Whether you wear makeup every day for work or only for the occasional outing or special event, we’ve all had those moments when we’ve accidentally fallen asleep with makeup on our faces at one point or another. After a long day at work or a night of partying, sometimes it just feels good to go home and crash on your bed, makeup removal be damned. As tempting as this is, it can also do a lot of damage to your skin. To protect your skin and preserve its youthful appearance, it’s important to maintain a strict nighttime skin cleansing routine.

Why You Should Always Remove Your Makeup Before Bed
Leaving your makeup on when you go to sleep at night is a bad habit that’s not always easy to break, especially if you’ve been doing it for years. Sometimes, it’s genuine exhaustion at the end of the day and sometimes it’s just laziness. Whatever you’re reasons are for not removing your makeup at night, eventually you’re going to start noticing the following skin problems.
Eye Problems
Sleeping with eye makeup on your face can cause irritation, redness, dryness, and even infection. It’s important to remove all eye makeup including eyeliner and eyeshadow—especially those that contain sparkles. Flecks of sparkly eye makeup can become lodged under your eyelids while you sleep and are difficult to remove.
Clogged and Broken Eyelashes
Clumped and dried mascara mixed in with other types of eye makeup spell trouble for your eyelashes, causing them to become brittle and even fall out. Artificial eyelashes should also be removed as the glue can irritate the thin, sensitive skin of your eyelids. However, eyelash extensions are made to be long-lasting and you can sleep with them on.
Wrinkles and Fine Lines
A common anti-aging tip that skincare experts give is to always remove makeup before going to sleep. Leaving old makeup on your face while you sleep increases exposure to free radicals, which hampers collagen production. Slow or lack of collagen production reduces elasticity and speeds up the aging process, resulting in the premature appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.
Clogged Pores and Skin Breakouts
It’s no secret that clogged pores lead to skin breakouts. Makeup is one of the top pore-clogging culprits in the beauty industry. Sleeping with makeup that’s been on your face for hours on end presses the particles deep into your skin, which releases a lot of oil; this combination clogs your pores and leads to acne breakouts.
Dry Skin and Chapped Lips
Dry skin and chapped lips are another by-product of sleeping with makeup on your face. Unless they contain moisturizers, face powder, concealer, mascara, and lipstick can all dry out your skin which also leads to increased oil production, breakouts, irritated, dry, and flaky skin.
Why a Nighttime Skin Cleansing Routine Is Important
Combined with all of the environmental elements your skin is exposed to throughout the day, leftover makeup, dirt, and oil can lead to all of the abovementioned skin conditions. A proper skin cleansing routine can reduce the risk of these skin conditions and slow down the aging process.
For more custom-tailored skincare and anti-aging tips, book a free consultation at the Anti Aging Toronto Clinic. Our skincare experts will thoroughly examine your skin and make appropriate product and cleansing recommendations based on your needs. Contact us today!