A cleanser is a facial skincare product which removes dirt, sweat, oil, and maybe also make-up from the face. Cleansers come in many different forms – cleansing balms, hot cloth cleansers, wash-off cleansers, oil cleansers and cream cleansers.

A facial cleanser is the same thing as a cleanser.

Wash-off cleansers are, as the name suggests, cleansers which you wash completely off of your face. These are different to cleansers which leave a residue on your face, such as oil cleansers or micellar water. These are good for acne and rosacea, two conditions in which you might not want to leave a thin layer of, for example, oil or surfactants on your skin overnight, as these could aggravate these conditions.

Exfoliating cleansers are cleansers which contain alpha, beta or poly hydroxy acids (such as lactic acid, glycolic acid or salicylic acid) or fruit enzymes. They perform a light chemical exfoliation on the skin as you cleanse, which is beneficial in multiple ways.

Firstly, the removal of the outermost layer of dead skin cells can help to tackle pigmentation and dry or rough texture. Secondly, exfoliation is beneficial for combatting acne (especially when done with salicylic acid, which is oil-soluble and hence can get into the interior of pores, where it can exfoliate the lining of the pore from within). Thirdly, hydroxy acids are hydrating to the skin (and glycolic acid in particular can boost collagen levels in the skin, which helps with any sort of wrinkling, fine lines or sagging skin). Finally, using an exfoliating cleanser improves the efficacy of any products you use after the cleanser, as these products won’t have to fight through the extra layers of dead cells that chemical exfoliation removes, they can permeate deeper into the skin, and have a greater effect.

So in short, as long as your skin isn’t sensitive or stressed, using an exfoliating cleanser is a very good idea.

Ideally twice a day, once in the morning and once at the end of the day.

You need to cleanse in the morning, because overnight, while you were lying in bed, your body will have sweated out around a pint of water and the oil glands in your face have been producing oil on your nose, chin and forehead. Plus your pillowcase is unlikely to be perfectly clean.

You need to cleanse in the evening because sweat, dirt, bacteria and sebum (the natural oil produced by your skin’s sebaceous glands) build up on your face during the day. If you live in a city, your face will be picking up particles of pollution too. And then you may have been wearing make-up, too. You want to get all this off your face at the end of the day.

It’s also important to cleanse for the health of your skin, and because if you’ve invested in special skincare products, you surely wouldn’t dream of putting them onto dirty skin, would you? They don’t work by magic – they need to be absorbed into the skin, and that won’t happen if you simply plonk them on top of a cocktail of old dirt and oil.

Cleansing is crucial for the skin but you also don’t want to over-cleanse. You want your skin to be clean but not too clean, if that makes sense. The sebum that our skin secretes is actually our natural moisturiser – you want to get rid of any excess, but not all of it. If you wash your face until it is squeaky-clean, it does more harm than good because it upsets the skin barrier. This is because skin without any sebum on it will try to rebalance itself by producing more oil to get things back to normal. If your skin is oily, the last thing you want is more oil. If your skin is dry and not good at producing enough sebum in the first place, it won’t manage to compensate for over-cleansing, and will become even drier. So don’t overdo it. Cleansing once in the morning and once at night, and potentially double-cleansing if you’re using gentle enough cleansers that don’t strip all the oil from your skin, should be absolutely fine.

That depends. You may have heard skincare experts saying that it’s bad to wash your face in the shower. That’s because you may be using hot water in the shower, and your face will find hot water quite stressful – it is happier with tepid water.

Also, in the shower, you are probably washing your hair at the same time, and shampoo contains surfactants — degreasing ingredients — that are able to cut through the build up of oil on your scalp are not ideal cleansing agents for your face. They are too harsh for the face.

But if you’re using your normal facial cleanser in the shower and keeping the temperature of the water down – I don’t see the problem.

When putting your cleanser on, massage it into the skin firmly but gently in small circles. Doing proper face massage helps the cleanser work more effectively, improves blood circulation and lymph drainage in the skin, and also just makes the whole process more luxurious. Remove your cleanser either by rinsing it off (this is a better idea for super-sensitive skin), or wiping it off (gently!) with a flannel wrung out in warm water (this gently exfoliates the skin).

If you’re going to use flannels or muslins to remove makeup, make sure you have enough of them. You need to chuck them in the wash regularly.

The way you use your cleanser depends to a small extent on the type of cleanser being used. Here’s a run-down of how to use the many different types of cleansers.

