Here’s What Happens to Your Mattress When You Sleep in Your Makeup

Dermatologists, your mom, and your bed all beg you not to sleep in your makeup. We know it happens –– you’re exhausted after a long day, you fall asleep watching Netflix, or you just don’t realize how bad it is for you. Sleeping in your makeup seems pretty harmless, and every once in a while, it is. However, regularly sleeping in your makeup can negatively affect your skin and your mattress. Here’s everything you need to know. 

Sleeping With Makeup on Is Bad for Your Skin

The impact on your skin is the one everyone knows. Sleeping in your makeup is undeniably bad for your skin. Sleeping is an important time for your skin –– it’s when your skin sheds and regenerates. Not washing off your makeup means the skin’s natural exfoliation process can’t happen. 

Sleeping in your makeup can have several effects on your skin; here are a few:

• Makeup traps dirt and outside bacteria on and inside the skin. That could lead to collagen degradation or premature aging. 
• It can cause regular acne flare-ups and issues with your complexion. 
• It can dry out your skin. 
• Wearing mascara and eyeliner to bed increases the opportunity for infection or inflammation of the eyes.

Makeup Can Stain Your Sheets and Mattress

Sleeping in your makeup is very bad for your skin. It’s also really bad for your sheets and mattress. The apparent visual issue is that you can stain your sheets and mattress with makeup. It’s easy enough to wash your mattress protector or sheets. But depending on what type of mattress you have, cleaning the makeup stains or dirt of your mattress can be difficult. 

To get makeup out of your mattress, you have to get to it quickly –– which isn’t exactly easy when you’re asleep. Many cosmetics are marketed as waterproof, so it’s not as easy as dabbing it with a wet cloth. You can use a butter knife with dish soap for mascara or shaving cream for foundation. 

Cleaning your mattress after staining it with makeup is not easy. Even still, it’s not the worst part of wearing your makeup to bed. 

Don’t Forget About All the Dirt and Bacteria

If you don’t wash your face before you go to sleep, you’re bringing the dirt and pollutants that collect on your face throughout the day. And then you roll around on it all night. When you go to sleep in your makeup, you’re adding your sheets and pillowcases into the cycle of breakouts and possible infections. 

You need to scrub the dead skin and makeup off your face before you get into bed to promote skin cell regeneration and keep your sheets as clean as possible. 

You can think of the buildup of makeup and skin cells as a thanksgiving dinner for dust mites. The amount of skin you shed each night is enough for a million dust mites to feed on (it’s okay to cringe). If you don’t think the bacteria and dirt are not getting down to your mattress, you’re wrong. 

How to Protect Your Mattress

Wash your face

This one shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the best way to make sure you can protect your skin and your mattress is to wash your face at night. Make it a part of your routine each night, so it not only cleans your face but helps signal to your body that it’s time to go to sleep. 

Your nightly routine gives our mind and body time to relax and prepare for bed. Our bodies basically beg for a routine. If you do the same thing each night in the same order before you get in bed, your brain will start to associate the routine with going to sleep. If you want your bedtime routine to be as effective as possible, you need to stay as consistent as possible. 

Wash your sheets regularly

Experts recommend that you wash your sheets weekly. However, if you know that you slept in your makeup, you’d be best off washing your sheets more than that. Especially if you have allergies or your pets sleep in the bed with you. Not washing your sheets and pillowcases opens you to contracting infections, fungal infections, and other bacteria. 

Wash your sheets as soon as possible if you notice makeup stains. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck with them. 

Try a mattress protector

Mattress protectors are an effective way to protect your mattress and keep it clean. They can protect you from dust mites and keep spills and makeup off your bed, which will prevent mold and bacteria from growing on your mattress. 

There are several types of mattress protectors out there –– cooling, waterproof, or hypoallergenic. When shopping for a mattress protector or encasement, think about what types of things you need from your protector. If you have allergies, you should opt for a hypoallergenic one. You’ll also want to pay attention to what they are made of. Yes, you want the protector to be able to repel water and keep out dirt, but it still needs to breathe –– terry cloth and polyester are popular materials. 

Too Long, Didn’t Read?

When it comes down to it, there are no benefits to sleeping in your makeup. It’s bad for skin, can stain your mattress, and it’s not anymore efficient –– it’s not like you can wake up and go in smeared, day-old makeup. Our advice is to just leave it at the sink and wash your face before bed. We understand that there may be situations where you can’t manage that. In those cases, make sure you keep some makeup remover wipes by your bed.