The geishas were double cleansing long before K-beauty made it a trend.
With any mainstream beauty trend, my brain goes straight to the natural dupe, and double cleansing is a perfect example. It's everywhere right now on the back of the K-beauty glass skin look, but it's centuries old. The geishas invented it. That thick white makeup they wore was quite toxic, and it took serious removing, so they would massage in camellia oil to dissolve it, then finish with a foaming wash. I spoke all about the geishas and their beauty secrets on episode 7 of my podcast with Carol Molloy, a Japanese-Australian food extraordinaire and MKR contestant, which is one of my favourite episodes because it combines two of my favourite things, Japanese food and traditional beauty secrets!
Here's how the two-step cleanse works, and the natural cleanser pairings I'd match to each skin type.
What is double cleansing?
It's a two-step cleanse, and I think everyone should be doing it. Step one is an oil cleanser or an oil-based balm to dissolve everything oily sitting on the skin. Oil dissolves oil, so that's makeup, sunscreen and the oil your skin makes through the day.
Step two is a water-based gel or foaming wash that lifts away the oily residue and everything it's loosened, so skin is properly clean and ready for serums and moisturiser.
Think of it like the hairdresser washing your hair twice. The first wash lifts all the dirt, the second one rinses it away, and it feels completely normal once you're used to it. I wash my hair twice now without thinking about it, and the same logic works on your face, especially after a day in sunscreen. I double cleanse in the evening, on the nights I've had makeup, mascara or SPF on.
How to double cleanse
Here's the routine. It's easy, even at the end of a long day.
Start on dry skin with an oil cleanser. Massage a natural oil cleanser over dry skin and your makeup, working on any congested or heavily made-up areas. The oil melts everything, including zinc sunscreen, mineral makeup, mascara and lip stains.
Add water and rinse. Add lukewarm water to turn it milky, then rinse well or wipe away with a damp cloth. That lifts away everything from the first step.
Follow with a second cleanse. A gel or foam takes off whatever's left. Dry skin can swap that foam for a cream cleanser instead. I use the MooGoo Oil Cleansing Method, and on my driest days I follow with a creamy cleanser rather than a foam, like the MooGoo Creamy Hydrating or the Vanessa Megan Petitgrain, which by the way is one of the best cream cleansers I've used. Then I like to finish with a toner on a cotton pad to take off anything left over, before a night serum and cream.
4 perfect cleanser pairings for the two-step cleanse, by skin type
1. Oily and combination skin
If your skin is oily or combination, keep the second step light. Start with the MooGoo Oil Cleansing Method, because its rice bran and grapeseed oils lift makeup and SPF without sitting heavy, then follow with the MooGoo Gentle Foaming Face Cleanser, whose papaya enzymes clear the dead skin that leaves oily types looking congested.
2. Dry and sensitive skin
Dry or sensitive skin wants richer oils and a gentle finish. The Raww Hydrating Cleansing Oil melts makeup with macadamia, jojoba and avocado, and rinses clean with no greasy film. After it, the Andalou Sensitive 1000 Roses Gentle Cleansing Foam brings alpine rose stem cells and postbiotics to look after the skin barrier and microbiome. If your skin is very dry, use a cream cleanser instead of the foam, which is what I do myself.
3. Blemish-prone skin
For blemish-prone skin, the two ingredients that matter are tea tree and natural salicylic acid. Cleanse first with the Tuttofare Cleansing Oil, jojoba and olive oil to melt off the day, then clear congestion with the Noosa Basics Foaming Face Wash.
4. Sun damage and uneven skin tone
If sun damage, pigmentation or uneven tone is your worry, look for vitamin C. The 100% Pure Blood Orange Cleansing Balm has plenty of it and shifts even long-wear lipstick and mascara, and the LAMAV Sweet Orange Balancing Cleanser follows with desert lime, mountain pepper leaf and a little lactic acid.
Now your skin's clean and ready for its serums, and the Weleda Skin Food Super Serum is the one I use most.
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