We’re all guilty of doing it.  Late night studying, girls’ nights out and even a long stressful day at work can all cause us to blow off washing our face to opt for passing out in bed instead.  Sometimes when we can hardly keep our eyes open, we don’t prioritize washing our face before bed.  But how essential is this nightly ritual? Can’t your skin wait a few hours until morning?

Well, if you want to avoid pimples, getting sick, looking older than you are and dull skin tone, you better march yourself to your bathroom sink each night.

Laurie Polis, MD, of WebMD magazine explains that night is a time of replenishment for your skin.  Polis says at night there’s an increased amount of blood flow to your skin and many metabolic processes going on.  Polis says you should consider all the gross stuff that has settled on your face throughout the day—makeup, bacteria, sweat, pollution, dirt—just to name a few. It’s extremely important for your skin’s health to wash off the environmental debris of the day and give it a rest from possible irritants.

It may seem commonsense, but washing your face is the best way to keep you skin fresh, clear and glowing.  By not washing your face each night you can increase your chances of acne.  During the night, the skin produces oil.  If your face is covered with dirt, grime and makeup, there’s no way for the oil to escape which causes clogged pores.  Also, nighttime is important for your skin’s rejuvenation.  Skin needs time to breathe and soak in moisturizer and anti-aging products for it to look bright and youthful.

If you want to stay healthy you should be motivated to wash you face every night.  With a day of sweat and grime on your face, your skin is playing host to a plethora of bacteria waiting to make its move at night.   Wash your face can get rid of potential cold or flu germs.  Also, leaving on makeup can cause major damage and infection to your eyes.  All the eye shadow and sparkly eyeliner you forget to wash off will move into your eye at night creating a perfect storm for irritations and infections such as pink eye.

So, no matter how exhausted you are at night, remember how important it is to take an extra five minutes to wash your face. A great way to guarantee you’ll at least do something, is to invest in a box of face wipes, which although not ideal, is better than nothing.   You’ll be happy you avoided pimples and pink eye, and your 15-years-from-now -self will thank you for the youthful looking skin!  If you are really excited about skin, consider a career as an esthetician. Learn more about becoming an esthetician.

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