And when do I manage to think squeaky clean?  Yeah, mostly when I’m contemplating cleansers. Beauty articles tend to focus on the serious long-term stuff like serums and sunblock, and for good reason.  A decade from now, you’re going to care a lot more about your Vitamin C serum and how much SPF you used than whether your facial moisturizer was too heavy one summer.  At the same time, though, there are few parts of your beauty regimen that really make as much immediate difference in the way your skin behaves as how and when you wash your face.

This, unfortunately, is a lesson that I had to learn over and over again during my acne-prone years: wash your face before bed, Kai.  No, I mean it.   Get your lazy ass up and wash your face NOW.  Having finally realized the power of the simple cleanser, though, I have been converted.  Never again shall I go to bed without freshening up first.  To that end, here are a few of my favorite cleansers:

SkinMedica's Facial Cleanser

I will just start off by saying that I love this cleanser. I’m picky about feeling like my face is getting clean (I know, Cetaphil is great, but I just can’t do it, dermatologist recommendations aside), and this really does a terrific job of getting my face completely clean without my having to scrub with a washcloth or wash twice.  It has green tea extract; frankly, I’m not completely sure what if anything that does for my skin, but I’m very fond of the smell. It also, however, retails for $29, which is a little steep for a straight-up cleanser, much though I love it, so I only pick it up when I’m feeling flush.

More humanely priced (at $18.50) and equally effective is Origins’ Checks and Balances Frothy face wash:

Origins Checks and Balances Frothy face wash

I’m a sucker for Origins.  If I listed all the Origins products I’ve used over the years — well, we’d be here all day.  They smell great and they work, and that whole ginger line?  Yum.  Checks and Balances is their cleanser designed for combination skin.  Yeah, that’d be me.  I can get away with ignoring my T-zone during the winter, but during the summer I can definitely use some extra help keeping things under control.  The cleanser contains broad leaf kelp extract to discourage excess oil production and wheat protein to protect skin prone to dryness.  This also gets my skin nice and clean on the first pass, and like pretty much everything from Origins, smells good.  (This one is a minty smell with bergamot and lavender to balance it out.)  This is still not a bargain-basement cleanser, as you might expect from Origins, but it won’t break the bank either.

And last but not least, my standby:

Basis Cleaner Clean Face Wash

At its drugstore price point, this is the one I reach for at the end of the month when the budget starts getting strained.  It does a great job of getting my face clean without stripping it, and the best part?  I love the smell.  To me it mostly comes across with the lemongrass note, but it also contains lavender extract, rosemary extract, and spearmint extract for a little complexity. I picked it up in a friend’s bathroom years ago and haven’t let go since.

So think clean!  Your skin will thank you.

Tags: Basis, Beauty, facial cleanser, Origins, SkinMedica

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