3 Best Ways to Remove Your Makeup

We know it's so important to wash our makeup off at the end of the day, moisturize, drink water, and get our beauty sleep. But sometimes when we try to remove those beautiful cosmetics from our delicate faces, it can feel more like removing warpaint. I have had friends confess that they sometimes, or often, go to bed with their makeup on. This is bad on so many levels. One major one is your pillowcases getting so icky with, not only makeup, but oil and dirt as well. Pillowcases are bad enough even after several nights sleeping on them with a clean face, let alone one that is covered in foundation and other products. It is also important to know that when you sleep, your skin is hard at work rejuvenating itself for the next day. This is when your products work best to help your skin through that process. Makeup left on when you sleep hinders this process. It leads to, not only breakouts, but wrinkles and a dull complexion. Not to mention, to make your makeup the next day look its best, you have to remove it anyway in the morning. Why make a good habit and save yourself some time in the AM.

As a performer who wears heavy stage makeup 6 nights a week, not taking off my makeup at the end of the day is not an option. It can be quite a tedious process cutting through the layers of makeup and other impurities that have built up through a grueling 2 show night. It is a job that should not be left to just cleanser alone.

Before I leave work at the end of the night, I remove the lashes and makeup. Once I get home, I wash my face with my favorite cleanser and put all my treatments on. I feel so much better going to sleep after this process and look even better waking up in the morning.

Here are 5 of my favorite ways and products of taking it all off so you can be you again.

My eyes are always the first step in my makeup removal routine, as it is the most difficult and you have to be the most gentle. I use a small cotton round for each eye (or one larger one) when I'm removing my stage makeup. With more natural, everyday makeup, I can usually use one small cotton round. You could use a cotton ball or even a tissue in a pinch. First before opening, you need to shake this eye makeup remover vigorously to mix the product because it is two liquids that are separate in the bottle. I apply it generously to the cotton round then I place it on my eye and hold there for about 10 seconds. Then I lightly blot my eye makeup off. This stuff is amazing at getting rid of stubborn black eyeliner, even helps dissolve my eyelash glue residue. I have even used this to take off lipstick too. It also does not sting my eyes or make my vision blurry.

Considered a "retro" skin treatment, cold cream has been around for a long time. Most of us remember our mothers, grandmothers, and aunts using this stuff as we would sit by their vanity as little girls. And while this magic cream has many uses from acting as a lip balm to shaving, makeup removing remains cold cream's specialty. When I first got into show-business, this was my go-to and I still rotate my makeup removing routine and come back to this. It is pretty much a one-stop shop. I will take the cold cream and buff in all into my skin and onto my eye lids with my fingers. Then, after just a second, when I feel it has dissolved the makeup, I remove it gently with a baby wipe. I am sure that some people may be sensitive to this product, but I have never had anything but a good result. So it is definitely worth a try as it is an excellent makeup removing product and multi-tasker. And as a bonus, my skin doesn't feel dried out after like it can with a micellar water or makeup removing wipe. I even like the fresh, clean scent.

I don't wear makeup much outside of my job and I tend to remove my makeup before I leave work so that's where all my makeup removing products live. Sometimes when I do wear makeup on my off day, I get home to realize I have no makeup remover. One evening, in complete desperation, I used coconut oil that I had in my pantry and it worked like a charm! I take a little spoon full and melt it in my hands and gently massage it onto my face and eyes to dissolve the makeup. I then use a soft, damp face cloth or a baby wipe to gently remove and follow with my cleanser, moisturizer, etc. Also with the coconut oil, it is free of chemicals, is natural, and very moisturizing. This is what I do exclusively at home now when I'm not working so I don't have to buy two sets of products for work and home. Not to mention, coconut oil has about a million other uses in beauty, health, food, and around the house. This is a true pantry (and vanity) staple!

What are your favorite products or tips? Do you use any of these products? Comment below :)