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In your quest for youthful-looking skin, it can be easy to overlook the intricate functions your skin performs beyond aesthetics. Your skin is not merely skin deep it’s your body’s first line of defense against external agents and without your skin, you would quickly suffer from bacterial infiltration, water and heat loss, in short, you wouldn’t survive or thrive without it.
“As a mirror of our overall well-being, healthy youthful-looking skin improves self-confidence and self-esteem and enhances quality of life - psychological factor.
On the contrary, when you are struggling with acne, eczema, redness, perineal dermatitis and other skin conditions it doesn’t make you feel comfortable in your skin.”
As you age the physiological changes that come along with the increasing years impact the way your skin functions impairing its ability to protect us in the way it is designed to. As the years pass we see a reduction in the skin barrier function, epidermal cell turnover, keratinocyte and fibroblast proliferation along with reduced vascular networks which serve to deliver oxygen and nutrients to the tissues while also removing metabolic byproducts.
When you understand what is happening on and beneath the surface of your skin you can get clearer on what your skin needs to function effectively as well as look good. This understanding is key and will shift your perspective to a more holistic approach to skincare and make you realise great, organic, skincare and a daily skin routine are non-negotiable.
So join us as we journey through and learn how to care for your skin and appearance from both a functional and aesthetic perspective
At the forefront of skin health lies its barrier function, which we’ve talked about in our skin barrier post.
Your skin is intricately constructed to protect you against dehydration, penetration of germs, allergens, irritants, oxidative radicals and ultraviolet radiation. All the things on the outside that you don’t want on the inside.
The skin’s appearance is reliant on optional barrier function and its ability to carry out immune surveillance, adjust trans-epidermal water loss and tend to microbes and other pathogens. When the skin is compromised by excess UV exposure, wounding, skin disrupting treatments (such as microdermabrasion, laser rejuvenation, excessive and strong peels) or aggressive substances in products it can no longer function effectively, meaning skin health deteriorates and age-related changes expedite.
Your skin’s barrier needs love to preserve these vital functions. What this means is choosing skincare products that mimic the natural structures of our skin and support it to function optimally.
When it comes to skincare, less is often more.
Our skin is inextricably connected to our immune system. When we are under attack or threat from external pathogens our skin tells that story. A healthy immune system is adaptive and resilient, which shows on our skin as vitality, but when it’s stressed or weakened the skin microbiome and barrier can become disrupted too.
Stress dials down our immune systems’ ability to respond and fight off threats. Adrenaline which is released in droves during the stress response causes blood to move away from the skin and toward the muscles. Cortisol, the other horseman of the stress response, deprives our skin of necessary nutrients disrupting the skin microbiome and weakening the skin barrier – over time this increases collagen breakdown and speeds up skin aging.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our immune systems in numerous ways and has caused changes in many people’s gut and skin microbiomes compromising their skin’s ability to function properly. It is therefore so important we start loving our skin and providing it with the products and care it needs right now.
When the skin barrier is impaired through immune disruption or harsh treatments it is vital that products are introduced slowly. For severely impaired barriers that might look like very minimal product application to begin with, perhaps once every other day, to allow the skin to begin repairing without overwhelming it.
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“Daily skincare routines potentially have the most significant long-term impact on the overall quality of a person’s complexion.”
For the skin to function effectively and maintain its vitality you need to look for ingredients like water, fatty acids, ceramides, and cholesterol, which all play a crucial role in nourishing and supporting your skin’s integrity, in the products you use.
Opting for products that are free from harmful substances such as irritants, allergens, and synthetic additives and instead, prioritising formulations that nourish and protect the skin, promoting its overall health and resilience is the way to love your skin in the way it wants to be loved.
All of us are told by marketing machines everywhere that our ageing skin is something we need to fix, change and smother with products that are questionably doing the opposite of what they claim. Instead, we need to shift from a perspective of reversing the ageing our skin shows to one of preventing it from happening in the first place and helping it to function optimally.
Many people think that nutrition alone is enough to have great skin. But this is a myth.
Is your daily food’s nutritional value high enough to keep your organs functioning to their optimum?
Does your diet include all the essential minerals, vitamins, essential fatty acids and other important elements your skin needs to cope with environmental stressors as well as feeding the skin?
For the majority, the answer is no!
When you consider that your organs take up most of the nutrition before it even reaches the skin it’s clear why nutrition alone isn’t enough to support the skin and why topical treatment is so important.
Relying solely on the food you eat to feed your skin will likely be inadequate and to maintain a healthy skin barrier you must take a double-pronged approach. Ensuring we use biologically mimetic products (which simply means products that mimic the dermal membrane structures) and providing our bodies with the right nutrition is the gold standard of vital, healthy-looking skin.
By understanding your skin’s individual needs and maintaining its balance, you can prevent future issues, delay age-related changes and promote long-term skin health.
Some people are blessed with great thick skin which means they see relatively few skin issues but are more often than not the ones who wake up one morning to see a dull, aged face wishing they could have done something to prevent it. Others are not so blessed and can experience a host of skin-related conditions such as acne, eczema, and dermatitis just to name a few and these people tend to be more aware of what they use on their skin.
Time and time again we see those with a genetic predisposition to a thicker skin barrier using too invasive products or treatments which results in many different skin issues down the line. This is why it is important to understand your unique skin composition and what your skin needs to maintain its homeostasis given this information.
Fitzpatrick skin typing is a way of understanding the general characteristics of your skin and how to prevent skin issues and damage. While normally used to predict the risk of skin cancer and sun damage it can also be used to evaluate the response of different skin types to commonly used cosmetic procedures and therefore commonly used in cosmetic dermatology.
By understanding your Fitzpatrick skin type and whether you are more prone to getting skin cancer and sun damage you can take the right preventative steps for your skin. Those with thicker skin types, and more oil flow are naturally more protected from the sun but those with more vulnerable skin types would benefit from more antioxidants and products that keep the barrier strong.
This understanding is the key to caring for your skin across its lifetime.
"Without an at-home skincare routine as part of the treatment plan, we are missing an opportunity to enhance the results of their cosmetic procedure."
Cosmetic procedures like Botox and fillers might be part of your treatment to address specific appearance concerns, but they should always complement rather than replace your skincare routine.
These treatments might have an impact on specific aspects of ageing such as deeper wrinkles, sagging and volume loss, but they don’t tend to the overall health and quality of the skin which does a lot for a more youthful appearance.
Regardless of whether you choose to undergo such treatments, a separate at-home skincare regimen is essential for achieving optimal results maintaining skin health and getting the most out of your cosmetic procedures. What you seek at the end of the day is not just wrinkle-free skin – what you seek is healthy-looking skin.
“Protection, prevention, cleansing, and moisturizing are the key components of an effective skincare routine”
Understanding the role our skin plays in safeguarding our overall well-being and the unique disposition of the skin barrier from person to person empowers us to take a more holistic approach to skincare.
Beyond cosmetic treatment and harsh products that strip the skin of its vital protective layers, we need to start prioritising skincare that provides nourishment, protection and preventive care to our skin.
By choosing biologically mimetic products and committing to a daily skincare routine you can nurture your skin and protect it from the inevitability of age and time. By nurturing your skin’s resilience from as early as possible we can ensure it holds onto its vitality for as long as possible.
It is up to you to start taking care of your skin but we are here to make that whole process simple and easy by taking the guesswork out of products and guiding you towards what your skin needs right now and throughout the different stages of your life.
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