The majority of make-up removers shouldn't strip your skin of moisture at all, in fact most make-up removers use an oil base. You can also use baby oil as my mom always does. If you're not sure wether you should use a make-up remover, just do my test. Wash your face as you normally do and then use a cotton ball and gentle toner and see how much make-up is still left on your skin. Just rubbing your skin with your fingers is definitly not enough to get make-up off as it is heavy on your skin. Just think of it as having an extra layer on your skin, most face soaps are not made to remove make-up, they're made to remove daily dirt and oil build up, so you need something extra to get the heavy make-up off. If you have even slight acne prone skin this is important or else all that extra make-up that you saw on your cotton ball is clogging your pores all night until you wake up, wash you face, and then add more make-up.
The face wash cloths are good too although you might need to use 2 or do a quick regular face wash after.
Another thing you can do is use a microfiber face cloth, they are great for grabbing make-up and dirt that regular face washing can't get. The only down fall is that you get all the make-up trapped on your cloth, so I just use the make-up remover pads because I don't want to ruin my cloth.
Originally Posted by
gamaki I don't think makeup removers are necessary. I only use cetaphil. Just massage your face a little longer till you feel that you are getting all the gunk off your skin and then rinse really well. If you wear lots of makeup, then do it twice. All those extra makeup removers strip away your natural p.h. balance and moisture which is essential to healthy skin. Dry, overly clean skin is another way to get worse acne. There must be a reason why dermatologists recommend Cetaphil.