When it comes to daily hygiene practices, you probably wash your face once or twice. Maybe you splash some water on it and call it a day — or maybe you have a full-blown routine like me. (60 seconds in circular motions from my jawline all the way up to my hairline.) A minute may seem like a long time, but there’s a method to my madness.

If you’ve ever been curious about the right face-washing duration, here are some skincare tips straight from the experts.

Why face washing is important

Cleansing your skin may seem simple and is often overlooked, but it’s a vital part of a skincare routine. 

Face washing removes grime, makeup, sweat, and anything else that may have settled on your skin after the day. It also removes any build-up of products, dust from the environment, and oil, shares Danielle Gronich, clinical esthetician/acne specialist, owner of San Diego Acne Clinic, and co-founder and CEO of CLEARSTEM Skincare.

Regularly washing your face one or twice a day reduces clogged pores, excessive skin buildup, and damage from free radicals. It also keeps your skin from looking dull. Plus, other products like toners, serums, and moisturizers can’t properly penetrate the skin and do their jobs effectively without a clean canvas (aka a clean face).

Face-washing duration

Now we know the exact reasons why face washing is important — but what’s a good face-washing duration?

“In the morning we should wash minimally — less than 10 seconds and preferably in cool water,” shares Gronich. “For many people, especially those with dry skin, simply splashing our faces with cold water in the morning is enough to remove the sweat built up from the night before.” Gronich says doing a micellar or “toner cleanse” is also sufficient for the morning.

However, at night is when we’re removing 16 hours of sweat, dust, and products like makeup and SPF. As such, at night is when we should do a thorough cleanse or even a double cleanse if we wore makeup, notes Gronich.

“The more layers you put on, the more thorough your cleanse needs to be,” she says. This should be done with lukewarm to warm water, never hot as heat inflames the skin by irritating it and zapping your natural moisture. Use a gentle cleanser that does not strip your skin, so avoid sodium lauryl and laureth sulfates.”

Gronich personally doesn’t recommend washing with benzoyl peroxide cleansers as these can be highly irritating to the delicate eye skin. Stick with gentle cleansers that dissolve makeup easily, like GENTLECLEAN from CLEARSTEM Skincare.

In order to get the most effective cleansing, you also want to make sure you’re not clogging your pores to begin with. “Always check your makeup and lotion and SPF for pore-clogging ingredients so that your cleanser has less heavy lifting and your pores will not get as clogged or dirty in the first place,” remarks Gronich.

What about face-washing duration at night? “Washing at night should be about a minute long but could vary depending on how effective the cleanser is,” says Gronich. This is ample time to ensure you’re hitting every area of your skin so each zone gets enough attention and TLC.

Plus, it means you’re massaging on the cleanser, really working it into your skin, and allowing yourself to be present at the moment and not hurriedly rushing through to the next step in your skincare routine.

However, Gronich notes that some cleansers aren’t very effective at removing makeup (particularly liquid foundation), so it may take longer and require a double cleanse. “If you feel like you are cleansing for over a minute and your makeup is still visible, it is time to get a better cleanser,” she says.

The bottom line on face washing

The next time you want to skip your face washing or cut your skincare face wash routine short, use a face washing duration of at least 30 seconds for clean skin and an appropriate canvas for your next layer of skincare products.