1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Dermatology

Cleansing Your Skin

Cleansing your skin is an important step in skin care. Find out how to keep your skin clean without causing damage.
Best Soaps for Washing Your Face if You Have Dry Skin
Dry skin feels tight and can be flaky. Many people dry out their face with soaps that are too harsh mistaking that tightness they feel after washing for cleanliness. If your face is dry, avoid soaps. Use a non-foaming facial cleanser or non-foaming facial cloth.
Best Soaps for Washing Your Face if You Have Acne
You might be tempted to scrub away those pimples, but don't. People who get acne have to walk a fine line when it comes to facial cleansing. If your skin gets too dry, it can get irritated and crack allowing bacteria to cause pimples. If your skin stays too oily, the oil clogs the pores, causing pimples. Find out what your best options are if you have acne.
Best Soaps for Washing Your Face if You Have Oily Skin
Don't think you have to scrub hard to get rid of excess oil if you have oily skin. Irritation plus oil equals acne. You can use a wider variety of facial cleansers than most people. Find out what your options are if you have oily skin.
How to Pick a Soap to Wash Your Face With
Do you know what the most important guideline is for choosing a soap to wash your face? With all the options out there, it's easy to get confused about something that seems so simple. Cut through all the hype and learn about choosing a facial cleanser.
Facial Cleaning Tools
You can use several tool to clean your face. Some of these tools can dry your skin out and others can get it cleaner without a lot of irritation. Find out if any of these face cleaning tools are right for you.
Facial Cleanser Options
Soaps for the face are different than soaps for your body. This article on facial cleansing is one in a series about facial skin care from About.com Guide to Dermatology Heather Brannon, MD.
Exfoliating the Face with Face Cloths
The face cloths are one of the newer types of facial cleansers. There are several different types of face cloths that can be used for different types of skin.
Soaps For Dry Skin
Most soaps, especially bar soaps, dry the skin out. Liquid cleansers are much less damaging to the skin and several types of liquid cleansers are on the…
Skin Care with Liquid Cleansers
Liquid cleansers are better for the skin than bar soaps. Find out why in this article about the types of liquid cleansers and their effect on the skin.
Composition of Bar Soaps
Bar soaps come in different types - some are more irritating than others. This graph shows the ingredients in different types of bar soaps.
Types of Bar Soaps
Is it any surprise that the most cleansing soaps can be the most damaging to the skin? This article describes the chemical make-up and clinical effect of various types of bar soaps
Skin Cleansers
Cleansers are designed to remove dirt, sweat, sebum, and oils from the skin, however some cleansers can cause harm to the barrier function of the skin leading to redness, irritation, and dry skin. Learn more about how cleansers interact with the top layer of the skin.
Explore Dermatology
About.com Special Features

Conquering High Cholesterol

Learn how you can reduce your your numbers with these nutrition and exercise tips. More >

Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds

Keep yourself, and your family, happy and healthy this fall with these tips. More >

  1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Dermatology
  4. Skin Care
  5. Cleansing Your Skin

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.