Have we been showering at the wrong time this entire time?

If you begin each day by jumping into the shower, you might be surprised to learn that you may have been choosing the wrong time of day to lather up.

New findings by Swedish beauty and wellbeing brand FOREO in partnership with YouGov, found that 61% of Brits opt to shower in the morning.

Of course, this makes total sense as who wants to hit the morning commute sans washing, but according to research by dermatologist Dr Simon Zokai, it’s actually far better for your skin to shower before you go to bed.

Having consulted Dr Zokai, the FOREO team concluded that an evening shower has advantages for skin health, as it helps remove the build up of dirt, germs and pollution that accumulates on our skin during the day. Grim!

If you wait until the next morning to wash, the contaminants will remain on your body while you sleep, giving them more time to seep into the pores.

And this can potentially have some pretty nasty consequences for our skin including blotches, imperfections, marks and long-term skin damage.

READ MORE: British people vote for showers over baths

Commenting on the findings, Boris Raspudic, general manager of FOREO said: "It's an argument with some very vocal proponents on both sides but, when it comes to skincare, showering in the evening really is the best option, as it helps remove all of the make-up, oil, dirt and pollutants that have accumulated throughout the day.

"It seems obvious when you say it out loud, but why would you want to get into bed with dirt on your face?

"While showering in the morning might help wake you up, and provide that much needed time to plan your day, the benefits for your skin are much reduced

But what should we do if we really don’t fancy skipping our am shower time?

“If you have to shower in the morning, building in a quick evening rinse will significantly help your skin's health,” Raspudic says.

READ MORE: Are cold showers really that good for you?

How we shower has been causing quite the stir of late.

Back in May Twitter was divided about whether you should wash your legs when you take a shower.

Though it may seem difficult to shower without washing your legs, in fact 20% of people have confessed that they skip their legs altogether during shower time.

Turns out we might also be showering too much.

Previous studies having shown that showering too much can damage the ‘microbiome’, the community of microbes that live on us.

And a more recent study of the Yanomami peoole in the Amazon found that they had a far richer community of microbes in their skin, mouths and faeces, according to IFLScience.