The next time you consider sleeping with make-up on, remember this story.

A 37-year-old woman from Jilin, China, has gone viral after revealing that she hasn’t properly removed her make-up in 22 years.

Yes — over two decades without a proper cleanse.

This has caused her face to become severely swollen, inflamed, and so hardened it has been described as crust-like.

Her skin turned a shocking shade of red, drawing online comparisons to Guan Gong, the Chinese deity known for his crimson face.

In a viral video, the woman, identified as Ms Gao, lamented: “The itch is unbearable… I hide at home every day. I don’t dare to go out.”

Her face, visibly swollen and red, looked like an overripe tomato. 

She appeared to struggle to open her eyes, with dense red rashes covering her skin.

She described it as burning, tightening, and unbearably itchy, adding: “My whole face is wrinkled and hideous. I don’t dare to step outside, meet people, or make friends.”

Gao said her obsession with make-up started at 15 years old, after secretly trying on her mother’s lipstick.

She became hooked on cosmetics but found make-up removal “too troublesome”.

“Why bother removing it if I have to put it back on the next day?” she said.

So, for 22 years, she simply rinsed her face with water at night.

Occasionally, she broke out in pimples, but she brushed it off — until this year, when she developed an extreme allergic reaction, swelling so badly that her facial features became unrecognisable.

Despite the alarming condition, Gao didn’t see a dermatologist.

Instead, she went to a medical aesthetics clinic for a "skin booster" injection — a decision that made things worse.

Her skin became dull, stiffer, and turned a disturbing purple hue.

Some medical professionals have questioned the claim that she didn’t remove make-up for 22 years.

Dermatologists suspect her condition may have been caused or worsened by other factors such as failed aesthetic procedures, steroid-laced skincare products, or even over-cleansing.

Some suggested her symptoms resemble rosacea or steroid-dependent dermatitis, both often linked to excessive use of harsh skincare products, rather than just poor hygiene.

The story also sparked online debate. Many netizens suspected she had undergone cosmetic enhancements, like a chin implant, with some joking that her entire face looked like “a fusion of high-tech and high-risk beauty hacks.”

There were sarcastic comments like “This isn’t make-up — it’s paint” and “How many coats did she plaster on her face?”

But others pointed to a deeper issue — the pressure of beauty standards and social anxiety.

“She’s not really afraid to be seen — she’s afraid of being judged,” one netizen wrote. “But online, she can turn her ‘ruined face’ into attention and traffic.”   Another asked: “Why didn’t she seek help earlier? Now she’s just using her face to try and make a comeback.”  

Photos: 长春西门大官人/Weibo