Cleansing the Soul: Dish On Your Favorite Cleansing Products and Methods

Paula's Choice as a brand has afforded me the luxury of being able to pick out things about my skin that really bother me-- some major and some minor-- and then obliterate them systematically. It's really quite exciting for me, because I've never encountered a line of products that work so well for me personally and can be relied upon time after time to be effective. Each morning when I get up and look in the mirror, I see positive progress, so of course I look for every chance I can to share the love.

Paula's Choice Hydralight One-Step Cleanser (8 oz- $17, 16 oz- $25)

That brings me to the Hydralight Cleanser, which is my great white whale of cleansers-- a crystal-clear, hydrating, non-stripping gel cleanser that really doesn't foam up at all (though it does say on the label that it's lightly foaming, I haven't seen any). It's the perfect simple gel that is gentle on my skin but really good at removing impurities, dirt and makeup. No stinging, no suds, and no unnecessary ingredients. Once or twice a day, I massage the gel into my damp skin until it turns a dingy milky color. 

But what makes the Hydralight Cleanser doubly effective is if you use it with a really good cleansing cloth. I favor the organic cotton muslin cloths from Ginger Chi (pictured below) with this cleanser. I like the precise size (a large rectangular shape as opposed to the usual medium sized squares of many other kinds), the medium weight of the cotton and the not-too-finely-woven texture of them. I find that once dampened with warm water, they pick up the cleanser and dirt on my face with just two rinses and passes. Light circular massage feels invigorating-- but not at all rough. With some experimentation, I've found that the right cleanser with the right cloth gets you The Perfect Cleanse. If anything deserves capitalization, it's The Perfect Cleanse. Not gonna go all-caps on you, but imagine it with reverberation. Ah, that's good.

Ginger Chi Organic Muslin Face Cloth Set ($14 for 2)

With all of the cleansing lotions, oils, liquids, grains, powders, creams and balms out there reaching a critical mass, cleansing has more than its share of the buzz in the skin care world. New and exciting cleansing methods and products from every corner of the world are being popularized and adopted every day. I must admit, I'm pretty fascinated by all of it. What I'd like to know is, what do you do for cleansing? Do you have special products or cleansing methods you like to use?

[...soon, I'll probably post my entire skin care regimen just so you can all see my level of skin-obsession. It's something I hope I can get all the beauty bloggers I know to do too. Who doesn't want to peek into the product cabinets of other like-minded women?]

*All products featured in this post were purchased by me for my own personal use. If you'd like to give Paula's Choice a try, click through to their site via THIS LINK in order to receive $10 off your first order, and I get a $10 credit too, for referring you!*