The Skincare Heidi Method is all about paying attention to your skin. Not just paying attention to your results but being mindful whenever you dedicate time to self care. Cleansing is where it all begins. You may have 'forever cleansers' or even a 'cleanser wardrobe' of cleansers that you rotate. Or you may be constantly switching it up and trying new things. Either way is fine (do what works for you) but you need a system for evaluating your cleanser to ensure that it's giving you the highest performance. That system is the SH Lemon Scale.
If you are happy with your cleansers then it probably performs well in each of these areas. Give your cleanser one🍋 for each area in which it excels, or a half if it's at least partway there.
🍋 TIGHTNESS: doesn't leave your face feeling tight. Cleansers should not leave a 'squeaky clean' feel, just a feeling of soft skin. 🍋 COMFORT: leaves your face feeling comfortable. Almost like you feel like you don't really need to follow with anything after (you do, but your face should feel comfortable for at least a while post-cleanse). 🍋 SMOOTHNESS and RESILIENCE: leaves your skin visibly smoother. Following cleansing, your skin should look refreshed with no irritation or redness (a gentle glow is great though!). You shouldn't experience any negative results from your cleanser.
🍋 HAPPY FEEL: gives you a pleasant sensory experience - smell, texture, etc. A product you look forward to using and makes you smile. 🍋AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: RESULTS! You need to feel like your skin is clean! You can test this by swiping with a cotton round with micellar water or toner. If there is any dirt or make-up left over, and you're certain of your technique, then your cleanser might not be cutting it.
If you have cleansers that fulfil all of the above then there's a good chance that you've found your holy grail. Even if one or two are missing but you feel like it's working then your cleanser is probably ok. A mediocre score may even be okay if you feel the performance is there. The main purpose of the Lemon Scale is to get you thinking about your cleanser and what it does for you.
Some of you may be realising that your cleanser isn't really cutting it. Cleansing may seem like an area where 'good enough is good enough' but I encourage everyone to continue to search for cleansers that make your skin feel great.
It can be difficult to identify a sub-standard cleansers, but a cleanser that's letting you down in any of these areas is giving you a clue that the cleanser may not be for you. One particular danger: a sub-standard cleanser may actually be causing a low level irritation that's not immediately obvious (compared to an active, for example). However, if you try to build a great routine without getting the right cleanser you'll be building on a faulty foundation.
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How is your cleanser is treating you? Rate your cleanser on the above 'lemon scale'. If it's not a 🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋 five lemon cleanser then what's missing? Try and give detail on each 🍋 point!