Cleaners: wax on, wax off... 🐱👤
Today we're talking about facial cleansers and all the questions surrounding them: Is there such a thing as 'chard' soap that works for my head, body, and everything else I have hanging off my legs? What's the difference between the bar of soap my grandma used to make in a pan and a fancy drugstore cleaner? Is it true that cleaning products are toxic, cursed chemicals of capitalism... created to make me sterile?
Let's go for it all, slowly and painlessly... Because a clean face is worth more than 1,000 nudes, it attracts cosmic luck and scares away envious people.
Cleaners are for cleaning… and if they clean too much… they dry out and irritate.
The main function of a cleanser is to remove grease, bacteria, sweat, dirt, and dead skin that accumulates on your face.
But a cleanser (for now) isn't intelligent and doesn't distinguish between all the 'bad' stuff mentioned above and the 'good' things you'd like to keep on your face (proteins, lipids, that post-party smile...). The so-called lizard face effect or elephant sandpaper effect means that the cleanser has done its job... TOO WELL and has gone too far in removing things.
So… do all cleansers irritate equally?
Well, NO. Until World War II, the only soaps available were 'traditional' soaps made by grandma, based on animal fats or vegetable oils… which were very irritating to the skin.
Since soap was scarce during the war, they had to invent something, and syndets (syndet = SYNthetic DEtergent) appeared, straight from the laboratory. Oh! Just to clarify: syndet simply means synthetic; that is, it comes from a laboratory… we're all about science, aren't we? 👨🔬…science is your friend. Science works.
Syndet cleaners appeared for different uses and with different 'irritation potentials':
1. The 'Heavies' (They're called anionic – which reminds me of 'anus'… because they can make you feel terrible if you overuse them)
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Cheap, they foam up a LOT and clean a LOT... so they can IRRITATE HAMMER
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This group includes SLS (this one dries out the most) and SLE. You may have heard of them because they receive a lot of hate Like, “NO TO SULFATES!!!!!” Well… it’s not that big of a deal. Like everything, in the right doses; they’re safe, effective, legally authorized by health institutions, and do their job better than any other. Very much so if they’re used correctly and included in a formula.
2. The 'Softies' (they are called - non-ionic)
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Expensive, they barely lather, and they are the LEAST irritating.
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They are commonly used to cleanse babies' skin
3. The 'troublemakers' (or cationic, because it leaves microbes 'catatonic')
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They don't wash very well... but they're great at killing microorganisms and bacteria.
4. The 'neither here nor there' (or amphoteric)
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They lather... but not much, they clean... but not thoroughly, they irritate... a little, they're antibacterial... sort of. Basically, they pass in everything, but not even a solid A in any subject.
And the thing is, by mixing all of the above... you can end up with super hardcore cleaners, like for cleaning trucks. 🚚 or so soft you'd put them on a newborn 🐣.
Hey… but aside from that spiel, I've heard that cleansers have too many harmful, unpronounceable, and bad ingredients added to them. Does that also irritate and upset your skin?
Mmmm… if it's made with love, NO.
As a cheat sheet and summary, to make a formula for a cleaner you only need 4 "things":
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Water (not 100% necessary in solid cleaners, for example)
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The detergent (called a surfactant), and which we have already seen is what removes dirt and irritates.
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Little things that don't clean but give a 'feeling and a nice touch': thickeners to make the product more or less liquid, colorants to give it color, perfumes to give it a smell delicious delicious delicious (Some perfumes, depending on the person, can indeed cause allergies...) Foaming soap falls into this category. Foaming soap is NOT what cleans (what?!). We just shattered a myth for you, sorry.
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Moves to 'compensate' for the irritating part. Oils, aloe, ceramides, glycerin… things that hydrate and renew your skin's natural protective barrier.
In conclusion, the things they add to cleaners (unless you're a troll bastard) are generally to give more flavor and to 'compensate' for the cleaning effect... not to ruin it.
So, to sum it up… can I use hand soap or shower soap on my face?
NO because those with face and body have
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more cleaner,
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They use more 'heavyweight' cleaners,
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They use fewer ingredients 'which compensate'
…than those you find in a cleaner formulated for the face
Is it true that those synthetics you're talking about... come from petroleum and kill Nemo 🐠 And is the natural soap my aunt makes with herbs in the bathtub the only alternative?
No. 70 years ago, natural soap left your skin so rough you could grate cheese, and most synthetic soaps were derived from petroleum.
These days, synthetic products (the cool ones) are made with natural, sustainable, and eco-certified ingredients, and natural soaps don't irritate your skin because they more than compensate for dryness with rich ingredients (don't be fooled by sensationalist headlines). Ultimately, like everything in life, there are TERRIBLE products and AMAZING products, and that has little to nothing to do with whether the cleanser was formulated in a lab or an urban garden.
In conclusion, when it comes to your face
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Something specifically designed for the face would be better.
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That cleans without drying
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May it please you and your skin
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If, to sell you on its benefits, they talk (only) about natural ingredients and don't add words like pH, irritation, or surfactant... raise an eyebrow. 🤨 And he keeps asking.
Ah! You know, commercial break, our Splash Foam Party It meets all the requirements you could ask for in a facial cleanser!
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Synthetic plant-based surfactant, ecocert
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I use a lot of hydrating ingredients like bamboo, aloe vera, or Mediterranean fruit extracts
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Green foam with an apple scent to give you a treat and make you want to repeat it every day.
Siwon
We do cool right
