What is double-cleansing and how to know if you need to do it when you wash your face

Double cleansing is trending, but do you really need to do it? 

Is double-cleansing really necessary?

You’ve scrubbed every surface several times a day for years now, but should that repetition extend to double-cleansing? Do we really need two cleansers where one might do? Aren’t dermatologists always telling us to simplify routines? Plus, we’ve been 'single cleansing' since we learned to wash. Why has double-dipping emerged?

What is double cleansing?

Double cleansing involves cleansing with two products per sitting. It begins with removing stubborn long-wear or waterproof ingredients using an oil-and-water-based emulsion. If you use oil alone (coconut, olive, etc.), the lack of emulsifier may make both the oil and the makeup more difficult to remove. Budge-proof ingredients tend to resist water-based cleansers.

How do I do it?

Sunday Riley Blue Moon clean rinse cleansing balm.

Options for this this 'first step' category include micellar water, as well as oil, cream, and balm cleansers. Good old Pond’s Cold Cream is an option. I like Sunday Riley’s Blue Moon Clean-Rinse Cleansing Balm, €65, at spacenk.com, which mixes soothing chamomile with a cocoa and moringa butter base. All these starter cleansers are applied to dry skin and lift off tough ingredients without damaging your skin’s natural moisture barrier. They can leave dirty, oily traces when wiped off.

Beauty Toleriane Dermo Nettoyant 200ml

The second step is a gentle wash or wipe-off product to clean the residue. 'Gentle' means water- based, unscented, and non-foaming, again for the protection of the moisture barrier.

Cerave Hydrating Cleanser, €10.49, and La Roche Posay Toleriane Dermo-Cleanser, €14.25, both at selected pharmacies, are both recommended by Houston-based dermatologist Dr Andrea Suarez in her informational video on this subject.

Goat Milk Cleanser.

I like Kate Somerville Goat Milk Moisturising Cleanser, €42.90 at cultbeauty.com, which is both softening and anti-inflammatory. I use it as a single step because I don’t wear long-wear products, but it’s also a gentle 'micro cleanser', as those second steps are sometimes called.

Where did this trend begin?

Any major trend has more than one source. Korean routines have held so much sway in recent years and often involve several steps. Toners were once used to remove what cleanser didn’t but are no longer fashionable. More of us wear UV protection daily now and water or sweat-resistant filters are hard to remove.

“This trend has arisen in my mind from a need to deal with other trends, mainly high-coverage, long-wear foundation. I think this makeup is the devil in some ways because you have to work so hard to remove it and that invariably leads to irritated skin,” says London dermatologist, Dr Sam Bunting, in her video, How to Cleanse Your Skin.

“Better that you work on the skin, get it into its best possible state and wear light coverage [makeup] products and SPF because then you need only cleanse very gently.”

She also points out that many of us don’t take enough time with a single cleansing product or use enough of it.

Do I need it?

Nobody needs to double cleanse twice daily. Those of us who don’t use makeup or sun protection with long-wearing or waterproof ingredients do not need to at all.

What if you have problem skin or need to have heavy, long wear makeup on for some other reason?

Full-cover, budge-proof products may seem like a practical and cost-effective part of your life.

Double-cleansing as gently as possible can keep your skin thoroughly clean, but it’s just as vital to give a break and — if you suffer from acne — treat the underlying problem as a matter of urgency.

Heavy makeup may give you peace of mind, but it is not helping dermatologically. You cannot truly protect your skin from blemishes by piling on makeup labelled “non-comedogenic,” that’s an unregulated marketing term.

There is no common standard a brand needs to meet to be allowed to write 'non-comedogenic' on its packaging (the way there is for UV protection claims, for example) and a quick scan will show you that products so labelled contain very different ingredients.

Any number of ingredients can clog someone’s pores, and no makeup formula is exempt even if it has been tested on several women’s skin. Manufacturers may well intend to produce makeup that won’t cause blemishes but there is no comprehensive way to check they’ve succeeded.

Ideally, the term would be banned from packaging until there is, customers deserve that transparency.

Double cleansing is not essential but a solution to certain choices in makeup or sun protection. If such choices work for you, go for it. Just keep it gentle and take breaks!