A couple months ago, my husband read a Real Simple article out loud to me called “Yes, There Is a Right Way to Shower.” We mainly thought it was hilariously dumb, although I suppose some people don’t get excruciatingly detailed instructions on how to shower from their parents, so I bet it serves a worthwhile purpose for some people.
Plus! As much as I wanted to poke fun at this article, I ended up learning two new things. First, that you DON’T need to leave conditioner on your hair; supposedly it works immediately. (I am suspicious.) Second, that you should wash your face at the END of the shower. The latter tip, I put into practice immediately. I’d been washing my face first thing in the shower for… decades, so it took a bit of effort to change up my routine. But now I wash it at the end of the shower. And I like it. (Sometimes I still forget, and get out of the shower, and then have to get back in to wash my face. But that’s only happened a handful of times.) (I also have been showering in as cold water as I can stand; Jenny, I think, recommended washing my face and hair with cold water as helpful for my rosacea. Plus, it’s so hot ALL THE TIME that I rather enjoy the cold showers. My teenage self – who routinely got yelled at for using up all the hot water, so long did I linger under the steam – wouldn’t recognize me and my five-minute cold showers.)
I’ve never been great at washing my face. I will admit, guiltily, that I very rarely washed my face AT ALL (except in the shower) until I was in my thirties, and even then, I would usually use one of those dreadfully wasteful Neutrogena wipes or a Noxzema wipe and call it good. (I know, I know.) I would just… go to sleep in whatever makeup I was wearing and then wash it off in the shower the next morning. (I still find that the Neutrogena wipes are the best way to remove eye makeup.)
But now that my skin seems bent on destroying my life (why yes, I do tend toward hyperbole, why do you ask?), I am much more rigorous about washing my face. And I hate it.
I’ve been using, on the advice of my dermatologist, Cetaphil facial cleanser. It’s mild and seems to mostly work? I honestly have no idea; my skin seems to flare occasionally of its own mercurial whims, and I have no idea why. (Thankfully, it has yet to flare so horrifically as it did back in late April/early May. I am armed with my sulfur face wash and antibiotics prescription for when it inevitably happens again.)
In addition to washing my face in the shower (which I do as quickly upon concluding my day’s workout as possible), I wash my face in the morning and at night, at the same time I brush my teeth. (Same general time; I am not doing both simultaneously. I use a washcloth to wet my face with cold water. Then I use my hands to lather up the Cetaphil and apply it to my skin. Then I use the washcloth to wipe away the cleanser. I have a little towel rack on which to hang the damp washcloth, which keeps it both close to hand and away from my dry bath towel.
The thing is… the washcloths don’t last. I change my bath towels every week, and I get that a towel used to clean a dirty face might not last THAT long, but they seem to go two or maybe three days before they start to get a little stinky. And I don’t have that many washcloths! So I go through all the washcloths before I have a chance to launder them (while I change my bath towels weekly, I wash them every two weeks) and when I am out of washcloths I have to turn to my hands.
I CAN wash my face with my hands. But it’s AWFUL.
Inevitably, water pours down my wrists and pools in my elbows. It also cascades down my face and dampens my sideburn area, a portion of my hair that is prone to corkscrewing wildly at the least exposure to moisture. Water also slides down my chin and trickles down my neck and sets up camp in between my boobs. By the time my face is clean, my entire body is wet and I might as well have just showered.
Why is this so hard? What am I doing wrong?
I feel like I could probably address a couple of these issues with money. I mean, I could just buy enough washcloths so that I can swap them out daily. Or, if I want to eschew washcloths entirely, I could buy face washing accessories to keep the wetness away. Like, there are cute absorbent headbands and headwraps I could wear while washing my face. There are wristbands (“wrist towels”) as well, which might prevent my elbows from being soaked regularly. But I feel weary at the idea of buying MORE THINGS to address a very simple and regular feature of one’s daily ablutions. Plus, where would I store them and would they also get stinky after a couple of days and would they even work???
Maybe I just don’t know how to wash my face the proper way? How do you do it? How often and when and what products do you use? Even if you don’t have any Life-Changing Secrets, I love hearing how we all do the exact same thing in slightly different ways, so please share your face-washing routine.
