Outside of a professional online skin consultation, most skincare advice that is found online should always be explored with a sense of caution, and this is doubly the case for social media trends.
In an era of viral skincare that has included slugging, avocado face masks and the terrifying prospect of at-home microneedling, it can be difficult to find actually useful advice amidst the morass.
However, one recent and exceptionally simple trend might help quite a few people to get the most out of their products and see some beautiful results as a consequence.
What Is The Sixty-Second Rule?
The 60-Second Rule is the relatively simple tip to spend a full minute washing, massaging and working your cleansing product into your face, as opposed to the 15-20 seconds most people do.
Whilst cleansers are generally agreed to be an essential part of even the most minimalist beauty routine, there is far less consensus on exactly how important the cleansing product is outside of the general importance of washing one’s face and removing dead skin cells.
A lot of the time, active cleansers have been dismissed given that they spend so little time on a person’s face, but gently washing the skin for longer does help to make any cleanser more effective.
Much like the 10,000 steps myth, the 60-second rule does not actually have to take a full minute, but instead is long enough for grime and dirt to start being lifted from the skin and for the pores to become unclogged.
Does It Work?
The 60-second rule works, but depending on how diligently you cleanse your skin, it might not provide as radical a transformation as some posts on social media would suggest.
The reason why people do not spend a minute cleansing their skin is that whilst it is not a long period of time, particularly if you have other parts of your routine, it can feel like a long time and until your cleanse is complete, you cannot apply other products, make-up or anything else to your face.
The long time, much like it does when you clean your teeth, ensures that you cleanse every part of your skin and remove all of the sebum, grime and makeup. It can also boost circulation, giving your skin a slightly brighter glow, and soften skin as long as the cleanser is gentle enough for your skin.
Whilst it can sometimes help with dermatitis and acne, there are a lot of different genetic and environmental factors that cause it, meaning that it will help some people far better than others.
As well as this, if you have sensitive skin, stick to a gentle cleanser, massage it gently and lower the amount of time if you start to notice irritation.
If in doubt, chat with a professional; many skincare experts will cleanse professionally for a minute or more and can provide tips on how to effectively take care of your skin and keep the results from the clinic lasting far longer.