I’m going to tell you the story of how my face-washing routine destroyed a relationship (twice). That’s right; I went through a breakup with the same person two times in order to preserve my right to a stable skin care regimen.

Let’s start with the guy: he was super cute, funny, interesting, smart, and (perhaps best of all) he was a great cook. He had a really good job and my family adored him. After a time, we settled into a routine (as all couples do) and little things began to bother each of us. I disliked his tendency to over-analyze everything, and he… well, he hated that I wash my face every night. I can’t sleep with a dirty face. No matter how tired or lazy I’m feeling I will find a way to get up and wash my face without fail. This takes about five minutes every night. No big deal, right? Wrong.

To him, my routine was annoying and disruptive to his normal sleep patterns. The situation finally came to a head one night when he insisted that I neglect my routine and let him fall asleep in peace. ‘You’ll wake me up!’ he whined, but I wasn’t going to budge. I informed him that I was either going to wash my face at his house or in my own, but either way, my face was getting cleaned that night. Needless to say, I drove home very angrily, washed my face, and never looked back. Several days later he called to reconcile, but I was having none of it. As with all things, though, my negative feelings toward him softened with time and when I ran into him nearly two years later, I suddenly remember how smart, funny, cute etc. that he had been. ‘Why did we break up?’ we asked each other. ‘That was the most ridiculous breakup ever!’ We got back together again and even had fun re-telling our silly breakup story to anyone who would listen. I don’t think I need to tell you what happened next. That’s right—we had the same fight all over again and finally ended things for good. The moral of this story really has nothing to do with washing your face (although, seriously, it’s important). When you get right down to it, my fight to save my routine was about much more than hygiene. It was my way of saying that the person who is right for me will let me be myself. As for that dude, here’s hoping he’s found a nice girl with questionable hygiene. (In case you’re wondering, my nightly routine includes our Enzyme Cleansing Gel, Special Cucumber Lotion, Oil-Free Moisturizer, and Ceramide Eye Gel)