Facial Cleansing At Home: The Best Recipes

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

Facial cleansing at home

In just one day, our body through the skin releases about 500 ml of water mixed with salt, urea, sebum, carbon dioxide and lactic acid. And this is only from the inside, and from the outside, city dust and dirt falls on us, which is mixed with cosmetics. On the face there are many small pores located close to each other, in addition, this is an open part of the body - therefore, the skin of the face is constantly chapped, exposed to high and low temperatures, and is irradiated with ultraviolet light. That is why, in order to preserve beauty, it is very important to provide your face with complete care and cleansing.

In our skin, the processes of cellular regeneration are constantly taking place, which are accompanied by the death of the obsolete upper layer of the epithelium. High-quality facial cleansing involves not only removing impurities, but also exfoliating dead particles that inhibit renewal and prevent us from seeing our attractive reflection in the mirror: fresh blush, healthy complexion, firm and smooth skin. Skin of any type and any age needs regular cleansing, but for this it is not at all necessary to spend a lot of money on cosmetics.

Today we are going to tell you all about effective home cleansing using natural and affordable ingredients. You will learn how to get rid of and prevent blackheads on your nose, which treatments are right for your skin and which ones are not recommended. The best recipes for cleansing face masks, home scrubs and peels are waiting for you on this page - try it and see for yourself!

Content:

• Cleansing normal facial skin
• Cleansing oily and combination skin
• Cleansing dry and sensitive skin
• Home skin cleansing procedures
• Blackhead cleansers
• Best cleansing face masks
• Scrubs for deep skin cleansing

Cleansing normal facial skin

Let's start our conversation with the rarest skin type - normal. Alas, in modern realities, absolutely healthy skin with a smoothly working self-regulation mechanism is rare, mainly in children and very young girls.

This is interesting: Only about 8% of women aged 30-45 can boast of normal skin. Moreover, 75% of them practically do not use decorative cosmetics (they began to tint eyelashes and lips after 20 years), wash with baby soap, and in daily skin care they are limited to light day cream.

You have normal skin if:

• After washing your face with soap or plain water, you never feel tight;
• No oily shine appears on the forehead, nose and chin 2-3 hours after washing; after waking up, your face does not look greasy;
• The skin never flakes, does not become stained from frost or heat;
• The pores are not dilated, there are no pustular eruptions;
• The face is grateful for any creams, they are quickly absorbed and do not cause irritation.

What should not be done for owners of normal skin:

• Get carried away with care products. If you have normal skin, the main task is to maintain its status as long as possible, that is, adhere to the principle of non-interference. Most women believe that expensive high-quality creams and masks can only be beneficial, because there is never too much good. This is an erroneous opinion - with the help of powerful cosmetics, especially improperly selected ones, you can disrupt the natural balance of the skin and ruin it forever;
• Neglect cleansing your face. Normal skin gives its owner a minimum of trouble and does not "take revenge" for sleep without make-up removal with redness and pimples. But this is - for the time being. If you often go to bed unwashed and do not carry out cleansing procedures at least once every 2 weeks, very soon your healthy complexion will change to gray, peeling and black spots on the nose will appear.

Normal skin care

It is very easy to provide normal skin with quality care, and it does not require large material investments. The best way to cleanse your face in this case is a regular baby soap (you can use a cosmetic cream), or a foam or gel for washing. Particular attention should be paid to the quality of the water. It is made rigid by the increased content of magnesium and calcium salts, which, when combined with soap and sebum, form insoluble compounds that are practically not washed off by water and leave a dense harmful film on the face. Constant washing with hard water can ruin normal skin.

Important: Check the quality of your tap water at home to determine if it is suitable for washing your face. To do this, pour water into a glass glass, dip a teaspoon there and leave for two weeks. If after this time a white circle forms on the inner surface of the glass at the edge of the water, and the spoon becomes rough, then the water is too hard.

There are two ways to solve the problem with water hardness at home: by boiling or freezing. Melt water is much preferable to boiled water, and it is easier to prepare it - in the evening, get the container out of the freezer, and in the morning soft, cool water is ready. You need to wash your face not only in the morning, but also in the evening, regardless of whether you use decorative cosmetics. During the day, a lot of dust and carbon monoxide accumulates on the surface of the skin, especially if you live in a big city and are often outdoors.

