The Short Answer: It's a Two-Step Cleanse, Not Two Extra Products

Double cleansing sounds like a routine with more steps — but it's really about doing one step differently. Instead of reaching for a single cleanser and calling it done, double cleansing means washing your face twice in a row: once with an oil-based cleanser, and once with a gentle water-based one. The idea comes out of traditional Japanese and Korean skincare practice, and it's become a staple step for anyone who wants a genuinely clean base before the rest of their routine goes on.

Here's what it actually is, why the order matters, and — since a clean face is only the starting point — what a simple botanical routine looks like once you get there.

What Double Cleansing Actually Is

The two steps work differently because oil and water pick up different things.

• Step one — an oil-based cleanser or balm. Oil binds to oil, so it lifts sunscreen, makeup, and the day's surface buildup without a lot of scrubbing.
• Step two — a gentle, water-based cleanser. This step follows behind the oil step to rinse away what's left and leave skin feeling clean rather than coated.

Used together, the two steps are meant to complement each other rather than compete — the oil step handles what water alone struggles with, and the water step handles what oil alone leaves behind.

Why the Order Matters

Doing it in reverse — water first, oil second — mostly just undoes the point. Cleansing oil works best on a dry face, before water changes how it spreads. That's why the sequence is always oil first, water second, never the other way around.

It's also worth saying who this is for. Double cleansing isn't a requirement for every skin type or every day. People who wear sunscreen or makeup daily, or who simply want a more thorough evening reset, tend to notice the biggest difference. If you wear little to no makeup and don't use heavy SPF, a single gentle cleanse may be all your face needs — double cleansing every night isn't automatically better, it's just a different tool for a different amount of buildup.

Mornings are usually the easier call: most people can skip straight to a single, gentle cleanse since there's no makeup or sunscreen to lift from the night before. It's the evening step where the second cleanse tends to earn its place.

What Comes After the Cleanse

A clean face is the setup, not the routine. What you put on afterward is where a botanical routine actually does its work — and the order there matters just as much as the cleansing step did.

1. Tone

A hydrosol-based mist is a gentle way to prep freshly cleansed skin before layering on anything heavier. Island Mist Toning Facial Elixir Hydrosol is built around rose and orange blossom hydrosols with fermented rice water and aloe vera leaf juice — a light, botanical mist rather than a harsh, drying toner.

2. Serum

Once skin is toned, a lightweight serum layers in before your moisturizer. Dynamic Hydrogel Face Serum combines hydrosols, plant ferments, and botanical extracts in a hydrating gel texture that sits comfortably under a moisturizer without feeling heavy.

3. Moisturize

The last step seals everything in. Complete Daily Face Moisturizer is a blend of more than twenty botanical oils — jojoba, moringa, rosehip, and bakuchiol among them — formulated for daily use, morning or night. For an evening-specific option, Active Twilight Face Cream is a richer nighttime cream built with shea butter and botanical oils, meant to leave skin feeling comfortably moisturized by morning.

If you'd rather not build the sequence step by step, The AM/PM Face System bundles all four products designed to be used together in order, and The Complete Face Ritual offers a pared-down three-product version of the same routine.

Keeping the Whole Routine Botanical

The point of double cleansing isn't to add complexity for its own sake — it's to make sure what comes after actually has clean skin to work with. A toner, serum, and moisturizer layer more evenly and feel less like they're sitting on top of leftover sunscreen or makeup when the canvas underneath is genuinely clean.

That's really the throughline of a botanical face routine: each step is there to set up the next one, not to duplicate it. Cleanse to prep, tone to refresh, serum to hydrate, moisturizer to seal it in.

The Bottom Line

Double cleansing is a two-step wash — oil first, then a gentle water-based cleanser — not a whole extra routine. It's most useful for anyone wearing daily sunscreen or makeup, and it matters mainly because it sets up everything that follows. From there, a simple order of toner, serum, and moisturizer is what turns a clean face into a complete botanical routine.

Explore the full lineup in our natural facial care collection, or start with The AM/PM Face System for a complete routine built to work together.