You might think that a more foaming face wash clears your skin better but it does not. Foaming is not associated with cleansing that much. Foaming is just a factor added in cleansers for giving it more aesthetic appeal.
Most products in the market claim that they have a super cleansing action as they have high foaming ability. You don’t have to fall for such claims as foam is not associated with cleansing. Foaming won’t determine how well a product works to cleanse your face.
Foam in a cleanser occurs due to the presence of surfactants and more foaming means more surfactants in face wash. So foaming can not always be associated with cleansing. Foam ideally helps to reduce harsh cleansing and promotes frictionless smooth cleanse. It helps in enhancing the texture of the face wash while cleansing.
The main reason behind effective cleansing action of a product lies in its formulation rather than foaming action. On the other hand some non-foaming cleansers like a cream, lotion or oil based cleansers that do not produce foam at all effectively help in lifting off the impurities and clean the skin. So it depends on ingredients rather than high foam for better cleansing.
The reason behind foam in a cleanser
Foam or lather in a product is created because of the presence of surfactants. These surfactants when mixed with water form foam. These surfactants have a hydrophilic head and a lipophilic tail which clears out both the impurities from the skin. It works by dissolving these impurities from the skin.
The surfactant molecules trap tiny air pockets between thin layers of water and form bubbles. But most of the time harsh surfactants are used which might have a high foaming capability but do not cleanse the skin that well. These chemicals could even strip the moisture barrier of the skin and make it feel tight.
Why is more foaming associated with more cleansing?
Ideally most people have believed that more foam or bubbles helps in better cleansing since childhood. Most face washes are sold with branding claims like high foaming cleanse for your face. Soft and high lather has been associated with better cleansing for a long time but it might not be true.
Some low or no foaming cleansers help in better cleansing than the high foaming cleansers. Foam just feels soft on the skin and it expands widely on the face making you think it is effectively cleansing your skin. But it might not be true, sometimes high foaming surfactants could strip moisture from the skin and leave it dry.
Modern cleaning approach
Modern skincare has changed a lot and now there has been a switch from harsh surfactants that have high foaming ability as they might be damaging the skin barrier. These harsh surfactants might be helpful in removing excess oil from the skin but along with that it also wipes off the essential natural oils from the skin.
Stripping lipids from the skin could lead to cracks on the skin surface. This disrupts the moisture barrier of the skin and makes it compromised. The transepidermal water loss from the skin increases and makes the face highly reactive to environmental stressors, allergens, bacteria or any other foreign particles.
Dermatologists now favor non-foaming alternatives like emulsion, milk, and oil cleansers that dissolve impurities using lipids rather than harsh detergents. It makes the skin excessively dry which triggers even more oil production on the skin making it prone to clogged pores and acne breakouts.
That is why modern skincare has evolved from these harsh surfactants based cleansers to a better non-foaming cleanser. Oil, lotion or cream based cleansers serve the purpose right.
These cleansers are lipid based emulsions that dissolve impurities and do not require foam for cleansing. This modern approach of cleansing helps a lot in preserving the acidic mantle and moisture barrier of the skin.
What actually works to clear the dirt from the skin?
To effectively clear out the impurities from the skin it is not always important to use harsh surfactants or foaming agents. Instead of these people can opt for a gentle cleansing agent that has mild or now foam and does not strip the moisture from the skin.
These cleansers are based on the idea of “like dissolves like”. An oil based or cream based cleanser has oils that help in clearing out the oily impurities like makeup, sunscreen or excess sebum from the skin. Water based or foaming cleansers might not be able to deliver the same results that well.
Instead you can opt for a face wash which has a balanced formulation of lipids and gentle surfactants for better skin cleansing. A gentle cleanser is often formulated using oils or mild surfactants and cleansing agents that do not damage skin’s natural moisture barrier and help in gently cleansing the skin.
When massaged into dry skin, these ingredients bind to the oil-based dirt, breaking it down and clearing it off without disturbing your skin cells. When you rinse, the impurities wash away effortlessly, leaving your natural moisture barrier completely intact.
Final thoughts
Cleansing foam is not the ideal character of a face wash and it does not determine more cleansing. It is simply a marketed strategy that you fall for. Instead of relying totally on high foaming face washes you can go for a gentle cleansing product which helps in lifting off the impurities from the skin and makes it feel clean.