Shield Your Skin: Essential Tips for Protecting Your Skin Barrier
DO YOU KNOW YOUR SKIN TYPE?
Using the wrong products for your skin type can be irritating, and cause damage to your skin. Reducing inflammation in the skin and helping to restore the protective barrier function of the skin are key ways to help heal and protect your skin and make it healthier and more resilient. Our skin barrier helps to hold hydration in and keeps germs and bacteria out. There are some general skincare tips that you can start implementing now that often are helpful in restoring the protective barrier function of your skin.
Our skin barrier helps to hold hydration in and keeps germs and bacteria out.
1. When in Doubt, Use your Hands
First of all, it is very important to stop using any scrubbing pads, exfoliating scrubs and washes, at-home acids, or washcloths on the skin. We have a tendency to over-scrub our skin with whatever we are using, and we want to keep our skin’s delicate, protective barrier in place, and not remove it. We have found that clean hands and fingertips make the best tools to wash your face with. Using a high quality cleanser (Glowbiotics MD Revitalizing Cleanser is our favorite), that is pH balanced and contains active calming ingredients (like aloe vera, cucumber, green tea, etc.) to wash your face works best. Please note that Cetiphil, La Roche Posay, Neutrogena, nor Cerave contain any of those calming ingredients, and you can’t get something out of a product that is not an ingredient in the product.
2. Take a minute
Once you have chosen the best quality cleanser, you will want to use your fingers to work the cleanser into the skin for at least a full minute. When we have a product with good-for your-skin ingredients, we want to leave those ingredients on our skin for long enough for them to penetrate into your skin. This will ensure that the face is fully clean without destroying your skin’s barrier. Splash warm (not hot) water on the face to rinse, and pat dry with a clean towel or, preferably, with a disposable skin cloth so that no germs get onto your clean skin. You can double-cleanse, if you feel like it is necessary. Using a pH balanced cleanser, working it in with your fingers, and leaving it on your skin for at least 1 full minute will usually eliminate the need to double-cleanse.
3. your skin needs water too
Every skin type (even oily) needs a daily hydrator after cleansing. Hydrators are water-based and can help give a drink of water to our skin so that it actually produces less oil. Heavier moisturizers can be used on drier or more dehydrated skin types to add additional emollient oils and butters to the skin to trap moisture in to help heal impaired skin barriers. Not sure what your skin type is or what your skin needs? Request detailed facial consultation with your esthetician to learn all about your skin’s specific needs.
4. Know your TREATMENT OPTIONS
First up, MEDICAL FACIALS by Amy Townsend: Did you get more sun exposure than you intended to this summer? Vitamin C is an excellent way to brighten up and lighten skin, while at the same time infusing the skin with anti-oxidants. Try an amazing Illumination Orange Vitamin C Anti-Pigment Hydrojelly Mask that is both brightening and anti-inflammatory. It contains orange peel, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and glutathione to reduce the production of melanin, help hydrate, even out the tone of skin, and lighten discoloration. It also has a calming and cooling sensation to the skin. She also uses an oat milk hydrating mask to help infuse the skin with hyaluronic acid and calm the skin with soothing oat milk. This facial concludes with an application of vitamin C serum, and two different types of hyaluronic acid to help deeply hydrate the skin, and to also plump dry or dehydrated skin. This gentle facial is appropriate for dry or sensitive skin.
Or you can try a Barrier Restoration Facial. This facial is customized to best treat your skin, and is appropriate for acne-prone and sensitive skin. She uses a Glowbiotics MD Revitalizing Cleanser to start the facial, followed by her steam towels and Glowbiotics MD Probiotic Soothing Gel Mask with aloe vera, cucumber, honey, and green tea to calm irritated skin. She follows that with more steam towels and her hydrating Oatmeal Mask to further soothe sensitized skin. She finishes with customized serums and the perfect amount of hydration for your particular skin type to leave your skin fresh and glowing.
Need even more lightning from the summer sun exposure? Ask about our new LUMECCA IPL treatment that can help lighten and fade sun spots on the skin. This amazing treatment can take a few sessions to completely lighten up discoloration. Learn more about Lumecca HERE>
