A weekly pillowcase ritual every bride should follow for clear skin this wedding season

Have you ever felt like your skin is playing hard to get, refusing to reveal its true potential despite your best efforts? Perhaps there's a secret ingredient, a hidden gem, or an elusive factor that has dodged your skincare routine. Curious to uncover this missing link? While we spend an inordinate number of hours maintaining, managing, monitoring, and rigorously following a skincare routine, we often seem to ignore external contributors that help the skin truly breathe. 

For all you brides out there, you may have set routines for healthy hair, diet, and skin during the run-up to your wedding day (and after that) but it's time to shift your focus to a place where you spend one-third of the day—in the bed.

The pillow you sleep on may have a lot to do with your skin's health 

When following a skincare routine, we must factor in variables like dust mites, accumulated environmental pollutants, pet hair, debris, and worst of all, bacteria. Research suggests that human beings shed 30,000 to 40,000 skin cells every day. When we spend seven to eight hours in bed, we forget about the pillow fabrics where we end up transferring all the dirt right back and allow it to develop, grow, and worse, even multiply. 

ITC Dermafique Skin expert Dr Aparna Santhanam says, "Washing your face with water and facewash, can sometimes not be enough. Additional steps are paramount, for maximum results. I recommend changing the pillowcase weekly to help your skin breathe at night, which is extremely crucial, as most of the repairing happens during that time. This is important to reduce any risks of acne and resting on an oily, bacteria-laden pillowcase leads to damage as we expose the skin to irritants."

She further added, "We should remember that while our faces are the carriers of dirt, our hair holds more dirt than any other part of the body, and every night, our hair rubs on the pillowcases leaving behind bacteria, dirt, dead skin cells, oil, sweat and much more. For overall hygiene as well, we should change the pillowcases as a habit."

This practice should become an unconscious habit over time. Following this practice religiously is only going to help elevate your skincare process. Just as we change our bedsheets and clothes, and remember to take care of our bodies by bathing daily, so we should take care of our external, environmental contributors as well.

What you need to change and take care of

If you deal with serious skin conditions, it is best to change your pillowcases every three days to protect your skin. It is a simple task that can yield impressive results from preventing overnight breakouts to bringing balance to your skin by further providing a shield, of sorts. 

The fabric of your pillowcase plays a significant role in your skin’s hydration levels. Certain pillowcase materials, like cotton, can absorb moisture from your skin, leaving it feeling dry. As a result, silk or satin pillowcases can help the skin retain more water, reducing the possibility of waking up with dehydrated skin. No matter what material your pillowcase is made from, changing it frequently ensures that it is free of excess oils and sweat, resulting in soft and supple skin as you wake up.

So, the next time you decide against changing your pillowcase regularly, remember that this little addition to your routine is a long-term investment and it won't disappoint.