After washing your face in the morning, it is enough to moisturize normal skin with a light day cream with a UV filter. In the evening before going to bed, you can apply a nourishing night cream, but this is not necessary for girls under 30 years old. Special eye creams should be used after 35 years. For owners of normal skin, cleansing face masks are recommended to be done no more than twice a month, the same applies to deep cleansing scrubs and steam baths. Light peels can be used every week, but only if necessary (blackheads on the nose). The only remedy that can complement the daily care of normal skin without fear of disrupting its natural balance is an alcohol-free toner based on natural natural extracts.

Cleansing oily and combination skin

How to determine if your skin type is oily? It's very simple: wash your face thoroughly with water at room temperature and baby soap (with soap, special means for washing will not work), pat it dry with a clean towel and wait three hours, while doing your usual activities and being in a cool room. After the allotted time, attach a thin piece of paper to your nose - if an oily mark remains on it, then you have oily skin. However, do not rush to get upset: for women with oily skin, wrinkles on the face appear on average 5-8 years later than for women with dry skin. And with proper care and proper cleansing of the face, such skin can look quite dignified.

This is interesting: About 30% of girls 16-20 years old have oily skin and only about 10% of adult women. Meanwhile, the most common skin type is combination skin, when the T-zone is oily and the cheeks are dry. This skin is found in about 70% of women aged 30-45.

The oily skin of the face is due to increased activity of the sebaceous glands. This is either a hereditary feature, or an acquired defect, which is to blame for hormones. No wonder the "peaks of fat" occur during puberty and pregnancy (and sometimes menopause). If problems with oily skin acquire the nature of a disaster, it is necessary to undergo an examination by a dermatologist and endocrinologist, since it is impossible to cleanse oily skin at home with cosmetics alone.

What should not be done to owners of oily skin:

• Wash with hot water. In an attempt to achieve cleanliness and eliminate the treacherous shine, many girls thoroughly wash their faces with soap and hot water, because the high temperature helps dissolve the sebum. In no case should you do this - the sebaceous glands will immediately begin to intensively compensate for the dryness, and within an hour after such a procedure, the skin will shine again;
• Wipe your face with alcohol lotions. It would seem that such cleansing, tightening and disinfectants were invented specifically for oily, acne prone skin. However, if you do not apply them pointwise to the focus of inflammation, but on the entire surface of the face, and even do it every day, you can achieve the exact opposite effect, for the same reason as described in paragraph 1. The more we dry out the skin, the more actively they work sebaceous glands.

Oily skin care

You should not wash your face too often, it is enough to do it three times a day: in the morning after waking up, in the evening after coming from work / school (complete make-up removal) and at night before going to bed. It is necessary to wash off cosmetics in the bathroom, milk for removing makeup is inappropriate here. Any soap is categorically unsuitable for washing oily skin of the face - as we mentioned above, sebum reacts with hardness salts contained in water, and an irritating film forms on the face. The best choice is gels and foams for washing with a pH level of no higher than 4.5, containing special components to regulate the activity of the sebaceous glands, narrow pores and mildly disinfect acne (for example, chamomile, calendula or tea tree extract).

Lightweight daytime moisturizing gels are ideal for oily skin and are quickly absorbed. If your skin is oily, this does not mean that it does not need regular hydration. At night, do not apply heavy nourishing creams to your face, especially oil-based ones. Until the age of 30, owners of oily skin should not use a night cream at all - it is better to make a nourishing mask from natural products before going to bed. Alcohol-free toners for oily skin will only benefit, especially those containing lemon or cucumber juice.

Cleansing oily skin at home should be carried out according to the following schedule:

• 2 times a month - a full-scale procedure with a steam bath;
• Once a week - scrub, peeling or mask for deep skin cleansing;
• 2-3 times a week - light peels and scrubs.

This is interesting: How does a scrub differ from a peeling? The scrub contains small polishing particles that provide mechanical removal of the keratinized upper layer of the skin and the cleaning of impurities from the pores. Peeling contains components that dissolve sebum (for example, fruit acids), that is, it provides chemical cleansing of the face.

If you have oily skin prone to inflammation and acne, homemade cleansing masks and peels are preferable to scrubs. Exfoliation removes dirt and excess sebum more gently, while a properly selected mask soothes the sebaceous glands. As for scrubs, especially those containing large and sharp polishing particles (crushed nut shells, apricot pits), they injure inflamed skin. Subsequently, microtraumas are easily infected, and since sebum is a free environment for the reproduction of pyogenic bacteria, new rashes appear on the face.