Cleansing balm – massage into the skin to loosen up the dirt and debris on the skin, add water to turn it into a milky liquid that can be either rinsed away or removed with a wetted and wrung out cloth (muslin or flannel) if you want a gentle exfoliation.
Oil cleanser – massage into your skin, emulsify by adding a bit of water, then continue adding water to rinse the cleanser away.

Cream cleanser – massage into damp skin in small circles. Then either rinse it off by splashing your face with water, or wipe it away with a damp, clean flannel.

No-rinse cleansing creams and lotions – these are creams that you can massage onto your skin, and then leave on without rinsing (I’m not so mad about these, as I prefer to feel that I’ve actually removed the cleanser and dirt from my face). BUT if you have very dry or sensitive skin, these might suit you.

Foaming facial wash – dermatologists aren’t so keen on these, because they may well be taking too much oil off of the skin. So use with caution (these are best for oily skins). Apply to wet skin, work (gently) up into a lather, then wash off (or wipe off with a wet flannel).

Glycolic acid-based facial washes – these deliver a small but definite dose of exfoliation (the glycolic acid dissolves the bonds tethering old, dead skin cells to the surface). Apply to wet skin, massage around for a bit, then wash off (or wipe off with a wet flannel).

Micellar water – Wipe your face over with micellar water on a cotton pad. It’s a good idea to rinse your face with water after this to make sure you get rid of the surfactants left on your skin after cleansing with micellar water – these can potentially irritate the skin if left on for too long.

Face wipes – these are not proper cleansing! They’re also terrible for the environment. They’re better than nothing but they are definitely a last resort. They’re not biodegradable. If using them, wipe over your skin, and rinse your face with water afterwards.

Magic cleansing cloths – these are made from microfibre. All you do is wet them, work them gently over your face to remove everything on it (up to and including a full face of makeup). They absolutely work, and you just chuck them in the washing machine to clean them. While these aren’t bad at all, I’d still like to follow them with a proper cleanser.

Exfoliating cleanser – apply to damp skin, massage (gently) into the skin in small circles Or, you can exfoliate separately.

Soap. Please don’t use soap on your face. It dries out the skin and does not make a good cleanser.. There are so many other products you can choose from.

Yes, many cleansers will also remove make-up. An oil-based balm or cream cleanser will get everything off in one go, including sunscreen and waterproof mascara.

Micellar water will get most make-up off, though it doesn’t provide a deep or thorough cleanse, so I would suggest that you go over your face again, maybe with a cream cleanser, after using a micellar water to shift your make-up.

This is called double-cleansing, and it is a popular way to get your skin very thoroughly clean. One way of doing this is to use the same cleanser twice (think of it like shampooing your hair twice – the first one is to get rid of surface grime, the second one to work a little deeper into the skin). The exception to this is: if you’re using a foaming cleanser, do not double cleanse. This will strip all the oil out of your skin.

You could, alternatively, use two different cleansers – e.g. a balm to get rid of makeup, followed by a wash-off gel cleanser to remove any oil residue, or a cleansing oil to pull away surface grime, followed by massaging in a cleansing cream, taken off with a damp flannel or muslin.

A mild cleanser is one that is gentle on the skin and hence suitable for sensitive skin. It’s worth noting that this is not a technical or legal definition, and as such is not a guarantee of anything. Mild cleansers are generally fragrance-free, and don’t contain any surfactants (detergent elements) such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) or sodium laureth sulfate (SLES).

A cleanser without parfum (fragrance) and surfactants like SLS or SLES is good for sensitive skin. If you have sensitive skin, no-rinse cleansing creams and lotions might suit you. Cream cleansers and hot cloth cleansers are also good for dry and sensitive skin.

You can try using a cleansing brush. These brushes are said to leave skin up to 6 times cleaner than regular cleansing. They work by rotating or oscillating their bristles (they look sort of like a giant toothbrush) at a very high speed, effectively ‘bouncing’ dirt out of the pores. Using cleansing brushes has also been shown to improve the absorption of treatment skincare serums (like vitamin C serums, AHAs or retinoids) applied after cleansing with a brush by up to 4 times.

BUT! (There is always a ‘but’, isnt’ there?) I would limit using a cleansing brush to twice a week to avoid damaging and irritating the skin barrier (the exception to this is cleansing brushes with gentle silicone bristles, which are much kinder to the skin).