How much cleanser am I supposed to use?

Too much feels like too much!

How much cleanser am I supposed to use? Enough so my face is white and then massage it in until I can’t see it or just a small amount? Is it supposed to lather?

How much cleanser to use will depend on a few things. First, how big your face is and second, how much you prefer to use. Practically speaking, if you use too much, you’re just wasting product. Conversely, if you don’t use enough, you probably aren’t getting a good cleanse.

So what’s too much? Honestly, I think you will just know—it will probably feel like you are rubbing cleanser on cleanser rather than cleanser onto skin. If you use too much, it will just feel like you have too much product to work with. And using too little product?

• If you don’t use enough, you won’t be able to spread the product across your face, leaving many places unwashed.
• Using too little may cause the cleanser to almost absorb into the skin like a moisturizer.

A cleansing product is meant to remove surface debris from the skin, not to penetrate like a moisturizer. And you really don’t want to massage it in until you can’t see it. In fact, if you have massaged the product in too long or perhaps used too little, the cleanser may have gone into your skin. In this case, I would “bring it up” by adding a little water to it with your hands, then splash-rinse to remove.

I find that using about a half dollar-sized dollop of cleanser is enough, but you want to use an adequate amount in order to cover your entire face. The product I use has a pump, and I use about two to three pumps for each cleansing. If it doesn’t feel like enough once I’ve gotten it on my face, I’ll just add another pump or two. Sometimes just adding a little bit of water makes the cleanser go further. Just don’t water it down so much that it can’t clean your skin.

Experiment and see. The main thing is to use enough to enable you to spread the cleanser over your entire face and neck. To cleanse, simply apply the cleanser, massage for a few seconds, splash-rinse, and then towel dry.

Milk cleansers generally do not lather. Gel-type cleansers and most soaps will lather, depending on the sulfates in the ingredients. (Sulfates make soaps soapy.)

For more information, see:

• Cleanse once? Twice? How often and why
• Do I really need to clean my face?
• Advanced Steps for Cleansing