The Foundation of Healthy Skin
No matter where you are in this world, 2020 has definitely changed life as we know it. And living through it is continually termed the ‘new normal’.
When it comes to beauty, for the most part, this change has not only forced our beauty routine to become much simpler—particularly when it comes to wearing heavy makeup like foundation—but has put the spotlight on our skincare in general.
When getting back to basics and building your skin’s ‘foundation’, it’s important to understand that there are two separate parts of its ecosystem at play here: balancing the skin barrier, which in turn, ultimately defends and preserves the skin microbiota—the trillions of living microbes and friendly bacteria that impact how the skin functions from day to day.
The skin barrier is a water-loving, protective layer that resides directly on top of the stratum corneum – the skin’s outer layer. It is made up mostly of water and essential lipids—natural fats that play a crucial role in maintaining the skin’s strength, inhibiting bacterial growth, and aiding in its natural repair process. It serves as the ‘wall’ between the body and the environment. The more hydrated and protected the barrier is, the fewer toxins, including bad bacteria, that can infiltrate it. This includes protecting the skin’s vital, living microbiome (where the skin microbiota live).
Without properly caring for the skin barrier, including keeping moisture levels at an optimum and supplementing with key lipids and antioxidants like Vitamin A, C, and E, our skin ceases to function optimally, leading to dryness, inflammation, irritation, sensitivity, blemishes, and premature aging. The key offenders damaging the barrier? Harsh synthetic surfactant (cleansing) ingredients like SLS, aggressive exfoliants, and strong acids that completely strip your natural oils, disrupting and ultimately throwing the skin barrier off balance and severely compromising the microbiome. Bottom line: If the skin barrier is healthy and nourished, so is the microbiome.
Stabilizing the skin’s ecosystem starts with replenishing and balancing the skin’s barrier with a combination of nourishing, skin-identical, and vitamin-enriched botanical lipids like Argan Oil, Rosehip Oil, Jojoba Oil and Shea Butter, plus potent humectants like pure Aloe Vera Juice and Coconut Oil. Balancing the barrier – the ‘foundation of the skin’ – is truly the key to optimal skin health.
Questions? Comments? Or just curious about clean cosmetic chemistry? Send an email to our Clean Chemist at cleanchemist@nourishorganic.com!