Purification Rituals

Slather your face with all the world’s most expensive serums, emulsions, lotions, creams and masks – it won’t make a day of difference without a clean canvas, writes christina ko

CLEANSING IS THE single most important step of your daily facial regimen, and it’s very often the most underrated. And while it’s easy to blame your more active products for breakouts or a sallow complexion, cleansing with the wrong formula can do even more damage, because failing to remove dirt and make-up might prevent the good stuff from penetrating the deeper layers of the dermis – or, worse yet, push oil and other yucky environmental aggressors deeper into your pores, forming dreaded pimples, blackheads, whiteheads and other signs of inflammation.

Double cleansing has entered the skincare vernacular in recent years, an epiphany that stresses the importance of the two-step procedure – using an oil or balm that’s able to bond with the mask of make-up, sunblock and surface gunk and carry it away into the sink, from the toughest waterproof mascara to the most steadfast vampy red liquid lip; followed by a gel, foam or milk that can gently but effectively reach into the pores to get out any remaining build-up without stripping the skin of its natural oils and moisture.

Luckily, today’s generation of cleansers is well poised to fight your skincare battle for you, and we’ve assembled a mean little line-up of high performers that can be used in various combinations to make sure your face is clean and clear, allowing your pores to be open vessels for receiving the benefits with which you choose to anoint them.

Adding little tools and extras, such as horsehair or synthetic brushes, konjac or regular sponges, muslin cloths or a Clarisonic, to the washing-up experience provides a little extra exfoliation so you’re super squeaky clean – just remember, whatever touches your face needs to be bacteria-free, too.

Oh, and for God’s sake, never, ever, ever touch your face with your dirty paws.

VOTARY

This plant-oils-only brand, available at Joyce Beauty, features a Cleansing Oil using rose geranium and apricot, a light and fragrant but potent combo that’s known to leave behind only brightness and radiance.

FRESH

“Tough on make-up, gentle on skin” is the mantra behind Soy Face Cleanser, a hit product from the Fresh family that’s filled with amino-acid-rich soy proteins, calming rosewater and cucumber extracts, and that gets a limited-edition makeover this year courtesy of fashion illustrator Blair Breitenstein.

MALIN + GOETZ

Grapefruit Face Cleanser is a foaming cleansing gel from this apothecary line that’s perfect for the no-frills face, using amino acids and grapefruit extract to clean without drying.

TATCHA

No one wore more make-up than geisha, so you can trust Tatcha to know how to get it off. Its Deep Cleanse harnesses the power of amino acids derived from silk, clarifying with luffa fruit, tightening pores with Japanese wild rose and minimising oil production with Japanese leopard lily.

DIOR

Dior Prestige’s Le Baume Démaquillant utilises rose wax that melts on the face like oil to dissolve make-up, then emulsifies into a milk upon the addition of water – rinse all your sins away in one fell swoop.

CAUDALIE

The vinotherapy brand’s customer-favourite Instant Foaming Cleanser is beloved for its soap-free formula, which provides a pH-balanced way to get clean while retaining moisture thanks to sage, grape and chamomile extracts.

ORVEDA

The Deep Cleansing Bio-Fermented Rich Balm comes with a kabuki brush with charcoal-treated micromassaging bristles to get this formula – 65 percent of which is a coconut-oil derivative to melt away make-up and dirt – into nooks and crannies.

GUERLAIN

The Rich Cleansing Foam from the top-rated Orchidée Impériale line is a gel formula that’s mild and non-drying while deep-cleansing, thanks to an Orchid Essential Water complex that maintains the skin’s pH at 6.3.

GIVENCHY

The Ready-to-Cleanse Fresh Cleansing Milk is a scientific marvel – a milk that releases oils to bond with and wash away make-up, with the lightness and texture of a water. Massage into the skin and remove excess with a cotton pad.