The practice of washing the face first with warm water and then with cold water to prevent acne is counterproductive and might harm the skin, a dermatologist said on Wednesday.
Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital physician Huang Yu-huei (黃毓惠) told a news conference at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that she frequently treats patients for eczema or other skin conditions caused by unhelpful facial care practices.
She said many patients want to eliminate their acne and washed their face with warm water to enlarge the pores, applied facial cleanser and washed it off with cold water to shrink the pores.
Huang said the practice can damage the hydrolipidic film on the skin, leading to more acne outbursts.
A study suggested that the ideal water temperature for washing the face is about 25°C, or a little cooler than body temperature, as hot water can overstimulate the facial skin, Huang said.
Acne outbursts are associated with abnormal sebum production, which can be triggered by a lack of sleep and keeping irregular hours, she said.
“Washing the face too often or overcleaning it will harm the skin,” Huang said, advising people not to wash their face more than twice per day — in the morning and at night.
The FDA also gave five tips for proper facial care: Choosing products that are clearly labeled and that match the user’s skin condition; washing the face with cool water; moving the hands slowly when applying a facial cleanser; not keeping the cleanser on the face for too long; and not washing the face too often.
Huang said some people think that using facial cleaning products that claim to have multiple benefits is good for the skin, but the products usually stay on the face for a short time and cannot show the desired effects, but added that leaving them on the face for too long might overstimulate the skin.
Most facial cleansers are listed as general cosmetics, FDA Division of Medical Devices and Cosmetics section head Hung Kuo-teng (洪國登) said, but added that the FDA has given permits to 66 products that contain drug substances, such as salicylic acid, for acne prevention.
The FDA urged people to choose cosmetic and skin care products carefully, and notify the agency via its online cosmetic quality management system (http://qms.fda.gov.tw/tcbw) if adverse reactions occur.
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
RSS