Is It Bad to Leave a Face Mask on for Too Long?

Face masks are like inexpensive mini facials that can give you better skin in less than half an hour! But, we apply a face mask and wait until it is completely dry or even sleep with it believing the longer we allow face mask to sit on our face, the benefits are going to be maximum. But no, it is completely wrong and this can even do more harm than good to our skin. So, it is bad to leave a face mask on for too long and read on here to know the perfect time limit to leave a face mask on.

Bad to Leave a Face Mask on for Too Long

Face masks come in all different forms – from clay to peel-off, sheet masks, DIY recipes, and many more. Also, there are many difference purposes of face masks – hydrating masks will moisturize, some masks contain ingredients that are designed to exfoliate and slough off dead skin cells or brighten your complexion. So, the time limit is not the same for all. So, here is the time limit for each type of masks.

Clay Masks: Clay masks are great to purify and cleanse your skin. Due to its powerful absorption of impurities, you should never leave a clay mask on for very long. There are three phases of a clay mask. There’s the damp phase where your skin drinks in the beneficial minerals from the outside. Then you have the start of the dry phase, which exercises your capillaries and stimulates blood flow as the mask cools and contracts, but then there’s the dry phase, which draws out moisture from the surface of your skin, causing dehydration and irritation. So the next time you use a clay mask, don’t wait for it to reach the flaky stage before you start rinsing and let it dry for at least 3 minutes, but no longer than 20.

Cream/gel masks with no chemical exfoliants: These masks do not have any seriously potent ingredients and they just hydrate your skin well. So, you can leave these masks as long as you’d like to and the drying time of these masks are pretty much up to you. Some cream and gel masks can even be left on overnight and it will be mentioned on its carton. So, these masks are safer to use and generally, the longer you leave it, the better the results.

Masks with exfoliating acids, enzymes, or retinoids: Face masks that contain exfoliating ingredients, enzymes or retinoids have good effect on your skin until you adhere to the instructions strictly. If you don’t have the carton of the product and if you’re unsure of the time limit, try to find the application time of your product in the product website online. If not, remove it within 10 minutes or even less than that if you feel any dryness, tightness or even itchiness. This may be a sign that your natural skin barrier is becoming compromised and you may want to remove the mask before it reaches that stage.

Sheet Masks: Leaving the sheet masks for so long can actually have a reverse osmosis effect that it can absorb moisture back out of your skin. So, never wait till the sheet has dried out as it can actually pull vitamins and minerals away from your skin. Restrict your time to 20 minutes and strictly not more than 30 minutes. If you have left over essence, you can certainly apply it on your neck, hands and feet. Most importantly, you should never sleep with sheet masks on.

Remember, your face mask is supposed to help your skin, not hurt it. So, when the time does come, remove it or wash it off immediately. Ideally, do not leave masks on for more than 20 minutes.

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