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Gone are the days of the speedy shower; a quick lather with a squirt of shower gel will, apparently, no longer cut it. Double cleansing – once the remit of facial skincare and shampoo routines – has steadily trickled into body-care, too. But should you simply stock up on twice as much shower gel? Is it any more hygienic? And how clean do we really need to be?
As always, TikTok – or rather, #ShowerTok – has a huge number of devotees to this new trend. “Double cleansing will change your life,” says self-care advocate Xara Beqele (@xarabeq) in a video that has almost 10,000 likes. “I think double cleansing is the most effective thing I have added for my shower. I just smell better, feel clean.” Likewise, digital creator Terree Ann (@terreetaughtme) calls double cleansing the body a “hygiene must”. “If you are only washing your body with a hydrating body wash, that’s like washing your body with lotion,” she says in a video that has been shared more than 6,000 times. “If you’re only going in with a scented body wash on top of unclean skin, that’s like spraying Febreze to try to mask the funk instead of properly removing it.” Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that recent research found gen Zs take longer showers than any other age group – despite being most anxious about the climate crisis.
Elsewhere, bodycare brand Naturium currently offers a “double cleanse body bundle” and, writing about the process for UK retailer Boots, beauty writer Valeza Bakolli called double cleansing “the all-important first step of your body-care routine”. Last week, the Wall Street Journal asked if many of us might, in fact, be “showering all wrong”.
But London-based consultant dermatologist Dr Jinah Yoo believes that, for most people, it is “largely unnecessary” to wash the body twice. “Double cleansing can make sense for the face when you are removing makeup, sunscreen or other products,” she says. “But our skin is not supposed to be completely stripped of oil. The skin barrier contains natural lipids that help retain moisture and protect against external irritants. Repeated washing, particularly with strong or foaming cleansers, can remove too much of this protective layer and leave the skin dry, tight, itchy or irritated.”
“I think that double cleansing in the shower is going to lead to a lot of dehydrated skin and potentially compromised skin barriers, especially going into autumn and winter when the skin is often drier because of central heating and the cold outside,” says Lauren Hughes, a facialist and skin expert based in east London. “For the body, one cleanser daily with a loofah or sponge is absolutely fine,” she says. “I also like to do a scrub once a week, with an exfoliation mitt.”
That said, if you do want to double cleanse, Yoo agrees that “there is little advantage in simply using the same body wash twice”. Bakolli credits the K-beauty boom with popularising the double-cleanse shower, following in the wake of Korean beauty’s double cleanse facial – and the process is largely the same, starting with an oil-based cleanser. The theory is that this can help to break down any sweat, grime or bacteria that may have built up, as well as removing products such as sunscreen.
The second step usually involves a gentle water-based body wash, the idea being that this removes any remaining oil cleanser and cleanses more deeply, although it can also hydrate, exfoliate, or simply provide fragrance.
“There may be occasions when a second cleanse is useful – for example, after heavy exercise, swimming, a very hot day, or when you have applied a lot of water-resistant sunscreen or body products,” says Yoo. “What I would avoid is using two strong cleansers, or combining double cleansing with scrubs, exfoliating acids or antibacterial washes.”
But Dr Girish Gupta, a consultant dermatologist based in Glasgow, is adamant that there is no advantage to be gained from double cleansing the body – “or the face, to be frank”. He says there is no evidence that it’s any more hygienic and, like the other experts I speak to, suspects it may in fact do more harm than good.
What can you do to remedy dry skin, or treat eczema that may have flared up thanks to over-cleansing? “Simple things,” says Gupta, “such as not double cleansing, not using fragranced cleansers, and opting for nonfragranced moisturising creams, or ointments, depending on the level of dryness. Eczema may require treatment with topical steroids.”
But after the proliferation – at least online – of the weekly four-hour “everything shower”, it is perhaps no surprise that, for some, daily body-care routines have also become more elaborate.
“Body skincare is now a major category, with serums, retinoids, exfoliating acids, masks and targeted treatments becoming increasingly common,” agrees Yoo. “Social media also encourages routines with multiple steps because they are visually engaging and give the impression that more steps mean better results.” But, she says, your skin doesn’t need to feel squeaky clean to actually be clean. “In fact, if it feels very tight after showering, you may be cleansing it too aggressively.”
