I don’t use soap on my face. After battling years of acne in high school, I realized that the more I washed my face, the worse things got. I eventually gave up and stopped washing my face altogether. The wild thing is, my skin got better when I stopped washing. What I didn’t know then was I was stripping my skin of the bacteria and oil that naturally protected it, causing major breakouts.
Human skin has a natural PH of around 5 or lower, using soap, cosmetics and in some cases even city tap water, can disrupt that PH, brining it to more alkaline levels. When we disturb the acid mantle of our skin the bacteria that thrive in the higher PH environment stop thriving and leave our skin vulnerable to infection, breakouts, and dry skin.
How Often To Use Kaolin Clay Wash
I still don’t wash my face every day, but I do use clay at least 3 times a week and my favorite being Kaolin Clay. This clay has a PH of about 5-6 and does not disturb your skin’s acid mantle. I let the clay sit on my face for 1-2 minutes. It dries so quickly, if you wait any longer it will start to flake off of your skin, leaving a dusting of clay everywhere. As it dries I can see my pores soaking up the clay. I wipe the clay off of my face with a warm washcloth. I often need to go over my face with the cloth two or three times to get the clay out of my pores and remove all the dead skin cells. The difference before and after is impressive! My face feels smooth, polished and my pores are much less visible.
The days I don’t wash my face with clay, I use the Oil Cleansing Method or a Bentonite Clay & ACV mask. On days I don’t wear makeup, I will often skip washing my face altogether and my skin is still super happy!
I usually like to keep things simple and use the kaolin on its own, but sometimes I feel fancy and add essential oils (lavender to soothe, frankincense for rejuvenating/healing).
Have you ever tried kaolin clay? How do you keep your skin happy?
2 Minute DIY Kaolin Clay Mask
Ingredients
- Kaolin Clay Powder
- Water
- Cotton Ball
Instructions
- Fill a small wide mouthed jar with the clay.
- Wet a cotton ball, dab it in the clay and spread across your face.
- Let the clay sit on your face for 1-2 minutes. (It dries so quickly, if you wait any longer it will start to flake off of your skin, leaving a dusting of clay everywhere.)
- Wipe the clay off of your face with a warm washcloth.
Notes:
You may need a few tries to fully remove the clay from your pores. Follow with an oil wash if the clay is being particularly stubborn.