The importance of makeup remover

We’re always told to wash our makeup off before we go to bed. And there have probably been the odd incident after a night out where we’ve forgotten, but our skin hasn’t seemed to have noticed. So what’s the big deal? Why is it pressed into us to have a three step cleansing programme last thing before we go to bed? Thanks to TheHealthSite, we have some very persuasive reasons why we should use a makeup remover (like one of our faves: Matis Reponse Yeux Biphase Eyes & Lips Make-up Remover) before lights out.

The chemicals are bad for you

Whatever type of make-up you use — be it for sensitive skin, organic or the mineral kind — they all have chemicals that can harm your skin. These chemicals, when kept on your skin for a long time tend to penetrate it and can cause long-term damage. Apart from causing wrinkles, other signs of ageing, making your eyelashes brittle and stopping the natural repair mechanism of your skin, these chemicals also block the natural secretion of sebum (the natural lubricant and moisturiser that your skin produces) leading to instant problems (like pimples) and long-term damage.

Can give rise to pimples or acne

Your skin has a large number of pores on it and your face especially has more than most parts of your body. When you allow make up to stay on your skin overnight, it blocks these pores that are responsible for the production of sebum. This sebum is responsible, not only for lubricating your skin, but it also helps remove dead skin cells and pollutants from your skin. Make-up blocks these pores and in turn leads to pimples as the blocked sebum mixed with chemicals and pollutants on your skin cause the pores to get infected and inflamed — causing pimples.

May cause eye irritation and infections

Apart from removing make up on your face, getting rid of make-up that you have applied in and around your eyes is essential. This is because the chemicals present in eye make-up can cause eye irritation, allergic reactions, infections and even lead to your eyelashes becoming brittle and falling out.

Ages the skin very quickly

Make up slows down the renewal process that your skin goes through as you sleep. Your skin, coated with make-up is unable to breathe and the chemicals that permeate the skin interfere with the natural repair mechanism. Apart from that, the make-up along with the environmental pollutants stuck to it, when left on your skin give rise to oxidative stress that attack your skin with harmful free radicals. This damages the molecular structure of your skin and decreases the production of collagen (a compound that helps keep your skin healthy, elastic and line free) making your skin age faster.

Leads to dry skin

Since make-up blocks your pores and slows down the production of sebum, this leads to dry skin, which further worsens the way you look. Dry skin also slows down the repair process, which causes the formation of wrinkles and duller more tired looking skin.

Can cause skin irritation

According to experts, the more sensitive your skin, the more likely you are to suffer from red patches of irritated skin. This is can happen despite using make-up made specially for sensitive skin. The reason? Well, when you sleep without removing make-up the chemicals in the make-up, the dirt from  the environment sticks to it and other chemicals get locked in, increasing the amount of irritants that are present on your skin. This leads to an allergic reaction which causes reddened and irritated skin. Apart from this, the skin also becomes extremely dry which worsens the irritation and may cause it to spread.

Larger dirtier pores

When you leave make-up on it causes your pores to get clogged with dirt and left over make-up. These pores become larger as the skin loses its elasticity since it is dry, cannot produce collagen and repair itself. Over time these clogged pores become larger and more visible. This not only looks unsightly but also allows the entry of infections.