A beauty expert warned against using makeup wipes to clean your face, earning praise from her loyal base of followers.
It’s sometimes hard to keep up with the dos and don’ts of makeup and skincare, but luckily, there are a range of experts out there to offer their wise words.
Why you shouldn’t be using makeup wipes
Beauty influencer Susan Yara (@susanyara), featured in publications like Glamour, FOX News, and the New York Post, made the startling revelation about wipes to her followers on TikTok and YouTube.
“They have really strong preservatives. The preservatives are there so they don’t get moldy or gross bacteria while they are sitting in their packets,” she told her 264k followers. “When you think about it, they’re just sitting in a packet completely wet. So when the cotton is sitting there wet, it has to have those preservatives to stop that bacteria growth.”
Susan continued to explain that most makeup wipes are known to irritate your skin because of the preservatives and the actions you are deploying to use them.
She continued: “Makeup wipes almost never contain ingredients that can truly remove your makeup. You’re really just smearing it around.
“Because you have to wipe so hard, it can actually cause irritation on your skin again that can lead to hyperpigmentation.”
Unsurprisingly, Susan is not the only person to have issued a warning against the overuse of makeup wipes. The science community has also dedicated resources to better understanding the hygiene products, with one study finding that most wipes contain allergenic ingredients like fragrances, preservatives, botanicals, and glucosides.
If you’re wondering what you should use instead, then most experts recommend the double cleaning method.
All hail Susan Yara
At the time, many of Susan’s followers thanked her for the public service announcement while also wondering what to use in place of their trusty makeup wipes.
One person wrote: “Yes!! Thank you for posting this! Plus they are super detrimental to the environment… makeup wipes need to stop being so normalized!”
A third said: “I competitive dance and I used to get horrible breakouts from the heavy makeup/sweating. The double cleanse and no makeup wipes have helped so much.”
