Having flawless skin can take work for some people. Just like reaching health, personal or fitness goals, you have to do small things daily to build the strength, stamina and flexibility needed to get good skin. Before you can get there with skin, it’s best to start with five things to prepare the skin for its journey toward being more awesome. The following is a list of the five most important things to help reach any skin goal.
1. Get to Know the Skin Barrier
The part of your skin that you see with your eyes is your skin barrier or the dermal barrier. It is the point of contact between your environment and well, you! No matter what kind of situation you live in, each comes with its own variables like weather or pollution to negatively-effect your skin. For example, dry or cold climates can dry skin out, while humid environments can increase breakouts. Also, what we put into our bodies, our genes and our stress levels are factors in the health of the skin barrier.
The skin is always working. It is a living, breathing organ that is dividing cells, sending blood, oxygen, and information to various parts of the body. It gets rid of waste and renews skin while pushing older skin up to the surface. If the skin is not being adequately cared for, it can’t function at its best and can become damaged. Cracking, inflammation or decongestion cause skin to lose its ability to protect the body from bacteria, UV rays or to absorb moisture, take in oxygen or get rid of waste. Skin’s production of healthy, plump skin cells gets depleted, and can speed up the aging process, cause hyperpigmentation, acne, or any other major concerns. Not only that but an impaired skin barrier will be less likely to accept or respond to active ingredients or treatments meant to help get you to reach your skin goals to begin with, so you always have to start at the skin barrier.
2. Assess the Skin Barrier
Sometimes, what you see on the skin like acne, pigmentation or wrinkles is just a symptom is just a symptom of something that’s going on underneath the skin’s surface. So, you’ll need to do is dig deeper and assess what the true needs your skin barrier are. If your skin is in a state of imbalance because of redness, reactivity, burning sensations, dehydration or producing excess oil, you’ve got to find out what the sources of those things are before focusing on your primary concern. This is why assessing the skin barrier is in the top five best ways to kick off your #skincaregoals.
Take people with acne issues, for example. Many acne sufferers are also dealing with dehydration though they might not even know it because of their oily skin. Skin needs to stay hydrated so that it can keep doing its thing, but some people with acne are more likely to over-exfoliate, abuse AHAs, or avoid a hydrating, nourishing skincare routine because they think it’ll make their acne worse.
Water moisture is good; excess oil production can be caused by hormones and stress. Overly oily skin is more susceptible to creating acne because bacteria stick to it. Excess oil clogs pores and blocks moisture and oxygen from the air. Oily skin can become an endless cycle because when the skin gets dehydrated, it will produce even more oil to try to keep functioning.
Repair the Skin Barrier
After assessing the needs of the skin barrier, you’ve got to use as many resources as possible to focus on multiple issues at once. The best things you can focus on for repairing the skin barrier are to infuse it with powerful vitamins, minerals and oxygen as possible. You will want to flush it out, remove all toxins, dirt and oil and fill it with nutrients, water moisture and oxygen. If the skin barrier is particularly damaged, it will have to be softened to receive all of the goods. You will also have to ensure that the vitamins are going deep enough into the damaged skin to reach living cells which will repair the skin as much as possible.
Repairing the skin barrier is the gateway to moving on to more advanced treatments like removing blackheads, microdermabrasion or dermal peels that help you reach any skin goal. After repairing the skin barrier, your new skincare routine can go straight to benefitting your biggest area of concern.
3. Use Cosmeceuticals
Cosmeceuticals or cosmeceutical-grade products offer the nutrients needed to repair and boost skin support. They contain biologically active ingredients that work with your cells and skin functions. Cosmeceuticals are the fine-line between prescription-based products and traditional, over-the-counter cosmetics. The science behind cosmeceutical ingredients is backed by the medical community to deliver highly-active ingredients that target skin conditions like wrinkles, acne and other significant issues.
Here are a few examples of cosmeceuticals:
- AHA
- Antioxidants
- BiodyneTRF
- Co-Q10
- Hyaluronic Acid
- Peptides
- Plant Stem Cells
- Retinoic Acid
Cosmeceuticals are best when mixed with clean ingredients, at the right concentration, and the correct pH. Since they can penetrate so deep into the skin, you want to make sure that your cosmeceuticals are free from parabens, fragrance and other toxins that can travel into the bloodstream while working with your body.
4. Get Oxygen
It’s a beautiful thing to put a cosmeceutical on your face with your hands but another to blow it into the skin at a molecular level. Cosmeceuticals get broken down into a concentrated liquid as a serum referred to as a hydrosol. A hydrosol can carry oxygen with cosmeceutical particles so small; they can fit directly into pores. The hydrosol gets put into nebulizer that is connected to and powered by an air compressor that comfortably shoots and delivers the cosmeceuticals and oxygen to the skin. This is what is known as oxygen skincare.
An oxygen facial prepares skin for future treatment by helping to rebuild the skin foundation. By immediately working to rebalance and hydrate skin, you can move on to more active and advanced treatments that will start your skin on the right path.
5. Use Iontophoresis
Iontophoresis or ionization is a process where you can take a cosmeceutical that carries an electrical charge through the skin at a low current. It’s like injecting botanicals without any pain. First, you take a cosmeceutical that has been ionized. Ionization is where you can make cosmeceutical molecules capable of being both positively and negatively charged with an Iontophoresis machine. The machine uses two electrodes—one to positively charge the cosmeceutical molecules and one to negatively charge them.
When your cosmeceuticals get a positive charge, it causes a negative reaction, which helps tighten and firm the skin while promoting new cell growth. When you negatively charge the skincare, it creates an alkaline reaction that works to soften skin while stimulating circulation and loosening debris like what is found in impacted cystic acne.
The coolest thing about iontophoresis is that the electrical delivery system brings the treatment to the root of skin where cells are alive, moving around doing what they do best. This all helps to nourish skin cells so as they move out toward the surface of the skin; they are a lot healthier. Iontophoresis minimizes wrinkles, pores, and scarring, dissolves pigmentation by relaxing skin, detoxifying and giving skin a breath of fresh air.