Does wearing makeup affect your acne?

19/05/2020

If you read my previous post on things you can do during lockdown, one of the things I included on my list was to test out new body/skincare products – it’s the perfect opportunity if like me, you’re shunning make up in favour of a bare face.

I decided to go make up free to test whether it was having an impact on my skin and if it was making it better or worse – I’ve been told for years that wearing it would make my skin worse than it already was, so I wanted to find out if it was a fact or a myth.

During this time I thought it would also be a great opportunity for testing out some products I haven’t gotten around to testing without a veil of makeup on my face, covering any progress being made.

Some of the products I decided to put to the test included;

Salicyclic Acid and Retinol – The Ordinary
A skincare set from No7 including a sheet face mask, moisturising face mask, cleanser, day cream, night cream, eye cream and lip moisturiser
Lacura Healthy Glow Glycolic Toner

In order to have a fully researched post prior to my own active testing (I say active as I had already been make up free for a couple of weeks beforehand), I did a quick Google search to see whether I could find some articles online that would give some background as to whether the use of makeup makes acne worse.

Here are some of the articles I found helpful in my research and helped me come to the initial opinion that makeup isn’t a direct cause of acne, but can indeed have an impact if unsuitable products are used or it isn’t removed properly at the end of the day.

In order to document the journey, I took some photos of my face before I started to regularly use the products for reference;

My main problem area has been along the side of my face or the “sideburn” area and on my chin so it’s where I thought I should focus when monitoring my progress.

I’ve always found it difficult to keep to a skincare routine but as I was cutting out my makeup routine in the mornings, I soon found it easy to get into a rhythm after having a bath/shower in the evenings.

I started to look forward to my little pamper time and without fail (okay maybe once or twice) would always go through my evening routine which I’ve shared below:

Remove makeup using the No 7 Purifying Clay Cleanser (usually in the bath/shower), massaging it into my skin using either my fingers or electric cleansing brush, removing with a cotton cloth and rinsing with water
Using a cotton pad, I would then apply the Glycolic Toner (this is actually from Aldi and was only about £3.89) and remove any grime still leftover on my face, which turned out not to be a lot since I wasn’t using any makeup
I’d then apply my serums, usually starting with the Salicylic Acid, followed by the Retinol
Finally I would end with my eye cream and night cream

I don’t usually put anything on my skin in the day time as it tends to look greasy and I can break out, so decided to skip the day time most days but did try out the day cream on a few days during this experiment.

5 weeks later

Conclusion

As someone that regularly removes their makeup and doesn’t hit the pillow with a full face on, I don’t think my wearing makeup makes a difference to the amount of spots I get.

Although I can’t say I’ve noticed a huge difference (if any) in the amount of break outs I get from not wearing any makeup, I have noticed that there’s been a slight change in the pigmentation which I would put down to the retinol – so this experiment wasn’t a total loss!

I also found out that the No 7 lip moisturiser did not agree with me, unfortunately it led to my lips cracking and the corners of my mouth splitting which was unbelievably uncomfortable and an absolute bastard whenever I ate, drank, yawned or spoke.

I hope you all found this interesting and helpful – let me know whether you find makeup has an impact on your skin in the comments and what your favourite skincare products are!