06 March 2024 , 14:54
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Gym-goers are being warned that exercising in makeup can damage their skin.
New research suggests it's best to avoid wearing makeup during a workout as it could block your pores. A study in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology looked at how foundation affects our skin and pores during exercise. The study involved 43 people who wore makeup on some parts of their face but not others. It found that areas with makeup had more moisture than those without.
This could mean that makeup stops moisture from evaporating from your skin. After working out, the size of pores increased in the areas without make-up, but not as much in the areas under the foundation. This could mean that makeup blocks pores, reports Wales Online.
"For healthy skin, it's best to exercise with your makeup removed," said Dongsun Park, who led the research at the Korean National University of Education. The study also found that oil production increased in the make-up-free areas of the face, and decreased in the areas covered by foundation. This suggests that keeping the right oil levels on your skin could be hard when wearing makeup.
The skin also became stretchier after exercise for those wearing makeup compared to those without. But Grace Day, a skincare expert at Beauty Bay, told PA news agency that not wearing makeup during exercise might not be possible for many women, despite what the study says.
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She advises people to avoid using heavy makeup and suggests bringing a facial cleanser to their place of exercise. She said: "Not wearing make-up just doesn't feel possible for many of us, for a huge range of reasons. So, to ensure your skin stays glowing on and off the treadmill, your best bet is to cherry-pick the products that won't be too troublesome to your skin."
"Avoiding heavy make-up, like full coverage foundations, will help to reduce post-workout breakouts. It's also worth taking your cleanser with you to the gym, so you can cleanse immediately after your session, to get rid of any sweat and bacteria build-up."
Day delved further into the science behind wearing makeup during exercise. "The argument for leaving your skin bare at the gym is rooted in the idea that pores remain unclogged and the clean skin can breathe, preventing breakouts that might occur from make-up trapping sweat and bacteria in pores," she said. "The increased temperature and sweating caused by exercise opens pores up, which is why they may become blocked by make-up particles, leading to breakouts and uneven skin texture."
"There's also the contact between feet, hands and the floor, required for activities like yoga, cycling and weightlifting, to take into consideration." She added that bacteria found at the gym is "more likely" to cling to makeup than clean skin, especially as people are prone to touching their face multiple times per hour, increasing the likelihood of bacteria settling in pores.