week, I have to say yes.

The acne that had appeared on my chin disappeared, and my skin was much calmer. Double cleansing suited me very well, especially on days when I wore more makeup than usual.

At the end of it, my skin felt clean and fresh every night before going to sleep, and I woke up with skin that was more radiant and hydrated than ever before.

Overall, the routine is more bearable than I thought, partly because you only need to add one step to the usual face wash, so you only lose a couple of minutes a day. Manageable for everyone, right?

And of course, once you experience the benefits of this routine, you don’t want to lose them. I continued to do the double cleansing almost every night – I skip it when I don’t wear makeup, for example -, and I have noticed a significant improvement in the health of my complexion. I recommend it to everyone!