I’m not much help, sigh. I bought myself 7 washcloths that I use daily for my face and wash weekly with our laundry. It kind of backfired in that Lil Momma became obsessed with skincare this spring and I had to buy 7 more washcloths for her (in a different color, natch) for her “routine”…
Maybe that’s really the key: a separate washcloth per day. Sigh.
I hate washing my face too and am going to try it as the last thing in the shower though! I would get myself to Marshalls and buy a bunch of washcloths in a hot second though. I have tons and they are just in a bin in the bathroom.
Yes! See if you like doing it last!
“…you DON’T need to leave conditioner on your hair?” I’m with you about being suspicious about that. I have rosacea too and have found that cool/colder water is better than hot. I like your idea of a little washcloth stand on which to allow your wet cloth to dry. I go through what seems like thousands of washcloths a week, instead of reusing the one.
I’m beginning to think that thousands of washcloths is the way to go.
Yeah, a washcloth is pretty much a single use item. I have enough to use two a day and only do laundry once a week. The one thing that I hate about traveling is when hotels only give you one or two washcloths (so pretty much every hotel stay). Because of the drying issue it’s not practical to bring my own…sigh such a hard life.
I had NO IDEA it was a single use item. So glad to have this confirmed!
There was a big almost-argument on Twitter about this awhile back, with wash-with-hands face-washers claiming it was easy and even posting videos, and can’t-wash-with-hands face-washers wondering what witchcraft the others were using to avoid getting water simply everywhere. My eventual conclusion is that it has to do with the literal physical construction of people’s bodies, plus possiblly the construction/set-up of their sinks. But I cannot do it, no matter how many times I watch a video of someone doing it. I am a buy-enough-washcloths person.
Ha! That definitely sounds like something that would cause a ruckus on Twitter.
I have never used a washcloth to wash my face, is that weird? Well, I probably did as a child, I can’t remember, hashtag old. I always wash with my hands and I always put my hair up to do that, otherwise, soaked. I lean way over the sink, splash water on and sort of massage my face. Then I rinse my hands, add cleanser and get it foamy, then apply to my face. Then rinse. I have small hand towels I use for this and also to wipe up the sink if necessary. At the end of the day, I often have to use cleanser twice to get all the makeup off. There is definitely a water everywhere issue but I have a ton of hand towels that I use for the purpose, and maybe it’s wasteful but I get a fresh one every time. I mean, I do so much laundry anyway, what’s the difference. I always found washcloths to be too rough for me for some reason. This is one of those areas of life I find fascinating to know what other people are doing.
I clicked on that shower article and I guess I’m doing things wrong because in summer I often shower twice in a day. Morning and evening because I don’t like going to bed with sunscreen on. Or being sweaty.
I hate being sweaty as well. The worst. I have been showering at night lately, which is fine except when I need to wash my hair… seems weird to me to be blowdrying my hair at ten pm.
Glad I am not the only one getting water all over the place!
I wash my face with my hands, and I do it at night before bed, and in the morning if I shower. I sometimes use Cetaphil cleanser, knowing it’s good for me, but I have never loved it. Water does run down my arms a bit at the sink, but not as much as you describe… I think it has a lot to do with the height of your sink! I know when people have a higher sink, or one with the sink bowl sitting on top of the counter like some modern bathrooms, THAT is a recipe for water disaster for me!
On days when I don’t have time for a shower, I do love running a hot washcloth over my face in the morning.
This is a funny/interesting topic.
Swistle mentioned in her comment that maybe individual physical differences among people is the cause of some water vs ALL THE WATER. I get it EVERYWHERE lol.
I’m literally amazed that you only do a towel wash every fortnight! We all vary, but even with the age-old argument of ‘I’m only using it when I’m clean and just out of the shower’, a week’s use of a bath towel is just too much – with gym towels thrown into the mix as well (all towels are only ever white, so no issue about different loads being required) I do at least three towel washes a week.
All to say (!) – buy more flannels (washcloths!)! (Have you tried muslin cloths as an alternative?). They should really be a one-use thing for hygiene purposes – and similarly you shouldn’t use it to wet your face first as it is simply then picking up the ‘dirt’ from your face. Splash water on your face with your hands; apply cleanser and only then remove with the clean flannel. Physics/gravity should be your guide during this process, so simply bend over the basin and angle arms accordingly to avoid water running everywhere!
