beauty

What really happens to your skin when you don't wash your makeup off?

No matter how many sets of wipes, cleansers or fancy bottles of micellar water we might have in our bathroom cabinets, we’re all guilty of sleeping with our makeup on sometimes.

Perhaps you’ve come home from work exhausted with just enough energy to put on your pyjamas and crawl into bed. Maybe you’ve stumbled through your bedroom door a little worse for wear after a night out and have fallen asleep there and then. Or, maybe you just can’t be bothered.

After all, how much damage can it really do? We asked an expert. A lot, apparently.

“It’s vital to remove your makeup each night,” says Dermalogica‘s Education Manager of the Dermal Insititue, Emma Hobson.

“Our skin needs to repair itself at night and allow several process to occur, including our oil production dropping and our skin temperature and pH fluctuating. The skin is also hotter and more acidic during nighttime.”

The combination of these factors means skin is likely to be drier (dehydrated) and more vulnerable to irritation at night. (Post continues after gallery.)

“Removing your makeup is such an important step in your daily skin care regimen to prevent skin sensitisation, as well as the challenges of increased skin congestion and possible eye irritations and infections,” she says.

“Don’t forget you also need to remove your SPF off your skin each night too.”

“But I don’t do it regularly.”

Even if  it’s only on the odd occasion that you sleep with your makeup on, it doesn’t mean you’re in the clear.

“One offs are of course much less detrimental than doing it regularly, however that one night can still be the trigger causing an eye infection or your next breakout,” Hobson explains.

RELATED: Woke up with a corker of a pimple? We’ve got you covered

ADVERTISEMENT

“If your night out became so huge that you just couldn’t remove your makeup at bed time, then use a pre-cleansing oil to rescue your skin from the clogged pores and dried up mascara,” she says.

“Since like attracts like, the oil-based lotion attracts all the dirt and skin oils to it, they miraculously dissolve even the toughest, dried in, waterproof mascara, leaving the skin squeaky clean.”

If sleeping with our makeup on wasn’t bad enough, some people even admit to just adding more or neatening up last night’s face ready for a new day, rather than wiping it off and starting again.

 

Unsurprisingly, this is not something Hobson recommends.

"Though your skin doesn't actually breathe, it does 'respire' - it needs contact with the air to be able to effectively function, which includes being able to shed dead skin cells, sweat and produce oil," she explains.

"If you apply layer upon layer of makeup you can potentially inhibit the skin from functioning effectively."

RELATED: Why sleeping in your makeup is a really bad idea

It's been proven too - last year, journalist Anna Pursglove underwent a scientific experiment to see what would happen if she didn't remove her makeup for 30 days. The result?

What really happens when you sleep in your makeup.

 

So what IS the best way to remove your makeup?

"A double cleanse ensures your skin is thoroughly clean, and will make it appear brighter with less congestion, breakouts and dullness," Hobson says.

ADVERTISEMENT

RELATED: What happens when you stop using cleanser?

For the first cleanse she recommends a cleansing oil.

"This ensures your second cleanse with your normal cleanser can work to its full potential leaving the skin 'squeaky clean'," she says.

Image via iStock.

 

"Cleansing oils are great for removing all the stubborn products like sunscreens, lipsticks, heavy oil based foundations and waterproof mascara."

For the second cleanse, Hobson advises choosing a cleanser that best matches your skin type.

Do you always take your makeup off?