During an interview that I did recently, I was asked what the biggest mistakes are that I see people making when it comes to skin care. My answer was:
- Using external skin care products in attempt to manipulate the skin, rather than using them to support your skin and nurture yourself
- Believing that skin health is external
- Fighting skin inflammation by unknowingly causing damage to the skin
- Trying to force your skin in unnatural ways when it isn’t looking the way you want it to
Our skin is a very intelligent organ that’s capable of caring for itself. The more you do to it, the more you risk disrupting it and damaging it. This is why a minimalist skin care routine is so vital.
I have a question for you…
When you have a scratch on your arm, do you scrub it, rub it, pick at it and continuously stare at it in the mirror?
Likely not, because most people trust the body to heal itself, yet when it comes to the face, we have completely lost that trust.
Why?
Because the beauty industry markets to brainwash people. The beauty industry markets to create insecurities within you. The beauty industry actually creates more problems than it solves because they want you to keep coming back.
When it comes to topical skin care products, our focus should be on:
- supporting the skin’s very delicate microbiome,
- respecting the skin’s protective barrier, and
- keeping your pH balance in check
The only way to do this is through treating your skin minimally using ingredients that help with all of this. The less products you use, the better. The rest of your skin health is inside job.
Remember that the skin you treat externally is only 0.1mm thick. Yet the forehead is 1.7mm thick. It’s below the top 0.1mm that all the life occurs:
Blood Circulation: where oxygen and nutrients are delivered to the skin
Nerves: the nervous system is the main controller of your body
Lymphatic Flow: part of your body’s detoxification system, where white blood cells are manufactured and cellular waste and toxins are removed from the body
Connective Tissue: where hydration is stored and collagen + elastin are produced
None of these vital parts of the skin can be treated with external products. The health and functioning of each occurs beneath the area that we treat with skin care products, and when they aren’t functioning optimally, neither will your skin.
We have to stop always looking outside ourselves to heal. Movement, self massage, self touch, self respect and self love will heal your skin better than anything else you can do for yourself.
When trying to heal and improve your skin, remember that while you’re treating your skin topically, you must go within, too! Your skin will thank you for it!
