How Often Should You Wash Your Face?

Skincare is such a personal thing. Depending on your skin type, there are so many ways to personalize and perfect your routine. However, face wash seems to be a universal part of caring for our skin. Washing morning and night is a known fact for many in the beauty community. With much recent discussion on our skin's moisture barrier and the importance of its protective measures against pollution, bacteria, and dehydration, washing our face twice a day might work against this preventative measure. Though skipping a morning wash might be beneficial for some people, washing your face before bed is always necessary to clean the skin of debris and bacteria that accumulates throughout the day. Based on your skin type, L'OFFICIEL breaks down exactly how often you should wash your face every day. 

To check what type of skin you have, dermatologists recommend washing your face and then letting it dry without any extra topicals afterward. Wait five minutes, and then notice the way your skin feels. If it is tight and dry, you have dry skin. If it feels oily and shiny all over, you have oily skin. Combination skin will appear oily only in your T-Zone. If your skin feels comfortable without being overly oily, you have normal skin. 

Because normal skin is lower maintenance than the other types, how often you wash your face is completely up to you. People with normal skin do not suffer from flaky spots or consistent breakouts. If your skin feels comfortable in the morning, you may not want to wash it. During the night, your skin repairs itself and works on its moisture barrier, so washing it first thing in the morning might cause more harm than good if you have normal skin. But if you notice your skin breaking out more than normal after a few days of not washing your face in the morning, your skin might still need that extra wash.  

If you have dry skin, washing your face in the morning is not necessary. Especially in the cold, dry winter months, dry skin needs as much moisture as possible. Washing skin in the morning would deplete the moisture that the skin has built up over the night. Instead, people with dry skin can skip their morning face wash and go in directly with the rest of their morning skincare routine. 

Oilier skin tends to suffer from breakouts and unnecessary sebum production that leads to inflammation. Because of this, people with this skin type most likely benefit from a morning wash. Though the moisture barrier has strengthened overnight, removing built-up oil will help those with oilier skin. However, beware of overwashing because this will only increase oil production to combat avoidable dryness. 

Combination skin is difficult. People with this skin type might benefit from skipping face wash in the mornings. Once you've tried skipping, notice if your skin is less dry throughout the day and suffering from fewer breakouts. If this is the case, you're good to go. However, if your skin begins to break out more and the dryness has not calmed down, then we recommend continuing with a gentle morning face wash.