How Often Should I Cleanse My Face in a Day?

Quick Answer

Cleanse at least twice a day. Cleansing once a day may worsen any acne condition

Cleansing your face after a long day feels really great. Taking off all those layers of dirt, grime, and makeup with a good combination of an oil-removing cleanser and normal cleanser can really help you feel refreshed. However, there most definitely was no class in school that taught you the correct number of times that you should cleanse your face in a day.

Even worse is the myths that over-cleansing can worsen acne, even if cleansing is supposed to help acne, which leads to many acne sufferers (and maybe even you) confused and at a loss on how much to cleanse. Thankfully, dermatology researchers have been hard at work to help us put to rest these questions.

The Evidence

A clinical trial study published in Pediatric Dermatology in 2006 by Choi et al. conducted over a period of 6 weeks showed that there was no statistically significant differences between washing your face once, twice or four times a day. However, for patients with acne, they uncovered evidence showing that there was statistically significant improvements observed in the group washing twice a day, with a decrease in the number of open comedones (commonly known as blackheads) and non-inflammatory lesions. Those that washed once a day worsened their acne condition, showing an overall increase in redness and acne lesions. This study does have a rather small sample size of 34, but it is useful evidence nonetheless.¹

Author’s Note: This is perhaps one of the only available dermatology study showing evidence of face wash times and its effect on the skin.*

The Takeaway

Overwashing is Hogwash

Overwashing is something that many people and even dermatology and cosmetics professionals spout as something to avoid. However, there is no prevailing evidence to support the statement, and it should be taken with many grains of salt. Until there is evidence to support such a claim, you should not be worried about the possible effects of overwashing your face.

Twice is Ideal

As the study shows, cleansing less than twice may result in the worsening of acne conditions. If you do not have any acne conditions, cleansing once may be suitable for your skin. Further washes after the second time will not really have much effect on your skin.