For some of us makeup is an essential part of our daily routines. It gives us confidence and it helps us transform ourselves - hence the popular saying “putting on your face” before going out. However, as much as we love makeup we’re also aware of the fact that we’re willingly placing a lot of chemicals on our faces. Sometimes it’s best to take a week - or even longer if you can bear it - to reset.
1. Clear Up Your Skin
As we pile on makeup onto our skin on a regular basis, we’re adding thick layers of makeup that block oxygen from reaching our pores. Taking a week off from makeup will allow your skin to breathe and cleanse itself.
This process will also help reduce any acne you may have. With the increased oxygen to your pores, your pores will begin to open up making it easier to wash out the dirt. To enhance this process, you may want to take advantage of the fact that you won’t be wearing makeup to get a few facials or extractions done.
2. Identify Problematic Products
As we pile on a combination of products on a regular basis, we never get to know what our skin reacts to. The best way to get to know our skin and what products work best for it, is to take a break from makeup.
After a week of having clear skin, the skin will reset and renew because a week is a sufficient amount of time for the skin to undergo a regeneration cycle. After a week you should start reintroducing elements one at a time. As you slowly reintroduce products you’ll get a better idea of what irritates your skin and what does not.
3. Let Your Eyes Breathe
Wearing makeup on your eyes tends to irritate the eyes as we have to first apply it, and then rub it off. Rubbing your eyes regularly will create a sensitivity in the eyes and make them red and irritated. This goes for both your eyelids and your eyelashes!
For example, if you wear mascara regularly, you are adding clumps of makeup to dainty eyelashes, and then rubbing it off at the end of the day, creating more friction on your eyes. If you go a week without wearing mascara, your eyelashes will become much stronger because you are not weighing them down with makeup and weakening them.
4. Save Time
As having a makeup routine tends to take quite a lot of time before going out or in the mornings, not wearing any is an easy way to save time! Think of all the extra sleep or lounging time you can get by not wearing any makeup for a week. You may not think that this won’t make that much of a difference, but if you begin to list all the products you wear on a daily basis, you may find yourself counting up to 8 different steps or more depending on how in-depth your daily makeup routine is.
5. Greater Sense Of Peace
As we often hide behind makeup to feel more confident, spending a week without it will help us feel more confident in our own skin. At the beginning of your week without makeup, you may feel a little bit uncomfortable as you are not used to walking around without any, but making this choice will force you to learn to embrace any aspect of your face that you may not totally confident about.
As you near the end of the week you'll learn to be more comfortable in your own skin. All you’ll really need in the morning is a little moisturizer and SPF to leave your skin glowing and nourished. In fact, as you’ll be cutting your routine time you’ll also have more time to spend doing and enjoying other activities. You'll especially have some time to enjoy the simpler things in life like going to bed without having to spend 5-10 minutes removing your makeup.
These five benefits are only a few of the long list of benefits of going a week without makeup, so why not take a week to see what happens? Your skin and self-confidence will thank you for it! You may even like it more than you expect and go makeup-free more often.