Did you wake up with something unwelcomed on your skin? Many of us do regularly. There are many sneaky reasons why your face may be breaking out (that don’t involve the obvious hormones or genetics) and we’ve broken down the most common below. Flawless complexion, here we come.

Ingredients In Your Makeup

Let us know if this sounds familiar. You get a zit, pile on concealer and foundation to cover it up, and then find that it doubled in size when you wash your face that evening. While you don’t have to throw out your favorite concealer, you should look at the labels to make sure you’re not covering your skin with harmful products. Avoid makeup that has mineral oil, isopropyl myristate, artificial fragrance and synthetic lanolin. These ingredients can irritate the skin and trap oil, which clogs your pores. Not ideal.

Hair Products

We hate to say it… but your beloved hairspray may be the cause of your skin woes. While we obviously don’t apply hair products to our faces, the oils and silicone in these products can easily transfer from the hair to the face. To avoid any breakouts due to hair products, try using a tissue to cover your forehead when applying anything to your roots (ahem, dry shampoo), avoid sleeping on your hair, and keep it out of your face as much as possible.

Dirty Brushes

Your legendary contour brush may be causing more harm than good. When you don’t wash your makeup brushes, unwanted bacteria and dirt get trapped in them and make their way onto your skin. It might seem like a chore if you have a collection of brushes, but it’s really important to clean them at least once a week. Otherwise, these applicators, brushes and sponges included, are essentially zit causing factories. Ew. We recommend squeezing a bit of baby shampoo into your palm and gently twisting the brush while lukewarm water falls onto your hand. Just be careful not to wet the part where the brush meets the stem!

Your Pillowcase

Your face is pressed onto your pillowcase for hours and if it’s not clean, you’re essentially allowing all of the dead skin and bacteria that cumulates there to transfer onto your skin. To avoid a sleep-induced pimple, try switching out your pillowcase once a week or buy an antibacterial pillowcase made with silver ions like this one.

Touching Your Face

Your first step to seeing a clearer complexion may come from resisting the urge to touch your face with your hands or any other potentially dirty objects. Constantly talking on your cell phone, resting your hands on your chin or unconsciously touching your face throughout the day can transfer all kinds of acne-causing things to your face. Most surfaces are covered in bacteria…so the next time you want to touch your face after holding onto the hand poles of the subway, think again.