Perfect Skin?
There is no such thing as perfect skin. The celebrities we see with "perfect" skin have experts behind them filling and injecting and lasering. The influencers we see with poreless flawless skin are often using filters or have amazing lighting.
Normal skin has pores and texture, peach fuzz, freckles, wrinkles, pigmentation, redness, blackheads, pimples and acne. Some people are genetically gifted with more balanced skin, and when looked after properly with daily cleansing, moisturising and SPF, can appear to have the most amazing skin with very little effort. Others are gifted with imbalanced skin and require a bit more work and sometimes intervention by dermatologists.
Daily Skin Rituals
Our skin rituals are very personal. Two people may have the same skin type but products that work for one do not work for another. The texture, the smell, the level of sensitivity and the overall experience of each product will be appreciated (or not) by different people. When trying to work out what products give the most benefit to your skin during your daily skincare rituals, it is helpful to understand what your skin is naturally 'supposed' to be doing and how to support your skin with the right products for your unique skin.
YOUR SKIN IS NOT A SPONGE!
Your skin does not absorb 60% of what it is exposed to. It's primary function is to keep the unnecessary out, and the necessary in. Can you imagine what you would look like after a bath or after spraying your hands with hand sanitizer if this were true? You'd look like a water balloon and you'd be drunk all the time with 75% alcohol being rubbed onto your skin every time you walk into a shop!
Any skincare purchased without a prescription and that is not injected will not penetrate beyond the outer most layer of the skin - the epidermis. The epidermis consists of maturing skin cells - the most mature make up the final layer before they slough off to reveal 'newer' skin. It also includes proteins, lipids, hyaluronic acid, ceramides and natural moisturising factors (NMFs) and is the barrier that keeps the 'good stuff' in and the 'bad stuff' out.
Sebum (oil) and sweat mix together on the surface of the skin to create the protective acid mantle. It is important to maintain a balanced pH in order to maintain a healthy microbiome where good and bad bacteria and other microbes reside.
The Dam Wall : Your Barrier
It helps to picture your barrier as a dam wall:
All of the bricks (cells) and mortar (proteins and lipids) that are produced provide structure and seal that prevents water from leaking (evaporating) from the the dam (your body). If the dam wall is compromised by outside aggressors trying to break through the wall (environment and lifestyle) this leads to leaks and moisture loss.
Over-exfoliating your skin removes the top layer of mature cells. While cell turnover is a natural process your skin works through, it occasionally needs some assistance to speed up this process. However, over-exfoliating means that your skin cannot replace the 'brick' layer of your barrier faster than it is exfoliated away, and this leads to increased water loss and irritation and sensitivity.
So What is YOUR Happy Skin?
The first step in working out what your unique skin needs are is by working out your skin type. Skin type may change over time and change through the seasons, which means that your skincare ritual also needs to be adjusted to give your skin what it needs. Once you understand your skin type, you can investigate your skin conditions (symptoms of skin type or result of lifestyle). Then you can explore the products you feel would address your type and condition(s). From there you can look at personal preference : textures, scents, price point etc.
There are some skin conditions and diseases that need to be addressed by a dermatologist.
See our Skin Type page.
