Woman doesn't remove makeup for 22 years, gets mites on face: 'Feels like thousands of tiny...'

Using low-cost makeup products and exposure to chemicals while studying beauty and hairdressing worsened her skin problems. (Representational image: Unsplash, Grok)

A Chinese woman has caused widespread shock and disbelief across social media after revealing that her face became severely inflamed and infested with parasites, due to an astonishing 20-year-long habit of not removing her makeup.

The 37-year-old, identified only as Niuyoumian, shared her story in a social media post earlier this month which went viral. In a video, she showcased her swollen, red face and said that she experiences intense itching, and dense rashes, and is suffering from a condition best described as "hormone face."

Niuyoumian said that she began wearing makeup at 15 and never removed in for 22 consecutive years, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

The skin problem, she said, began even earlier, at 14, when an acne cream triggered initial allergic reactions. Since she was poor, she used to cover her acne with low-cost foundations. That and exposure to chemicals while studying beauty and hairdressing worsened her skin problems. She also opted for facial injections in 2011, which led to her face being disfigured.

The rash feels like thousands of tiny ants crawling on my face
"Before I turned 25, I didn’t realise how serious hormone skin issues could be. I thought a little redness or itchiness could be resolved with some ointment. But after 25, everything changed," SCMP quoted Niuyoumian as saying in the viral video. "I’ve tried every possible method, but I’m inherently impatient... I’d test a product for two days, then switch to another because someone else claimed it worked for them. That cycle only aggravated my skin – itchy, inflamed, and dotted with countless tiny bumps."

She then delivered a chilling detail of her suffering: "I suffer from rosacea and demodex mites (parasites). At its worst, the rash feels like thousands of tiny ants crawling on my face."

Her story shocked social media users. SCMP quoted one user as saying: “If you call her lazy, she still wakes up and does her make-up daily. If you call her diligent, she hasn’t removed it in 22 years!”

Another commented: “I’m curious – what prompted her to go 22 years without removing her makeup? Is it laziness or an unhealthy obsession with beauty? She started wearing make-up at 15. Didn’t her family provide any guidance?”