Can pimples and blackheads be squeezed out on the face? Definitely yes, but only if they are already ripe and easily come out. In addition, mechanical cleansing of oily skin is possible only after thorough preparation (steaming and disinfection). If you squeeze out a pimple with dirty hands, the wound will almost certainly become inflamed. And the longer such wounds heal, and the more often they are reinfected and picked out, the more obvious scars remain in their place. It is very difficult to get rid of acne scars.

Cleansing dry and sensitive skin

You can tell that you have dry skin by the following signs:

• Washing with plain water causes a feeling of tightness, with soap - itching and burning;
• The skin is often scaly, especially around the nose and on the cheeks;
• Red spots appear on the face from icy water and cold wind;
• The forehead, nose and chin sweat in the heat, but do not shine with an oily sheen;
• The creams are instantly absorbed ("like into dry soil"), and after a few hours discomfort reappears.

This is interesting: About 25% of women aged 30-45 have dry skin of the face and more than half of all women who have crossed the forty-five-year mark. Dryness is explained by a gradual decrease in the activity of the sebaceous glands, the extinction of the regeneration function of the skin and shifts in the hormonal balance.

Despite the lack of moisture and increased sensitivity, thin and dry skin also needs regular cleansing. After all, if you do not help skin cells to get rid of keratinized particles, the renewal of the epithelium will significantly slow down. However, cleansing dry facial skin requires a very delicate approach, and it must be combined with the use of moisturizers and nourishing creams and masks. The best recipes for gentle cleansing face masks enriched with natural beneficial ingredients can be found further in our article.

What should not be done for owners of dry skin:

• Leave cosmetic products on your face that are not intended for this. We are talking about numerous foams, gels and creams for washing. Since they moisturize well and have a pleasant texture, some girls deliberately do not wash them off to the end, hoping to avoid tightness and maintain a feeling of comfort. This cannot be done - dust and dirt will quickly adhere to the skin treated in this way, the pores will clog, and irritation will appear. Means for washing should be rinsed 8-10 times from the face with warm water;
• Wipe your face with ice cubes. This is a very popular and effective toning treatment, but should not be used if you have dry and sensitive skin. From the scalding cold, red spots will go down the face, in addition, if the subcutaneous capillaries are close, they can burst. Contrasting and ice washes are also contraindicated for girls with dry skin;
• Apply creams with smearing movements. In order for the product to be well absorbed and not to cause irritation, it must be lightly "hammered" into the skin with your fingertips. This advice is relevant for owners of any type of skin, but dry and sensitive - especially since it is prone to early appearance of wrinkles. The cream must be distributed in the correct trajectory and avoiding stretching the skin.

Care for dry and sensitive skin

There are now a wide variety of facial cleansers on the market that can be used in place of traditional morning treatments. The emulsion is a neutral mixture of a fat base with water (fat content 25-50%). When applied to the face, it simultaneously cleanses thin, dry skin and impregnates it with oils like tissue paper. However, make sure to choose the right emulsion and not confuse it with regular makeup removing milk.

If you prefer to wash your face with water and a delicate foam, take care of the quality of the water. Hard water has the most detrimental effect on dry skin of the face, so it is better to cook melted water, or purchase micellar water. Frequent washing is harmful to dry skin as it causes flaking. It is enough to wash your face twice a day, and after each procedure, apply a cream on your face: in the morning a daytime moisturizer with a good UV filter, in the evening - nourishing and rejuvenating (after 30 years). Dry and thin skin around the eyes needs a separate care product from about 25 years old.

It is recommended to cleanse dry skin at home 1-2 times a month: a steam bath, then a soft scrub and finally a soothing mask. If you choose between a scrub and a peeling, then a scrub is preferable for dry skin, since only with its help it is possible to eliminate visible flaking, which interferes with applying makeup evenly. Facial peels, especially aggressive ones (for example, with salicylic acid), irritate sensitive skin and aggravate dryness. The same goes for alcohol lotions.

Home skin cleansing procedures

If you want to have a healthy complexion and smooth, firm skin, make it a rule to have a “day of cleansing” at least once a month. Do not plan any activities outside the home for the evening of this day, since you cannot go outside after a home skin cleansing procedure: firstly, you can catch a cold, and secondly, dirt will immediately get into open pores.

Complete cleansing of the skin at home includes several stages:

• Steaming the face over the bath;
• Removal of comedones (if any);
• Exfoliation of the keratinized upper layer of the skin;
• Facial mask (cleansing, moisturizing, nourishing, tightening pores - the choice depends on your skin type).

To prepare a steam bath, you will need a medicinal herb from the pharmacy:

• For dry skin - oregano, thyme, linden;
• For oily skin - mother and stepmother, nettle, mint;
• For acne prone skin - calendula, St. John's wort, yarrow;
• For normal skin - chamomile, lavender, string.

