Well & Good: Skin in the Game

We are all beauty-marked. We each have our own unique facial structure, complexion, skin texture and even pore size.

So what do we do with it? How do we know what actually works for our skin when there are so many options out there?

Skincare education is vast, ever-changing and can be overwhelming. Let’s start small. In my experience as an esthetician, there are some basic rules to follow and some to break.

Rules to Follow

Keep it simple. With so many beauty subscription services at our disposal, we are in an endless cycle of product-pushing. While these services can lead to a meet-cute with your new favorite product, they can also overwhelm and confuse your skin. It takes about two months for your skin to get used to a single product and another two or three to start seeing real results. Don’t stop yourself from getting your monthly fix, just choose one product at a time to really try out.

Keep it consistent. No matter what age, start a routine. After the age of 20, the dermis layer produces 1% less collagen each year. The collagen and elastin fibers become thinner and looser, which eventually leads to wrinkling and sagging. Once we start losing our collagen, the fight is on. Whether you are 30 or 55, your arsenal at home can consist of the same key products (more on that in a bit). After cleansing, apply in order of the thinnest product to the thickest.

Keep it clean. Our skin is our largest organ, and since it’s porous, it absorbs whatever you put on it. A study published in the American Journal of Public Health looked into the skin’s absorption rates of chemicals found in drinking water and discovered the skin absorbed an average of 64% of them. What we put on our skin matters.

Enter “clean” skincare, which is made without ingredients shown or suspected to harm human health. These products can have synthetic ingredients as long as they are safe and non-toxic. This is different from organic skincare; organic ingredients refer to those grown in accordance with organic farming standards, meaning no chemical fertilizers, genetic modification or growth hormones. Some organic products can be much harsher than clean beauty products. Think of poison ivy — it’s organic, but would you rub it on your face? While some clean beauty products can be organic, they also don’t have to be, and vice versa.

Rules to Break

You should wash your face in the morning. Nope! It’s something that may seem counterintuitive, but trust me. Most of our restoration happens at night when we are all tucked in and our skin is not exposed to environmental pollutants. When you strip your skin of its essential oils that are naturally hydrating and protecting it first thing in the morning, your skin creates a panic response, sending your oil glands into overdrive. If you are experiencing acne or a rash, or if your skin feels tight/taut after washing, you’re likely stripping your skin. New rule of thumb: Cleanse at night, but in the morning use a micellar water or witch hazel to gently remove dirt without stripping your natural oil barrier.

You should use retinol routinely. Again, nope! While retinol is really good at turning over your skin cells, it’s also really good at overdoing it. Retinol takes your upper most dermal layers and tricks your skin into believing it’s damaged, so your skin peels and creates new cells. Opting for a glycolic or lactic acid treatment at home will also trick the skin into producing new cells, but without the harsh peeling. (Bonus: They also sink deeper into your dermal layers and work more from the inside out.) If you go this route, you can get a chemical peel in-spa to go deeper every four to six weeks.

Jade rolling works miracles for collagen. Sorry, but nope. Jade rolling can stimulate blood flow, but it will not affect the natural collagen production in your face. They’re about as effective as any form of facial massage — it just feels nice. If you want to actually create collagen, consider microneedling, which stimulates your natural collagen to create more.

Kimberly Cyr has more than 10 years of experience as an esthetician. You can find her at Studio2121 in Little Rock or on Instagram.

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