Too Tired to Wash Off Your Makeup at Night? A Shocking Experiment Shows What Sleeping in Makeup Does to Your Skin

Here’s a dirty little secret of mine for the readers of FutureDerm: I was once guilty of not washing my face every night (cue the collective gasp!). There have been plenty of days where I’d come home from a long day of studying, working, and/or going out with friends, only to crash into my super-comfortable bed without giving a single thought to what was left on my face.

That was then, and this is now; I wash my face every night, with only one night here and there being the exception. The reasoning? I’d like to say it’s purely for the health of my skin, but I’d be lying if I didn’t also include that I hate the feeling of waterproof mascara on my eyelashes when I rub my eyes late at night. 

Personal habits aside, there’s another reason you should wash your face every night – not doing so can accelerate premature aging, as one woman found out when she performed a little experiment. Using high-tech 3D cameras at the Cosmetic Imaging Studio in London to analyze her skin both before and after, this woman skipped washing her face every night only to wake up the next morning to apply more makeup after a “cursory” wash in the shower. 

The 30-Day Experiment 

The Daily Mail writer Anna Pursglove decided to take a personal challenge when one third of readers responded to a poll saying that they slept with their makeup on twice a week. Forgoing her usual skin care routine, Pursglove went to sleep every night for thirty days without washing her face, only to continue with her normal makeup routine the next morning. By the end of the 30 days, Prusglove’s skin felt “grubby and tired,” writing that her skin had clearly worsened with her new routine (or lack thereof), “I had visibly blocked and enlarged pores all over my nose, dry skin across my lips and cheeks, and red eyelids. The white cysts had given way to some nasty-looking eyelash dandruff.” 

Pursglove’s results are jaw-dropping, but not in a good way; at the end of the 30 days, she looked about 10 years older. Her skin was red, uneven, blotchy, inflamed, and, overall, just not healthy looking. To be more specific, the texture of her skin was 10% worse on her forehead and the right side of the face, and 20% worse on the left side of her face (likely due to her sleeping preferences). She also saw a 5% decrease in moisture levels of the skin, and her pores looked about 5% larger (The Daily Mail).

[RELATED: 5 Important Reasons You MUST Cleanse Your Face Morning and Night]

What This Means for Your Skin 

Pursglove consulted dermatologist Dr. Stefanie Williams, M.D., Medical Director of the European Dermatology London clinic, for her analysis of the results. Dr. Williams claimed that the dryness of her skin and its new routine was exacerbated by environmental pollutants sticking to the makeup, thus compounding the oxidative stress caused by free radicals in the skin (The Daily Mail), a view with which dermatologist Dr. Annie Chiu, M.D., agrees. Dr. Chiu adds, “Pollution can damage the cellular structure of your skin, and may even cause a decrease in the production of collagen, which is a substance that keeps our skin looking youthful and plump” (The Huffington Post).

According to research by the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf, a study on 400 women showed that significant exposure to pollutants, such as smoke, soot, and smog, can cause skin damage and age spots seen in the likes of frequent smokers (Environmental Health Perspective). And to think that those environmental pollutants would be sitting on your face all night, accelerating the aging process as you dream sweetly.

[RELATED: How the Environment Impacts Your Skin]

This is especially alarming since your skin warms as you sleep. According to Dr. Jenny Kim, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Dermatology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, certain physiological changes occur as we’re catching some much-needed beauty sleep. This includes an increase of blood flow to the skin, causing a rise in temperature of our outermost organ as our basal body temperature drops. “When blood flow is increased to the skin, the surface area of the absorption will increase,” says Dr. Kim, which allows ingredients to better penetrate your skin. And if these “ingredients” are actually pollutants acquired from the hustle and bustle of your daily life, then you’re giving them easy access into your skin (The New York Times).

To further my point, consider that makeup can clog your pores while you sleep, according to Dr. Eric Schweiger, founder of the Clear Clinic (The Huffington Post). Of course, it matters what you use on your skin – some ingredients are better than others, and as a general rule, you should stay away from comodogenic ingredients like lanolin, cocoa butter, isopropyl myristate, butyl stearate, stearyl alcohol, and oliec acid (JDDG). But regardless of how non-comodogenic your makeup is, leaving it on overnight will still form a barrier over the skin, which will lock out moisture while protecting irritants (The Huffington Post).

[RELATED: Guest Post: Makeup’s Contribution to Skin Care Issues]

Bottom Line

Washing your makeup off every night is a critical step in your skin care routine, lest you want to end up accelerating premature aging. Forgetting to do so once a week or so isn’t, by any means, going to cause the sort of results seen by Anna Pursglove, but continuing to do so will allow pollutants to stick to your skin, causing oxidative stress and a resulting loss of collagen and supple, elastic skin. Heed my warnings, dear reader; no one wants to wake up covered in eyelash dandruff. 

For the nights you’re feeling particularly tired, consider stowing some makeup remover wipes next to your bed. For those with sensitive skin, try using Aveeno Ultra Calming Makeup Removing Wipes ($34.19/3 pack, amazon.com), which contain the anti-inflammatory feverfew extract (NCCAM). For those with less sensitive skin, try the Ponds Wet Cleansing Towelettes ($19.80/4 pack, amazon.com) or Burt’s Bees Facial Cleansing Towelettes with White Tea Extract ($11.94/2 pack, amazon.com), both of which will take off makeup to stop those pesky pollutants from stressing out your skin. 

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