Five things that might happen when you stop wearing makeup

For the past five months, I have been on a makeup ban. It's not that I ran out of foundation and didn't bother replacing it (because that would never happen); I have embarked on a skin care journey to reduce my acne scarring, which has involved not only not wearing makeup but skin resurfacing, peels and retinol cream.

When it's all over, I will be writing about the whole thing in detail, but for now, I want to share with you some unexpected things that happened when I stopped wearing makeup.

• Your skin might clear up

Most makeup contains a high content of chemicals to prolong shelf life. Those chemicals can alter your hormone levels and clog your pores, especially if you forget to remove it properly at night time before sleep. So, you can imagine the benefits of not wearing any makeup at all and following a skin routine tailored to your skin needs.

• You might look younger

When you leave your skin bare, you might just find that you start to get asked for ID when you go to buy your bottle of wine on a Friday. It made me feel youthful that's for sure, until I actually didn't get served because I had no ID on me and then it was just an inconvenience.

• You might grow a passion for skin care

When your skin is on show, you want it to be looking the best it possibly can. You start to get a lot more interested in your skincare and invest both time and money into quality products that give you results.

• You pay more attention to your hair

Now that you have an extra 20 - 30 minutes in the morning you might choose to spend it on trying out new hair dos. Your hair now becomes your accessory, and when that looks good, you feel good.

• You might find that you don't need as much makeup as you thought you did

Many people with problem skin cover it entirely with layers and layers of makeup, making the first week or so of going makeup-free a scary ordeal. However, as the weeks go on, I've discovered that that mask does not have to be quite as thick; unless you're a Kardashian, you don't need to be camera ready the whole time!

All that said despite the first week of feeling utterly grotesque (in my case, anyway) you do begin to get used to it and once your eyebrows and lashes look good it can be quite liberating.

It might be a good time to give your skin a break and give the no makeup challenge a go.

Have you ever had a break from wearing makeup? We want to hear all about it.