One of the most common questions I get asked is...

"How often should I wash my face?"

This is a great question, but I think a question that we should start with is:

"Why should I wash my face?"

Think of how often you touch your face in any given day. Think about how often your phone touches your face to make a phone call. Think about how your skin feels after an intense workout.

After every day, your skin will have a buildup of sweat, dirt, bacteria, and oils.

Your skin also naturally secretes a substance called sebum from your sebaceous glands, which is a wax-like substance designed to protect your skin and lock in moisture.

However...

A buildup of sebum will cause your skin to appear shiny, oily, and can cause breakouts as it can mix with dead skin cells to block pores.

Not enough sebum, and your skin will appear dry and tight as you are essentially stripping away the skin's natural oils.

You should wash your face because it will remove all dirt, bacteria, and excess sebum, and it should leave your skin feeling soft and genuinely clean. The right cleanser will lift the dirt and bacteria away from your skin, without stripping your skin of its natural oils.

If your skin feels extremely tight after washing your face, you may be using the wrong cleanser.

So, back to the main question:

"How often should I wash my face?"

You should aim to wash your face at least once a day, but no more than twice a day.

Any more than twice a day, and you run the risk of stripping the skin of natural oils, which will cause tightness and possibly irritation.

If you can only wash your face once a day, I highly recommend doing it in the evening to clear the buildup on your skin from the day.