Scroll through your feed or tap past your friends stories on Instagram, and you're bound to come across a selfie of someone in a face mask or that girl with the eye patches and duck face or a #SelfCare post with your friend in a sheet mask. Nowadays, everyone has a skin care routine... of course, some are better than others (some are just bad but, hey, at least they're trying?).
Amongst these skin care Insta-brags, one thing I rarely see people pimping out is — in my opinion — the most important step in any routine: the double cleanse (aka washing your face twice). More specifically, the double cleanse is a popular Korean method: You start with an oil-based cleanser to draw out oil-based impurities and remove makeup, and follow it up with a water-based cleanser to clean away all the dirt and debris.
If you're looking to get the cleanest, clearest skin, then the double cleansing should be your very first step. Whether you have dry, sensitive, oily or combination skin, double cleansing is important because it takes it all away: makeup, SPF, dirt, and pollutants. Basically, whatever your skin type there's a double cleanse for you — so check out these cleansing duos!
Image via Imaxtree
If you have oily skin:
Don't freak out! But an oil cleanser is a must for oily skin because oil actually breaks down excess sebum on your face. Finally, oil will be your face's best friend.
The Hanskin Cleansing Oil & Blackhead [BHA], $25, is a great choice for oily skin types, and in fact, it's specially formulated for it. In addition to the cleansing oils in its ingredients, this cleanser also contains salicylic acid to exfoliate your skin, get deep down in your pores and help prevent and treat blackheads and acne.
Next, get deep into your pores with this affordable face wash to remove impurities, while keeping the skin's moisture levels at just right. Mediheal Intensive Pore Clean Cleansing Foam (Charcoal), $8.99, uses charcoal to purify the skin and remove dirt and excess oil from pores.
If you have combination skin:
Having combination skin can feel like you're all over the place. You're dry in some places but oily in others, and everyday can be something new. For that reason, you need a duo that is hydrating but not too hydrating.
Try the Too Cool for School Mineral Pink Salt Deep Cleansing Oil, $34, for your combination skin. Containing pure botanical oil and salt and mineral ingredients this oil cleanser thoroughly cleanses with a light hydration layer.
The perfect complement to this is the Neogen Dermalogy Real Fresh Foam Cleanser Green Tea, $19. This gentle foaming cleanser is light yet effective at cleaning out the skin. But the star ingredient is the fermented green tea extract, which brightens and hydrates skin, but doesn't strip your skin's natural oils.
If you have sensitive skin:
If your skin is sensitive, using too many products can sound scary. But! There are many gentle cleansers out there, made just for you.
The Banila Co Clean It Zero Foam Cleanser, $14, will cleanse deep while still being gentle. Formulated with a naturally-derived amino acid cleansing agent and the brand's patented Zero Balance Technology this face wash also soothes and support the skin's moisture balance.
For even more soothing ingredients, follow up with Banila Co Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm Purifying, $24. This award-winning hypoallergenic oil cleanser is an off-shoot of the cult fave Banila Co Clean It Zero Classic — THE classic oil based cleanser. This version is infused with natural ingredients like centella asiatica extract and licorice root extract to help brighten and hydrate. And as always, Banila Co is free of artificial coloring, alcohol, parabens, and mineral oil.
If you have normal or dry skin:
If this is your skin type, you can pretty much go anywhere with your double cleanse. But Then I Met You has to be my favorite duo! Both cleansers are jam-packed with fantastic hard-working ingredients and feel totally lush.
The Then I Met You Living Cleansing Balm, $38, not only leaves your skin feeling clean, but it also leaves it feeling soft and hydrated. This balm contains ingredients like olive oil, grape seed oil, and vitamin E that replenish and nourish while cleansing the skin. And with a high concentration of sea buckthorn oil, this balm also hydrates, heals, and protects skin from wrinkle-causing environmental damage.
The Cleansing Balm is part of the Then I Met You The Cleansing Duo, $68, and pairs with the Then I Met You Soothing Tea Cleansing Gel, $36, a sulfate-free cleanser formulated with PHAs and tea tree to clearout pores and help prevent breakouts. Ingredients like glycerin and sodium hyaluronate help hydrate leaving skin feeling soft, and not stripped dry.
