Removing your makeup is the most important step in your entire skincare routine. If you don’t remove your foundation at the end of the day, it will clog up your pores, leading to acne and inflammation but what better way to do it than do it with a natural makeup remover?
Makeup also picks up and holds onto free radicals in the air. Forgetting to remove your foundation at night allows those free radicals to sit on your face for hours and break down your skin’s collagen. Over time, this can cause fine lines and wrinkles because collagen is what keeps us looking young.
Keeping your eye makeup on overnight is just as harmful. The leftover mascara and eyeliner can make their way into your eyes and create irritation. If you make sleeping in your eye makeup a habit, dermatologists say you could even develop styes on your eyelids that require treatment from a doctor. Yikes!
That’s why it’s critical to have a makeup removal routine that you follow every evening. To help you find a regimen that works for you, here are some of the best and healthiest ways to remove your makeup.
But first, let’s talk about which makeup removers you should avoid so you don’t damage your skin.
Makeup Removers You Should Avoid
At the end of a long night, we all want to remove our makeup quickly and easily. That’s why many of us turn to makeup wipes from the drugstore. Although they’re convenient and affordable, they’re not the best for your skin.
Generic face wipes have a lot of alcohol in them, which can dry out your skin and cause a stinging sensation if your face is sensitive. They usually contain harsh surfactants and sulfates as well that could strip your skin of moisture.
Makeup wipes may also have harmful formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, such as bronopol, to give them a longer shelf life. Formaldehyde is a common allergen and potential carcinogen that you should avoid, especially if you’re looking for the best face wipes.
You probably use your makeup wipes right before falling asleep so that you don’t rinse your face afterward. This exposes your skin to higher concentrations of the active ingredients because you’re not washing them away. So if you use a wipe with harsh additives like bronopol or alcohol, you’re setting your skin up for redness and irritation.
Luckily, there are gentler, more natural alternatives to drugstore makeup wipes that won’t leave your face feeling dry.
The Best Natural Makeup Removers to Add to Your Routine
If you want clear skin, adding a gentle, natural makeup remover to your routine is a must. Here are some of the best face wipes and cleansers that will melt away your makeup while nourishing your skin.
Cliganic USDA Organic Jojoba Oil
When you’re trying to remove foundation and grease from your skin, it seems counterintuitive to slather a bunch of oil on your face. But believe it or not, chemically similar particles dissolve each other.
So using oil as a cleanser is one of the best ways to remove sebum and greasy makeup products from your pores. Oil cleansers are also better for your skin than foaming soaps because they protect your skin’s moisture barrier and microbiome instead of stripping them.
This jojoba oil from Cliganic is a good natural makeup remover for all skin types because it’s light and non-comedogenic. It’s also organic and free of additives like alcohol and fragrances that could irritate your skin.
To cleanse your face, all you have to do is pour a teaspoon of this oil into your hands and rub it into your dry face for a minute or two. This will help break up all the grease and dirt your skin has accumulated throughout the day. Then use a damp washcloth to gently wipe away the oil and makeup that’s left on your skin. After you’re done cleansing, your face will feel clean, soft, and supple. You may not even need to use any moisturizer.
RMS Beauty Ultimate Makeup Remover Wipes
Because the ingredients in makeup wipes sit on your skin overnight, it’s even more important for them to be clean and gentle.
These wipes from RMS Beauty list organic coconut oil as the main ingredient, and they will soothe and hydrate your skin while removing stubborn makeup. The wipes are also free of potentially irritating ingredients, such as artificial fragrance and alcohol. RMS Beauty also individually wraps each wipe to keep it moist, which makes it even more effective at melting away foundation and eye makeup.
Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micellar Water
Another natural makeup remover you need in your arsenal is Bioderma micellar water. We know what you’re thinking – water can’t possibly get my skin clean and remove my full face of makeup.
But this isn’t just any water. It’s micellar water, which has tiny balls of cleansing oil suspended in it that gently removes your makeup while moisturizing your skin. Bioderma also puts cucumber extract in there to provide an added boost of hydration and help reduce facial puffiness.
We’ve been using Bioderma for years because it’s one of the best eye makeup removers we’ve come across. It instantly dissolves eyeliner and mascara without any scrubbing or rubbing required. It’s also gentle enough not to irritate sensitive skin or make your eyes water, so we highly recommend it.
Thayers By Nature Unscented, Alcohol-Free Witch Hazel
Witch hazel has been used to treat irritated skin for centuries. It can help tone your skin and reduce redness, giving you a more even complexion. It’s also an effective natural makeup remover that will clear out your pores and dissolve built-up makeup and grease.
Witch Hazel is especially good for oily skin types because it’s an astringent that helps regulate oil production. It can even make your skin appear tighter and firmer because it causes your blood vessels to constrict. Seriously, this stuff does it all!
However, many witch hazel products contain added alcohol, which could irritate your skin and cancel out the benefits of this powerhouse ingredient. So make sure you choose a toner without alcohol like this one from Mild By Nature. It’s vegan, cruelty-free, and formulated without harmful additives like GMOs, parabens, and phthalates.
In addition to witch hazel, it has aloe vera to soothe and hydrate your skin even more. It also contains grapefruit seed extract, which has been shown to boost collagen production and increase the skin’s elasticity. So if you use this natural makeup remover regularly, it could help reduce signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles.
We Love Eyes Tea Tree Eye Makeup Remover Oil
We Love Eyes sells some of the best eye makeup removers on the market. This natural makeup remover oil with tea tree was developed by optometrist Dr. Tanya Gill, so you know it’s safe for your eyes. It’s also vegan and free of irritating ingredients like sulfates, parabens, formaldehyde, and fragrances.
This product contains organic jojoba and grapeseed oils to melt away makeup, increase hydration, and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. There’s also a little tea tree oil mixed in, which has antibacterial properties and helps promote clean and healthy eyelids.
Conclusion
If you want a clear, glowing complexion, it’s important to remove your makeup every night. Ideally, you would use a natural makeup remover that doesn’t contain skin irritants like alcohol and formaldehyde. But if you can’t afford to add new products to your skincare routine right now, it’s better to take off your makeup with whatever you have on hand than to wear it to bed.
Being consistent and cleansing your face every night will help prevent your pores from getting clogged and ward off acne. So even though it’s sometimes hard, please try to resist the temptation to roll into bed after a long night with a full face of makeup on. Your skin will thank you! Also, if you wanted to share any of your thoughts or stories, you can find us on Instagram @offonfriday.
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