How to Protect Your Skin This Halloween

Witches, ghosts and breakouts — oh my! Halloween is about nailing the right outfit and makeup look to make you appear like anything that isn’t you. This night of pretend, however, typically turns into the morning of breakouts.

After all, after tons of makeup and probably some indulgence in Halloween candy, can you really expect good things for your skin?

The good news is that, if you take some precautions to take care of your skin, you can actually save yourself from a nasty breakout the morning after Halloween. October 31^st is always a late night, and the last thing you want to wake up to is pimples and blotchy skin — especially if tomorrow’s a school or workday.

These are the best things you can do for yourself on All Hallows Eve to ensure a creepy complexion the night of — and not the morning after:

Remove Your Makeup

Whether your Halloween look involves a full face of makeup or just lipstick and foundation, make sure you take off your makeup before you go to sleep. Not only will this save your skin, but it will probably save your pillow too.

If you don’t have a trusty makeup remover to rely on, you can prepare to fall in love with Paul and Joe makeup products — the brand’s cleansing gel lifts and thoroughly removes makeup, and will even hydrate your skin!

Chances are, however, that one rinse won’t restore your skin after a night of intense makeup. Go through a few rounds of different cleansing treatments to really make sure your makeup is off, and your skin has been given the love and care it needs.

Prime Your Skin

Prepare your skin before you layer on that makeup. SK-II suggests using a cleansing product like their R.N.A cream to firm and moisturize your skin and prevent it from feeling dry underneath your makeup. You may have spent the night before looking like a zombie, but SK-II’s hydrating products will help you to look wide awake the next morning.

Beware of Toxic Ingredients

Halloween is the one time of year that people really go out of their comfort zone with their makeup – which leads to some out of character purchases. Before buying any costume makeup online, make sure you know what’s in it.

According to Bustle, there’s a lot of crazy-looking Halloween face paint online that contains toxic chemicals like nickel, cobalt, and lead that can have negative lasting health effects. It’s always good to know what ingredients are in a product, just in case you have any allergies or sensitive skin that reacts easily.

Avoid Contact Lenses

It’s always fun to go all out for Halloween, but if there’s one thing you should probably skip out on it, should be contact lenses. Having perfectly creepy red eyes for a night isn’t worth the reaction your eyes may have the next morning. Coloured contact lenses can seriously and permanently damage your eyes – especially if you are opting for cheap costume lenses that can irritate and scratch your retinas.

Test it Out

Sometimes you don’t realize you’re allergic to a product until you use it — but don’t wait until your face is full of makeup to have an allergic reaction. Instead, do a spot text. Put a dot of the makeup you want to use on your arm or on the back of your hand to make sure you don’t get a reaction.