Shake Up Your Skincare Cabinet

We found that, despite the average UK skincare user cleaning their face cloth every three months, more than a million Brits (1,002,936 to be precise!) have never cleaned their face cloth or flannel.

It may seem like your cleanser is doing a good enough job but wiping away the excess with a cloth can help to remove the excess oils left over. If these aren’t clean to start with, you are simply re-wiping your clean face with dirt.

“Face cloths should be washed at a minimum of weekly – and more if heavy oil and product residue build up,” says Dr Bailey. “Many of today’s skincare products don’t rinse off easily and will build up on the cloth. A damp cloth with product residue, oil, and dead skin cells (aka protein) is an ideal environment for bacteria. Plus, you can’t get your skin clean by massaging it with a dirty wet cloth. If the cloth rings clean after use, is hung up and stored in a manner where it entirely dries between use, then once weekly washing is what I would recommend. If the cloth is visibly soiled and/or not dry between uses, I recommend pulling a clean cloth from the cabinet and starting fresh. Bacterial folliculitis, or an inflammation of the hair follicle, often requires antibiotics to treat and may lead to scarring.”

We also asked how often respondents clean their makeup brushes and discovered that over five million (5,014,680) Brits have never cleaned their foundation brush. Makeup brushes used for cream-based products are prone to build-up from skin oil, product residue and pigment from makeup – far quicker than that of powdered products. So, it’s vital to keep them clean.

Dr Bailey advises you to clean them at least once a month. She says: “Ideally, if you use your makeup brush daily, I would clean it every other week. Also, never share your makeup brush – your skin flora is personal and someone else may harbour microbes that cause your skin to break out.”

Although it may feel like a chore, and the kind of thing that will always drop to the bottom of your to-do list, makeup sponges are no exception. In fact, these should be cleaned more than your brushes to avoid blending in any bacteria.

“Makeup sponges that are wet before use need to be rinsed clean with soap and water and left to dry entirely between uses,” says Dr Bailey. “Bacteria will flourish in a damp sponge and may lead to infection.” Damping sponges before use acts as a cosy breeding ground for bacteria so if you’re one of the 3,606,712 Brits that have never cleaned their makeup sponge, aim to do so very soon.

Tweezers are the one applicator we may not think about being dirty. How can plucking a few hairs every now and then become a hygiene issue? Well, 10,249,235 Brits that have never cleaned their tweezers, and if you’re one of them, you might want to listen up.

“Epilating tweezers (used strictly to remove hair) should be washed with soap and water then rinsed with rubbing alcohol when they appear soiled or contain debris and oil,” advises Dr Bailey. “They should always be stored in a clean location that allows them to dry entirely between uses. Any corrosion will harbour debris, oil, moisture and dead skin cell debris that will create a resort for bacteria – leading to bacterial folliculitis.”

Finally, jade rollers (also called Gua Sha) and facial massagers. We found that, on average, Brits only clean these every 4.5 months. Any mechanical object that touches your face should be clean – that includes your jade roller or even non-skincare items such as your sunglasses nose piece.

Dr Bailey suggests, “If you only use your jade roller on freshly cleansed skin, you won’t need to wash it as often. If, however, you use it on skin that has makeup, sunscreen, a day’s worth of oil and exfoliating dead skin cells then you will need to wash it far more frequently.”

A key concern here is that your cleanser matches your skin type (gentle for sensitive skin, normal for all others). You may also want to include a second cleanse with a toner to remove additional residue and debris . You can shop our cleansers and toners here.

Correcting products (such as serums and creams with high concentration actives or medicines) address skin problems such as blemishes, sensitivity, sun damage etc. They should be applied to freshly clean skin . Shop our serums.

Hydrating products are moisturisers with barrier enriching ingredients like oils or ceramides. Occasionally correcting products or protecting products may be formulated in a base that also acts as a moisturiser to keep your skin barrier healthy . Explore our moisturisers.

This means sun protection SPF 30 or higher during the day. Makeup, if worn, should be applied on top.Additional products such as masks, mists, scrubs, peels, and derma-rollers can be used intermittently based on your complexion's needs and your goals . Discover skincare with SPF here.