Does water dry out my face?

"I've heard numerous times that washing your face with water will dry your skin. Is this true? Also, how many times should you wash your face during the whole day (24/7) I wash my face twice a day (once in the morning, once before bed)". - Anonymous



Hi sweetheart,

Yes, believe it or not; washing your face repeatedly with water WILL dry out your face. The reason is because when water evaporates, it also takes away a lot of the moisture stored within the skin. This means essential oils on the face can be stripped out. Now everybody is different but I would generally recommend to wash the face no more than three times a day.

If you have sensitive and dry skin, try to not wash it in the morning but only for the evening. If you have normal skin, wash face in the morning and before bedtime. If you have oily skin, wash your face in the morning, mid-day and night time. Sometimes, when people break out in pimples - they think that washing their face repeatedly will help the condition. This is false because it will actually worsen the condition.

Washing your face too much will damage the epidermal layer of the skin. Think of your skin as a piece of cake and the epidermal layer being a piece of cling film that wraps over the cake. This 'cling film' protects the skin from damage and from losing moisture. Once you lose the moisture in your skin, it is even easier to lose even more moisture if that makes sense.

Have you ever experienced your face feeling dry/tight after a hot bath/shower? This is because of the water evaporating from your skin. This is why I recommend everybody to moisturize immediately (within a few minutes) after a shower or bath. Sometimes, it's not about trying to add moisture in the skin but rather more of trying to keep the moisture within the skin.

When I was experiencing extreme dry skin, I actually had to avoid hot baths/showers as it worsens the conditions of dry skin. It's also the reason why we should only cleanse the face with luke warm water. In fact, during my extreme dry skin conditions - I had to force myself to only wash my face once a day.

Remember that washing the face with water is absolutely fine. People have been doing it for thousands of years; but obviously, too much of anything is bad. Just don't over do it and make sure the temperature isn't too hot or that you cleanse your face too often.

Hope you found this answer helpful.