Hot water may be relaxing and cold water may be refreshing but warm water is what you should be using on your face.
Warm water is the best temperature of water to use for your face and in your skincare routine. It doesn’t burn your skin, is comfortable, is the perfect temperature to protect your moisture barrier and doesn’t leave your skin sensitive, dry or irritated. Hot water can damage your skin and cold water can be uncomfortable.
We all strive to have amazing looking, clear, healthy skin and we practice good skincare routines to get it.
When practising your skincare routine you need to consider more than just the products you use.
You need to know what equipment to use and what water temperature to use. Using warm water on your face has its benefits.
Often, in an effort to open and close the pores, people try to use hot water and cold water on their faces.
Hot and cold water can’t open or close the pores, hot water can actually be damaging to your skin and yes, cold water does have some benefits but the best water to wash your face with is warm water.
Warm water for the face and its benefits
Table of Contents
What does warm water do for the face?
Warm water is the perfect temperature for the face. It has none of the negatives that hot or cold water has.
This temperature can give your skin the best results. It works hand in hand with your face washes and face cleansers to give you the optimum skin washing experience.
When you use warm water it helps the product foam up adequately, it can help balance the sebum (skin oil) on your skin and it will remove any dirt or excess oils on your face.
Is it good to wash your face with warm water?
Yes, washing your face with warm water has some great benefits:
Great for cleansers and face wash: Using warm water in your skincare routine will be a great companion to your face washes or face cleansers.
Comforting: It does not irritate your skin like hot or cold water does and it generally feels better on your skin.
Warm water won’t burn the skin or come close to giving you frostbite. Hot and cold water can be an irritant on the skin. The skin does not do well with extremes in temperature.
Protects the moisture barrier: Warm water is at the perfect temperature to protect your skins natural moisture barrier.
Hot water can dry the skin and damage this moisture barrier. If this happens many environmental irritants can wreak havoc on the skin.
A middle ground: Sometimes when we eliminate the two extremes on both ends we can find common ground. This is the case for warm water, it does not have the negatives of either hot or cold water.
Why is hot water bad for the skin?
- When you use hot water the temperature can dry out your skin and remove all the natural sebum as well. Dry skin forces your face to overcompensate for the dryness by producing excess oils which can cause breakouts
- Hot water can make your skin very sensitive, this is more likely if you are scalded by the hot water
- Hot water can be very unpleasant and uncomfortable on the skin because of the high temperature.
- More on the negatives of using hot water on your skin here.
An upside of using hot water in skincare is the ability for it to help you steam your face. This can help clear clogged pores.
Why is cold water bad for the skin?
- When you apply cold water to the skin the blood vessels contract and this can give you a tight feeling on the skin.
- Coldwater on the skin can be very uncomfortable because of the extreme temperature. If you like the effect of it and if you do use it then keep it to a minimum.
An upside to washing your face with cold water is that it is refreshing and can help to reduce puffiness on the skin. Masks that you put in the fridge before use utilise the cold to constrict blood vessels to their advantage.
What are the benefits of hot water when you drink it
Increase blood circulation: This has more of an effect if you drink hot water before you sleep. When the muscles in your body start to relax blood flow and circulation picks up. This is also good for a glowing face.
Increases metabolism: Because hot water will raise your body’s temperature this will allow your metabolism to speed up, this way your body is better able to burn calories.
Digestion: When you drink more hot water it helps to improve your digestion. It does this by helping to flush out any toxins that might be stuck in your digestive system. It also helps get rid of waste by soothing your digestive tract
Good for hydration: This is true when you are drinking cold or room temperature water, keeping a good water drinking routine will be beneficial for your whole body
Does washing your face with warm water help acne?
Washing your face with warm water can help with acne to some extent. When you wash your face with warm water the water helps to relax your pores and loosen the clog in the pore.
If you use a product that contains ingredients which help break up the sebum, dead skin cells and bacteria in your pores it will also be very helpful in reducing acne.
Tea tree oil is such a product, read more about how you can use tea tree oil for as an acne spot treatment here, it can also be used overnight, read more about how here.
How do I wash my face?
- To start off you need to wash your hands. As you go about your day the dirt, bacteria and debris from the environment gets attached to your hands. If you don’t wash your hands before you touch your face all that dirt and grime can get onto your face and contaminate it.
- Dampen your skin. This allows your products to properly penetrate the skin, applying your products onto wet skin will also allow it to lather well.
- Apply your product into your hands and onto your skin
- Massage the product into your skin for 60 seconds. This gives the product time to penetrate and work on your skin
- When the 60 seconds are up you can rinse the product off of your skin using warm water.
- Pat your skin dry with a clean towel. Make sure not to rub your skin with the towel as this can irritate your skin and cause it to become too dry
- Apply your toner, treatments and your moisturiser to seal all your products into your skin.
Can I wash my face with saltwater?
Yes, you can use saltwater to wash your face. Using sea salt to wash your face is better than using regular table salt water because sea salt contains nutrients that will be beneficial to your skin.
Sea salt contains high amounts of calcium, sodium, magnesium and potassium. All these nutrients and mineral help boost the skins health and overall function.
Washing your face with sea salt will also help to keep your skins protective barrier in place and help to improve the hydration in your skin.
Does rubbing salt on your skin toughen it?
Rubbing salt on your skin does not toughen it, rubbing salt on your skin will do the opposite of toughening it, it will soften it.
Body scrubs use salt or sugar to buff off your dead skin cells. Salt is a natural exfoliator, it sloughs off dead skin cells.
The sloughing off of your dead skin cells helps to improve a dull skin complexion, it also makes your skin smoother, silkier and much more glowing than before.
Note: You should not apply too much pressure when using salt on your skin because the salt can cause minor abrasions on the skin.
The best area of skin to use salt is the body, avoid using salt on your face because your face is too delicate.
Is Dove soap good for face?
No Dove soap is not good for the face. The soap contains surfactants which are quite harsh and cause dryness on the skin.
Surfactants are active ingredients that do a really good job at breaking down any external irritants such as dirt, debris and oil on your face.
The soap breaks all this up and when you rinse your face off the dirt, debris and oil washes away with the oil.
The problem is that surfactants do this too well and can strip your face of the sebum on your skin.
Sebum is the natural oil your skin produces to keep itself moisturised, hydrated and free from dryness. The soap can strip your face of moisture making it dry
In addition, the soap can irritate your skin. If you’re looking for a soap that won’t irritate your skin then you’ll need to use a soap that is free from sodium lauryl sulphate.
These types of soaps are usually beauty soaps. They are made to be used on the delicate skin on your face. They are not harsh and won’t strip away your skins natural moisture and won’t irritate your skin either.
After use, you will be left with clean but not dry skin as well as moisturised and hydrated skin.
You can choose to make your own soap as well. Here is information on coconut oil soap and here is information on honey and oatmeal soap
I hope you enjoyed this article looking at benefits of warm water for the face, if you enjoyed this article please share it.
