There are plenty of women – and men - around the world that get up every morning, jump in the shower, dry their hair and start the daunting task of putting on makeup. From lengthening mascara to no-bleed lipsticks, there are an infinite amount of rituals, routines and habits that people participate in when it comes to applying their “face,” before getting on with their days of work, school or other various social activities. Unfortunately, not everyone takes the precautions they should when it comes to makeup application, and most don’t even know what they need to be aware of when it comes to this lifestyle niche.
Below are 15 makeup habits that are secretly – or not so secretly - making people sick or damaging their body in some way. From the skin to one’s overall health, there are plenty of mistakes being made that most are guilty of, with or without knowing the repercussions. It’s time to get educated and start nixing the bad habits from everyday routines and changing them out for more sanitary and safe behaviors.
15 Sleeping With Your Makeup On
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Most women have done it … at least one time. And the more times one sleeps with a face of makeup, the more clogged those pores will get, which causes irritation and breakouts. According to Huffington Post, forgetting to wash one’s face before bed “can result in unnecessary exposure to free radicals in the environment, which the makeup holds on to.” What are free radicals? They cause the breakdown of healthy collagen and cause fine lines in the skin to develop early on.
14 Sharing Makeup With Friends
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Sharing makeup and brushes with friends can actually be rather dangerous. ABC News even compared it to sharing underwear with a buddy – who would want to do that? Everyone carries fungi, viruses and other various germs on the skin and when we swap brushes, they’re trading off and transferring them to another. This can spread cold sores, pink eye and even a staph infection! Make it a rule to never lend over your blush brush or eyeliner tools – it’s not worth the risk!
13 Too Much Exfoliating
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Before putting on makeup, most are washing their faces, exfoliating and moisturizing. But how many are exfoliating properly? Over-exfoliating can be quite harmful to the skin, especially when one has a sensitivity issue. In fact, if overdone one can easily break blood vessels or cause irritation in the form of breakouts, dryness or redness. Also, stay away from overindulgent exfoliators – ones with tiny granules or working a hand-held device to the nth degree.
12 Buying The Wrong Moisturizers
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Just like over-exfoliating can harm one’s skin, so can using the wrong moisturizer! This all comes under the beauty and makeup umbrella, as it involves the step before and after the makeup goes on and comes off. Sensitive skin or dry skin need to be solved with the right products. And when one has oily skin, that doesn’t mean to nix the moisturizer. No one wants their skin to overcompensate for loss of hydration. This is when problem areas happen as moisturizer will bring water to the skin and not oil.
11 Over-Tweezing Your Eyebrows
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Be careful when cozying up to a magnifying mirror and going to town on the eyebrows. Not only does over-plucking result in a permanently surprised, unnatural look, it can also cause permanent damage to the brows. If plucked too much, some of those hairs may never come back, especially if the overdoing has been going on for a lengthier period of time. Be careful when contouring those eyebrows, if it becomes too much of a habit, damage to the hair follicles can easily happen in this sensitive area.
10 Getting Too Many Manicures
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Everyone knows someone who goes to the nail salon, every week to two weeks like clockwork. But the constant application of new acrylic can be hurting the health of one’s nails. In fact, this too, can cause permanent damage. The more nails are covered up the more sensitive they become and tend to break easier. And according to Daily Mail, more aggressive nail treatments are leaving women exposed to infections, rashes and even skin cancer.
9 Missing The Expiration Date
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Yes, makeup has an expiration date and it’s meant to be taken seriously. Even if there isn’t an actual date set on the mascara or eyeshadow, there are general rules of thumb for all products. The longer it's used, the more time bacteria has to grow inside – and who wants to get up, get clean and then slather on some bacteria before work? There’s also the risk of having a reaction to makeup used for years, because of its natural breakdown process. The products’ molecules will eventually breakdown and turn into something else and may cause the face to have a reaction to it!
8 Forgetting Sunscreen or SPF Product
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Whether wearing makeup or not, applying sunscreen is an absolute necessity for everyone’s health. The risk of skin cancer is very real and that only heightens when the SPF has been nixed. Did you know that up to 80% of UV rays can pass through clouds? So even if the sun isn’t shining bright, one’s skin is still at risk for damage. It’s important to apply sunscreen to the face – the entire face including your eyelids and lips, before the application of makeup. And it doesn’t hurt to use foundation with an SPF count as well.
7 Not Cleaning Your Brushes
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Not cleaning makeup brushes enough or not cleaning them at all is more than a disgusting habit that needs to be broken. It’s imperative that those bristles be cleaned! Why? Firstly, the bacteria that’s laying on those brushes can and will cause irritation and breakouts on the skin. This is also a way for viruses and fungi to be passed (remember, no sharing makeup or the tools to put it on!). Pink eye, cold sores and more can all be given when hit with the wrong brush at the wrong time. Try dipping your brushes in rubbing alcohol – monthly – for a quick cleanse.
6 Using Lipstick “Gone Bad”
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This comes under the “expired” umbrella but in a different way. Most lipsticks won’t have an actual expiration day tacked on to the tube. Instead, one has to use their common sense. Lipstick and gloss should be kept for no more than a year. And if it starts to smell funny, and not like the vanilla that it once did, it’s time to throw it out – immediately. If gloss has an oil separation, that’s also a sign that the product has “gone bad,” and it’s time to trash it. Lipstick also becomes the home of sneeze and food germs, so next time a tube of red is in hand, think about how many years of food may be on the end.
5 Applying Eyeliner To The Rims Of The Eye
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The rims are also known as the waterline – the inside of the eyelashes. According to Women’s Health, “Your eyes have their own set of natural bacteria, and by using eyeliner pencils, you can introduce foreign bacteria.” Avoid applying eyeliner to the inside of the eyelashes as this can cause clogged oil glands or infection. No one wants irritated eyes and runny makeup!
4 Forgetting To Remove ALL Of Your Eye Makeup
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Washing one’s face before bed is an absolute must, unfortunately, removing all of the eye makeup is a bit harder and sometimes, easy to forget to go the extra mile and remove every bit of black. By morning, dark rims appear and eyelashes have fallen to their demise. This is just another bad habit that can easily clog oil glands, cause infection or irritate the skin around the eyes!
3 Peeling Off Gel Polish
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Here’s another bad habit in the nail department that so many people are guilty of. Going in for a gel manicure and then leaving, only to start picking away at the polish just days later. This has to stop. Even if nails are chipping, stop peeling and picking off that gel. This causes harm to the natural nail bed, causing the actual nails to become thinner, tender and lose their top layer. Textural irregularities and white patches can also result in this easy-to-fall-into habit.
2 Too Much Tanning
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This habit coincides with nixing the SPF 30. The days of tanning all summer long and inside beds all winter long are over. There is way too much research and scary, real-life events that have occurred for this to still be a “popular” beauty trend. Women who regularly tan are not only aging themselves quicker but increasing their risk of skin cancer. Women’s Health even went on far as to say, “Tanning beds might as well be coffins.”
1 Tugging On Your Eyes To Put On Liner
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Although this habit may not be making anyone sick, it’s definitely hurting their skin and causing wrinkles to come far too early. Applying cat-eye liner can be tricky and the result can be quite stunning, but what’s not-so-stunning are the fine lines the pulling and tugging of the lid is causing. There are plenty of vlogs and tutorials swirling around the Internet that can teach makeup-wearers how to apply makeup without the push and pull – take the advice or take the advanced creases before their time.
Sources: abc2news.com, theguardian.com, womenshealthmag.com
