To say that skin-care has become a trend would be an understatement. In the past year the industry has grown by 13%, hitting an all-time high of $USD 5b/n. Skin-care has become a way of life, a mindset that equates buying expensive products to ‘taking care’ of your skin and, by extension, yourself. It’s no secret that advertisements and marketing campaigns always target peoples’ insecurities to sell more, making you feel as if your life is incomplete without their product.
But, when it comes to the skin-care industry, consumers do the marketing for them. Since the industry targets women, and women stereotypically are more likely to discuss ‘health’ concerns, products are recommended, swapped, tested, and consumed all in one sitting without marketing executives having to lift a finger. And, because of the variety and span of products, if one doesn’t work you can just move on to the next one, creating an endless of cycle of ‘trying to find the right fit for your skin’.
In reality, these products, no matter their ‘organic’, ‘gentle’ and ‘detoxifying’ labels can ruin your skin’s built-in balancing system.
Let’s go through a typical skin-care routine:
STEP 1 – CLEANSER
Expectation: Cleanser cleans your skin away of ‘impurities’, leaving you with a clearer complexion.
Reality: Cleanser, if used repeatedly, can actually dry out your skin. This means your oil glands will over-compensate, creating more oil on your skin’s surface which will lead to more spots.
STEP 2 – TONER
Expectation: As a secondary step in the cleansing process, toner will help to ‘refine’ pores and maintain an ‘optimal pH balance’ in your skin.
Reality: Most toners are alcohol-based, meaning they can dry out your skin even more than cleansers! They alter the natural pH levels of your skin, and rather than ‘maintaining’ them will shift them into over-drive to, again, compensate for your skin being dried out.
STEP 3 – SERUM
Expectation: Serums either help to brighten, moisturise or tighten the face with collagen. Usually, you’ll finish with a glowing, dewy complexion.
Reality: Serums, particularly the viral ‘vitamin C serums’, do none of these things. Because vitamin C is a natural anti-oxidant, when you put the serum on your skin it causes oxidation and therefore will actually damage your skin. Just a little GCSE science reminder, that’s the chemical process that creates rust.
STEP 4 – EYE CREAM
Expectation: The skin around the eye is sensitive, and therefore needs special attention. Eye creams can remove the appearance of dark circles, fine-lines and other ‘creases’.
Reality: Eye-creams can actually cause more harm than good, creating more puffiness and ‘wrinkles’. If a cream is too greasy, it can not only create more unnecessary oil on your face, but it stretches out the area of the skin causing more lines. In fact, although the area around the skin is thin, it is not as delicate as thought. Under a microscope, you can’t tell the difference between skin on the cheek and under the eyes. And, if the skin-care products are meant to work on a molecular level anyways, what’s the point?
STEP 5 – MOISTURISER
Expectation: A necessary step for almost all skin types, this product locks in moisture to make skin feel smooth and hydrated.
Reality: If you have a skin condition that requires moisturiser, this of course may be helpful for you. However, most ‘healthy’ skin has a natural moisturising system built in to it. And, when we rub more oil, chemicals and other things that aren’t very helpful to that natural system in to it, plus bacteria from our hands, you can guess what happens – clogged pores, more spots, more inflammation.
STEP 6 – SUNSCREEN
Expectation: Sunscreen is a necessary part of skin-care because we need to protect ourselves from UV rays. Not only do they damage the skin’s surface, but they bring about sun spots, wrinkles and skin cancer. We must wear sun-screen every day, even if we’re indoors.
Reality: This is the only step of a skin-care routine I can vouch for. Yes, we should wear sun-screen if we are going to a sunny place, because UV rays can be harmful. But, how often is debatable. There are studies that prove that continuous use of sun-screen can prevent some signs of aging, but anti-aging in general is a huge lie. Aging is natural – don’t glorify youth and try to prevent something that will happen eventually whether you like it or not.
It’s also important to remember that all these products, including sun-screen, have ingredients which are not decided by biologists or dermatologists with an in-depth understanding of how the skin works. They are decided by marketing executives in board-rooms, who usually prioritise fragrance, image and marketability over usefulness. Ingredients in these products are most always about 1-5% an actual cleanser/cream/serum and 95-99% ‘filler’ to fill those buzz-word boxes.
But, if you still enjoy skin-care as self-care, I do recommend trying a few of these tips before continuing your routine.
- Test before you buy to make sure that the ingredients don’t damage your skin. This means going to a shop in person and putting a few drops on your skin of the product and avoiding ordering online.
- Try natural solutions before turning to chemical ones. Aloe-vera plants, turmeric masks, egg-white peels are all great places to get started. Even sun-screen can be made at home naturally! Check out this recipe.
- Make sure ALL the ingredients in the product you buy are safe, not just one or two. Do thorough research before you go, and don’t buy into buzzword ingredients or impurities like ‘collagen’ or ‘detoxifying’ or ‘toxins’.
- Try going without skin-care products for a day or two and see what happens. I’ve done this recently for a week and my skin has been the healthiest and happiest it’s been in a LONG time surprisingly! But remember, skin care products are also formulated so that you become reliant on them. Your skin might be worse at first and then get better. Experiment!
Remember, we are all flawed human beings with flawed skin. No-one is flawless. Now, take that money you were going to spend on that £50 skin-care stuff and go buy yourself something pretty, ‘cos you deserve it! Because skin is a natural part of our body we can’t control, it’s easier to make people feel worse about it.