It’s fun to put it on, even more to take it all off—but are you doing it right?!?! Not properly removing your makeup can cause irritations, breakouts, and even a possibility of vertigo when you realize your money is going down the drain because those bougie skincare products you bought aren’t working because they aren’t penetrating your skin like they should because you still have makeup on your skin, boo.
So while I’ve posted a ton in the past about proper makeup removal, let’s quickly go through it again.
There are a number of ways to remove your makeup, but keep in mind it usually takes at least two steps to get it all off. I mean, you DID add foundation, concealer, contour, blush, highlight, eyeshadow, liquid lipstick, etc, etc, etc, to your face, boo—it’s gonna take a little muscle to remove it, girl. I personally like to do a double cleanse with a cleansing oil (right now LOVING Strivectin Multi-Action Moisture Matrix Melting Cleanser and Boscia MakeUP BreakUP Cleansing Oil) as my first step to “melt” off my makeup followed by a gel-based cleanser. You can read more posts on double cleansing here.
Sometimes I do a third step where I use micellar water (LOVE the Olay Luminous Micellar Water) to make sure I get traces of makeup from around my hairline which is especially helpful so I’m not splashing water near my edges when they’re laidT). And while we’re talking micellar water here, please understand it alone cannot take off your full beat—some formulas may not even be well equipped to remove a light beat. Micellar waters are made more for a quick and easy cleanse—like say after the gym or to refresh your naked skin on a hot day. Otherwise you use it in conjunction with something else—like my example with using it as a last cleansing step around my hairline.
If you half-step and don’t properly remove your makeup, you block your other skincare products from performing at their best. I mean, how do you expect your vitamin C serum to get on its job of giving you a glow if it has to fight through layers of concealer? Not to mention, all that makeup can clog your pores and cause breakouts—now you to have to add acne products to your routine. And we know that after the acne, sometimes comes the DARK SPOTS. Who has time to be adding extra products to their routine just because they didn’t properly remove their makeup?!?!
P.S. Find out more about getting rid of dark spots here and how to treat adult acne here.
And then there’s the thing with makeup wipes and them maybe not being the best for your skin. I wrote a 2-parter on it for you to read here and here. But if you like the convenience of a makeup wipe and want something that can actually cleanse your face, I really like the Olay Daily Facials.
SO, in conclusion my dear peeps, remove thy makeup properly or suffer the consequences…lol. Just kidding (actually I’m not), but let’s stay on this skin thing, ya know? Some of you tell me you get overwhelmed with all the information out there, but I’m here to make it so much easier. Make sure you’re subscribed to the blog so you don’t miss any new posts and don’t forget to peruse my skincare archives to check out classic skincare posts for the tea.
I love your blog and YT channel — so helpful! Question: how is a makeup removing / skin cleansing oil different from other oils? For instance, I remove liquid lipstick with vitamin E oil. Could that same oil be used as step 1 when removing my full face of makeup, right before my foaming face wash?
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heyyy! thank you so much! Cleansing oils are specially formulated for use on the face. There are some oils that you may not want to use on the face to remove makeup—some people use coconut oil to remove makeup, but coconut oil can also be very pore clogging and can lead to breakouts for some people. Also some oils may not rinse off the face as easily as a cleansing oil product even after using a gel-based cleanser as your second step. I personally wouldn’t use vitamin E oil to remove my facial makeup, but everyone’s skin is different of course.