Should You Be Wearing Makeup To The Gym?

No.

‘No’ is the typical response just about anyone would receive when asking the question of whether or not they should wear makeup to the gym. In fact, the answer seems quite reasonable. Why wear makeup if you are going to be sweating or otherwise physically active? This is actually a common question asked by both women and men, and although no might seem like a more than acceptable answer at first, the truth is much more complicated.

While Wearing Makeup to the gym is inadvisable, it is not necessarily the terrible thing people make it out to be. To better understand this question, let’s take a moment to examine what happens to your skin when you sweat.

Your Skin When You Sweat…

Sweating is perfectly natural when you are exercising at the gym or otherwise doing cardiovascular activity. Not only is sweating natural, but it can also be healthy for your skin. It helps to get rid of the grime that has built up in your pores. This is one reason it is such a good idea to wash your face relatively soon after sweating. It helps to stop all the grime from settling back in, stopping blemishes or other white / black heads from forming.

So What Does This Have To Do With Makeup?

Makeup acts as a barrier between your skin (pores) and everything beyond. Depending on the kind of makeup, you risk trapping the sweat and grime in place. This can cause you to break out or otherwise cause a skin condition if you are not careful.

So I Should Never Wear Makeup When At The Gym… Right?

Here is where things get tricky. It really depends on your personal unique physiology, any supplements you take (as supplements that rev up your metabolism / intensity of your workout can make you sweat more) and the amount of sweat your body naturally produces. For example, if you have resilient skin and breakouts are uncommon, then you will probably not have issues with wearing makeup at the gym. If you struggle with break outs be prepared to face the consequences.

Sometimes we either forget to remove makeup or are too rushed for time. If this happens to you, then you can undo some of the potential damage by thoroughly washing your face after. The sooner you wash your face after a workout, the better.

The Decision

Wearing makeup at the gym is not the end of the world. While it may cause issues with skin irritation (and let’s not even start with runny makeup issues), any potential damage can be reduced with a thorough scrub after the fact. Whether or not you go through with it, all depends on how prone you are to blemishes, the supplements you take, the intensity of your workout and how comfortable you are without it.

The post Should You Be Wearing Makeup To The Gym? appeared first on .