Beauty Tips For Body Care
I think many of us have been in this situation; where you're talking about yours or someone else's routine, and suddenly there comes a gentle:"Actualllyyy...that's not great for your skin."I think most people, myself included, can hear the subtle determination in this person's voice to inform us that something we're doing is wrong or unhealthy, so we choose the path of least confrontation and give a, "Oh, thanks for telling me!" or something of that nature.LET'S CLEAR SOME THINGS UP.1.) There is nothing UNHEALTHY about using a potentially irritating or drying product if your skin likes it and doesn't react that way to it. This is why some of people's favorite moisturizers have alcohol in them, and why some of people's favorite cleansers contain high alkalinity soaps, fragrances, and exfoliants. They CAN be irritating to some, but if someone has glowing, moist skin from using them, then there is no reason to stop unless there's some evidence that it causes health problems. There is no evidence that there is somehow some kind of invisible "damage" being done or that it's somehow unhealthy for the skin just because it's LIKELY to irritate others when compared to a "sensitive skincare" product. A lot of unsolicited advice comes from this standpoint.2.) There is nothing wrong with not having any skincare products (besides sunscreen when needed) and just rinsing with water if it makes you and your skin happy. MANY people (especially oily skinned folks) do great just maintaining the natural oils on the face.3.) Especially for darker skinned folks, WEARING SUNSCREEN AS NEEDED IS OKAY. You DO NOT have to religiously slather sunscreen all over your body every day if you live in Vermont because skincare laws tell us that "UV rays are always present so you always need to be protected". Wearing sunscreen every day is certainly good for your skin, but depending on who and where you are, it can be very reasonable to only apply as needed, which for many is when we know we'll get a little color if we don't put on sunscreen before going out, or when we know we'll be in the sun for X amount of time depending on the person.4.) Occlusives/emollients alone can heal dry skin. Every time occlusives like vaseline or some kind of oil are brought up, someone rushes in to say, "THAT'S NOT REALLY A MOISTURIZER, IT JUST TRAPS EXISTING WATER UNDER THE SKIN AND WILL DO NOTHING FOR DRY SKIN." This is not accurate, and it's really funny because these products have miraculously healed people's dry skin for generations, and now that people can use the internet and read about the difference between occlusives, humectants, and emollients, they suddenly believe that it's been one great misconception, and these people would do much better with a Healthy combination of humectants, emollients, and occlusives™. This can be true; a lot of the time results are much better when moisturizers include these ingredients. However, to say that petrolatum or any other "incomplete" moisturizer in r/skincareaddiction's eyes do nothing to hydrate or moisturize on their own is simply false. This is something where clearly there is no agreement on how exactly these things work to heal skin, because different dermatologists will tell you different things. What I've been told by my dermatologist is that normally, your skin is able to hydrate itself as long as it can retain the water, and occlusives allow your skin's own moisture to be regained underneath the protective barrier. Most people who have used "ointments" like this would say that sounds exactly like what happened when they used the product. I think the lack of hard science is why it's easy to tell consumers that vaseline is simply not going to cut it, you need 20 kinds of hyaluronic acid in your moisturizer, because there is simply no one saying, "Ok those work amazingly, but so does vaseline for many people and that's okay." Occlusives alone are particularly useful when your skin is extremely dehydrated AND irritated.A LOT of skincare is not a very exact science at this point, and people preaching to each other like we're all experts because we can use google is just not really resulting in people being informed, but rather people are just regurgitating misinformation that was fed to them by skincare companies or "gurus", as well as other well-meaning "skincare addicts".To conclude, if someone has been using bar soap or body lotion on their face for years and they have perfectly hydrated and smooth skin, please don't tell them, "That's much too harsh for your face, you should try X". I'm not asking you to refrain from saying it in order to be nice, but to refrain from saying it because you are wrong.
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by RoystenMantis
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