The three primary categories of cleanser are:

1. Wipe off cleansers, such as cold creams and lotions.
2. Soaps.
3. Water soluble cleansers.

Wipe off cleansers tend to be heavier than water soluble cleansers and require lots of wiping. Elastin - the protein that's responsible for flexibility in healthy skin - can be damaged with too much pulling. Regular use of wipe off cleansers pulls unnecessarily at the skin and delicate eye area.

Soaps can be irritating. Many women enjoy the foaming action of soaps but it doesn't mean your skin is any cleaner! Foaming cleansers can also be drying. Soaps often have high alkaline contents - a high pH compared to your skin's. This means that soaps can have the adverse affect of irritating your skin.

Three basic qualities of a good water soluble cleanser are:

1. It washes off makeup without leaving your face dry like soaps or greasy like cold cream.
2. It contains no abrasive, scrub like particles. Scrubs should be used very carefully and not as part of your daily cleanser.
3. Last, but most important of all, it's gentle to the skin.

Using a good water soluble cleanser and rinsing with lots of tepid water is a thorough and gentle way to clean your skin without pulling, stretching, or drying it out.