How often should I wash your face?

How often you wash your face depends on your skin type, and you don't want to over-wash. Watchas dermatologist Ellen Marmur, MD, dispels some face-washing myths and shares important skin-care tips.

Transcript

00:00

If you have acne or really oily skin, twice a day is definitely what you want to do. [GENTLE MUSIC]

00:19

Most of my patients are confused about how often should they wash their face. And truthfully, I think it's one of those myths

00:26

that you need to wash your face twice a day. If you have normal skin, really, once a day is enough, and mainly in the shower.

00:33

Just the water is good enough. You might want to use a little bit of soap on areas that tend to get a little greasy. If you have acne or really oily skin,

00:41

twice a day is definitely what you want to do. Washing your skin too much actually gets rid of all the essential oils in your skin.

00:48

And your skin cells are packaged in a way that they're layered almost like a brick wall. You need that oil between those little bricks, those skin

00:55

cells, to keep a nice, healthy skin barrier. So don't over scrub your skin. It's just going to make it unhappy and make it more prone to get rashes.

01:03

At night, if you wear makeup, definitely wash your face. And after you wash your face, you should always put on a really nice moisturizer.