These 9 Things Happen When You Don’t Regularly Remove Makeup At Night

Sleeping with your makeup on once or twice isn’t the worst thing ever. But what happens when you don’t remove your makeup at night regularly might legitimately make your skin crawl. From unwanted pimples to way worse things, this list will make you always reach for that makeup wipe before hitting the sheets.

1. Eye Irritation

Dermalogica‘s Education Manager of the Dermal Institute, Emma Hobson told the Glow “Removing your makeup is such an important step in your daily skincare regimen” and skipping it can cause “possible eye irritations and infections.” This is because tiny particles of eye makeup, mascara, and eyeliner can slip into your eye and cause redness, itchiness, and, yes, even infections.

2. Blackheads

Dermatologist Dr. Ted Lane told Seventeen, “Waxes in many lip products can lead to clogged pores in the skin around your pucker, which could turn into small blackheads.” No thank you!

3. Thin Lashes

As explained on EyeCare2020, “Leaving mascara on your lashes overnight will dry out your lashes and make them brittle. If done too many times, your lashes could end up thinning and falling out.” Gulp.

4. Pimples

Perhaps the most obvious, sleeping in makeup means your skin can’t properly shed dead cells and can result in clogged pores and, ultimately, outbreaks.

5. Premature Aging

“Sleeping in your makeup can increase your exposure to free radicals (which makeup attracts during the day), leading to collagen breakdown and skin that ages faster,” shared Dr. James C. Marotta with GoodHouseKeeping. Yikes.

6. Dry Lips

The chemicals in lipsticks can cause them to leach the moisture from your lips overnight, leaving them chapped and dry.

7. Dry Skin

Dr. Dennis Gross, MD, shared on Refinery29, “Leftover makeup residue… can inhibit the absorption of skin-care products by creating a barrier that prevents beneficial ingredients from penetrating the skin’s surface.” This means that leftover makeup could prevent your moisturizer from being effective the next day.

8. Clogged Hair Follicles

Regularly falling asleep in mascara and liner “may result in the clogging of the tiny hair follicles and oil glands on your eyelids,” dermatologist Dr. Schweiger told Huffington Post. “When these areas become clogged … small bumps called styes or hordeolum can form.”

9. Possible Cysts

Beyond small styes, sleeping mascara can even straight up cause eyelid cysts. If that isn’t motivation to wake up enough to wash your face, I don’t know what is.

Credit: Bustle