Why Cleansing ISN’T step 1 of your skincare ritual

June 18, 2024

Skincare is often confusing but one thing we all know is that step 1 of any skincare ritual is cleansing, right? WRONG! What if I told you that there is an important step that should always be done even before you cleanse your face?

So it’s not that dramatic but there is something that we all (hopefully) do twice a day and getting the timing right with our skincare might just be a game changer, especially if you are prone to breakouts or irritation around your mouth. It’s brushing your teeth!

MIND BLOWN

Do you brush before or after your skincare? Does it vary day to day or morning to night? Have you never really thought about it?!

Why Does It Matter?

There are three main reasons why it’s a good idea to brush your teeth before you do your skincare:

Don’t waste your good products by wiping them straight off!

I have thought about this previously and I get so mad at myself when I forget to brush my teeth before skincare because then I have to brush so carefully, making sure not to let the toothpaste foam up too much around my mouth and wipe my mouth super carefully afterward to avoid too much collateral damage!

Don’t introduce your mouth bacteria to your skin

Possibly more important than wiping your skincare off, is cross-contaminating your body’s ecosystems! Brushing your teeth can transfer bacteria from the mouth to the skin around the mouth which can cause or exacerbate skin conditions such as acne and breakouts. If you are cleansing after you have brushed your teeth, you will clean the skin of bacteria that may have transferred from your teeth/mouth and hopefully prevent any unwanted guests from taking up residence on your face.

Toothpaste can be irritating or allergenic

While uncommon, toothpaste can irritate the skin or cause an allergic reaction due to some of the ingredients it contains. Toothpaste often has harsh and abrasive ingredients which do their job very well on our teeth, but not so nice on our skin. The flavours often used in toothpaste like spearmint or peppermint may also irritate the skin leaving it dry, red and possibly cause breakouts on the chin and around the mouth.

Of course this is individual for everyone. If you have sensitive or sensitized skin, if you experience acne or breakouts near your mouth or chin, or if your skin barrier is impaired for some other reason, switching to brushing your teeth before you cleanse might just be a game changer for you! If you never have skin issues or have tried this and still get breakouts or irritation, then maybe you won't bother changing what you are doing. For me, preventing irritation is a far better option than trying to fix it - and I still don’t want to waste my skincare by washing it off after I’ve applied it!

Final note – life happens and even if you intend to brush your teeth before cleansing, sometimes it just won't happen that way! You’ll have a shower and do your skincare early and then decide to have a cuppa and a Tim Tam while watching TV before bed (or is that just me?!) and so you’ll need to brush your teeth after. That’s ok! I usually just try and use a smaller amount of toothpaste and limit the foam around my mouth. I also put some more moisturiser around my mouth and lips and of course, lip mask before bed and all is well 😊