The cheap skincare hack you need to know

Facecloths not only remove your cleanser thoroughly, along with makeup, dirt and impurities, but the massaging action provides a gentle exfoliation to help your products penetrate the skin. Photo / Getty Images.
OPINION
Having spent her entire adult life shunning the use of flannels, beauty writer Lucy Slight is eating her words. $20 and six muslin cloths later, she’s officially converted. But what’s taken her so long?
“This is something I scream from the rooftops all the time … Always remove your cleanser with a hot cloth,” the authoritative voice of holistic facialist Ashleigh Scott declares to me via TikTok. It was a video she made back in April, but it only found its way to my feed last month.
I have never used a facecloth to wash my face. Don’t get me wrong, I love a hot cloth pressed into my skin during a facial. But who has time for that at home? Surely emulsifying my oil cleanser, rinsing it off with warm water, and then drying my face with a towel is enough?
Scott’s TikTok continues: “When you just splash your face with water, the cleanser is just kind of going to splash back off. There’s still going to be residue on your skin, and you’re not going to get a thorough deep cleanse.”

Okay, I think … perhaps she has a point. So I reach out and ask her to elaborate.
“Using a hot cloth means that you are thoroughly removing all traces of the cleanser, along with makeup, dirt oil and impurities along with it,” Scott explains. “I have never liked cleansing in the shower because you don’t get as good a cleanse, especially if you’re using an oil-based cleanser. The cleanser won’t be removed properly just by rinsing with water.
“It is important that you use a clean cloth for every cleanse, so have a pile and put it in the wash after using,” she adds.
Another video pops up in my TikTok feed, this time from New York-based celebrity makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes.
This clip is all about why you should be priming your makeup brushes (a topic for another day!), and Hughes is extolling the benefits of using a facecloth with your cleanser to create a smooth surface for flawless concealer application.

“You do need to make sure you wash your face with a cloth before you go to bed for this to work,” she says. “It just does a little bit of conditioning and exfoliating.” Hughes’ skin is glowing, and she claims it’s all thanks to using a facecloth at night. Well, colour me sold!
That evening, I borrowed one of my daughters’ muslin face cloths, grabbed my Tatcha The Camellia Cleansing Oil (which I usually emulsify with my hands and rinse off with water), massaged it into my skin, and removed it with a hot, damp cloth.
For months, I’ve been plagued by a dry patch of skin at the top right-hand side of my forehead. Even with consistent use of my most moisturising creams, it wouldn’t budge. And yet, after one cleanse with a hot cloth, that dry skin was completely sloughed away.
That night, I went online and ordered a set of six muslin cloths from New Zealand babycare brand Babu – extra soft and gentle enough for a baby’s skin, yet perfect for the ageing face of an almost 40-year-old.
The next day, I couldn’t stop touching my face (unhygienic, I know!) – it was so unbelievably soft and smooth. The smoothest it’s been in years. In the week that followed, I found myself wearing less makeup during the day, applying concealer only where needed (using Katie Jane Hughes’ brush-priming trick). My skin had an extra glow and a noticeable freshness.
As it turns out, using a facecloth provides a gentle, physical exfoliation, it can help unclog pores and prevent buildup that may lead to breakouts. With impurities and dead skin cells removed, serums and moisturisers are able to penetrate deeper into the skin, making them more effective. The massaging effect also works to stimulate blood circulation, giving your skin a healthy glow instantly and over time.
As I write this, two weeks later, I’m appalled at how resistant I had been to facecloths in the past. I thought they were unhygienic and a hassle. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I’m the one who’s been walking around with dry skin that a hot cloth removed in seconds. What kind of beauty writer am I?!
I’ve always believed less is more when it comes to skincare and makeup, and my newfound love of the humble flannel has elevated my simple routine to a whole new level. Of all the topics I cover weekly in my beauty writing – from new ingredients and treatments to TikTok trends – I never thought I’d be going this far back to basics.
Maybe I’m the last person to discover the benefits of a damp cloth … If that’s the case, why didn’t anyone tell me sooner?