Is Pine Tar Soap Good for Your Face?

When it comes to face washing, you may find yourself in one of two camps:

1. You don’t wash your face.

This one may be especially true if you’re a dude and (most likely) don’t wear makeup of any sort. As a result, you figure your face doesn’t get all that dirty anyway. And you’re not super interested in spending one more minute standing at your bathroom sink than you absolutely have to.

2. You wash your face with a vengeance.

Maybe you sweat a lot and hate that icky, oily feeling. Or maybe you have facial acne, and you figure that washing the heck out it will clear it up.

Straight talk: Man or woman, you need to wash your face twice a day. Who says so? Not just your mom—the big guns (a.k.a. the American Academy of Dermatology).

And if you are washing your face, you need to show it some love. That means you shouldn’t go to town and wash it with harsh soaps in a take-no-prisoners, scorched earth campaign to annihilate bacteria. If your skin were Adele, it would say, “Go ee–ee–ee–ee-easy on me.”

Why does our facial skin have to be so high maintenance? It all goes back to sebaceous glands.

Totally Sebaceous, Man!

Your hair grows out of a hair follicle, and part of the whole follicle setup is microscopic glands known as sebaceous glands. They secrete an oily substance known as sebum. Sebum is good because it keeps your skin nice and hydrated and provides a barrier against bad stuff in the environment.

But if you don’t keep up a good skin care regimen, sebum can mix with things like dead skin cells, dirt, and pollutants. It will then turn thick and gummy and clog your sebaceous glands. The unfortunate result of your clogged-up glands is enlarged pores, acne, and even cysts.

I Need Some Space. You’re Smothering Me.

The sebaceous glands, like the huddled masses, yearn to breathe free, allowing you to have healthy, refreshed skin. The best way you can keep them free is by washing them with gentle, natural cleansers and moisturizing afterward. This keeps the glands open and the sebum production at normal, healthy rates.

Too Much of a Good Thing

This brings us back to our overzealous washers, those who say that if some is good, more is definitely better. If you wield your washcloth like a belt sander and lather your face with Lever 2000, we’re looking at you.

More is not better when it comes to face washing. If you wash too often, too roughly, or with harsh cleansers, you can irritate and dry out your skin. When you try to decimate your facial oil, your body gets nervous and goes into overdrive, producing even more sebum. It’s like a moonshiner during prohibition. More sebum can lead to more acne, leaving you to ponder the irony that your face washing is actually making your pimples worse.

Go Mild, Not Wild

Your facial skin is different than the skin on the rest of your body, so you have to treat it that way. Facial skin is thinner and easier to penetrate. It also has more oil-producing sebaceous glands, and it generally gets more exposure to outside elements than other parts of your body that are typically covered in clothing (unless you’re fond of wearing ski masks year-round).

So while the skin on the rest of your body can stand up to more abuse, your facial skin needs a lot of TLC to stay healthy and balanced. To treat your facial skin right, choose a soap that’s tough enough to get rid of the dirt but won’t deplete your skin. If it leaves your skin feeling tight or dry, that’s a bad sign.

Chose a facial soap that is free of:

• Synthetic perfumes

Many scented soaps get their smell from synthetic extracts (chemical concoctions suspended in alcohol). These can dry out and irritate your skin.

• Dyes

Your baby blue skin soap may look as pretty as a summer sky, but synthetic dyes are among the culprits that plug your sebaceous glands and throw your sebum production into a frenzy.

• Synthetic binders

Binders hold solid and liquid components together, giving skincare products structure and consistency. However, some chemical binders are associated with respiratory, neurological, and reproductive problems.

• Parabens

Cosmetic companies love parabens because they prevent the growth of bacteria and mold in products and extend their shelf life. The problem is that they are associated with skin irritation, hormone disruption, fertility problems, and cancer.

Is Pine Tar Soap a Good Face Cleanser?

We’re a little biased, but we have our reasons. Packer’s Pine Tar Soap is paraben-free and has no added fragrances or harsh chemicals. Its ingredients are nature-based: premium pine tar, pine oil, and hydrating shea butter.

And if you’re prone to dry, itchy skin, pine tar is well-known for being anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory. Consumers choose pine tar soap for soothing eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis symptoms. They also report good results with using pine tar soap for acne.

And if you buy from Packer’s Pine, you can elevate the world around you while protecting your baby face. Packer’s Pine Tar Soap is cruelty-free, wrapped in 100% recycled packaging, and made in the USA.

Wash on, wash regularly, and wash right with Packer’s Pine.