Beauty Tips For Body Care
Hi everybody, I'm a brand new subscriber to this sub. I was recently involved in a comment thread on another sub that went down the rabbit hole in discussing skin aging prevention. A redditor recommended that I to check out this sub (told me you'd be receptive) and basically share my point of view and skincare routine from the perspective of a scientist who studies the aging of the very molecules that lead to skin wrinkles/sagging/droopiness in late life.Firstly, brief bio summary of skin aging (I figure most of you are familiar with the following, but just in case some aren't....)Premature skin aging is due to UVA radiation breaking down elastin and collagen. (UVB is the type which damages DNA and can lead to skin cancer due to imprecise DNA repair: think of it as UVA-for aging and UVB-for basal cell carcinoma.) When you never wear sunscreen and then go out sun bathing or visit tanning beds.....you get a breakdown of those extracellular matrix proteins in the basement membrane of the dermis. FYI - both collagen and elastin are long lived proteins that don't get replaced, which means you only get what you made during childhood. So treat those dermal proteins with care. And no matter what skin care companies tell you, it's impossible to get more collagen and elastin by rubbing a lotion on your skin or interesting a collagen supplement. Literally biologically impossible.There's only 2 things scientifically proven to prevent collagen/elastin/laminin breakdown in the basement membrane of your dermis (the thin layer of extracellular matrix proteins that lie under the dermis, which is under the epidermis) and that's sunscreen to reduce UVA-initated protein damage and all-trans-retinol at near 1% concentration. All trans-retinol works to inhibit matrix metalloproteases (MMPs), which proteolytically break down extracellular matrix molecules like collagen and laminins. As you get older the activity of MMPs goes up, thus the amount of matrix protein destruction, like collagen/laminin, increases.But your retinol HAS to be all in all-trans form (because retinol can be trans or cis form, remember organic chemistry), come in a solution containing DMSO or non-polar carrier oil (so it can penetrate skin cells), be in a light eliminating bottle, and the bottle has to be an airless dispenser (as light and oxygen breaks down retinol). You also can only put it on at night because of light inhibition.There's sadly very few products that check those boxes.[Now, I want to reiterate that retinol and sunscreen prevents skin aging, i.e. wrinkles. They don't reverse wrinkles. Once you have wrinkles, you can't reverse it...as in... there isn't a proven method+delivery system yet discovered which repairs collagen and elastin in vivo or induces your fibroblasts to make more. What you can do is disguise wrinkles with something like a muscle contraction inhibitor like botox. Basically - you need to be using an SPF of at least 30 right now. I started retinol when I turned 30, but I'd probably recommend starting it when you're in your mid 20s. It's never too late to start retinol though, even if you're in your 40s or 50s. The important thing is to not be under the impression that an anti-aging product is going to reverse aging. If you think it'll make wrinkles go away, then you'll be disappointed after a few months and probably stop using retinol. But that's not what you should do - retinol is a long term product relationship...as in, you're supposed to essentially use it the rest of your life. Just like sunscreen.]What I use for my skin?I use dermalogica's spf 50 solar defense booster (https://www.dermalogica.com/solar-defense-booster-spf50/140,default,pd.html). I have really sensitive skin, and every single sunscreen made for facial skin (adhesive/oil-free even) has made me break out in a rash of a bunch of tiny white comedones. The only thing that has not made me break out is this product from dermalogica. It doesn't smell like sunscreen, it's not greasy, and it doesn't make me feel oily or greasy. You can put it on straight or add it to any moisturizer/serum/foundation if you want... which is very versatile. Basically you don't have to shop around for only moisturizers that include spf, and can turn your favorite moisturizer or foundation into one with spf with this product. Which saves money. Don't forget to apply a spf product to lips/ around eyes/on ears/ back of neck/front of neck/upper chest...AND banks of hands & fingers (top of feet if wearing sandals). All these places get a lot of direct sun. People always forget the hands and neck. Because of that...hands and necks are the easiest way to tell someone age.Then at night 3-4x a week I use all-trans retinol from green cream (https://www.dermstore.com/product_Green+Cream+Level+9_10212.htm#headingDetails). It's the only product I found on the market that was airless/light eliminating/closest to 1%, and contains carriers that allow it to permeate to the underlying dermis. I was happy to find it because it's clinical strength and you don't need a prescription for it. FYI retinol is mostly prescribed for people with acne, but it happily also has anti aging benefits. Interesting thing is that most prescribed retinol (aka tretinoin) is not packaged in an airless container (usually it's in a squeeze tube) so it goes bad very quickly. So this OTC product is produced more thoughtfully. (Also FYI, my husband is a dermatopathologist and uses these same products as I do. Although he uses neutrogena moisturizer.)I worked up to the green cream 0.9% over the course of a few months with their 0.3% and 0.6% versions because high potency retinols will cause a lot of flakey skin and burning if your skin is not used to it. This product was designed by board certified dermatologists, whom I am actually familiar with in my line of work. They're upstanding clinicians, and the company is in the US and makes their products in the US (https://advskintech.com/). I pick up a couple bottles online when there's a sale and store them in my refrigerator (because that's the optimal way to store the retinol chemical/ this is how we store it in lab). Also, a true high quality all-trans retinol is colored a bright almost neon yellow hue (think mountain dew). That's why this cream is green (it looks like a neon yellowish green IRL) - the producers added some coloring to make it look less "cat-pee color" (it originally was off-putting to a lot of people). And yes, any and all products on the market that say they contain anti aging retinol but don't have a cat-pee yellow hue to them probably don't contain all-trans retinol at all. I kinda laugh at "retinol creams" advertised that are just a simple white cream OR are in glass bottles. My brain goes.... well that's going to be worthless in a couple weeks... if it ever contained the correct retinol in the first place.Anyway, I apply said green cream at night (to face/neck/back of hands) and then follow with a moisturizer so my skin doesn't get too dry (because your skin will be drier when using retinol...b/c it increases cell turnover and has anti acne properties). I oscillate btwn using eminence's blueberry soy night cream and drunk elephant's protini only because those don't make me feel greasy. But honestly, any decent cream or serum that is hydrating without including a lot of silicones is fine. What's awesome is that the next morning after doing the retinol-moisturizer routine, my face looks glowing and really fresh. Like I had a good night's sleep or had a facial. On those days I hardly need to use foundation or makeup like blush/highlighter.In fact, I've found that ever since incorporating retinol since I turned 30... I've hardly had to use any foundation/concealer. Sometimes I only just use basic eye makeup (brow pencil/eyeliner/mascara). The only thing I try to touch up are some under-eye purplish circles. But using The Ordinary's caffeine under-eye serum plus Benefit's eyebright (highbrow) light pink pencil on the circles makes them disappear.All in all - I have a sparser makeup bag than I did in my early 20s, and I don't apply tons of skincare products to my face/neck. I still get carded and I think I still can pass as a college aged student. Bottom line is that you don't need a lot of makeup if your skin is happy...and you don't need to spend a fortune on creams...you really only need a couple thoughtful skin care products and a diligent routine of using them to get youthful-looking skin.
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by CatumEntanglement
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