What Happens When You Don't Moisturize

Having a time consuming beauty routine is something that's just not necessarily practical when we're dealing with all of life's daily stresses, so you may be inclined to skip one (or several) steps, but make sure that step is not moisturizing. When you hear what happens to your skin when you don't moisturize, you'll want to make it your number one priority. Trust.

I'm all about saving time where I can and paring my routine down to the bare essentials. This can often add up to "wash and go," and just skipping the whole moisturizing step. Plus, there's the whole lazy girl thing. When you get home from a long, stressful day, sometimes you just want to crawl right into bed. The struggle of taking off your makeup, washing your face, moisturizing, etc. when your pillow is right there waiting for you is really real.

However, if you cut out the moisturizing step, thinking that taking off your makeup and cleansing are really the more important parts, you could be creating some seriously unpleasant side effects for your skin. What's worse? It could cause lasting damage. Read through these eight things that happen when you don't moisturize, and then decide if it's really worth saving an extra minute of your life. Spoiler: It's probably not.

1. Dull & Dry Skin

This one is obvious, but if you aren't moisturizing, you will dry out your skin, and it will get even worse if it's winter and cold out, or the humidity is really low. Without moisturizer, your skin will start flaking and appear dry.

2. Say Hello To Your Wrinkles & Lines

Dry/dehydrated skin makes fine lines more visible, so wrinkles you already have that you didn't really notice because your skin was moisturized will start to pop more as your face dries out.

3. Make Room For New Wrinkles

Forgoing moisturizer could lead even more wrinkles to develop. When your skin is dried out, and therefore chronically inflamed, it could cause a breakdown of collagen, leading to premature aging.

4. Breakouts Could Get Worse

Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisturizer, $10, Amazon

Don't skip the moisturizer because you think it's aggravating your acne — it's actually the opposite. Dryness can make acne worse, so instead of giving it up, just switch to an oil-free moisturizer.

5. Sun Damage

Many moisturizers these days have SPF in them, and if you're skipping moisturizer, you're probably also skipping a separate sunscreen step, which could lead to sun damage.

6. More Vulnerable Skin

Moisturizer creates a protective barrier, so when you use harsh products like salicylic acid or retinoids, you lose that extra layer of protection and could end up with red and peeling skin.

7. Your Makeup Will Look Cakey

Concealer sticks to dry skin and into fine lines, so it will be more visible and have that caked on appearance if you don't moisturize.

8. Tight & Itchy Skin

Your face will feel tight and itchy, and there's nothing pleasant about that.

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Images: Pexels; Unsplash; Isla Murray/Bustle; Amazon