But what is it exactly? It's the practice of massaging a heat-activated gel face wash on dry skin (water messes with the chemical reaction), letting it sit for 30 seconds, then washing it off with warm water. If you're thinking it sounds a lot like every other warming cleanser, you're in for a surprise. Hot cleansing gel actually gets hot — like, almost sauna level — though you won't run the risk of discomfort or burning. Similar to pore steaming, hot cleansing focuses on loosening sticky dead skin cells and sebum clogging pores with heat that melts the ‘glue’ sticking them to pore walls.