…..was the response that one of my 11 year old twin girls answered to a few friends in school when they asked “why don’t you have bad spots on your face like we do?”....
Wow, I could have had the ground open and swallow me up right there and then! My first comment upon hearing this was “I hope you said that in a nice and courteous way?” To which they both assured me it was. Do you remember being able to get away with being so honest and blunt as a child? As an adult - it’s still cringe worthy sometimes….
Having dealt with clients for over 15 years who have suffered with serious skin conditions (such as eczema, psoriasis, acne, rosacea, skin cancers), not to mention the anxiety & confidence issues around those, to the point where they have felt like they can’t leave the house, I am always so conscious as to how people bring up such issues with others.
I think it’s safe to say that skin & skincare is not something that we are really educated on! There is a lot of good/bad marketing & advertising out there around what we should and shouldn’t do, or put on our skin - but no one actually teaches young teenagers or adults about our skin & the effects of not looking after it properly can have on us - this includes cleaning it!
I remember as a young girl me & my friends sneaking into our mum’s makeup and cosmetic bags (Oil of Ulay was all the rage back then amongst our parents), & we’d sit with our friends trying the different products and make up colours on only to look horrendous - We didn’t have a clue what we where doing! Just google some 1980’s makeup trends/looks & you’ll easily see what I mean. Blue and Pink was all in lol!
Seriously though - we are all born into the world, and from a young age we need to be taken to the hairdresser for a trim, cut or for those cute little curls to be tamed…. If we didn’t go regularly and have our hair maintained, it would grow wild, cause us issues and look awful. This is exactly the same for our skin!
Our skin cells shed on a daily basis & if we don’t look after & maintain our skin during this process, then we start to encounter certain skin conditions (Acne, Eczema, Dry skin, Oily skin to name a few). This is the same for everyone regardless of age or gender.
Follow me as I delve deeper into how to wash your face properly to help clear certain skin issues & to ensure you maintain healthy skin going forward, & what can happen if we don’t wash our skin properly…
Our skin is the largest organ on our body & is made up of 3 main layers & has many functions..
The 3 Basic Layers of Skin Are:
1 - Epidermis
This is the outermost layer. It is a waterproof barrier that gives skin its tone. Its main functions are to make new skin cells, to give the skin its colour & to protect the body from the external environment.
The epidermis constantly makes new cells in its lower layers. Over the course of around 6-8 weeks, these cells make their way to the surface, become hard, and replace the shedding, dead cells.
Keratinocytes are the most common type of cells within the epidermis. Their job is to act as a barrier against bacteria, parasites, fungi, viruses, heat, UV rays, and water loss.
The epidermis does not contain blood vessels. The colour of the skin comes from a pigment called melanin, which is produced by melanocytes. These are found in the epidermis and protect the skin from UV rays.
2 - Dermis
This layer serves as connective tissue and protects the body from stress and strain. It also gives the skin strength and elasticity. The Dermis layer also helps to make sweat and oil,to provide sensation and blood to the skin & to grow hair.
The reason the dermis can perform these functions is that it houses the hair follicles, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels. It is home to a number of glands, including sweat glands and sebaceous glands, which produce sebum, an oil that lubricates and waterproofs hair.
The dermis also contains receptors that detect pressure, pain, and heat.
3 - Hypodermis
This contains fat, connective tissue, and elastin, which is an elastic protein that helps tissues return to their normal shape after stretching. The high levels of fat help insulate the body and prevent a person from losing too much heat. The fat layer also acts as protection, padding the bones and muscles.
So where do you start I hear you ask?
As mentioned previously, it takes between 28 days & 42 days for every skin cell to be renewed. This is where the most important part of your skin cleaning process comes in. It is the exfoliation! This must go hand in hand with moisturising as you must always hydrate the skin after any form of exfoliation.
There are different types & grades of exfoliation, and not all of them can be used on the face or daily for that matter. You really need to find the right one for you & your skin type that absolutely gives you the results that you are looking for. Speaking to someone like myself can easily and quickly help you to narrow this down.
I want you to imagine the daily stresses that your skin goes through….
Dead skin cells are shedding, dirt is collecting on your skin from soot & pollution (fumes), the grease and food residue from our fingers when we unknowingly touch our face throughout the day, make up (if you wear it), the natural sebum oil produced to help clear all this dirt and gunk from within your pores.
If we don’t wash our skin properly and get rid of all this build up, guess what happens? We go to bed, and we naturally sweat in our sleep. All the oil, dirt, grime & gunk from the day plus the sweat, gets pushed into our pillowcase.
