Morning routine. Do you wash your face?

[NinNinJin]

So I'm determined to get it right and sort out my very dry and sore skin with loads of blemishes. I have different products to use. For example night serums and moisturisers. So my question is what do I do with my face in the morning? Do I need to wash it with a cleanser first thing? It feels sticky to touch and it feels wrong to apply morning stuff just after washing it with water. Feels not enough. But I'm crazy about overusing cleansers and my skin is def dehydrated and irritated by all the anti-acne stuff. So maybe I'm wrong and just a bit of water is enough.

Do you use cleansers in the morning after your night routine?

Peri has made my skin hyper sensitive and it's happier in the am with just warm water and a flannel cleanser wise

Then eye cream, Vit c serum and an SPF 50 cream

Then a thorough but gentle cleanse with actual products in the evening

I used to use cleanser but my skin is really dry at the moment, so I use warm water and a face cloth only, then moisturise and use an eye cream. The only time I cleanse in the morning now is when I've fallen asleep without doing it the night before. I have very dry skin though. Evenings I usually have my bath or shower and a proper face wash, a gentle cleanser and a exfoliater with salicylic acid in it if I'm getting any spots. I realised a couple of years ago that I was over cleaning my skin, and that this was damaging it and making it very dry, so I would rather be slightly sticky than how it was before. When I wear makeup I find it goes on fine so long as I use a primer. I don't wear face makeup every day by any stretch though, again it irritates my skin (I tend to just do my eyes)

I recommend Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish. Seems to suit most skins. Creamy cleanser you massage in to face and remove with soaked hot muslin cloth that comes with the cleanser. Slightly exfoliating and you can get into nooks and crannies on nose to help deal with blackheads etc. There are demos and often offers on qvc website if you want a visual guide :) ...

Cleanse & Polish™ Hot Cloth Cleanser | Liz Earle Beauty Co.

I cleanse twice a day with cerave, which isn't drying at all. I use a flannel to take it off. I use a serum twice a day, spf moisturiser in the day, a night cream and vitamin c oil once per day, I also use retinol twice per week. I have monthly skin treatments in a rolling basis- hydrafacial, chemical peel, skin pen etc.

I use Beauty Pie Plantastic cleanser, so I run some of that into my face while the shower gets warm, and then wash it off in the shower. My forehead used to be really dry and flaky and this is the first product that sorted it, so I will never dare use another cleanser! It's wild that it was a cleanser that fixed it, and not a moisturiser, but there you go.

After my shower I dry my face with a towel and use whatever combo of moisturisers (Beauty Pie) I'm using, and add a drop of Tan Luxe now too these last few weeks (twice a week), as the vestiges of my summer tan have finally departed and I look like a hungover ghost again. I don't use much Tan Luxe, but it makes a difference. I use it on my neck and chest too.

Run it in to my face? I mean RUB. With my fingers.

Oh I have already asked in a separate thread about eye creams/serums but it is not getting many views. What do people use?
I have only used ordinary caffeine one and cannot quite remember the effect it had on me. Perhaps just refreshing. Anything else worth considering?

Have a look at La Roche-Posay. ALL of their products are for sensitive skin so you don't need to decide betwen senstive or dry, or sensitive or spotty - absolute game changer for me. They are likely to have a wash that satisfies dry, sensitive and blemishes.

IMHO there is no real need for most of the expensive stuff sold, or for most advertised 'routines' or 'rituals'. That's just advert-speak.

A doctor once told me that all that was needed for normal skin was a gentle plain tepid water wash plus a little bit of good-quality moisturiser if the skin felt tight and dry. The message: leave things alone!

If there are big problems with skin, perhaps seek medical rather than cosmetic company advice ??

After all, skin has evolved to take care of itself. So many products (eg soap) disrupt that natural balance and then the skin needs more products to soothe and attempt to repair. I find the doctor's advice works well for me. But then I don't wear make-up - simply don't think it improves how I look - so perhaps the above advice won't be relevant. But perhaps just, as an experiment - try giving your skin a complete rest for a few weeks???? Just as in the examples given above by SgtJuneAukland and others.

