We Finally Found a Way Around That Whole “Don’t Wash Your Face in the Shower” Thing

Photo: Getty Images/bowie15
Last year, when a dermatologist revealed that you should never, ever wash your face in the shower, my initial response was, "I ain't got time for that." My mornings are hectic enough as it is without having to add an extra element into my routine, thank you very much.

The reasoning behind separating these steps, according to dermatologist Dr. Joshua Zeichner, is because the water in your shower is simply too hot for your face. “We may love hot showers, but our skin does not," he explained, noting that it can strip the skin of oils, which leads to dryness, irritation, and inflammation. Even so, I ignored this advice entirely... and it's worth noting that I regularly deal with all three of those skin issues. Whoops. My b.

But then! Celebrity esthetician and ZIIP founder Melanie Simon, who works with A-listers like Jennifer Aniston and Busy Philipps, gave me a g-e-n-i-u-s hack that allows me to kill two birds with one stone—AKA get the overnight gunk off of my face without having to waste time (and water) using the sink and shower as separate entities. "Take a cold washcloth into the shower with you and use that to wash your face," she tells me. "Worst case scenario it is lukewarm by the time you use it but this is much better than hot water blasting your face and breaking your capillaries." No wonder Rachel (of Ross and Rachel) likes this lady so much.

One other thing you should never do to your face in the shower, aside from blasting it with a jet stream of hot water? Scrub it with a loofah. “I would never ever use a loofah on my face!” Dr. Shereene Idriss—otherwise known as the "Pillowtalk Dermatologist"—recently told me. “Because it’s abrasive, like a physical scrub, and I wouldn’t want it to irritate or potentially scar, especially if I’m prone to breakouts.”

So the next time I hop in to lather, rinse and repeat, I will be taking a handy-dandy wash cloth—and my new favorite face wash, Pai Light Work Rosehip Cleansing Oil ($56)—right along with me.

Some other things worth adding to your shower routine? These drugstore products, which will make the whole experience feel like you're in a spa. Or if you're really feeling fancy, a whole lot of CBD products

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