Is Wearing Makeup Every Day Bad For Your Skin?

We love makeup, and we mean love. From the best waterproof mascaras that you can find at the drugstore to the super-easy kitten eyeliner trend, we always enjoy enhancing our features and getting creative with cosmetics. After all, wearing makeup is an excellent method of self-expression and can make people feel more confident in how they look (via Body + Mind). Plus, creating artsy makeup designs is an enjoyable hobby for people of various ages to explore; who doesn't love trying out a new makeup look and documenting it through a photo shoot afterward?

As much as we enjoy makeup, it's crucial to take it off before bedtime. According to Refinery29, nighttime is when our skin has a chance to get rid of dead cells and rejuvenate itself. Makeup wouldn't allow these dead cells to be removed so that new ones can emerge. Thus, you really should take off your heavy makeup before drifting off to sleep, no matter how exhausted you may feel after a stressful work day, a night of debauchery, or dancing until you can't feel your feet. But even if you take off your cosmetics at night, can wearing a lot of makeup every day affect your skin?

As mentioned earlier, properly taking off your makeup is crucial for healthy skin. Plus, you should be mindful of the kind of makeup you put on your face. For instance, water-based cosmetics shouldn't affect your pores, so these products should be safe to wear every day, as long as you're diligent about the removal (via SheFinds). However, if you start being careless about removal and forgetting to take your full face of makeup off, you could end up with clogged pores and pimples. Even more damaging results like irritation or infection could occur, too, so we can't stress enough the importance of consistent makeup removal.

So, if you're conscientious about using cosmetics with a water base and taking it off every day, you shouldn't worry about consistently wearing heavy makeup, as long as you follow a couple of other rules. For example, Skinkraft Laboratories advises against wearing makeup while exercising because this can get in the way of letting your skin breathe when you're getting sweaty. As tempting as it might be to apply some heavy makeup to impress that cutie at the gym, consistently wearing a full face while being physically active can result in unhealthy pores and other unpleasant results such as breakouts. Additionally, you should always pay attention to your cosmetics' expiration dates. 

Think of it this way, if you wouldn't eat expired food, would you really want to put an expired product on your face?