We wake up in the morning, rinse our face with water, apply creams, more make up, and go out and collect more dirt, pollution, grime etc….
Now let’s say the average household washes their bedding once a week…..Imagine the build up of all of the above that we are sleeping on each night pushing more and more ‘stuff ‘into our pores? YUCK - So by cleaning our skin properly we ensure we get rid of all that first, sweat, make up, gunk etc as well as helping to clear the dead skin,so we can reveal the new skin underneath, then the serums & moisturisers we do put onto our skin will actually be absorbed into the skin, hydrate it & nourish it with all the nutrients and goodies it needs.
These serums and such are generally specific to our own skin needs depending on what we want to achieve or target. Reducing fine lines may be your goal, or getting rid of spots, redness, pigmentation & discolouration etc - Again, this is where I work with clients to address their specific needs & work individually with them to help this process & achieve their skin goals.
After exfoliating you must ensure you moisturise & hydrate this clean, new skin of yours. Why? During the exfoliating process, some of your skin’s natural oils can be stripped away & so we need to replenish that and ensure your skin doesn't become too dry. This goes for oily skin too! Yes, even oily skin can be dry… (we can cover skin myths another day though).
However, if you are using serums and skin supplements to address specific skin needs, then these need to be applied before the moisturiser is applied. This is to allow the serums to be absorbed into the new, clean skin & penetrate deep within the different layers of the dermis - remember the collagen is in a lower dermis layer so it needs to get deep down to do its job!
Once the serums have been applied, your moisturiser can then hydrate the skin & help lock in the serums, and start to protect or repair your skin throughout the day (depending on whether it’s day or night)... Oh yes - ideally you need 2 moisturisers… 1 for the day to help protect and defend your skin from outside stressors such as pollution, free radicals and the UVA/UVB rays, and then a night moisturiser to help replenish and repair the skin during the natural restoration process your skin automatically goes into in an evening.
Again, if you don’t exfoliate and clean your skin properly, then these serums and moisturisers are sitting on dull, dry, dead skin. Add that to the mix of clogged pores and it’s easy to see why the serums & moisturisers alone aren’t doing anything other than creating potential skin problems as well as wasting your time, effort and money!
To finish off any great skincare routine, you will probably want to invest in an eye cream. The skin around our eyes is very sensitive and thin, fragile, more prone to dryness, and quicker to show age and fatigue and so tends to be where we see the first signs of ageing. Add in that we tend to pull and tug at the delicate skin whilst applying eyeliner, taking off eye shadow & eye makeup etc and you have a good idea as to what we put the skin around our eyes through.
Then factor in things such as squinting and constant movement of the eyes which can also enhance the appearance of lines and wrinkles, and fluids collect under the eyes and cause puffiness and dark circles. Eye creams can address some of these issues, whereas your go to moisturiser would struggle to tackle these elements alone.
I personally don’t have time for lotions & potions & you certainly don’t need lotions and potions to get and maintain great skin, and so my daily routine (morning and evening), takes me 2-3 minutes to do with 3 products that give my skin over 20 benefits daily. I’ve used the same brand for 26 years & love that it is quick, easy, lasts around 6-7 months and doesn't break the bank. So please don’t get fooled into all the good/bad marketing and advertising I mentioned earlier.
Remember we mentioned looking after your skin from an early age? I have come across (and still do so), many people in their 20’s & 30’s saying their skin looks ok & they don’t need to nourish their skin as they have no fine lines or wrinkles! Well my lovelies, what they don’t realise is that from your late teens/early 20’s, the natural scaffolding under your skin aka collagen, starts to break down…. If this breaks down from the outside in, then you start to see lines and wrinkles early on. However, if you're lucky enough to have this break down from the inside out, then although the internal structure is failing, the outside scaffolding is held in place longer. This gives a false sense of security… You get to your 50’s or later and think yes - I’m looking amazing for my age, then boom… it happens, that one day you wake up and see those wrinkles - because the little bit of the outside structure that has been holding on for so long has just failed and so all the previous damage is now starting to become visible.
Maintaining healthy skin from around 13 years of age is ultimately the best course of action, but there is hope for us all whatever our skin type, age, gender or how bad we think our skin is… We can undo most of the damage and the ageing that has already occurred during our lifetime. With some top tips, go to insights and specifically targeted skin plans and a basic skincare routine, you can begin the process of rejuvenation.
Book a Free Consultation with me today via https://calendly.com/naturalskinbylynne
For more information, help or advice on your skin please get in touch –
Your skin will thank you!
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