Oof! – I sound judgemental! 😆
Flannels! I love that! I literally had no idea that a washcloth was a single use item, so I am very glad to know that now! I never thought I was getting dirt on the wash cloth by rinsing my face!!!!! That is a very important note! And physics/gravity seem to be my enemies when it comes to getting water all over myself.
I am definitely on team clean washcloth every time! If I’m visiting someone and reuse a washcloth, it generally doesn’t fully dry from the morning wash to the evening, which creeps me out, and after a few uses it does get stale-smelling.
I wash my face in the shower every morning, and at the sink at night, using Cetaphil, and I’m with you, if I try to do it at the sink without a washcloth, it is water everywhere! I just can’t do it. I’d rather buy and store more washcloths than deal with that every night.
Ooooh I didn’t think about what you do when you travel! Birchie mentioned the dearth of washcloths in hotels, but when you are at a friend’s house, what do you do??? My parents have always ever only put out a single washcloth (hence my belief they are reusable). Hmmm! This is opening up a whole can of worms!
I have the exact same issues with face washing, you are not alone! I think because I’m very short (barely 5’1″) it’s hard for me to lean over the sink, and this contributes to the issue.
I switched to Pond’s cold cream and Erase Your Face washcloths to wipe off the cold cream. I wash the washcloths by hand when I take my shower, and hang them to dry. 🙂
I am 5’7″ and I still have issues, so perhaps it is something other than height?! So frustrating! But heartening that we are all (mostly) struggling through together.
I don’t use a washcloth on my face, I use these silicone scrubbers. They dry quickly and easily.
https://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Cleanser-Massager-Cleansing-Sensitive/dp/B01M3Z5172/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?crid=S8ZPQ382WU5V&keywords=silicone+face+scrubber&qid=1690383572&sprefix=siscone+face%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-3-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
Looks like that link didn’t work, just search silicone face scrubbers and you will find many of them.
That looks very intriguing! But… how do you rinse off the cleanser? Just splash your face with water? To be clear, I feel ridiculous asking this question!
Yes, just splash some water with my hands. Easy peasy!
Well, I’m about to expose myself as the total weirdo that I am: I don’t actually wash my face. I RINSE it in the shower (yes, I was the one who recommended cold water) and I splash cold water on it in the morning after I work out, But I don’t use any cleansers. I’m definitely not saying you should do this, because it wouldn’t work for everyone- but I heard someone say once (can’t remember who it was) that she felt that NOT washing her face helped keep her rosacea under control, and it does seem to work for me. I still have flareups but they seem to be less intense and less often. Now, this only works of course if you don’t wear makeup- which I don’t (I told you I was weird!)
To answer your actual question, I do the splash method vs. washcloth. This only works if my hair is pulled back, but I guess I’ve somehow perfected the technique of not getting water everywhere. Maybe because it’s just a quick splash instead of a thorough washing. I’m sure the other commenters were much more helpful!
Ooooooh interesting! I don’t wear a lot of makeup – mascara and sometimes eyeliner – but I feel like I would feel like something is missing if I didn’t use a cleanser! Maybe I will have to try it though!
Jenny, my friend with very dry, sensitive skin used to say before bed “I’m going to wash my nose now”, so I believe she followed the same routine as you.
It’s all personal preference. I use the same washcloth for several days. It usually dries out fine during the day since I have it spread out on a towel bar, but may take longer to dry when it’s humid. I buy them at one of the discount stores and I wash /dry them in the same load as clothes. I do have enough washcloths that I don’t usually run out. They don’t need a special load to wash if you’re not doing one of all towels or whatever.
Anyway, do what you want.
I realized I should add the caveat that I don’t use makeup, so that does change the equation, I think.
Definitely. I just love knowing what other people do!
And I am envious of your dry washcloths!
Oh I love quotidian topics! I wash my face first in the shower! I will have to move it to the end. I also like keeping the conditioner in! In the shower, I use a charcoal bar to wash my face. I only wash my face in the shower in the morning but I am generally showering first thing in the morning. At night I use a special washcloth type of thing to get my make up off and then I use my hands to wash my face. It doesn’t bother me, though, except in the winter when I am sometimes too impatient to let the water warm up. I mostly use cold water in the summer since it’s so hot out and we don’t keep our house super cool. But I could not do a cold shower! I use coolish water after a run but not straight up cold!
