I remember the days before we had children and there were no baby wipes in the house. They were dark days. Now, we have baby wipes in every room of the house and they are incredibly useful in many situations – even for us adults!
Most natural baby wipes are so gentle and mild that there is very little chance of irritation and they will do a good job cleaning the face or even removing makeup. Some wipe brands, however, might have alcohol, fragrances, or other chemicals that could irritate your skin or cause other complications.
If you are still a little worried and not sure what ingredients in your baby wipes could cause a problem, don’t worry. We’re going to go give you a few examples of common chemicals in baby wipes to avoid, compare baby wipes to commercial face cleansing wipes, and then give you a few recommendations for baby wipes that will do the trick for your baby AND your face!
Table of Contents
Can you use baby wipes to remove makeup?
Yes!
While they might not contain cleansers or astringents, baby wipes will do a great job removing most light makeup. The best part is that these wipes will be gentler and milder so you will have less chance of irritating your face.
Check out what Girl Meets Beauty thinks about using them on her face:
The safest baby wipes to use on your face are going to be the ones that avoid harsh chemicals so they won’t cause irritation. Most high-quality, natural baby wipes are going to be 99 percent or more water to begin with and will only include the most essential ingredients to get the job done right.
This means that almost any of them will likely be a solid choice to use on your face with little risk of irritation.
When it comes to skincare, sometimes less is more!
If you want to head over to my resource on the best natural baby wipes available that also happen to be biodegradable and better for the environment then check it out here. All of these will work great to remove makeup or just clean your face when needed.
Oh, and even the natural baby care wipes are likely to be cheaper than anything specifically formulated for your face – the beauty industry has a tendency to mark everything up sky high!
Can you use baby wipes on your eyes?
Yes!
One big issue with using cleaning cloths or wipes that have cleansers on them is that they could get into your eyes while removing eye makeup and cause them to sting. Because most natural baby wipes avoid these ingredients you aren’t likely to have a problem in this area!
Baby wipes vs beauty wipes or makeup removing wipes
I don’t have a lot of personal experience with commercial face wipes and my wife has never really used them much herself. As a guy, my face routine is basically a washcloth with hot water on it in the shower.
Once I started looking into the popular commercial options for face wipes, however, I discovered that they end up including a lot of the same sorts of chemicals that I am usually trying to avoid in products for my baby. I took a look at some of the top sellers on Amazon in the face cleansing category and picked the ‘Olay Daily Facials’ to look at more closely.
Here’s a picture of the ingredients list:
Wow, that’s a lot of ingredients that I can’t pronounce.
If you notice, the list includes parabens and phenoxyethanol which are all pretty bad news when it comes to human health. Parabens have been well documented and phenoxyethanol has been shown to cause negative effects as well.
Now, it’s likely that this product will do a better job removing makeup and all of the other things it’s recommended for, but I would rather avoid as many harsh chemicals as I can.
Another thing to point out is that these are priced at $.18 per wipe which is a LOT MORE than even the most premium, natural baby wipes on the market. Assuming they get the job done, you are likely to save a lot of money and take better care of your health by using natural baby wipes on your face instead of a commercial cleansing wipe.
Chemicals in wipes that could irritate your face
This question really comes down to your individual skin and how it reacts to different ingredients found in soaps, shampoos, cleansers, and the like.
If you have naturally sensitive skin, then you probably have more trouble finding products that work for you anyway. If your skin is as tough as shoe leather, like mine, then you’ll probably be able to handle almost anything. Of course, just because your skin can handle it doesn’t mean that you should be slathering chemicals all over your body.
The good news is that if you are using a natural, high-quality wipe for your baby in the first place your face is going to be in good shape because it’s not going to include many of the harsh ingredients below that could irritate the skin on your face or your baby’s bottom!
Let’s look at some of the most common ingredients in baby wipes that could cause problems for you if you used them on your face:
- Methylisothiazolinone (MIT or MI) – MI has had a lot of negative press recently and for good reason. It’s found in many different baby wipes and skincare products and it is a biocide used as a preservative to lengthen their shelf life. Unfortunately, it has been found to cause skin irritation with regular use and many people could have a sensitivity to it and not know it.
- Alcohols – This includes things like ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, alcohol denat, etc. They are usually included as a disinfectant or to help tighten then skin. Unfortunately, they can also cause a breakdown of the natural oils in your skin and cause irritation and even breakouts for people that already have dry skin.
- Chlorine – Think about what happens when you stay in the pool too long in the summer, your skin is often left feeling dry and tight. While a little chlorine isn’t necessarily a bad thing, this drying effect could cause you problems quickly if you are using it on your face every day.
- Sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate – This is a very common ingredient pair in personal care items. They are added as a surfactant which is basically a chemical that helps to break up oils so that they can be washed away more easily. Unfortunately, they can also irritate the skin over time so it might be a good idea to avoid them.
- Triclosan – While not extremely common in baby wipes, triclosan is a chemical added to many personal care items as an antibacterial agent. It’s been found to be a likely endocrine disruptor and is generally bad news.
This list is by no means exhaustive, but any of these could have a negative impact on your face if they are included in the baby wipes you are using on your face. For more information, you can check out my more comprehensive list of common chemicals in baby wipes to avoid.
Related Questions:
What if I need to carry wipes around in my purse or bag? Unfortunately, baby wipe packages don’t always come in the sleekest or compact designs. If you are trying to have a few handy on the run, look for a small travel case that you can place a few wipes into at a time. Here’s a tiny one I found on Amazon.
Will baby wipe fragrances make me smell like a baby? While some baby wipes are heavy in the fragrance department, most of my recommendations are actually fragrance-free which makes them a great choice for facial wipes!
