Because what goes on, must come off, and makeup removers do that faster and more completely than just cleansing. 

Why is this even important?

1) Makeup Isn’t Sleepwear

Some makeup (like Skintelligent Beauty) may be safer and more skin-loving than others that contain allergens and comedogens, but all makeup has to come off at the end of the day. Sleep is when your brain and body recover. Give your skin the same opportunity. Your skin uses this downtime to enjoy hours without exposure to dirt, pollution, other potential triggers and anything it doesn’t need. Your skin really benefits from the anti-inflammatory goodness of sleep, too. Let your skin rest. If you want to give your skin extra T.L.C., the only thing that should be on it is a moisturizer or treatment cream made for overnight use. The freshly cleansed surface and opened-up pores can enhance the absorption of humectants and actives, so your skin wakes looking and feeling healthier than when you went to bed!

2) Hygiene

Which part of your body is most exposed to the world? Your face! Your hands come into contact with germs and potential allergens most directly through touching and handling, but your face is almost always uncovered, getting the brunt of pollution and other airborne chemicals from dust, to pollen and fragrances. You also touch your face quite a bit, meaning there’s more transfer of “stuff” from your hands to your face than you might realize.
When you get home, in your normal bedtime routine of getting dressed, going to the bathroom, and brushing your teeth, chances are that you’ve washed your hands. For most of us, washing hands after using the toilet or before food preparation or brushing your teeth is second nature (if it isn’t, that’s a separate discussion altogether). But because you don’t handle things with your face, it tends to get forgotten. And it really shouldn’t be. If you haven’t washed your face, you’re taking everything that it was exposed to throughout the day (including what your hands transferred to it), to bed with you.
Give that thought some time to sink in. Your face is getting all the smog, bacteria, and more, pressed into it for hours. Even if you don’t sleep with your face pressed up against anything, your entire day will be sitting on your skin for hours. That’s six or more hours of undisturbed absorption of ick. Which also means hours and hours of stuff on your face that can clog your pores or cause allergic or irritant reactions. And that brings us to…

3) Sensitivity and Acne

Washing your face before going to bed should be as much of a habit as brushing your teeth. If you just don’t have the time or energy for that, at the very least take your makeup off. Either followed by a cleanser or used alone, a makeup remover gets your skin cleaner and is gentler on your skin than repetitive, excessing scrubbing.
Cleansing, even with our popular cream cleansers and scrubs, won’t completely remove makeup, especially if you’ve got a lot on. Using a makeup remover before cleansing makes sure you get all your makeup — and the topmost layer of the day’s grime — completely off your skin. Doing so reduces overall cleansing time, which can be a blessing for dry, sensitive skin.

Caution: some makeup removing wipes contain MCI/MI (methylchloroisothiazolinone/methylisothiazolinone), the top allergen behind the reactions to baby wipes that went viral few years ago. If you have acne-prone skin, avoid makeup removers (especially oils) that are comedogenic. And if you have sensitive skin, look out for other common allergens in the formulation, such as fragrances, dyes, and preservatives.
On the flip side, and allergen-free makeup remover can function as skincare beyond simple makeup removal. Our Skintelligent Beauty Makeup Removers are favorites among TV/stage performers and beauty editors alike for their efficacy (even with very heavy professional makeup), gentleness (even with frequent use), and skin-enhancing benefits such as acne-fighting monolaurin and deeply moisturizing organic virgin coconut oil.