I know that for many people make-up is an art form - it has been so for hundreds of years - and that's fine and it can look fantastic- I'm not criticising AT ALL. But you can't expect to put various "foreign" substances on the skin, whether powders, pigments, oils, dyes or cleansers etc etc, and not expect it to react sometimes.

Skin of course needs protection if you are sunbathing /ski-ing etc., but that's a separate issue.

I run every morning (6 out of 7 days) so have no choice but to cleanse! I use Cerave AM and PM.

@SgtJuneAckland and @nameXname Do you use a wet facecloth to wipe when you wash with water only? Or do you just rinse your face using hands or the shower?

I use a gentle cleanser in the morning (or sometimes a salicylic acid one if I have spots).

At the moment I'm using an Elemis one. It's very gentle and not at all drying.

I can't imagine getting up and putting serums, moisturiser etc on without washing my face first

Hot, clean flannel in the shower. Then a gentle moisturiser

I use Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm, you only need a tiny bit, then rinse with warm water using my hands and pat dry with a clean flannel. Then use the EH moisturiser. Smells lovely too.

I cleanse, tone and moisturise twice a day using the boots everyday rose range. Good and cheap as chips too. And a Superdrug face mask every Sunday.

I use the Emma Hardie Moringa cleansing balm morning and night.

My son has seen vast improvement in his skin using the Aveeno facial skincare range Aveeno. He uses the oat cleanser morning and night, moisturiser daily and the exfoliating cleanser once every 3 or so days. He's 20 and we were at the point of paying for a private detmatologist appointment for him but (touch wood) this seems to have helped massively.

I only use cold water on my face. That said, I haven't piled sticky (?) products on my face the night before.
I had someone (a stranger) comment on how good my skin was quite recently. But all I do in the mornings is wash my hands and then throw cold water on my face.

I have to agree with this advice:
If there are big problems with skin, perhaps seek medical rather than cosmetic company advice ??

I wash my face morning and evening with cold water are Dove soap.

Then moisturiser, either RockRose Beauty moisturising balm or Nivea Q10 and also Rock Rose facial oil after a shower.

No facecloth, no soap - why, unless very dirty, would you need to rub? If very dirty ask pharmacist for gentle moisturising cleanser to use instead of soap.. Apply using just hands - unless used just once and washed daily, cloths can be a breeding ground for germs. Then gently pat dry.

This is what the very, very reputable Mayo Clinic says:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/skin-care/art-20048237

This is a technical nursing document about caring for mostly older patients with damaged skin, but it dscusses some important general principles - including 'pat dry, don't rub' etc.
https://www.cambscommunityservices.nhs.uk/docs/default-source/luton-tissue-viability/maintaining-skin-integrity.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Important also to note that good nutrition and good sleep play a vital part in having good skin and hair- veg and fruit, protein, healthy-oils (eg olive), nuts and seeds, fibre-rich carbs, plenty of water, vitamin tabs IF, IF deficient, limit junk foods etc etc.

If you're on a budget I'd really recommend this cleanser: https://www.nivea.co.uk/products/sensitive-cleansing-milk-40058089244310045.html

You can normally pick it up in boots for a couple of pounds and it feels really nourishing for dry sensitive skin. I smooth it over my face morning and night, rinse off with luke warm water and pat dry before applying my skincare. You could use a flannel to help remove it, especially if you wear a lot of makeup. I used to do that but didn't like the extra laundry it generated!

@nameXname Thank you. Very sensitive skin here, I'm going to give the water only washing with hands a try. Facecloths seem to cause my face to go bit red!

I just use a quick splash of warm water in the morning. Then pat dry with a towel. My bedding is changed regularly and my face doesn't sweat in the night so it doesn't need cleaning really. Just a quick freshen up with water. I don't really get spots (occasionally the odd one before my period) so it seems to be working ok.

Just water ( luke warm if you like ) splashed on with hands. No need to dry. Cheap and effective. Good diet.

Try only a cotton pad and micellar water in the morning, and a cleanser PM