Sleeping with your makeup on is one of the most criminal beauty acts you could ever commit, and will definitely cause a few skin issues in the long run (think: breakouts, irritated skin, dryness, even eye infections). But we get it — sometimes, a nighttime trip to the bathroom to repeat an entire skincare routine feels straight-up exhausting. Plus, scrubbing stubborn eye makeup off can be another nuisance to address.

Although there’s no getting around washing your face and following your nighttime skincare routine, washing your face at night is more important than washing your face in the morning. Luckily, makeup remover wipes make this essential skincare step a little easier. These nifty wipes take mere seconds to rid your complexion of any pore-clogging makeup, sweat, and other impurities, and they’re a simple shortcut to make your double cleansing routine go by just a bit faster.

The Best Makeup Remover Wipes

What to Consider

Skin Sensitivity

If you’ve used face wipes that leave a stinging, burning sensation on your skin, it’s likely your skin is too sensitive for the formula. If you know you have sensitive skin, then look out for formulas that are hypoallergenic and gentle. You should also avoid any wipes with harsher ingredients like alcohol, essential oils, and added fragrances. As always, with any new skincare product, patch test on your arm before you wipe your face to make sure you won’t have an allergic reaction or skin irritation of any kind.

But it’s not just formulas that can irritate your skin — swiping your makeup remover wipes too hard can also cause irritation. When using a makeup remover wipe, it’s important to use light, gentle strokes in order to not irritate your skin. However, if you’re stroking your face as gently as you would a newborn kitten and it still causes that annoying burning sensation, then there’s something in the formula that’s causing that irritation.

Efficacy

Unfortunately, not all makeup wipes are made equally, and to be frank, some formulas just suck. If your makeup wipes aren’t moist straight from the package and feel irritating on your skin, you either got a bad/expired batch, or they’re just not good to begin with, which is always an annoying waste of money. Thankfully, all of the makeup remover wipes on this list have been tested personally by our beauty editor, Jennifer Hussein, at some point in time, and she gives all of these picks her stamp of approval. But everyone’s skin is different, so yet again, patch test before you use any of these wipes.

Sustainability

There’s an enormous elephant in the room that we have to address: the environmental impact of makeup remover wipes. There’s no dancing around the fact that single-use makeup removing wipes are absolutely terrible for the environment, and according to the Food and Drug Administration, most of the makeup wipes on the market are made out of materials like polyester, polypropylene, cotton, wood pulp, or rayon fibers, many of which aren’t biodegradable.

Yes, there are a few biodegradable and compostable options to use, but they still take years to break down. If you want a more eco-friendly option, we recommend investing in a few reusable cotton rounds, which do the job just as well without impacting the environment or irritating your complexion.

However, if you would rather stick to single-use makeup remover wipes, that’s your prerogative. So, if you’re a die-hard makeup wipe fan, check out a few of our favorites below.