The soap and water controversy – looking after your skin

If the eyes are the mirror of the soul, the skin is the barometer of one’s mental and physical health.

The most beautiful thing about a new baby is her skin – fresh, moist, firm, perfect. We take the utmost care with a baby’s skin. We pamper it with oils, lotions and powders, with special soaps and creams. We lavish care and attention on every crack and crevice of the beautiful babe and what happens? Then, when she gets older, we no longer do the same.  A good scrub with hard soap and water morning and night and lots of hot baths, is the way to go, at least that is what we think. Sadly, it is far from the truth. Can we use soap and water on our face daily?

Recently I have had a re-think about soap and water. For years I did not allow a drop of either to touch my face. But some time ago, I started to experiment, using an extremely mild non-alkaline soap two or three times a week. I was fanatical in rinsing off the soap with warm water at least thirty times, as the residue of soap is what causes scaling, drying skin and that taut, stretched feeling. I found that far from cracking-up, my skin started to look better and it certainly felt cleaner.

Soap and water care is of course a bone of contention with skin experts, but more dermatologists now agree that using a well formulated non-alkaline soap is one of the best ways of keeping the skin thoroughly clean. Well, that said, it does not mean that any soap will do. It must be an extremely mild and gentle soap made especially for the face, and it must always be thoroughly rinsed off (but you do not need to do that thirty times though).