When You Sleep With Your Makeup On

There’s no shame in admitting it: We’re all guilty of having slept in our makeup once or twice. Whether the cause was an exhausting work week or a few too many cocktails, spending the occasional night with our favorite foundation or mascara seems harmless enough provided it isn’t happening on the regular … right? Wrong. It turns out that this oft-committed lazy girl mistake can do some serious damage to your skin—yes, even if it only happens once in a while.
“The more you sleep while wearing your makeup, the greater the damage there is to your skin,  “Our skin, like the rest of our body, functions on the circadian rhythm. At night the skin’s most important function is to renew itself. Wearing makeup and foundation at night prevents the renewal process, causing damage to the skin.” It is true that the more often you sleep with your makeup on, the more damage your skin will sustain over time, but even just the rare occasion can have negative effects on your complexion.
What about light makeup days? Does one product, in particular, make the most difference?
Foundation
“Foundation is thick and is generally overlying other products which have been on all day,” says Dr. Graf. “The large particles and pigments break down over the day and have been exposed and metabolized by natural processes as well as exposure to environmental pollutants and bacteria, molds, and mites from the outside. The metabolic byproducts, as well as the breakdown of the makeup itself, prevent the important role of microcirculation, which helps renew skin.” This can result in the breakdown of collagen, resulting in wrinkles, and clogged pores which hold onto bacteria and result in acne.
Primer
Primer does have the potential to harm your skin, but it depends entirely on how you wear it: “If the primer has been on all day, it’s very damaging because all the pollutants are still on your skin. If it’s smoothed on freshly cleansed skin and used for moisture, then it’s okay, .
Lipstick
No surprise here— s that sleeping with any type of lipstick will result in dryness and chapping. With highly-pigmented lipsticks, scrub the lips with a cleansing wipe to fully remove before bed, then apply a generous coat of balm to build moisture back up.
Mascara
If you’re the kind of girl who leaves her eye makeup on to get the “slept-in” look through honest means, you may want to sit down for this one. “Mascara particles clog the follicles and irritates them as it would on the skin,  “If irritation occurs, the swelling can cause blepharitis and the bacteria can cause conjunctivitis the longer it stays.” If that isn’t terrifying enough, sleeping with your mascara on can also cause the eyelashes to become brittle and break easily.
Just because we’re more aware of exactly how bad sleeping in our makeup is doesn’t mean we’re spared from those lazy nights when all we want to do is crawl into bed, foundation and all. Dr. Graf’s advice: “Keep makeup remover wipes at your bedside. This way, when you get into bed it reminds you to remove your makeup simply by reaching over to your night table and wiping it away.” And if you can set your alarm, you can surely swipe and sleep.

 Remove makeup BEFORE you lather up

 

  I thought I’d take this time to share a quick (but very important) beauty tip with you.

You see, earlier today I met with a new client  named Terry — she’d just turned 60 and wanted a consultation about her skin.

So, since Terry was primarily concerned about signs of aging, the first thing I asked about was her daily skincare regimen (just to make sure she was on track).

And based on her answers, she seemed to be doing everything right…

She used all the right products, stayed out of the sun, and said she NEVER went to bed with makeup on.

But that last part — the part about makeup — made me wonder... because Susan was wearing quite a bit of it:

Full-coverage foundation, blush, contouring cream, mascara, the works.

Don’t get me wrong, her makeup looked beautiful, but I had to make sure she was REALLY getting all of it off every night.

After all, built-up makeup residue can cause all kinds of skin problems — including premature aging. So I asked Susan how she removes it:

“Well, obviously I wash my face every night. Thoroughly.”

“Do you use makeup remover first?”

“Yes, I have a bottle of blue stuff. I don’t use it every night because it makes my face feel tight… but my cleanser removes my makeup just fine.”

A-HA! I’d detected the problem. (Two of them, actually.)

First of all: Washing your face every night is definitely important, but if you wear makeup on a regular basis, it’s not enough...

Because, in order to thoroughly cleanse your skin, you need to remove your makeup BEFORE you lather up.

And secondly: Yes, certain heavy-duty concealers (like the ones used to cover up scars and tattoos) do require special removal formulas…

But when it comes to regular makeup, there’s a better (and all-natural) way to take it off.

So instead of using her “bottle of blue stuff,” I advised Susan to do the following...

In a small bowl, combine:
2 tbsp coconut milk
1 tsp seltzer water (not club soda)
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp witch hazel

Mix well… and just like that, you’ve got a nourishing homemade makeup remover, that actually helps your skin look more beautiful with every use!

The witch hazel fights toxins and bacteria; the fizzy soda water provides a gentle exfoliating effect…

The coconut milk contains age-fighting nutrients, like Vitamin C and fatty acids...

And the lubricating olive oil allows color cosmetics to slide off with ease, while also locking in moisture.

Simply soak a cotton ball in the mixture and run it over your face and neck until all traces of makeup disappear — then use your cleanser as usual.

So be sure to give this DIY recipe a try…

Because once you see what a difference it makes, you might even start looking forward to removing your makeup every night.http://beverlyhillsmd.com/

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