Not washing your face in the Morning: Skincare Truth/Myth?

Recently, there has been some buzz on the internet about not washing your face in the morning as a unique skincare habit that promises you clear skin. 

Salma Hayek swears by it!

Salma said: 'OK, one tip - always wash your face at night. Clean it. 'You don't have to wash it, but you have to clean it really, really well at night.'

'One strange tip - don't wash it in the morning, at all, never. Because at night your skin is rebuilding some of the oils that you need to keep your skin young, and it balances the PH. 

'So in the morning if you take them off - you can splash it with water, do something mild - but you don't want to get rid of that. And if your skin is dirty in the morning, it means you didn't clean well at night.'

My experience with it:

Even before this hype, I occasionally have tried this out and found this habit of not washing your face in the morning to have some benefits. However, there are many caveats to this!

First, not washing your face is not literal. Salma does say you can splash it with water or do something mild. This is very true and the essence of what this skincare habit is trying to do for you. 

The key is that by cleansing mildly in the morning, you won't strip your face of natural oils which may then cause it to produce excess oil. 

Since I have sensitive skin prone to redness, I find that this is very helpful. I switch it up depending on how my skin feels/looks that day. You can splash it with water or use a very mild cleanser e.g. cleansing milks/balms. Most cleansers that soap up are drying. 

Important tips!
Cleansing mildly works on the important condition that your skin has been cleansed thoroughly the night before and it is still quite clean in the morning. If you tend to sleep face down, or tend to have long hair in your face, all these will accumulate dirt and is thus best to use a cleanser rather than just cleansing with only water. 

Also, if you applied topical treatments to your face the night before, it is best to use a mild cleanser to cleanse those away before applying new products & make up on your face. You wouldn't want to have residue that is trapped under new products and makeup for hours. 
Hope this helps :) I would suggest cleansing very midly/with water only for people with sensitive skin/dry skin!