Scrub A Dub Or Rub?

By Andrea Arterbery

I have a small confession to make: I’m obsessed with face washes. Anything that’s soapy and can be used to clean my face, I need to try now, stat. Lately, I’ve developed an interest in gentle, cream-based cleansers. There’s just something about the Lierac Lait Demaquillant Douceur that makes me feel super sophisticated when I use it. (It could be because it’s French and we all know how classy French women are! Oui, Oui.) I also have a thing about scrubs. Something about the way the little pieces of texture feel on my hands when I wash my face just rock my world. However, it wasn’t until I became a beauty editor and started to attend millions of skin events that I found out that not all face washes are created equal; and the same can be said about face scrubs. Did you know that the small textured pieces within the actual face wash of the scrub can actually cause little tears on the surface of your skin? It may not sound like a big deal now when you’re fairly young and fabulous (such as moi), but it definitely catches up with you once you get older. (Hello, skin craters? No thanks!) And, since I just know that you’ve been reading my weekly posts on this blog, you should know by now that not all face washes are created equal and that it’s best to figure out your skin type before you start to use. Which leads me to the main question at hand: when do you use a scrub and when do you use a face wash? I can honestly say for myself that I use face wash at least once a day (since I tend to wear makeup daily) and a scrub once a week. (Usually towards the end of the week because I like to start the week with a clean slate of skin; kind of like how you would use a clarifying shampoo for your hair). Tell us: when do you use face scrubs and how many times a day do you wash your face and why?