5 Quick Easy Skin Cleansing Routines

Dr. Chiranjiv Chhabra,

Our face is our front to the world. While the body is all covered up in clothes, the face bears the brunt of exposure to sun, dust and pollutants. As a result every evening when you return home there is a toxic layer of dirt and grime stuck to the upper dermis of your face.

This dirt not only settles on the skin but also clogs the facial pores, causing long term problems. Clogged facial pores result in infection and acne breakouts. While most of us do wash our faces every evening, we do not realize that a superficial wash which does wash out
the upper layer of dirt, does not cleanse the pores of the skin.

If you desire a healthy and blemish free skin, daily cleansing is the first step to get it. Cleansing, toning and moisturizing are the three essential components of skincare. If you do not cleanse your skin, you cannot treat it further with creams and moisturizers.

Since most of us are too lazy to adopt elaborate skincare practices into our routines, here are five easy and quick cleansing routines that can be adopted in daily life:

Oil Cleansing: Using simple oils like castor oil, olive oil and even coconut oil for cleansing can do wonders for your skin.It is good for dry dehydrated aging skin.Warm up a little oil, spread it on your fingers and massage it thoroughly across your face for few minutes. The oil will dissolve the impurities stuck on your skin and inside the facial pores while the massage will also help improve blood circulation.

This will even remove make up from your skin. Then use a soft towel, dip it in hot water and squeeze it to drain the water. Now leave this towel on your oiled face for few minutes and wipe thoroughly.It helps in deep cleansing facial pores and lifting the impurities.

Cleanse and Scrub Routine: A cleansing and exfoliation routine is another wonderful way to cleanse your skin. First wash your face with a face wash to remove superficial impurities. Then wipe cleanse your face with a cleansing milk to dissolve and remove dirt and make up from deep inside pores.

Now use an effective facial scrub on your face. You can use a professional product or even prepare one at home. Moderately ground masur dal or sugar which has fine granules can also work well as a skin exfoliate. Make sure you are not harsh on your skin while scrubbing it as it may counter-productive.

After gently scrubbing the face,wash it lukewarm water.Splash normal water in the end.This routine also makes the skin more receptable to further treatments like moisturizing.  

Combine Scrub with Washing: If you are really busy and want a real quick way to cleanse your facial pores, add some fine sugar or ground masur dal into liberal quantity of your regular face wash and add a small quantity of a cream-based thick moisturizer to make a paste.

Massage this combination all over your face in slow circular motions for 5 minutes before washing it off. Use this as a combination every 2-3 days to scrub and wash your skin.

Besan and Turmeric: Besan and turmeric are two common kitchen ingredients which have been used as beauty products for centuries. Put together besan, and turmeric powder with rosewater, alo Vera gel and a few drops of milk to make a paste.

Apply this paste to your face, leave for a few minutes and then use wet hands to scrub this paste away. This acts as a combination of cleanser, toner and skin lightener. Besides being a skin lightener, turmeric also has anti bacterial properties and helps prevent bacterial infections.

Medi Facials: A quick visit to a dermatologist once a few months can go a long way in preventing your skin problems. Medical facials are different from the routine facial massages offered at beauty parlors. They are medicinal skin treatments which are customized to your skin’s specific needs.

An aesthetic physician will first examine your skin and then recommend the right medical ingredients to be used in your medi facial. A Cleansing Medi-Facial will include a gentle cleansing of your skin followed by gentle extractions of blackheads and whiteheads stuck inside and clean up the clogged pores followed by a ultrasonic or micro-dermabrasion treatment.

They help to improve the blood circulation and scrub away the dead cells from the skin and leave the skin healthy and glowing.

-Dr. Chiranjiv Chhabra,
Dermatologist,
Skin alive Clincs,
Delhi & NCR