You’ve probably heard to never sleep in makeup. But, it’s not just something your mother used to say to nag you – there are real reasons to abide by this beauty tradition.

After working all day or dancing the night away, it is so tempting to crawl into bed and deal with removing all of your makeup in the morning. But, skipping this step can cause several side effects you spend your time trying to prevent with your skin care routine, so don’t allow them to creep up on you while sleeping in makeup!

• Sleep is when your skin restores itself – allow your cells the time to regenerate by freeing your pores. Use a gentle washcloth with your cleanser to help remove your makeup daily (get a pack of seven and use a fresh one each day of the week).

• Foundation can be the worst of the makeup culprits to sleep in – unlike blush or lip liner, it completely covers your face’s pores. Don’t think that if you’re just wearing foundation you should skip the sink.

• Makeup and pollutants your skin has accumulated throughout the day can transfer onto your pillowcase. Who wants to hear from yesterday’s dirt when you’re going for fresh, acne-free skin?

• A face that has worn makeup all day can collect a lot of free radicals – allowing these to remain will result in the breakdown of collagen in your skin. Our Gentle Cleanser has powerful antioxidant properties to fight free radical damage and cleanse makeup from your skin.

• Eye makeup may coat your lashes rather than your skin, but it isn’t exempt! Sleeping in eye makeup actually brings additional dangers – it can clog the tiny hair follicles of your lashes, and eyeliner and mascara can get rubbed into your eyes as you sleep, causing irritation. You won’t do your lashes any favors by keeping them coated in mascara, either. It may cause them to become brittle and break off more easily. Who wants to lose eyelashes?

If you slip up every once an a while and hit the sack without washing, just keep a pack of cleansing wipes on your night stand so you can remove makeup even if you’re nodding out. Your skin will thank you!