Huh. I wash my face first in the shower, too. I will not stop doing this because I refuse to change routine. So I wash my face with a washcloth in the shower in the morning with some Neutrogena bar soap.
At bedtime, I use one of those disposable Neutrogena face wipes you disparaged to get off makeup. I have found no other way of removing mascara that doesn’t make my eyes sting and water and turn red and puff. Then I wash with Philosophy’s Purity. I have specific washcloths in the upstairs bathroom for this purpose and I use a new one every night. They’re a different style/color than all our other washcloths, so everyone knows what they’re for.
I have never used a washcloth at the sink. I wash my face with Neutrogena, using my hands, and then rinse it off by gentle splashing. I think the key is putting my face as close to the faucet as possible and not standing up until I have drained/wiped the water off, I think? It’s a sleeves pulled up situation but I don’t have water running everywhere. I feel like my hands are much more gentle than a washcloth and I can feel better to make sure I’m getting the sweat/grease/gross stuff off.
Well, you have hit upon a hot button topic it seems. I remove mascara with Pond’s cold cream, but honestly Coconut Oil probably works better – but I’ve got a full jar of Pond’s to get rid of first. I pretty much only actually wash my face at night; just doing a quick rinse in the morning. I used to just use my hands to wash/rinse – and I think the closer you can get to the sink the less you splash. But these days, I have the Erase Your Face cloths (they are oblong and work fine for my routine) and on one end I will add the cleanser to clean my face and wet the other end to rinse. And then I load up on the moisturizers.
I will reuse a cloth, if I have to – but I prefer a fresh cloth every evening. But, that’s keeping in mind that I do laundry approximately every couple of days.
Oh, and I am also suspicious about the conditioner – I really do think leaving it to “marinate” while I shave my legs must be helpful.
Let me blow your mind a little. I don’t even use conditioner. It makes my hair too soft. *sigh* Thin hair probs.
I usually wash my face in the shower, but usually after I apply shampoo, then rinse everything at the same time. I’ll have to think about waiting to wash my face till the end. If we are out in the evening and I don’t need another shower, I use a fresh washcloth (don’t want to brag, but I have lots!) and a headband to keep my hair dry.
In the morning, I just rinse my face with cool water at the same time I’m brushing my teeth.
It’s so interesting reading how everyone else goes about their face cleaning routine.
Wash cloths are single use IMO. But I also only use bath towels once. I get my hands wet, lather my face, wash it off with a damp rag, put on serum and moisturizer with damp skin. I wash at night in the shower and in the morning before makeup with Aveeno calming foam, the only thing that doesn’t mess with my rosacea
I used to leave conditioner in my hair but I stopped doing it when I heard SOMEWHERE that there is no point to doing that. Maybe it was my hair stylist? So now I don’t! It didn’t change my hair at all, so I think they’re right that you don’t need to let it “sit.”
I have a billion washcloths, lol. I use them once and then throw them in my separate “towels” basket. Washcloths are pretty cheap! And I’d rather have too many than not enough.
I love that I am not the only one who has experienced water down the wrists and pooling in the elbows. I love that you use the word eschew.
My suggestion is eschew the washcloths. iPhone, what helps prevent water dripping down the rest is to stay leaning way over the sink the entire time I’m washing my face with my hands. If I try to stand up to wash, it will be a disaster.
Definitely buy a cheap drugstore headband and that will make a world of difference.
I hate washing my face. HATE. IT. I mostly try to do this in the shower where the water-on-my-arms isn’t an issue.
I use microfibre makeup removal clothes. They’re very soft and you just add water and rub gently and it takes my mascara right off. They also don’t drip water, so if I do wash at a sink, again once the cloth is wrung out, it doesn’t really drip down my arms. I don’t use any cleanser ever on my face, except to sometimes add coconut oil first to dissolve my mascara (but I have been too lazy to do this lately, though it does do a great job).
I’m sure it’s not a super deep clean (and I have been tempted to buy one of those mechanized scrubber apparatuses), but it does the job.
I didn’t know there was so much to know about washing your face. I don’t really wash it in the shower (which is to say, I don’t use cleanser in the shower, just rub my face with my hands while I am showering).