Pour boiling water over one tablespoon of the selected herb, cover the container with a plate and wait 5 minutes. When the grass is brewed and the boiling water has cooled down a little, sit over the bath, tilt your face and cover yourself with a terry towel. By the way, if you don't feel like messing with herbs, you can use essential oils instead - just a few drops with your favorite scent of rose, bergamot, orange, patchouli, ylang-ylang or tea tree.

It is best to steam the skin for at least 15 minutes, then the sebum will completely dissolve. After the allotted time, do not rush to take your head out from under the towel - the pores will immediately close from the temperature drop. Instead, roll up a hot towel, cover your face, and sit until it cools. Then blot the steamed leather and sit in front of a magnifying tabletop mirror.

If you want to get rid of blackheads on your nose, now is the time to do it. Wrap your fingers with a sterile bandage or napkin soaked in hydrogen peroxide, and with light pressure in opposite movements, clean the pores around the nose, on the forehead and chin from comedones and excess sebum.

This is important: Do not squeeze out pimples and blackheads with long nails. Firstly, it does not work well, since the area of the nail tip is very small, and successful extrusion is ensured by crushing the entire thickness of the skin at the right angle, and not by pressure at one point. Secondly, it is fraught with injury.

It is best to mechanically cleanse the face with very short nails or just fingertips. There are special metal devices in the form of loops, but the reviews about them are very controversial - some people like to remove acne and comedones with their help, some do not. Do home cleaning of your face in a way that is more convenient for you, the main thing is to be sterile and do not try at all costs to squeeze out an uncompromising pimple. So you will only damage the skin, an ugly red spot will remain, and the pimple will become more inflamed and will mature longer.

Blackhead cleansers

Comedones, or blackheads, are small plugs of sebum, the top of which is contaminated with street dust and makeup residues, so they stand out so ugly against the background of the face. It is imperative to remove comedones, and not only because they spoil the appearance. Old sebaceous plugs tend to expand over time and stretch pores. And when you finally remove the large comedon, a real "lunar crater" will remain in its place. To prevent this, clean your face regularly.

This is important: It is useless to apply cleansing masks and anti-blackhead products to non-steamed skin. All kinds of plasters and films, which have to be torn off from the face, remove the upper layer of the epidermis, and the sebaceous plugs continue to sit in their places. Assurances that comedones "stick" to the plaster and remain on its inner surface are pure myth.

Best home remedies for blackheads on the nose:

• Protein mask - beat the white of one egg into a cool lather, apply it to the area covered with comedones, and apply a paper towel rolled 2-3 times on top. When it dries a little, apply a second layer of protein foam and wait until it dries completely. The napkin should be firm so you can easily and neatly remove it from your face. Protein perfectly draws sebum from steamed pores, since it is very sticky, and when it dries it shrinks strongly;
• Black mask for blackheads - crush 1 tablet of activated charcoal, add half a teaspoon of gelatin to it and steam this mixture with 1 tablespoon of hot milk. After a few minutes, when the gelatin disperses, and the mass cools down a little, apply it to the steamed nose and the area around it. After 20-30 minutes, the mask is completely dry and looks like a shiny film, then you can remove it. The principle of operation of this remedy for blackheads is the same - stretching and adsorption of dirt during the drying process.

How to get rid of blackheads using lightening?

If your nose is covered with small black dots that do not want to squeeze out in any way, do not despair.

You can get rid of them using the discoloration method:

• Salt, baking soda and baby soap - Add 1 teaspoon each of salt and baking soda to the soap solution. Put the resulting gruel on a cotton pad, toothbrush or a special brush for cleansing the face and massage the skin of the nose for 3-5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly. Repeat these procedures 2-3 times a week, and within a month the small comedones will completely lose their black "lids" and will no longer be striking;
• Lemon juice and hydrogen peroxide - Mix one teaspoon of the above ingredients with a tablespoon of water. Moisten a cotton pad liberally and rub the blackhead area daily in the evenings for two weeks. During this time, comedones will fade, but keep in mind that such a remedy for blackheads will not work for girls with very dry and sensitive skin.

