The importance of washing your face
Sometimes washing your face at night can seem like a daunting task. Whether you’ve stayed up too late or after a few too many cocktails (or both) all you really want to do is climb beneath the covers and lights out. Skipping this crucial step before bed can be more damaging to your skin than you realize.
You want to make sure to wash your face nightly because you are going to be removing makeup, the dirt, the pollution, sweat, anything, debris, that has been accumulated throughout your day gets set on your face.
Not washing can lead to premature aging. Makeup tends to hold on to the free radicals our skin is exposed to every day. If you don’t wash your face at night, your skin has to fight off these free radicals which causes the breakdown of healthy collagen. This eventually leads to fine lines and wrinkles.
After touching your face all day and exposing your skin to dirt and pollution, your face is one of the dirtiest parts of your body. Facial skin that is not cleansed is more likely to get clogged pores which can lead directly to breakouts, no matter what your skin type. Keep in mind – washing your face at night doesn’t just mean rinsing it with water. Give yourself enough time to remove makeup, use a cleaner and follow up with a moisturizer.
While you sleep your skin works to naturally repair and restore itself, these efforts are maximized when your skin isn’t fighting off the pollution from the day. Since there is less damage control, the moisturizer you apply may be more effective in aiding restoration.
If you aren’t washing your face at night you are losing out on both the skin-healing effects of sleep and your skin treatments.
While you sleep, lingering eye makeup can migrate into your eyes and cause irritation. If you make a habit of sleeping in your eye makeup the hair follicles and oil glands may clog and lead to a buildup of bacteria. This can cause inflammation. When washing your face at night be sure to take extra care to remove any traces of any eye makeup.
When you wash your face, you want to make sure you have a cleanser that is geared towards your skin type or condition. If you have more acneic, you want to use something salicylic-based, benzoyl peroxide. Also, using nice moisturizers to counterbalance so you don’t over dry. If you want brightening, you can use a lactic cleanser. A glycolic cleanser is very nice for exfoliation. Those are alpha hydroxy acids. Those can be more of your night time treatments, and in the morning you can kind of just wake up and refresh the skin with more of a cream-based hydrating cleanser.
Remember complaining to your mom when she made you wash your face every day? It turns out mom was right: regular skin cleansing is critical to maintaining healthy looking and feeling skin.
If you are unsure of what your skin type is or what cleanser you should be using you can visit Cure for a consultation. Cure providers will look at your skin and discuss your skin concerns to make sure you have the right cleanser for your needs.
