By cleansing with water only, you're less likely to over-strip the skin's natural oil and therefore reduce the risk of damaging your skin barrier. Cleansing your face with water only not only reduces the oil-stripping action but also the physical rubbing action, which would reduce irritation to the skin.
The foaming agents strip your skin and leave it dry and irritated, as soap is designed to remove bacteria and dirt. Answering your question “Should I wash my face with soap or just water?”: You should NOT be washing your face with soap, and you should definitely not be washing it with soap every day.
Facial soap has a lower pH value than standard body soap, which is what makes it so ideal for use on the face, as it is less likely to dry out your skin. Using standard hand soap or body wash could leave your face red, dried out, or even result in peeling skin.
Use a gentle, non-abrasive cleanser that does not contain alcohol. Wet your face with lukewarm water and use your fingertips to apply cleanser. Resist the temptation to scrub your skin because scrubbing irritates the skin. Rinse with lukewarm water and pat dry with a soft towel.
“Since cold water tightens your pores, bacteria and debris can get trapped and won't clear out as easily as using warm water,” explains Knapp. She recommends washing your face with lukewarm water first as a way to remove any makeup and pollutants from the day.
Gohara recommends Dove's Beauty Bar because it "won't strip away skin's moisture like soap can." Although it looks like a bar of soap, it's good for your face. It's considered a non-soap cleanser made with moisturizing cream to keep your skin soft, but clean.
As a rule, traditional bar soap is simply too harsh to use on delicate facial skin. Most bar soaps have a high pH value. That makes them great for getting dirt and grease off of your body, but wrong for getting oils and buildup off your face.
If you work out first thing in the morning, washing is a must (after your workout of course, not before). If, however, you don't, then washing your face in the morning is completely a personal preference. Just be sure to at least rinse your face with water in the morning if you choose to forgo a full cleanse.
"Not washing your face could cause the buildup of oil and dirt that may lead to acne, more prominent pores, and inflammation," she says.
"Air drying your skin is a nice option to be gentle to your skin if your skin is sensitive, but it's certainly not necessary or all that beneficial," says Dr. Nazarian. So as long as your skin's somewhat moist post-cleansing, and you're not scrubbing your face with a dirty, stinky towel, you'll be alright.
Cleansing Alone Isn't Enough for Acne
Good skin care means removing dirt, excess oil, and makeup. It can help to keep your pores from being plugged up. Still, water and a simple soap or face wash isn't enough to clear up acne. Think of your twice-daily cleansing as a first step in treating your acne.
Dove Beauty Bar is a mild, moisture-rich soap, so it can replenish the skin's moisture. Rodney says that could help acne-prone skin, which is typically dry and dehydrated, and overproduces oil in response to the dryness, clogging pores and causing acne.
According to Joshua Zeichner, the director of cosmetic and clinical research of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, the act of rubbing your eyes and cheeks while crying can cause low-grade inflammation that can lead to breakouts.
“Bacteria builds up on your skin when you sleep at night, so you need to wash it off in the morning,” says Debra Jaliman, MD, an assistant professor of dermatology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and author of Skin Rules: Trade Secrets from a Top New York Dermatologist.
It can make you break out.
Yes, standard bar soaps can actually cause acne and inflame your face. "By overly drying the skin, oil glands will try to auto-hydrate and produce more oil or sebum. This can lead to pore clogging and turn on the acne cascade," warns Dr.
However, ice may have little to no effect on noninflammatory pimples, such as comedones, more commonly known as blackheads and whiteheads. While a cold compress can minimize inflammation and make pimples less noticeable or painful, it will not remove the contents inside a pimple.
Drinking warm water on a daily basis can increase your body temperature and release toxins from the body and so it prevents the growth of acne. Daily intake of warm water moisturizes your skin and improves the circulation of your organs.
“Hot water strips the skin of its natural oils and healthy bacteria,” Grous explains, “which plays a major role in keeping moisture in—and the bad stuff out. And because dryness triggers the sebaceous glands to produce more sebum, hot water can worsen preexisting acne or cause a breakout.”