Every day, your face gets covered with dirt, dead skin, bacteria, and sebum. The sebaceous glands below the skin excrete sebum, which binds dead skin cells and travels through the hair follicles and pores to protect the skin. If your pores get clogged with sebum, pollutants, and possibly bacteria, it all lead to acne, blemishes, cysts, blackheads, and whiteheads. So, washing the face is essential to maintain healthy-looking skin. People who have oily skin, sweat more often, and wear makeup need to wash their face more often.

How to choose the right cleanser
The right face cleanser needs to remove makeup, sweat, and dirt without drying out the skin. Your best bet is to try fragrance-free and gentle face washes. There are various products available that specifically cater to different skin types. You can choose the right skin cleanser for yourself based on your skin type.

• Dry skin
  Dry skin lacks lipids and water. It makes the skin look flaky and tight. Winter may cause dryness and lead to symptoms like eczema. For dry skin, you may need to use products like cream and milk-based cleansers to retain the skin’s hydration.
• Oily skin
  A person may have oily skin if their skin overproduces sebum. This skin type is more prone to breakouts but it has the ability to retain moisture. People with oily skin need to consult a dermatologist before choosing a face cleanser. For oily skin, oil-free foaming cleansers are suitable as these do not block the pores. Face washes containing salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide can help prevent breakouts.
• Combination skin
  Many people have a combination skin type. The forehead, nose, and chin may be oily while the area around the eyes is dry or normal. It is best to consult a dermatologist to get the right face cleanser for this type of skin.
• Sensitive skin
  Sensitive skin reacts adversely to soaps, lotions, cosmetics, and other household products. Sometimes, overusing a specific product can cause irritation. You can do a patch test to check what product is irritating the skin. People with sensitive skin may have conditions like psoriasis, rosacea, and eczema. Such people need to stay away from fragrances, alcohol, chamomile, polyphenols, and aloe. Ingredients like lipoic acid, glycolic acid, and salicylic acid may also irritate the skin.
• Normal skin
  This skin type does not get very dry or greasy. People with normal skin type can use most face cleansers. Mild cleansers help to remove dirt and grease. These cleansers will also preserve the skin’s natural sebum. You can go for gentle cleansing products like gels, creams or foam washes to clean your skin without drying it out.

People who have skin problems need to know that they need to have the right quantity of sebum to keep their face healthy and hydrated. Some cleanser may strip the skin’s oils while washing away the dirt, and this can dry the skin, leading to irritation. Over-washing the face can lead to increased oil production. Exfoliation strips the skin of dead cells, leads to dry skin, irritates the skin, and may lead to an acne breakout.