I like to rub oil all over my face, really massage it around and around and around. Oh, it feels soooo good. Then I like to wet my hands and rub them over the oil on my face. Nice. After that, I rinse thoroughly, follow with my Dermalogica Age Smart Skin Resurfacing Cleanser, rinse and briefly admire my super-clean skin in the mirror. (Yes, briefly. Mostly.)

I first fell for cleansing oil when I tried Dermalogica PreCleanse (150 mL, $48 CAN/$33 US), a blend of botanical oils including olive and kukui, plus Vitamin E oil. Aces at dissolving long-wearing and waterproof makeup, water-resistant sunscreen and the day’s sebum and debris, the oil goes on dry skin, becomes milky when water touches it, and rinses cleanly away to leave skin soft and bright. (I use my regular cleanser afterward because I have oily skin, but folks with dry skin don’t need that extra step.)

After my affair with Precleanse, I hooked up with Shu Uemura Skin Purifier High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil (450 mL, $75 CAN/$62 US) and realized my passion for cleansing oil was more than a flash in the frypan: it was love.

And now I can’t keep my hands off Clarins Pure Melt Cleansing Gel. Made with Marula oil, at first Pure Melt (125 mL, $36 CAN/$30 US) has a texture between honey and silky smooth gel, then liquefies some into a light oil as it’s massaged over the skin. Like the other oil cleansers, it emulsifies easily with water and rinses off without leaving residue. What I like best about this gel formula is that it makes the trip from fingertips to face without a single drip. Genius.

Next on my agenda is getting Clive-O into this oil-me-up game.

Clarins is available at select department stores, drugstores and Sephora.

Image courtesy of Clarins.

Okay, so I’m not the quickest person in the bathroom in the morning — or ever for that matter. Good thing I don’t have to share. (Clive-O has his own place across the pond. Keeps the romance alive.) Still, I do appreciate a time saver in my A.M. routine. Dermalogica Age Smart Skin Resurfacing Cleanser hits the mark by cutting out my need for a separate exfoliant.

Exfoliation is key to keeping most skin types clear, bright and youthful. Got dry skin? Slough off the flakes and your skin will absorb moisturizer better. Prone to breakouts of uncomplicated acne? Regular gentle exfoliation to remove oily build-up and debris will help prevent eruptions. Dull complexion? Yup, it’s layers of dead cells lazing about on your face like teenagers sleeping in on a weekend, and it’ll get worse — the skin’s natural shedding process slows considerably as we age. Routine exfoliation picks up the slack and encourages faster cell renewal, which leads to a smoother, brighter complexion.

Dermalogica Age Smart Skin Resurfacing Cleanser ($45.50) gets rid of lollygagging dead cells as it cleanses thoroughly. Instead of scrubby beads or grains, lactic acid (an alpha-hydroxy acid) does the work in a non-drying formula gentle enough to use twice a day on my slightly sensitive skin. The product info promises a noticeable difference in smoothness and brightness after just one use, but I’m a regular-exfoliation geek, so my gauge was whether my skin would remain smooth if I swapped my usual face wash and exfoliant for Skin Resurfacing Cleanser. My skin actually feels smoother — whoa.

And of course because I exfoliate regularly, I use moisturizer with SPF 15 or higher every morning and stay out of the sun as much as possible. Removing dead layers from the skin gives a girl a fresh complexion, but also makes her more susceptible to sun damage if she doesn’t use protection.

If only I could figure out what to do with all that extra time I’m saving every morning.

Dermalogica Age Smart Skin Resurfacing Cleanser is available at select spas and salons; visit www.dermalogica.com to find a retailer near you.