I love putting on makeup. It’s so much fun to experiment with new products and see how they transform my face. A swipe of red lipstick turns me into a femme fatale while a hint of blush and a touch of clear lipgloss gives out girl-next-door vibes.
But, removing makeup? That’s such a chore! Even more so when you come back home in the wee hours of the morning, after a night spent partying with your friends. All you want to do is get into your bed and sleep for hours.
That makeup can wait until the morning, can’t it? Surely, no harm can come if I sleep with makeup on once or twice?
That’s what I used to tell myself, and I was SO wrong. Here’s why:
1. Clean Skin Better Absorbs Skincare Products
Did you know that the night is the perfect time to apply your actives, like retinol and glycolic acid? There are a couple of reasons for that.
For starters, the more layers you apply underneath sunscreen, the higher the chances you’ll get an uneven application or even pilling.
Other ingredients, like retinol, are unstable and degrade (i.e. lose their effectiveness) in the presence of sunlight. Makes more sense to use them when the sun isn’t around, don’t you think?
But, there’s no way these actives can reach your skin if they are faced with a wall of makeup and other impurities. They’ll just lie on top of them, doing nothing.
Do you really want to waste good product and money like that?
Related: 4 Ways To Help Skincare Products Better Penetrate Your Skin
Want to get the most out of your skincare products? Click on the image below to subscribe to my newsletter and receive the “How To Combine Actives Like A Pro” cheatsheet.
2. Cleansing Skin Keeps Breakouts Away
Do you know what happens to all that dirt and makeup on your face? If you don’t remove it regularly, that crap may end up inside your pores, clogging them up and causing pimples.
Dealing with pimples is never fun. They always appear at the worst possible moment, and take forever to heal…
By the way, this applies to you even if you don’t wear makeup. Dirt, pollutants, excess oil, and all kinds of crap deposit on your skin every single day.
You want to get that all off before you go to bed – just to be on the safe side.
Related: Adult Acne: Why It Happens And How To Treat It
3. Cleansing Skin Prevents Infections
Even if you can’t be bothered to take off your facial makeup, you MUST at least remove your eye makeup.
Sleeping with your mascara and eyeshadows on can clog and inflame the skin and glands around your eyes. In the best case scenario, you wake up with red, swollen, puffy eyes.
In the worst case scenario, you’ll get a full blown eye infections that’ll be a pain to heal. Don’t risk it!
Best to remove all traces of eye makeup before you hit the pillow.
Do you wash your face at night? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
I picked up some cleansing/makeup remover disposable towelettes at, of all places, Staples, the other day. For those not in the know, Staples is an office supply store. But they had the wipes for $1 for 25 wipes. Very good deal and they’re awesome, so I’ve been using them at night. I think I’ll go get a couple more packs.
Trisha, that’s a great deal, I would stock up on them! They are a quick way to remove all makeup at night when we’re tired. 🙂
I have to wash off my face completely every night. If I don’t, not only do I feel guilty, I can’t go to sleep knowing I still have gunk on my face, lol. I do agree on point #2. Skin care products absorb so much better on a clean face!
Dee, I’m the same. I can’t sleep thinking of all the stuff that’s on my face and what it could do to my skin. I feel much better when everything’s off and skincare products works better on a clean canvas anyway. 🙂
I agree! I definitely can’t go to sleep without washing my face and removing my makeup. I just feel so much better afterwards 🙂 I didn’t know the thing about skincare absorbing better on a clean face, that’s good to know!
Makeup Morsels, I’m the same. I could never sleep knowing my face is so dirty! And it helps with skincare products too which is great too.
Taking off makeup before bed is pretty much my only beauty rule. I don’t care how late it is, how tired you are, or even how drunk you are, take off your dang makeup before you hit the hay!
Tammy, well said! I couldn’t agree more! 😉
I can’t stress enough how important it is to remove your makeup before going to bed! Excellent post Gio! 😀 x
Stavroula, thanks and I so agree! Makeup removal at night is essential and so good for our skin. 🙂
Wow, great info. Thank God I am doing atleast one thing right. 🙂 I wash my face daily before going to bed.
Shruti, that’s great! 😉 and thanks. 🙂
I experience exactly same thing at the end of the day. I am so tired to get up from my bed if I have forgotten to wash my face. Sometimes I just think let it be. I know it is a bad habit but at that time I don’t get the will power to get up and go to the washbasin.
LatestGirls, I so know how you feel! I used to be like that when I was younger too but my skin feels so much better when I remove everything before going to bed. If you’re tired at the end of the day, you can just wash your face and apply moisturizer as soon as you get home in the evening. Doing in at 7/8pm is better than not at all. 😉
Yes I agree to wash the face because sleeping immediatly makes the pillow case quickly grubby, yuck. does the moisturiser / serums / night cream still effectivly work on skin if we used an oil cleansing method or does the oil make a barrier? thanks.
Julina, there is the chance it could create a barrier, but I find that most serums are still able to do their job. At least, I use them after the OCM and they work well. Of course, they must also have the right concentration of active ingredients and delivery system to get through the skin in the first place, as the skin acts like a barrier too.