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If soap makes your dry or sensitive skin itch and flake, ditch it. There are plenty of alternative ways to clean your face and neck without using soap. Try non-soap liquid cleansers or solid beauty bars that look like soap but have a different formulation. Non-soap cleansers contain ingredients that strip makeup, oil and dirt from your face and neck but usually don’t contain fragrances and other irritating ingredients found in most brands of soap.
Beauty Bars
You know that bar of soap that quickly melts into mush and messes up your soap dish? That could be the best bar for cleaning your face and neck. If you have dry, sensitive skin, choose beauty bars that are fragrance-free, moisturizing, hypoallergenic and made for sensitive skin. That narrows down the options, but they’re out there, and you may have to try them all before you find a beauty bar that suits the skin you’re in.
Liquid Cleansers
Pump it out. Choose a fragrance-free, dye-free, gentle cleanser made for your skin type, which may be dry and sensitive, normal to oily or combination. Oily skin cleansers are usually transparent and sometimes contain antimicrobial or antibacterial ingredients to help fight acne. Liquid cleansers made for dry or sensitive skin usually contain moisturizers.
Cleansing Cloths
Disposable cloths, pads and towelettes saturated with non-soap cleansers to clean your face and neck are available for all skin types, including normal, combination and sensitive. These are not the same as baby wipes or toilet wipes, so be sure to use products made especially for your face and neck, not for other body parts.
Exfoliaters
Facial cleansers that contain salicylic acid or glycolic acid have an exfoliating effect on your skin similar to that of a scrub. They lift dead cells from the surface of your face and neck, exposing the healthier, smoother layer of skin that lies below. With those dead cells go the dirt, oil and makeup that cling to them. Good riddance! Choose gentle formulas for sensitive skin and avoid rough scrubs, including natural products made with ground kernels and seeds.
Cleansing Creams
Face and neck cleansers in the form of creams and lotions can clean and moisturize dry skin at the same time but may not work for sensitive skin. Like with most beauty products, you can spend a little or a lot on cleansing creams, depending on the brand. When you’re feeling flush, you may want to try something trendy and expensive, but an old-fashioned drugstore cheapies, sometimes known as "cold creams" also do an excellent job of cleaning your skin, and that’s why they are still on the market.
