Less is More, right?

There’s always two sides to every story and the truth, as they say, is somewhere in the inbetween. Skincare is no different. Beauty therapists, dermal clinicians, aestheticians, skincare and cosmeceutical companies all have their own opinions and many are valid. I know in today’s fast paced lifestyle, with our filtered and cropped insta life,  our TikTok attention span, and lofty expectation inflation it’s easy to become overwhelmed by choice and instruction when it comes to our skin.

And with that, I have noticed a growing group of clients that have put down the products, all of them. And, while I am all about the KISS method - that’s, Keep it Stupid Simple, I do feel my anxiety start to rise when a client says they do nothing with their skin.

Our skin is our largest organ, a living, breathing, amazing, self regulating, self protecting organ. It has so many amazing abilities, like stopping our bits falling out obvi, protecting us from bacteria and pathogens, sealing up the cuts and cracks and it has its own built in cooling system, yup it’s sweat! And it does all of that on it’s own, without any consciousness or decision from us, pretty darn cool if you ask me.

But with technology and innovation, we know that skin could do with a little assistance, especially when it comes to preventing dehydration, sun damage and ageing. And, what makes me shudder is when I hear clients in my chair say they have downed all the tools. They’re not washing their face or maybe splashing fresh stream water like their great granny did, they’ve decided that their skin is the best expert on self cleaning and regulating. And while as noted above, the skin does a great many things, one thing is doesn’t do so well is self cleaning.

So what happens when you don’t wash your face or you splash it with water? Build up, oxidisation, dehydration, enlarged pores, and lets not forget our friendly fauna, the demodex mite. All of these can lead to premature ageing, skin irritations, potential acne, blackheads, oilier skin, dryer skin, or inflammation like eczema. When we neglect to wash and cleanse our skin, debris, oil, pollutants and dry and dehydrated skin begin to build up and at the beginning maybe you have more of a glow (umm yeah that’s oil) but over time this buildup enlarges pores and creates irritation. 

I suggest checking with your beauty therapist or dermal clinician for what will work for your skin and concerns. I am guilty of cleansing old school with the likes of St Ives Apricot scrub or Aapri, we tried to scrub our sins and upper dermis away before we knew any better, but as I gather more turns around the sun, I’ve realised that gentle and kindly is the best way to attend to your skin’s needs. I regularly cleanse (morning and night, yup) with a gentle, hydrating cleanser, and then 2 times a week, a gentle exfoliant and then skincare to address dehydration and TEWL. I wear makeup when I work and I will double cleanse to remove all traces of the day but even when I’ve only donned skincare for the day, I cleanse morning and night, because the world is dirty, AND, if you’re applying your daily sun protection (hello, lets reduce premature ageing and potential for cancer) you need a clean slate. I do adjust my skincare as the weather conditions cool down and the humidity leaves for a few short months but I always stick to something, and I urge you to also. Something simple, suited to your skin and lifestyle, but something, please.

Thanks for reading! Until next time.

Carly xx