Overburdening the Skin

Our constant search for that ever elusive ‘ANTI-AGEING’ elixir is on-going and with great marketing and big beauty brands that sell this story well, we are forever trying the best new thing on our skins.  In most cases it is multiple products and/or very active products that we put onto our skins every day. 

Have you ever felt that you use all these products but wonder whether they are REALLY working? I have!! There was a time when if you saw the state of my bathroom with the over-flow of expensive product you would have thought I should have the most incredible skin. Truth be told I didn’t - but why? 

The skin is merely trying to do its thing of protecting us from the outside world and shielding us from climate changes. Yes, in some instances we do need to assist it along but support is what it needs - not over burdening it with heavy ingredients that are super active.

What happens when the skin is overburdened? 

Depending on what we are pumping into our skins, we can most certainly experience one or more of the following:

1. TOO MUCH PRODUCT

Layer upon later upon layer- ever seen those posts where people show how FULL their bathroom is with there skincare? Well, that was me a few years ago. For years I used almost every single product I could get my hands on!! The funny thing though- when I was faced with the biggest stress in my life- I developed ACNE at the age if 33! Now, if my skins resistance was good, I should have had a less severe reaction to this stressed state, where the breakouts would have healed better, but this was not the case. 

After being told by Doctors (who I used to do a bit of work with), that I would definitely need to go on to Roaccutane I eventually decided to slow down and listen to the skin! 

Which led me on this incredible discovery that LESS (of the right nutrients) is MORE! 

By over burdening the skin we simply interfere too much with its OWN natural abilities. My skin had become too reliant on what i was giving it that it most certainly felt like it had STOPPED doing what it could do on its own. By simply nurturing the skin and taking better care of our health and wellness, we can use a MUCH simpler skincare routine that works with the skin by giving it FUEL to operate at its potential, rather than suffocating its real abilities. 

2. TOO ACTIVE PRODUCT 

There is again so much available to us with regards to activity of products and in some instances we can cause quite a bit of sensitivity with too high concentrations. The skin can only absorb so much - so lets stop force feeding it? 

Use active product that has gentle quantities of ingredients that allow for a gradual intake of nutrients that again, SUPPORT the cells functions. Most product forces the cells to do something when there is insufficient fuel or energy within the cell - Kind of like what we do to our bodies on a daily basis: Push, push, push ! So what if we slowed down, allowed for our energy reserves to elevate how much more productive are we then? Same with skin…….

An active facial once a month should be sufficient in re-charging the skin and boosting its performance. 

3. THE WRONG STUFF

There is so much to say here about what could can go wrong with the choice of skincare for our skins: but if we could just keep it simple lets rather look at WHAT SKIN NEEDS? What are the core nutrients that a skin cell needs to function optimally - The RIGHT stuff. 

SIMPLE, with skincare we should:

• aim to increase the skins immunity by stabilising its ph and supporting the langerhans cells. We can do this by using product that range from 4.5-5.5 PH and have essential oils like lavender and frankincense. Bulgarian Rose water helps to increase the function of the Langerhans cell, which are essential in our skins immune response.
• Deliver the necessary micronutrients to fuel the skin cell in its daily functioning (coQ10, Vit A, C, D, E and B3) as well as enforce a strong anti oxidant effect on the cells (resveratrol, white/green tea extracts) 
• Shield/protect the moisture barrier and help the cell membrane remain in tact. Picture a light film that surround each skin cell thus keeping it intact and reinforcing its outer structure. thereby locking the nutrients and moisture within the skin and sustaining its supplies and duarbility. The BEST ingredients for this should contain high levels of HA, ceramides and Essential fatty acids (e.g hem seed oils). 

My skin is the best its ever been and I am continually being exposed to life stressors (we all are) but by simplifying my skincare routine and focusing on those 3 important things for the skin, my skin goes from strength to strength.