Sunday, January 3, 2016

How Your Nightly Slumber Could Be Contributing to Bad Skin!


Bed with Pillows.jpeg
Your bedding is just as important to health and condition of your skin as the products you apply.

Perhaps, you keep breaking out and nothing seems to work despite being vigilant with your skin care and diet.  Naturally, there are other factors such as hormones, smoking, drugs, pore-clogging products, etc. that also could be contributing to those constant new breakouts.  However, you could be overlooking one small thing that could mean the difference between good and bad skin–your pillowcase. 

Of course, you make a habit to regularly change your pillowcase at least once or twice a week. So what you say?  Well, before you put your head down on that pillow, think of your nightly ritual of products you just applied from face creams, acne treatments, eye serums, hair gels, mousses, sprays, etc., which also will be touching that pillowcase. Those products also deposit ingredients where your face will be picking them up every night afterwards, along with accumulating oil and grime from new applications until the next laundering.  

Those product ingredients combined with detergent, a liquid fabric softener, dryer sheets can make the problem even worse since liquid fabric softeners and those dryer sheets leave a waxy buildup behind that lock in that constantly replenished supply of product grime.  

If you want to protect your complexion there are several things you can do.  To begin with, stop using dryer sheets and especially liquid fabric softeners, which can help keep your pillowcase cleaner without the help of waxy residue adding to the problem.  Liquid fabric softeners also accumulate in the fabrics enough to increase flammability, which is another good reason to avoid them.

Though satin pillowcases are great for wrinkle prevention since they don’t pull the face as other fabrics when you move, you may want to return to a natural fabric pillowcase.  A natural material won’t absorb as much oil as the satin so your skin is at less risk.

Then again, you simply just might want to wash your pillowcase more often.  Try every two nights and see how your complexion reacts.  If there is no improvement, then change the pillowcase nightly, which is the best option.

Even if you decide to give your hair a deep overnight treatment, your face can feel the impact.  Make sure to get a fresh pillowcase the next day because those oils can aggravate skin enough to cause a fresh breakout.

Sometimes, the simplest fix like a fresh pillowcase each night can do more to improve your complexion than you may give it credit for.  Do try it.