I use my Clarisonic brush (every other night) and otherwise use my hands to wash my face. I put cleanser (Neutrogena Naturals) on my finger tips, rub them together and then apply it to my face. I don’t make my face wet beforehand (because that will result in too much runny soap)… and then I just scoop water all over my face afterwards.
Am I doing it wrong? Also, why are the wash clothes in the US not like the European kind (like a “mitten”, where you can stick your hand in)? Random question, I know.
I consider washcloths single-use items and we have an absurd number of them as a result. I have also found that one of the keys to not creating a wet mess when washing my face is to try to angle my elbows towards the ceiling, so water can’t drip down my arms and get everywhere. It felt incredibly awkward for a while but I don’t really even notice it now.
I do use a clean facecloth every night – I get weird and germaphobic about certain things and not others. I only wash my face in the shower if I’m washing my hair, and then I do it after washing my hair but before washing my body.
I wash my face first thing and last thing, and when I come home from work, and sometimes other times – I am oily and I hate the feeling of being oily, and I probably wash my face too much, although my skin is fairly good right now so it can’t be too damaging.
I use a facecloth to wipe off the soap, then do a rinse to get off anything residual (this is weird and compulsive, not logical at all), and no I can not be wearing a top when I do this, and I have to wipe off the counter afterwards.
Why did I answer this honestly, I need to go hide in a corner for a while.
Oh dear god, I AM WITH YOU on this. I HATE WASHING MY FACE. I get water EVERYWHERE. I used those face wipes for years, but finally decided to stop buying them because maybe they’re bad for the environment (just adding to landfill, nothing more than that) when I could use something else instead. My husband bought me some cloths that are supposed to work just as well, with hot water, and I sometimes use those. So now I am trying to be a grown up and actually wash my face. I have a 3 or 4 step process, which sucks, but I feel like my face looks and feels better when I do it than when I don’t. And still I only do it about 40% of the time.
1. Wash face with Clinique ‘Take the Day of cleansing oil’. This is supposed to really do the job getting the makeup off.
2. Wash face again with ‘CeraVe hydrating facial cleanser’, which gets the oil off I suppose.
3. Wipe face with Clinique ‘Clarifying lotion 1.0’ on a cotton ball, which is not a lotion but an exfoliating liquid.
4. Apply a toner, which is supposed to help with the ph balance of your skin.
After that, if I’m not completely pissed off at how much water got everywhere in steps 1 and 2, I apply a serum. I have several and rotate them. Then moisturizer (again, I have several and rotate them), then FINALLY I can go to bed. Why the serum has anything to do with the water, I don’t know, it’s just my general frustration with getting older and my craggy skin and wanting to be like my husband and just brush my teeth and jump in bed. Sigh.
I recently bought a huge bundle of washcloths at Costco. I recommend buying a huge bundle, there is a great savings over buying them one at a time. We use them a lot, and after I am finished using it for my face, I can wipe up all of the stupid water everywhere, then toss it in the hamper.
I’ve had rosacea my whole life. I never use a washcloth on my face, as it make my face red for hours. I also never use hot water on my face. EVER! Not even in the shower. I turn my back on the shower head as I shampoo and rinse my hair. I was my face twice a day with Cetaphil at the sink with cool/barely warm water . I still have rosacea but cool water definitely helps calm the skin. Unfortunately, I have developed ocular rosacea – sorta like styes on my lid line. Maddening. tea tree oil eye wash works wonders. Brand is Optase.
Late to the party, as per usual, but my $0.02:
Cetaphil is one of the mildest cleansers out there and it’s perfect for people with eczema, rosacea, and other sensitive skin issues. I worked for a pediatric dermatologist for a few months and learned a ton – but this is something that has stuck. When your skin is angry, you want gentle. So you’re using the right stuff! It’s so mild that you can actually use it without water if you have to – just wipe it on and off the person’s skin. I use a clay facial bar on my face -but a very mild clay, for lack of a better description. It’s homemade soap from my hometown and no, I don’t know what I will do when they eventually close. I’m denying that will ever happen. 😉 I shower 2x a day, and just wash my face in the shower. Always last.
I think if we all described our shower order-of-operations, we’d be shocked at how differently we all do things! To each their own, for sure. 😉