Is Using Towels to Dry Your Face Bad for Your Skin?

So you've just reached home after a long day of looking cute. After dawdling around for a few minutes, you finally took your makeup off and double cleansed. Then, almost instinctively... you reach out for a towel to rub your skin dry. Sounds like a familiar scenario?

Related article: How to Choose the Best Cleanser for Your Skin?

Drying your face with a towel has always seemed like the natural thing to do. However, the thing about towels is that they’re an absolute magnet for bacteria. We often keep them in damp bathrooms, where they’ve collected dead skin cells and oils from our bodies, making them the perfect breeding ground for acne-causing bacteria. Skin care products are also known to better penetrate the skin when it’s damp, so a towel-dried face doesn't make the best canvas for the next steps of your skin care routine!

Avoiding the towel is actually a common practice among many Korean women. Instead of reaching for your trusty towel, here are some options you can consider that might be better for your skin:

1. Air-dry

We don’t mean leaving your face wet and dripping as you sit around, waiting for your face to dry! Just use your hands to swipe across your cheeks and neck and remove the excess water. You can also gently pat your skin with your hands to dry your face a little before applying your toner, face mist, Missha Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence Rx or any other first treatment products.

2. Use towels

Another way to get around sharing the same bacteria-laden towel you use on your body is to use a fresh facial towel each time you cleanse your face. Instead of rubbing, pulling or tugging, just blot the excess water away by gently patting the towel against your skin. Stop when your skin is still slightly damp to help it better absorb the next products in your routine. Though, keep in mind that this method can really add to your laundry load!

3. Use paper towels

Paper towels can be another option to dry your face after cleansing (We highly recommend recycled paper towels for this!). You should still use the same technique of gently blotting away the excess water, and leaving your skin damp, not completely dry.

If you have left your skin dry way too long before applying the first skin care product after cleansing, you can also always re-hydrate your skin with a face mist like the Pyunkang Yul Mist Toner.

Ultimately, it is, of course, much more important to use the right cleanser, and to pick the right products to follow up the rest of your skin care routine. However, if you have dry skin, or skin that’s prone to breakouts or irritation, ditching the towel might still be something worth thinking about!

Do you know any other alternative to drying your face with towels? Share with us below!