Best cleansing face masks

We bring to your attention recipes for cleansing masks that will suit any skin type and at the same time saturate your face with useful substances:

• Kefir cleansing mask - heat a quarter of a glass of kefir 3.2% in a water bath, soak a piece of clean gauze with it and apply it on your face for 10-15 minutes. The acids contained in kefir gently dissolve sebum and restore a healthy pH level if the skin is too oily and its environment is alkaline;
• Rice Cleansing Mask is a popular Japanese recipe for cleansing your face at home. Rinse half a cup of round rice thoroughly with running water, then fill it with three times the volume of warm boiled water and leave it overnight. In the morning, drain the excess liquid, mash the rice to a gruel state and apply on clean skin for 15-20 minutes;
• Cucumber and Protein Purifying Mask - Peel one small fresh cucumber, grate on a fine grater. Whisk the white of one egg into a stiff froth and stir in the grated cucumber. Apply to face and leave to dry, then rinse off with cool water. This mask is especially suitable for those with enlarged pores;
• Yeast cleansing mask - recommended for dry and mature skin, perfectly saturates with vitamins. Mash a small cube of fresh baker's yeast in warm milk and apply the resulting mass on the skin of the face and décolleté. Leave on for 15-20 minutes and rinse with water at room temperature;
• The Potato Cleansing Mask is optimal for oily skin, it removes excess sebum well and reduces its secretion. Grate the raw potato on a fine grater, apply the resulting mass on the face, paying special attention to the T-zone. Leave it on for 10 minutes and wash off with cool water;
• A cleansing mask made from cosmetic clay is a universal option, since you can choose the clay for your skin type: red - for dry, pink - for mixed and normal, blue, green and white - for oily and problem skin. The clay is diluted with warm water to a comfortable consistency and applied to the entire face, avoiding the eye area, for 10-15 minutes, and then washed off thoroughly;
• Herbal Purifying Mask - has additional healing properties, depending on the choice of the medicinal plant. Oily facial skin can be soothed and disinfected with calendula, yarrow, St. John's wort, or sage. For owners of dry skin, lime blossom, rose hips and thyme are perfect. For normal skin, almost any herbs are good, opt for the classic options: chamomile, mint, lemon balm. A small amount of raw materials must be grinded with a coffee grinder, add a little warm water until a homogeneous gruel is obtained and apply on the face for 15-20 minutes, and before washing it off, it is easy to massage the skin - you will get a scrub effect.

Scrubs for deep skin cleansing

Try homemade scrub recipes based on natural ingredients - it's simple, healthy and economical:

• Semolina scrub - particles of semolina are small enough, and at the same time not sharp, which allows you to use semolina as a basis for all kinds of homemade scrubs. The easiest option is to mix semolina with heavy cream or sour cream;
• Oat scrub - in this case, the oatmeal will first have to be ground with a coffee grinder. Oatmeal scrubs are very mild and are ideal for sensitive skin. You can mix ground oatmeal with sour cream, whipped protein or natural yogurt, and you need to start the procedure immediately, since the particles of cereal quickly swell;
• Coffee Scrub - Natural ground coffee is also great as a base for homemade scrubs. Particularly successful options: coffee + banana pulp and coffee + fat cottage cheese. These products are very easy to use and at the same time useful for any type of facial skin;
• Sugar Scrub - Preferable for cleansing dry skin. Fine sugar is mixed with sour cream, cottage cheese, avocado or banana pulp. It is necessary to use such compositions immediately after preparation, since the sugar melts quickly;
• Honey-salt scrub - more suitable for owners of oily skin, but if you use it for the body after a bath, then this is just a fairy tale for any skin type. A face scrub is prepared from a tablespoon of honey and half a teaspoon of finely ground salt, and for the body, choose a larger table salt or, better, sea salt, approximately keeping the above proportions;
• Eggshell scrub - works best for flaky skin. The shells from several eggs must be very thoroughly ground with a coffee grinder, literally "into dust". Then we get small, dense particles that perfectly remove the keratinized layer of the skin without injuring it. You can mix ground shells with any of the above bases, but best of all with fatty cottage cheese and cream;
• Almond Orange Scrub is the most aromatic and enjoyable homemade scrub recipe. A handful of almonds should be ground with a coffee grinder until crumbs with a diameter of 1-2 mm, then add a little freshly squeezed orange juice (or better lemon, if the skin is very oily) and this gruel can be easily massaged onto the face for several minutes.

It is recommended to use natural scrubs for deep cleansing of the skin, regardless of its type, more often 1-2 times a week. Take care of yourself and be beautiful!

The author of the article: Kuzmina Vera Valerievna | Endocrinologist, nutritionist

Education: Diploma of the Russian State Medical University named after NI Pirogov with a degree in General Medicine (2004). Residency at Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, diploma in Endocrinology (2006).