Does your cleanser really cleanse?

My eco-journey started with skincare. After discovering that man-made chemicals are often unnecessary in modern skincare, I stopped using my regular products immediately. But in hindsight, I shouldn’t have done that.

My skin was practically screaming at me “what are you doing? What are you putting on me?!”. I was getting spots in places I had never had spots before, my skin felt extra tight or too oily, everything was out of balance and I was trying to fix it with new products and consistencies my skin wasn’t used to.

"My skin was practically screaming at me 'what are you doing?'"

After some trial and error, I deduced the product causing the most problems was the cleansing oil. I had used the same cream cleanser my whole life, but after noticing half the ingredients are fillers and preservatives, I switched to a pure cleansing oil.

A cleanser is supposed to remove makeup, bacteria and environmental stressors without stripping your skin of its natural oils. Our skin has its own process to keep it clean and happy, so using products that strip the skin’s natural sebum are doing more harm than good. But because of our modern lifestyle it’s important we wash our face and help the skin, and natural oil cleansers are becoming increasingly popular for effective makeup and grime removal without harming the skin.

But my skin wasn’t happy. The spots appeared and would stay there. I still have faint scars from where they were, so the search continued.

Infographic by Alysia Georgiades

I switched back to a cream cleanser, then tried a gel cleanser containing benzoyl peroxide, a hero ingredient for those with acne, but stripped my skin and made it very tight and angry. So I reluctantly went back to my original cream cleanser whilst I continued searching for a natural alternative.

And lo and behold, I found one! Tandem’s Cleansing Hero reduced my spots and helped the scarring. It leaves my skin incredibly soft, is great at removing makeup, and smells beautiful. Not to mention it's certified organic, vegan and cruelty free by Cosmos and The Soil Association, The Vegan Society, and The Leaping Bunny.

Everyone’s skin is different, and I’ve quickly learned your skin might not like a product as much as someone else’s skin does. But there are plenty of natural and organic products out there, produced by small companies who are becoming more and more popular, and are doing the right things, from the ingredients they use to the manufacturing process and product packaging.

So let's support these brands and find our new favourite products, and help save the planet, and our skin, in the process.