Facial cleansing for fresh and healthy skin

Your daily facial cleansing ritual

Daily face care means cleansing, toning and moisturising: follow these three steps so that your skin looks fresh and radiant every day.

Facial cleansing: twice a day?

It is essential to cleanse in the morning, too, because our skin regenerates during the night. Dead skin cells are the first things to be removed during the morning facial cleanse.

Removing make-up properly has to be learned

Always remove your make-up before going to bed. Cleansing your face in the evening is particularly important, as eyelashes can break off and make-up residue can result in spots and red patches. To get rid of mascara and the rest, we recommend make-up removal products that have been developed specially for the eyes, such as NIVEA’s In-Shower Make-up Remover for normal skin. These help you remove your make-up gently and thoroughly while you shower.

The make-up remover that is best suited to you depends on the make-up you’ve used. A light eye shadow or eyeliner can be removed gently with an oil-free product. Waterproof mascara should be removed with an oily alternative such as the gentle Waterproof Eye Make-up remover. Make-up on your cheeks, nose, forehead and chin can be removed easily with cleansing wipes or a washing lotion.

Incidentally, even if you haven’t been wearing make-up, you should cleanse your face every evening anyway as dust and sweat collect on your skin throughout the day. These can naturally result in irritations and blemishes.

Refreshment for the complexion

The second step after facial cleansing is toning. Products for toning the skin remove water-soluble residues such as sweat, dirt and the remains of cleansing products. What you should know: Never use a toner on its own – it only serves to refresh and calm the skin and to prepare it for subsequent moisturising. When toning, always ensure that the toner suits the requirements of your skin.

The right facial cleanser:
tips for every skin type

Everyone's skin is different. We have summarised which facial cleansers are the right ones, and what you should look out for if you have dry, oily, sensitive or combination skin.

Dry and sensitive skin

Choosing Facial Cleanser for Dry skin

Dry skin lacks oil and moisture. If you use the wrong product, irritation can occur or small scales can even start to form. Therefore, a gentle facial cleanser such as a cleansing milk with moisturising ingredients is suitable for dry skin. For example, NIVEA Refreshing Cleansing Milk with almond oil and Hydra IQ. Use only alcohol-free toners as the alcohol can dry your skin out even more. You can find out more about dry skin here.

Choosing Facial Cleanser for Sensitive skin

Sensitive skin is easily irritated and must be treated particularly carefully. Use a mild facial cleansing milk for cleansing your face or a gentle fluid with soothing ingredients. NIVEA Gentle Caring Micellar Water with dexpanthenol, grape seed oil and special micelle technology actively reduces the three signs of sensitive skin, such as redness, tautness and dryness. At the same time, it cleanses thoroughly and moisturises. You can find out more about sensitive skin here.

NIVEA face care advice – facial cleansing

Normal skin and combination skin

Normal skin

In healthy, normal skin red patches, spots and dry areas rarely occur. To ensure that you maintain this pleasant feeling skin for a long time, you should use mild and moisturising products for cleansing. A cleansing milk or a refreshing washing gel is suitable for normal skin. If you’re in a hurry when cleansing your face, gentle cleansing wipes are a good alternative. NIVEA Gentle 3 in 1 Cleansing Wipes with Vitamin E remove make-up and waterproof mascara easily. You can find out more about normal skin here.

Combination skin

Combination skin has two skin types involved: dry cheeks and an oily T-zone. Products that moisturise the dry areas but do not make them oily are ideal for you. A mild washing gel cleanses thoroughly and gently. Use NIVEA Refreshing Wash Gel with Vitamin E and Hydra IQ for your combination skin’s needs. In addition to thoroughly cleansing your face, your skin will be revitalised and moisturised at the same time. You can find out more about combination skin here.

Oily and Mature skin

Choosing the Best Cleanser for Oily skin

Oily skin often tends to have impurities and is therefore reliant on thorough cleansing. An anti-bacterial wash scrub, such as NIVEA’s Anti-Blemish Daily Wash Scrub with magnolia bark extract is the right choice. NIVEA’s beauty series for blemished skin also includes NIVEA Anti-Blemish 3-in-1 Cleanser and NIVEA Control Shine Toner. You should always avoid using products containing oil if you have oily skin. You can find out more about oily skin here.

Choosing the Best Cleanser for Mature skin

Mature skin has a lot of demands. As we grow older, it becomes drier, thinner and loses its elasticity. Therefore, it needs an extra dose of moisture – even when cleansing. For the special needs of more mature skin, we recommend cleansing creams with anti-ageing ingredients and regenerating effects: Cleansing Milk removes make-up and dirt thoroughly, and cleanses without drying out the skin. You can find out more about caring for mature skin here.

Be kind to your skin

The skin on your face is particularly sensitive: you should avoid rubbing vigorously with a towel or using water that is too hot. Instead, remove mascara and other make-up slowly and gently with a cotton pad.

Here’s what you need to know about scrubs

Face Scrubs, masks and other treatments

Round off your cleansing programme for thorough face care with a gentle face scrub. Various face scrub ingredients such as micro-beads or salt cleanse deep into the pores. The uppermost layer of skin is smoothed by removing dead skin cells. The circulation is stimulated and cell renewal activated. But with face scrubs, less is more. The uppermost layer of skin acts as an important barrier – applying a scrub too frequently can damage the protective corneal layer. If you have dry skin, use a scrub weekly as a maximum. We recommend that people with normal skin use NIVEA’s Skin Refining Scrub with Vitamin E and Hydra IQ twice or three times a week. You can find out more about scrubs and their effects here.

The best time of day for a face scrub

Our tip: it is best to use scrubs in the evenings. Then your skin has enough time to recover overnight and you’ll start the next day with a radiant complexion.

Exfoliating properly. Here’s how to do it

Before using a face scrub, cleanse and tone the skin.
Gently massage the product onto your damp face, avoiding the eye and mouth areas.
Pay attention to the application time.
Then rinse off with plenty of lukewarm water.