Remove makeup. Carefully. Why and how.

By Dr. Hannah Sivak | March 1, 2020

Some women are so accustomed to wearing makeup that they may feel unable to start the day without it. It is important that they understand that makeup is not good for skin health and, for this reason, it should be removed completely at the end of the day.

How come men are not expected to wear makeup? Or high heels? I still remember the blisters.

Why is makeup not good for your skin? Let’s start with the one benefit it provides to the skin: makeup is likely to reflect some UV radiation, not as well as a sunscreen but it’s worth mentioning.

From that one benefit, is all downhill.

The eyes are the area where makeup can cause more problems. Wearing mascara and eyeliner may thin the eyelashes, because the pigments and wax interfere with the physiology of the eyelash growing complex. Remember, the skin is not a wall that you can paint or cover with wall paper, everything is alive. But the pigments and wax in the mascara are not alive and they are insoluble in anything the eye can throw at it (tears) so, unless you remove every bit carefully, the stuff will end up inside your eye, somewhere, and will eventually cause trouble. The structures around the eye may end up with blobs of mascara encrusted in them, a process that does not make for a pretty picture, a bit like what happens to lungs exposed to cigarette smoke that can’t be easily degraded by live cells.

After this somewhat disgusting image, let’s move to what can be done to avoid it.

Don’t go near anything glue, including those awful eyelash extensions!

How to remove makeup.

Use a makeup remover without alcohol or strong detergents. Some eye makeup is viscous, waxy and hard to remove. Try to avoid it altogether but, if you decide to use it, an oily product, like SAS every lipid serum will help remove it. You may end up losing some eyelashes in the process but don’t panic, they will grow again as long as you don’t kill the whole eyelash follicle by impacting it with wax, carbon and other minerals that give the makeup its color. Anything resembling sand near the cornea is bad news, especially if you also wear contact lenses.

Avoid infection

Don’t share eye makeup. Tell this to your teenager. There are so many delicate eye structure that can be infected, and some of them are needed for eyesight. Mascara and eyeliner usually contain some preservative (Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Sorbate,) that will help kill bacteria introduced into the product when you use it (especially with reusable applicator) but there is a limit of how much of this bacterial load the preservative can kill.

Mascara ingredient list: Toofaced better than sex

Water, Synthetic Beeswax, Paraffin, Glyceryl Stearate, Acacia Senegal Gum, Butylene Glycol, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax/Oryza Sativa Bran Cera, Stearic Acid, Palmitic Acid, Polybutene, VP/Eicosene Copolymer, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax/Copernicia Cerifera Cera/Cire De Carnauba, Aminomethyl Propanol, Glycerin, PVP, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Disodium EDTA, Polyester-11, Cellulose, Trimethylpentanediol/Adipic Acid/Glycerin Crosspolymer, Propylene Glycol, Disodium Phosphate, Polysorbate 60, Acacia Seyal Gum Extract, Sodium Phosphate, Acetyl Hexapeptide-1, Dextran, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Sorbate, Iron Oxides (CI 77499), Ultramarines (CI 77007), Black 2 (CI 77266).

Eyeliner ingredient list: Bobbie Brown

Isododecane, Cyclopentasiloxane, Polyethylene, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Propylene Carbonate, Lecithin, Phenyl Trimethicone, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Methicone, Barium Sulfate, Bht, Phenoxyethanol, [+/- Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499), Mica, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Blue 1 Lake (Ci 42090), Carmine (Ci 75470), Chromium Oxide Greens (Ci 77288), Manganese Violet (Ci 77742), Yellow 5 Lake (Ci 19140), Chromium Hydroxide Green (Ci 77289), Bismuth Oxychloride (Ci 77163), Ultramarines (Ci 77007), Ferric Ferrocyanide (Ci 77510)]

Glitter eyeshadow

Water, Mica (Ci 77019), Aluminum Calcium Sodium Silicate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Polyethylene Terephthalate, Squalane, Polysorbate 60, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Glycerin, Triethanolamine, Carbomer, Silica. (+/-) Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77499), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Tin Oxide (Ci 77861).

Covering acne with makeup is a bad idea

People make get confused and think that an allergy to makeup is actually acne. What follows is more, thicker makeup applied to cover the effects of allergenic makeup. Don’t. If you see anything suspicious that develops after applying makeup, just wash it off and stop. You can try it again after a week or so. Allergies don’t get better, they get worse.

Even without allergenic ingredients, makeup can block pores and facilitate the growth of anaerobic bacteria, including the acne bacteria, C. acnes.

How to remove makeup

Don’t rub too hard, rubbing will not help to remove insoluble chemicals and it will harm your skin. Intact skin can defend itself from pathogens and environmental stress.

Use a product that contains oils, it will help remove more stuff.

You can finish the process using a product (the same or an additional one) that contains some detergent, it will remove more stuff and the oil that you used at the beginning.

Remember that your skin, eyelashes and eye brows may not need much make up if you take care of them by using skin care products (rather than makeup).

Skin Actives products that can help you

https://skinactives.com/every-lipid-serum/

https://skinactives.com/gentle-cream-cleanser/

https://skinactives.com/daily-cleansing-gel/

https://skinactives.com/cleansing-oil/

face: https://skinactives.com/salicylic-cleanser/

DISCLAIMER: These claims have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any disease.