I don't wash my face, am I disgusting?

[EmmaFaye29]

After years of trying different cleansers, toners and moisturisers, I realised that all they do for my skin is dry it out and make it look worse/more oily. I now use nothing. Water gets on my face in the shower but that is it. I'll use a bit of moisturiser in the winter if I feel I need it. My skin honestly looks and feels 100x better but I feel what I'm doing is somehow "wrong" and a bit grose. Anyone else?

Everyone also lives in the countryside, in converted barns, or little villages. Or lives in London with high flying DH, and earns upwards of £50,000+

Maybe the latter - I have always found MN quite London-centric. Lots of people actually do live in the countryside in villages though, you know!

Alas l eat pizza and am not a size 6.

Years ago in my late teens l hit upon what l though was a profound theory!

You can either stay slim easily or have good skin. But you can’t have both. I got the good skin. Weight is a constant struggle.

“. I think I'll take my advice from someone whose scientific understanding goes beyond 'it's so chemical'.”

Wow, calm the fuck down.

You know what I meant. Aren’t you the one who eschews SPF. I was actually trying to indicate that I’m not a rabid pusher of SPF either - I am a skeptic - but that hats don’t go all the way to protecting your skin either. I also agree that staying out of the sun is the best thing you can do which I said in my post. But hey, thanks for your needlessly aggressive reply.

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince

I’ve never used soap or water on my skin since l was 12.

I’m 56. I’ve got no wrinkles at all.

This made me smile. I'm also 56 and lucky enough to have no wrinkles at all.

But in contrast to @TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince, I've only ever used water and occasionally soap on my skin since I was a teenager.

I reckon it doesn't matter much what we do and it's all down to genetics.

Same here. Water runs over my face in the shower and that is it. I don't use cleanser, toner or moisturiser (well sometimes the last but only because it has SPF in it). I have very good skin and not many wrinkles (I'm 42). I rarely get dry skin (soap makes my skin very dry).

@Pukkatea

The vast majority of what your skin looks like is down to genetics, sun exposure and diet. Skincare is largely a marketing con, you only have to look at how the key ingredient for this or that changes with fashion. Anti ageing for example - 10 years ago it was peptides, then it was Q10, then it was collagen, now it's retinol, and I patiently await the next trend. Skin is designed to be a barrier, it isn't absorbing any of the crap you put on it.

This is definitely true. You can see which of my friends were sun worshippers now we are older.

“MN seems to be full of people who splash a bit of water on their face and still get mistaken for 21 year olds at the age of 50 as well as people who are a size 6 who apparently eat tonnes of pizza and do no exercise. It confuses me“

Imagine being so triggered by how other people wash their face that you make such a PA comment!

No you are not disgusting. We all have different skin types with different needs. I just use warm water and a flannel in the morning followed by a moisturiser with sunscreen. At night I cleanse and moisturise and use an eye cream. My skin feels grubby and oily if I don't cleanse at night so it's a must for me. I've had this routine pretty much since since I was late teens and my skin has always looked good.

YANBU - I use a face wash in the morning (nothing fancy, Simple). I do moisturise and love an occasional facial (ie once a year at a spa type thing) other than that - nothing. I do have quite a dewy face / healthy looking face that people have commented on. However it's just luck and makes up a little for having the WORST teen skin - plagued by black heads across my nose, chin, forehead, lips 😭.

This thread has really surprised me (in a good way). I can't believe the amount of women who don't wear make up!

I rarely meet women who don't, I really wish I did though. I wear make up as I'm embarrassed not to as it doesn't seem like the norm (sad I know).

I'm mid thirties, may I ask how old you non-make up wearers are? All my mates wear make up (and all love skin care). I used to double cleanse every night, use a serum, eye cream and moisturiser, but after having children I now only remove my make up with micellar water and pop on a bit moisturise. I've come to prefer it, and have not noticed a change in my skin.

I'm hoping to one day become you wonderful non make-up wearing / non face washing wonder women!

I don't wash my wash my face either, I never have. I 'wash' it with a clean flannel wet under hot tap/shower and moisturise with Aldi/Lidl/Poundland/whatever's on offer. I've never worn foundation or make up really. At a push I might wear eye liner.
I'm 52 and (although I think I look - and definitely feel - my age) most people put me in my 40's.
Every now and then I make a face scrub with olive oil and sugar or honey and sugar. I've also used sand, which seems to work well.

Another non-face-washer here. I do wear SPF in summer but more than that I focus on staying out of direct sun.

