How To Remove Makeup: 9 Tips From Beauty Experts

Even on the best of evenings when you’re motivated and have plenty of time, it can be hard to know how to remove makeup in a way that keeps your skin healthy and glowing. 

And let’s not even mention those late nights when you can’t be bothered! We’re here to help simplify things for you.

Wiping away the day — and your makeup — doesn’t have to be a magical, complicated, 12-step process. There are just a few basic principles to keep in mind. We’ll go over those in this article with nine tips to remove your makeup safely and effectively!

But before we get to taking your makeup off, let’s take a quick look at the makeup you put on and why it’s important.

Take Inventory Of Your Makeup

To clean your face and give your skin a break, it’s important to take your makeup off every night.

But no matter how faithful you are about removing your makeup, the type of makeup you wear still matters because it’s sitting on your skin for the majority of the day!

It’s important to think about the makeup you wear and whether or not it’s healthy for you. This is where clean beauty products come in. What does clean beauty mean?

What Is Clean Beauty?

Clean beauty refers to cosmetic products created without synthetic chemicals and ingredients that could harm your body or irritate your skin. We’re talking about ingredients like parabens, phthalates, oxybenzone, and synthetic fragrances, just to name a few.

If that’s all Greek to you, the good news is that you don’t have to be a scientist to decipher cosmetic ingredients and find the good products!

While the U.S. government does not prohibit the use of many of these harmful ingredients, you can look to nonprofits like the Environmental Working Group (EWG) to help you choose clean products.

The EWG makes things easy for you by providing ratings based on the ingredients of any given product. All you have to do is look for products that are EWG Verified or have a low number on the scale of one to ten.

Now that you know how to take inventory of your cosmetic products to be sure they’re good for you, let’s get straight to how to remove makeup safely and effectively!

How To Remove Makeup Safely And Effectively

1) Pull Your Hair Back

Before you do anything else, tie your hair into a bun or use a headband to pull it away from your face.

If you’re not in this habit, it might seem like a nuisance. But hang in there. Once you get used to pulling your hair back every single time you take your makeup off, it will become second-nature.

Why is this important? Keeping all of your hair back allows you to remove makeup from your whole face without missing your hairline. This is essential if you wear foundation!

In addition to your hairline, remember to pay attention to other easily forgotten places, like your jawline and neck.

2) Take Your Time

You’re busy. We get it! There’s a lot to do and some evenings you just won’t be able to spend a lot of time on your face before calling it a day.

But when you can, it’s a good idea not to rush the process of removing makeup and washing your face. You want to do it thoroughly, go slowly and gently, and remove your makeup and cleanse your face in two separate steps.

When you’re wearing a full face of makeup, only using a makeup remover wipe or only washing your face doesn’t cut it. Both steps are crucial, which brings us to our next point.

3) Remove Makeup With A Wipe First

Start the cleansing process by using a makeup remover wipe to clean away your makeup and any other buildup your skin might have accumulated after a full day of living!

What you’ll need to remember about wipes is that they aren’t all created equal! The last thing you want to do is use a wipe that contains harsh ingredients that will only irritate your skin!

Instead, choose a wipe that will be gentle on your skin, like Babo Botanicals’s 3-in-1 Calming Face, Hands & Body Wipes.

These plush wipes are formulated for sensitive skin with calming and soothing lavender and meadowsweet. They also contain our Certified Organic Nutri Soothe Complex, which is rich in vitamins and antioxidants.

Finally, you can rest assured that these wipes are natural cloth fiber and plant-based!

4) Swipe Gently

As you use your wipe to take the day off, remember to be gentle, especially with the delicate skin around your eyes. Don’t scrub or pull on your skin.

If you are too rough, you could damage your skin, and that’s the opposite of what you want!

5) Use Eye Makeup Remover

Sometimes a regular wipe doesn’t do the trick to get waterproof mascara and eyeliner off. In that case, use an oil-based waterproof-makeup remover.

Apply a bit of the makeup remover to a cotton pad and place it on your closed eye. Let it sit for a few seconds. This allows the makeup remover to do its thing and dissolve your waterproof makeup.

Next, swipe downward. To do away with your mascara, close your eyes, start at the base of your eyelashes, and lightly wipe down. Don’t scrub your eyes.

Remember: you want to avoid being rough with your skin!

6) Remove Your Lipstick

Between eating, drinking, talking, and kissing, our lips do a lot every single day! Yet somehow, even with all that they do for us, it can be easy to forget them when we’re taking makeup off.

Even if you think most of your lipstick might have worn off by the end of the day, it’s a good idea to remove it when you’re doing the rest of your face.

Expert tip: For a clean lip color that you can feel good about wearing all day, opt for Babo Botanicals’s Nutri-Shine™ Luminizer Vegan Lip Gloss. This vegan, hydrating, and dye-free lip gloss nourishes and softens your lips while adding a pop of color!

Our EWG Verified™ lip glosses are enriched with natural coconut oil and cocoa butter and soothing organic calendula so they glide on easily for soft, smooth, and healthy lips.

7) Cleanse Your Face

Once you’ve removed your makeup with a wipe and oil-based makeup remover, it’s time to cleanse your face. This is a step you don’t want to skip!

Giving your skin a quick wipe-down is a good start but doesn’t clean deep-down. Both steps — removing makeup and cleansing your skin — are important to get rid of all traces of makeup and leave you with a fresh, clean slate!

Lather up with a non-irritating cleanser!

8) Rinse Well And Pat Dry

After you’ve thoroughly cleansed your face, rinse away all of the cleanser. Then use a clean towel to pat it dry. Remember: don’t rub your face!

9) Apply Moisturizer

The last step is applying moisturizer. This might not seem like it has anything to do with taking your makeup off, but the truth is it’s an important part of the routine!

After removing makeup and cleansing your face, you need to avoid dryness by treating your skin to some hydration. Gently massage in your moisturizer and now you’re ready to hop into bed!

Say Hello To Healthy, Glowing Skin

Saying “goodbye” to your makeup at the end of each day is part of saying “hello” to healthy, glowing skin. Follow the nine tips we listed above to cleanse your face of all traces of makeup in a safe, effective way.

Keep Babo Botanicals’s 3-in-1 Calming Face, Hands & Body Wipes on hand.
And, of course, when you wake up the next morning to take on the day, use clean beauty products that will make you feel good all day long.

Cheers to healthy skin and a happy you!