We are sure that you are already aware of the importance of cleansing your skin at night before you hit the bed. Cleansing your skin becomes even more essential if you wear makeup on a regular basis. It is important to wipe away every trace of makeup from your skin if you want it to look nourished, glowing, and healthy. This is more so at night before you get into bed because skin is able to repair and regenerate itself best at night.

What happens to your skin at night

As you sleep, the stress hormones cortisol drops, allowing your body to relax. As a result, the skin starts to repair damage done to it through the day. This is the time when cellular turnover take place (one of the reasons why dermatologists recommend using treatment serums on your face at night). Your body starts to produce melatonin – an antioxidant that has anti-aging effect. It helps to fight fine lines on your face.

This is also the time when body produces collagen that gives skin its soft, smooth texture and bouncy suppleness. So, your facial skin looks relaxed, smooth and youthful when you get up in the morning. But for this to happen, you need to ensure that your pores are clean, skin is balanced and well moisturized with the right set of products. That is why it is a must to remove makeup at night before you get to sleep.

The key reasons why you should remove makeup at night

Sleeping at night with your makeup on can cause extensive damage to your skin. We cannot stress enough on this point. This is because your skin goes through a renewal process at night. Here’s what not removing make can do to your skin:

Clogged pores: Most makeup products – even the matte one – have ingredients that are meant to stay on skin surface without slipping to give you the appearance of flawless skin. Makeup residue can cause many skin imperfections, when left for hours on end during the night. The makeup pigments from blush and eyeshadows can clog your pores and sit on the skin surface, preventing it from breathing. The clogged pores can lead to acne breakout and blackheads which mar the beauty of your skin.

Dull skin: Your skin needs to be free of makeup residue to be able to start the renewal process through the night. However, if you go to bed with day-old foundation, powder, and eye makeup, they settle into the fine creases in your face and prevent the skin-repair process. This also slows down the natural circulation in your skin. So, you wake up with dull, puffy skin and look fatigued the next day.

Wrinkles and fine lines: Sleeping with your makeup on can cause skin to show signs of skin aging like spots, fine lines and wrinkles. When you keep makeup on through the night, it hinders the melatonin produced in body to reach the skin surface. Melatonin helps to prevent oxidative damage to the skin cells and fights the free radicals. Lack of melatonin in skin can breakdown the collagen structure under the skin leading to fine line and wrinkles on your face.

Dryness and skin dehydration: When you do not remove makeup properly from your skin, the moisturizers that you may apply will not be effective enough to keep your skin hydrated and nourished. Moreover, if you use mattifying or long-wear makeup, then your skin can get dehydrated as these kinds of makeup formulas are meant to draw away moisture and natural lipids from the skin to give it a matte look. If you forget to take off such makeup, your skin is likely to get dehydrated and look lifeless the next morning.

What should you do?

The answer is simple. Just make sure to take off your makeup thoroughly with the right makeup remover and cleanser. Double cleansing your skin makes most sense if you are used to wearing heavy or longstay makeup. Follow up the cleansing with a good dose of treatment-based skin serum like vitamin C serum or niacinamide serum that help repair your skin, followed by a rich night cream or lotion to nourish and moisturize your skin. So that you can wakeup pretty!