Non Detergent Facial Cleansers – 7 Facial Cleansers for You

Soaps made my skin feel very itchy and dry. I found relief when using facial cleansers and decided to figure out why in the world does the soap dry the skin so much. As a part of the research I was shocked to find that soaps and cleansers contain detergents. Also soaps are harsher on the skin and hence can cause dryness in sensitive skin.
Non detergent facial cleansers are those cleansers which do not have any detergents. Usually the detergents are the ones which will remove the dirt, grime, dead cells etc.

Soaps are alkaline and leave a residue which facial cleansers do not. This residue causes skin irritation, especially for those with sensitive skin. Expensive soaps usually have additional fats to counter the drying effects.

A non detergent facial cleanser [su_highlight background=”#fffe99″]uses other methods to remove all this without the use of detergents[/su_highlight].

Why we need cleansers?

Let us see why we require soaps and cleansers. Why can’t we simply wash our face with water?
Pollution, environmental impurities, cosmetics cannot be washed off with water. These are all oil based and we need some emulsifiers to make them water based so that they can be washed off .
So usually skin cleansers and soaps will remove all the dirt, sebum, oil from cosmetic products, germs and skin cells.
Soaps and cleansers cannot distinguish between good oils and bad oils. They strip the facial oils which are actually required.

Read: [su_highlight background=”#fffe99″]Secret Recipe[/su_highlight] for Homemade Facewash

A good cleanser should clean without irritating or damaging the skin and leave the skin feeling supple and moist.

Skin cleansers may be an important adjunct to the regimen of those who use cosmetics, have sensitive or compromised skin, or utilize topical therapies. Cleansers emulsify dirt, oil and microorganisms on the skin surface so that they can be easily removed. During cleansing, there is a complex interaction between the cleanser, the moisture skin barrier, and skin pH. Cleansing, with water soap or a liquid cleanser, will affect the moisture skin barrier. Soap will bring about the greatest changes to the barrier and increase skin pH. Liquid facial cleansers are gentler, effecting less disruption of the barrier, with minimal change to skin pH, and can provide people with a cleanser that is a combination of surfactant classes, moisturizers and acidic pH in order to minimize disruption to the skin barrier.
PMID

When you are in the market looking for a soap or facial cleanser make sure that it has no SLS, no fragrances, no detergents and it has some ingredients which moisturize your skin and balances the pH.

SLS is usually added to generate foam which actually is not needed for cleansing your skin. Most people feel that no foam means no cleansing. Even if the cleanser or soap does not foam, it will still do its work perfectly.

Fragrances are added as it makes one feel good and fresh. But fragrances can actually cause skin irritation and it is best to avoid soaps which have any fragrance.

Read: Ayurvedic Face wash for Glowing Skin

There are many commercial non detergent facial cleansers. These make it easy to just purchase online or over the counter and most people prefer these. Before we look at the drugstore products let us look at other ways you can cleanse at home.

Oil Cleansing Method

I personally use the oil cleansing method most days. In this method we work with the principle that oil dissolves oil. I honestly found this method out by myself. It was much later on that I found that it actually has a name and is known as the oil cleansing method.

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Whenever I apply makeup , I use coconut oil to remove the makeup. Then I use warm water to rinse off the face. I follow up with a gentle facial cleanser. Slowly I just used oil and stopped using any cleanser whatsoever.

This works perfectly as it removes all makeup and also keeps your skin supple and looking young. I noticed that the skin did not dry up, the patches on the skin seem to fade away. My skin look younger no fine lines and wrinkles whatsoever.

Here is how others use the oil cleansing method and you might want to try that instead.

Take equal parts of castor oil and Sunflower oil mix them together , rub gently in your palm and massage the oil into your skin. Rinse a wash cloth in hot water, wring all the water out.

Place this cloth on your face and wipe off product. Repeat.
This will open up your pores and remove any grime, makeup and dead skin.

Read: Organic Skin Care Brands in India

If you have oily skin you might want to increase the portion of castor oil. If you have dry skin reduce the amount of castor oil as it my dry out your skin.

Do try this method and let me know how it works for you.

You can use Alpha Keri Shower and Bath Oil on your body and this and this works well.

It might be easy to apply all over the body.

I prefer coconut oil and you can buy a big bottle and keep that in the bathroom.

Keep in mind that coconut oil is difficult to clean off the bathroom floor.

This is an alternative over the counter product which can be used as a body cleanser.

Now let us look at the commercial nondetergent facial cleansers in the market.

The first one is the green tree cleansing milk.

The Plum Green Tea Pore Cleansing Face Wash is sls free, soap free and is good for oily skin.

It is gentle on the skin while performing a good job at cleansing the skin.

This is loaded with the goodness of green tea.

You might want to test it out if you have dry sensitive skin.

Devita Aloe Vera Moisture Cleanser is a very good cleanser and is safe on the skin.

All the ingredients are safe and it cleanses pretty well.

You need to make sure that the cleansers you buy are pH balanced as well. If they affect the pH of the skin, it will affect the health of the skin.

Generally Miscellar waters maintain the skin pH and leave the skin feeling clean and supple.

Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micelle Solution is new in the Indian Market.

It is a micellar cleanser, soap free, maintains pH and removes makeup.

It maintains the pH of the skin and has active ingredients which means your skin wont feel irritated.

Miscellar water are gentle on the skin, thus you dont end up with that tight feeling on the skin.

Ideally you could leave Miscellar water based cleansers on the skin ( no need to rinse off).

If you feel that certain makeup like the mascara or the eyeliner still remain, you can use oil to remove the same. I use coconut oil.

Others use olive oil, jojoba oil.

WOW Micellar Facial Cleanser & Make Up Remover is another option which does the job well.

Micellar water has the property to pull off oil, makeup, dirt.

It is gentle on the skin and is effective in cleansing.

These products can be used even if you dont have makeup to remove.

They will help remove pollution and dirt.

You can leave the product on if you are comfortable doing that.

Cetaphil is a gentle cleanser. It has been tested and recommended as a cleanser which is mild and effective.

It contains SLS and if you are against SLS you can skip this one.

Some people use SLS products and don’t have any issues with them. They are no overly concerned about its negative publicity.

Elovera moisturizing body wash has been tested and rated good. It is a commonly used body wash and is quite effective.

People reported that it did not cause much irritation and is another recommended cleanser.

It is surprising that almost all cleansers use detergents. Be wary of the products you put on your face as it can cause skin irritation and breakouts.

What are your preferred choices of non-detergent facial cleansers?