I almost never get spots and have few blackheads.

My skin isn't perfect but I've never subscribed to the idea that it should. I think I look like a healthy 50 year old which is what I am. I'm not ashamed of that.

I think the last time I wore make up was when I got married 18 years ago, I normally don't was my face but do sometimes with a face cloth, I do not use any skin products and no fake tan.

I do use sunscreen in summer though

@sixnil

This thread has really surprised me (in a good way). I can't believe the amount of women who don't wear make up!

I rarely meet women who don't, I really wish I did though. I wear make up as I'm embarrassed not to as it doesn't seem like the norm (sad I know).

I'm mid thirties, may I ask how old you non-make up wearers are? All my mates wear make up (and all love skin care). I used to double cleanse every night, use a serum, eye cream and moisturiser, but after having children I now only remove my make up with micellar water and pop on a bit moisturise. I've come to prefer it, and have not noticed a change in my skin.

I'm hoping to one day become you wonderful non make-up wearing / non face washing wonder women!

I am 45, I just don't wear it

Same here and my skin has never felt better! I moisturise and sometimes use oil but that's it

Non make up wearer, 59.

Water only on face and no make up here either, apart from eye make up 3-4 times a year.

I'm 42 and don't wear makeup the majority of the time. I do when I go out for a night out as I like to get a bit dolled up then but the rest of the time I don't bother. I don't think I look better with it to be honest and after having terrible acne as a teen I hated clogging my pores with makeup. Mainly though I'm just not that bothered by my looks and find the concept of refusing to leave home without makeup on completely alien. What are people scared of/worried about? It's very odd.

@sixnil

This thread has really surprised me (in a good way). I can't believe the amount of women who don't wear make up!

I rarely meet women who don't, I really wish I did though. I wear make up as I'm embarrassed not to as it doesn't seem like the norm (sad I know).

I'm mid thirties, may I ask how old you non-make up wearers are? All my mates wear make up (and all love skin care). I used to double cleanse every night, use a serum, eye cream and moisturiser, but after having children I now only remove my make up with micellar water and pop on a bit moisturise. I've come to prefer it, and have not noticed a change in my skin.

I'm hoping to one day become you wonderful non make-up wearing / non face washing wonder women!

I know very few women - especially those who work - that never wear make up. As in not even mascara and a bit of lippy? That is unusual. So this thread isn’t representative at all.

If someone thinks cleanliness is vanity then they’re really in a different universe to be honest.

Your face is covered in sweat on a morning so YABU not to wash it with more than water then.

I have to sleep in 3 layers and thermal socks just to avoid waking up shivering, I doubt my face is profusely sweating while the rest of me remains dry.

Haha YES. I work independently in health

MLM?

Skin is a complicated beast. If you have round something that works for you then grab it with both hands.

Salma Hayek has revealed her low maintenance beauty routine, including only washing her face once a day.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.redonline.co.uk/beauty/beauty-trends/amp31076519/salma-hayek-skincare-beauty-routine/

The 53-year-old relies on a pared-back regimen using natural products to keep her skin looking its best, according to Women's Health USS^.
She said: 'I never cleanse my skin in the morning. My grandmother taught me that at night, your skin replenishes all the things you lost during the day. Also, if I cleanse very well at night, why would it be dirty when I wake up?'

I wash my face less now that I don’t wear make up much. If I have work make up I vaguely try to remember.

I read Caroline Hiron’s regime once and thought “how exhausting” not to mention the expense and hassle! Her skin looks dreadful to me so I am becoming more convinced as I age that skin probably prefers to be left alone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_mantlee_

"The acid mantle is a very fine, slightly acidic film on the surface of human skin acting as a barrier to bacteria, viruses and other potential contaminants that might penetrate the skin.[1] Sebum is secreted by the sebaceous gland and when mixed with sweat becomes the acid mantle. The pH of the skin is between 4.5 and 6.2, slightly acidic.[2][3] Since blood is slightly alkaline (7.4), pathogenic bacteria that become adapted to the pH of the skin and are able to reach internal tissues will encounter an environment to which they are less well adapted. This combination of acidic exterior and alkaline interior is one of the body's non-specific host defenses against bacterial pathogens."

^^ Not a good idea to be scrubbing off your acid mantle every morning.

If you must wash, use something extremely gentle with the correct pH.

I have never washed face in the morning and I've had compliments on my skin all my life - even in my forties! Maybe I've just been genetically lucky, I don't know, but my sister is a maniac for trying one thing after another and her skin just seems to get worse.