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Post by AF Beauty

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Hi APJ,

Today we are looking at Process or Product

There are definitely some amazing skincare and makeup in the world, but sometimes the difference in the efficacy of either, for me, is to do with the process rather than the product. By that I mean the techniques used to apply or use rather than the product itself.

Cleansing? Super Budget Perfection

Photo Stolen Pixabay

The one technique I wish I’d known about at 15 rather than 35 is the highly technical: How to wash your face! As a teenager I believed the hype of product companies and magazines that persuaded the methodology of cleanse, tone, moisturise. And in fairness, it wasn’t all disastrous but probably around age 35 I learned of “hot cloth cleansing” or as your nanna would have called it, “washing your face with a flannel.” If you don’t already use this technique then I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re smirking at the naiveté of the APJ Beauty Writer! I’m totally OK with that, just you wait and see! ☺

This is the deal:

First you need a flannel. You can buy a luxe face cloth or a multi-pack from Ikea. The flannel itself doesn’t need to be any special quality or type or colour. I use the Ikea multi-pack type myself. Cheap and cheerful, I can buy a couple of packs and use them on rotation; easy.

Next choose your facewash. This will be any facial cleanser that you can use with water. It could be gentle, physically exfoliating or chemically exfoliating, gel, cream, foaming, non-foaming – you get the idea – just your favourite.

Photo Stolen Flickr

I usually just splash my face with water and apply the cleanser, in the meantime I run the hot tap and let it soak the flannel – depending on you’re the temperature from your hot tap, this will be workable or you’ll need to add a splash of cold. I then squeeze the flannel and wipe my face clean with the hot cloth and repeat soaking and squeezing the cloth between wipes until I’m happy my face is clean.

THAT’S IT!

I know this sounds deceptively simple but I thoroughly recommend giving it a go. For me, the cheap and cheerful flannel is ever so slightly exfoliating and the repeat process of wiping with fresh water gets my skin cleaner than any non-water cleansing process. I did always like a milky cleanser and softening toner, but the necessity to repeat toner was time consuming and ultimately expensive and I never felt my skin was properly clean.

Some people will use a fresh flannel at every clean, could be twice a day, but I’m happy enough, or maybe dirty enough to just let the flannel dry between uses and swap it out every couple of days or so and wash the old one in a hot wash in the machine.

I can honestly say, this process is at least as important in my skincare routine as any product. I’d love to hear if any of you do this already or if you’ll give it a go?