Cleansing Milk Or Face Wash? How To Pick The Right Product For Your Skin
+ Why cleansing milk is a must-have this season.
Researched, written by 
Amber & The Team
Updated on July 9, 2023
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It’s a no-brainer that everyone’s skin has different needs, so your products should be specially tailored to you!
You’re probably already familiar with face wash, face masks, and even skin exfoliants.
But have you tried milk cleanser?
Cleansing milk is an amazing option to consider adding to your skincare arsenal.
Especially with winter chill on the way soon, supplementing your face routine with some nourishing cleansing milk could be the perfect way to ease into fall.
Cleansing Milk VS Face Wash
What is cleansing milk?
Cleansing milk is a much gentler approach to cleaning your skin, compared to typical facial washes that are high in added ingredients to combat acne-prone skin effectively.
Cleansing milks are light and gentle and are composed of a natural emulsion of fats and water.
Essentially, it’s an extra gentle face wash that doesn’t actually contain any milk at all!
Its texture is luxurious and silky (like milk), while being highly effective at removing day to day dirt, grime, and even make-up.
Many cleansing milks also have healthy added ingredients like rosemary, vitamin c, parsley leaf, aloe vera, or coconut oil.
What’s the difference between face wash or cleansing milk?
Most face washes require water to activate it, resulting in a kind of lather or scrubby texture.
Cleansing milk doesn’t require water to activate it, and some people even prefer to use cleaning milk directly on their face with no activation.
It lathers due to the fatty agents already present in its formula and is actually a combination of oil and water already.
Water is only needed to wash off the cleansing milk after use.
Furthermore, the biggest difference between face wash and cleansing milk is the harshness of each.
Cleansing milk has an emollient texture, making it light and as foamy as a cloud.
A face wash is much harsher, sometimes scrubbing away essential oils on your face and leaving your skin dry and tight.
Which one is right for me?
Cleansing milk is perfect for those with normal to dry skin.
Due to its delicate nature, it carefully eliminates dirt and grime, while still maintaining your existing natural oils.
As someone who personally has experience with dry skin, many face washes just make dry skin even drier.
If you have dry skin, your pores are already suffering from a lack of healthy fats and oils.
Typical face washes will be too harsh on your already sensitive skin, eliminating healthy oils you desperately need to hold on to.
As a result, your face tries to compensate for the dryness by over-producing oils, creating a vicious cycle of switching between extremely dry and extremely oily.
Face wash is a better choice for those with oily and acne-prone skin.
Oily skin requires a much harsher wash as it needs to remove the excess oil your skin is producing.
Cleansing milk won’t be a great match as it won’t have the essential ingredients that successfully eliminate excess oil.
Cleansing milk on oily skin might even make acne worse, as it is introducing fats and oil on skin that already has an abundance of that.
Face washes provide the extra power and support oily skin needs.
How to use cleansing milk
Cleansing milk can be used in your morning or night routine, or even during both!
It’s gentle enough to be used twice in one day.
It will be the first step in your routine, as it cleanses your canvas and creates a clean slate for any superpower toners or moisturizers you’ll be following up with.
- Firstly, gently apply the cleansing milk all over your face and neck, taking care to massage it in circles.
Your neck is especially important as any sweat from the day usually travels down and collects at your neck, which makes it just as crucial to be cleansed as your face.
Remember that you don’t need any water at all to activate cleansing milk.
- Next, after you’ve covered the whole area, wipe it away with a cleansing pad or wash off with fresh water.
- Afterwards, feel free to follow with the rest of your typical routine.
You should notice that your skin is not as tight as when washed with regular face wash, and it still maintains close to the same level of moisture as before.
All in all, your skin routine is all up to you!
Cleansing milk might be the new face wash alternative that your dry skin has been searching for.
If you have oily skin, it’s probably a better choice to pass on this, but a trial run doesn’t hurt if you’re still curious or even have combination skin.
In a beauty world where too many face products are filled with unnecessary ingredients and chemicals, cleansing milk is a refreshing change.
It’s a luxurious treat for your face, which already encounters so many abrasive elements during your day to day life.
If you’ve been looking for a simple and soothing facial cleanser, cleansing milk is your next must-have.
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