Cleansing is the doorway into the ritual of skin care. It is not just the first step, but the initiation into the ritual itself, and it is just as essential as all the steps that follow. Cleansing unburdens the skin from the weight of the day and prepares it to receive nourishment.
Cleansing is a ritual that allows you to sink into your body and be present with yourself, if only for 30 seconds of your day. It is a time to connect and enjoy. Beyond soothing the nervous system and the potent refreshment it brings, it is also a wonderful opportunity to create movement in your skin — movement of lymph and blood circulation — and a good opportunity to check in with yourself and your skin.
The Cleansing Ritual
How to Cleanse your Face
Begin and end your day with gentle, rhythmic facial massage, immersed in the fragrant and healing embrace of nature. Our gentle botanical cleansers feature replenishing plant milks, luxurious creams, and clarifying gels that thoroughly wash away impurities without stripping the skin of its protective hydrolipid barrier.
A cleanser’s purpose is to mix with and dissolve excess sebum, refine skin texture, ‘lift’ metabolic impurities from tiny dermal pores and prepare the skin to receive moisture and hydration. Choose a gentle cleanser that feels good on your skin, not a harsh one that makes your skin feel ‘squeaky clean’. Do not scrub too aggressively or too quickly and don’t rush the cleansing process. Instead, apply your cleanser thoughtfully with slow, rhythmic and circular movement. Cleansing should be done twice a day – first thing in the morning and again before going to bed.
Oil Cleansing
Oil Cleansing is the most fortifying and nourishing way to cleanse the skin. It is ideal for skin that’s troubled, extremely dry, sensitive, reactive, acne-prone, and/or congested — or for minimalists who enjoy simple formulations. It is also the best cleansing method for removing makeup and sunscreen.
The process of cleansing with oil is centered around the combination of oil, facial massage and a steamy cloth, and is an ancient, simple and restorative way to get a magically deep, yet non-invasive cleanse. The process is a little more involved than other forms of cleansing, but the thoroughness and the deep cleanse that it provides makes it well worth the extra effort.
How To Oil Cleanse
S T E P 1 :
Massage an oil cleanser of your choice thoughtfully and slowly into your dry skin. This breaks down dirt, debris, excess sebum, makeup and sunscreen, and softens congestion in pores like nothing else. Gentle massage enables the oil to get deep within your pores, while simultaneously stimulating collagen and elastin production.
S T E P 2 :
Remove oil with a steamy washcloth. Using a warm dampened washcloth to remove the oil is essential to the process and cannot be skipped. If you don’t use a cloth, you’re not actually cleansing; a washcloth helps remove the oil and all the impurities the oil has broken down.
S T E P 3 :
The oil massage and steam has left your skin incredibly receptive to nourishment and moisture. Follow cleansing with your favorite Oil & Water.
Our Oil Cleansing Product Offerings
Nourishing Cleansing Oil
with sunflower, avocado, castor, jojoba
Ideal for sensitive, dry, combo, oily, mature and balanced skin
Neem Immortelle Purifying Infusion
with herbal infusions of neem and immortelle
Ideal for congested, blemish-prone, oily, scarred and troubled skin
Body Oil
Any of our body oils can be used for daily oil cleansing
Ideal for balanced to dry skin
Cleansing Milks
Our Cleansing Milks — Rose, Blue, and Patchouli Rose — are more like a hybrid between a gel and a milk cleanser, rather than a traditional creamy cleanser. Containing no wax, they don’t leave a film on the skin the way most milky cleansers do. These therapeutic gems are each a unique emulsion of clay, hydrosol, aloe vera gel, yucca root, gotu kola, rose geranium hydrosol, shea butter and essential oils.
S T E P 1 :
Begin by moistening your skin with three to four splashes of warm water.
S T E P 2 :
Put one to two pumps of one of our Cleansing Milks into your hands and dilute by adding dribbles of warm water. Blend the cleansing mixture in your palms and then massage all over the skin, working in upward circular motions.
S T E P 3 :
Rinse with cool water and pat dry.
Our Cleansing Milk Product Offerings
Daily use softens and loosens blackheads, restores skin’s vitality and balances hydration.
Blue Lavender Cleansing Milk
with lavender and blue chamomile
Ideal for sensitive, reactive, dry & troubled skin.
Rose Cleansing Milk
with rose geranium and lavender
Ideal for oily, dry, combination & mature skin.
Patchouli Rose Cleansing Milk
with patchouli and rose geranium
Ideal for dry, oily, combination & mature skin.
Simply Basic Cleansing Milk
essential oil free
Ideal for the most sensitive, reactive & easily irritated skin.
Tea Tree Gel Cleanser
Our Tea Tree Gel Cleanser is ideal for impure, blemished, teen or troubled skin, or for those who simply prefer a lightly lathering cleansing gel. This customer and team favorite is non-drying, deep cleaning, soothing and refreshing. It features sea buckthorn, calendula and chamomile extracts, plus steam-distilled tea tree, lavender and lavandin essential oils, creating a lovely non-detergent cleansing gel. It also removes makeup and sunscreen beautifully.
Cleansing with Tea Tree Gel
S T E P 1 :
Begin by moistening your skin with three to four splashes of warm water.
S T E P 2 :
Put one to two pumps of our Tea Tree Gel Cleanser into your hands, then massage all over the skin, working in upward circular motions.
S T E P 3 :
Rinse with cool water and pat dry.
Essential Cleansing Tips
If your skin exhibits signs of extreme hypersensitivity, we suggest you avoid rinsing or washing with tap water unless you have untreated well or spring water. The chlorine in city water only exacerbates this kind of sensitivity. If you are hooked up to chlorinated city water, make sure you have a shower filter to avoid as much exposure to the chlorine (and other additives) as possible.
Make-up and sunscreen should always be removed with a cleanser in the evening before bed. Ideally with a double cleansing method: the first cleanse to remove makeup/sunscreen and the second cleanse to purify the skin.
The most deeply refreshing cleanse comes from a gentle facial cleanser. Avoid harsh cleansers that leave your skin feeling ‘squeaky clean’, as this is an indication that you’ve stripped the skin of its essential hydrolipid barrier. There should always be a slip to the skin, even after cleansing.