Washing gel, micelle water & Co.

If one reads the promises on the packaging of washing gels, micelle waters, cleansing oils and lotions, one could quickly get the impression that these are care products for facial skin. But you should not confuse cleaning and care at all. The difference: care products remain on the skin, cleaning products are washed off and have no caring effect in this sense.

One thing is certain: thorough yet gentle cleansing is the first step to well-groomed and radiant skin. Every evening and morning, the face must be cleansed of make-up, dirt, sebum and sweat so that pores are not clogged and subsequent care products can unfold their effect. The principle of "as clean as necessary, as gentle as possible" applies.

Washing gels provide a thorough cleaning of active washing substances, so-called surfactants or emulsifiers. Everyone knows that if these remain on the skin, they dry it out and often cause irritation and redness, they are as mild as they may be. Critics warn that surfactants make the skin more permeable and that pollutants can penetrate into the body. Thorough rinsing with water is essential. But what about micelle water, moist make-up remover cloths or cleaning oils or lotions? The manufacturers advertise with the fact that these do not have to be rinsed off with water and additionally care for the skin.

An excerpt from the INCIs of a popular micelle water shows that surfactants and emulsifiers are also contained here:

Aqua/Water, Hexylene Glycol (moisturizing), Glycerin (moisturizing), Alcohol denat., Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate (mild surfactant), Disodium EDTA (chelating), Poloxamer 184 (surfactant), Polyaminopropyl Biguanide (preservative).

And surfactants can also be found in wet make-up remover cloths:

Aqua, glycerin, cyclopentasiloxanes, isononyl isononanoates, pentaerythrityl tetraethylhexanoates, isostearyl palmitates, cetyl ethylhexanoates, hexylenes glycol, stearyl ethylhexanoates, PEG-6 Caprylic / CapricGlycerides, tocopheryl acetates, Sucrose CocoatePEG-4 laurate, carbomer, ethylhexylglycerol, sodium hydroxide, dehydroacetic acid, phenoxyethanol, benzoic acid, iodopropynyl butylcarbamate, polyaminopropyl biguanide, perfume.

We see the caring effect of washing gels & Co. rather critically. Cleansing products should only thoroughly clean the skin and prepare it for the following care. For facial care there are serums, lotions and creams.

Our advice:

Do not do without rinsing with water, no matter how laborious and time-consuming this additional step is. Or use a microfibercleaning cloth, like nu:ju® , which cleanses your skin thoroughly and removes make-up and dirt even without surfactants.

Picture credits: #40580644 ©Valua Vitaly (www.shutterstock.com)