While it is of vital importance to pay attention to the right type of cleanser, it is also important to pay attention to the temperature of the water you use. For the most part, splashing water on the face is one of the most nonirritating things you can do to your skin (though on rare occasions there are people with serious atopic dermatitis who find water irritating to the skin). Although water is the gentlest part of cleaning the face, it is gentle only when the water is tepid. Hot water can burn and irritate the skin, and cold water will shock and irritate it. Because the goal is always to be gentle to reduce irritation, redness, and swelling, and to prevent any negative impact on the skin’s immune response, using tepid water is essential. (Sources: Advances in Skin & Wound Care, 2000, volume 13, pages 127-128; and Acta Dermato-Venereologica, July 1996, pages 274-276.)
Water is also frictionless, a beneficial quality that is another very important reason to choose it. When you splash your face with tepid water, your hands glide over the face, letting you avoid pulling and tugging at the skin. That means you can remove makeup without stretching the skin tissue, making it overall a better way to treat skin.