Healthy Skin Tips To Follow Before You Buy
Healthy skin is an absolute must! We have a list of tips that you must follow before you buy products!
The most important components of healthy skin are healthy skin cells and a healthy barrier. Skin cells that are healthy perform at optimal levels and are easier to coax into their best state using cosmeceuticals. We also need a healthy acid mantle and microbiome to ensure we have optimal barrier function!
The acid mantle is a thin film on the skin’s surface composed of lipids from the oil glands mixed with amino acids from sweat. Along with the microbiome, it’s part of the delicate matrix that creates a healthy skin barrier. Town + Country Magazine
Healthy Skin Comes From Within Tips From Industry Icons
Over the past few years, we’ve learned more and more that healthy skin is more about what we put into our bodies vs. what we put on our bodies. There are so many variables that impact our skin. Healthy skin is usually on the body of a healthy person who has a healthy lifestyle.
When we want answers we go to experts. We reached out to skin care experts, brand CEO’s, international educators, authors, medical professionals and product formulators! We interviewed highly respected woman and men on their thoughts on factors that contribute to healthy skin.
Dr Peter Pugliese On Cause Of Aging Skin
It was only a few weeks ago that we learned of the passing of Dr. Peter Pugliese. This was a huge loss to our industry because Dr. Pugliese laid so much of the groundwork for what we continue to talk about today.
We asked Circadia CEO, Michael Pugliese about skin health and he said, “I think my grandfather said it best.”
“Chronic (daily), invisible (subclinical) inflammation sustained over a lifetime is the underlying cause of aging.” – Peter Pugliese, M.D. – 1989
Lydia Sarfati on Inflammation and Healthy Skin
When we looked at inflammation as key factor for healthy skin we were reminded of a specific quote from the Founder and CEO of Repêchage, Lydia Sarfati. Lydia’s quote is below, it lead us to a very interesting conclusion.
If a person has unhealthy skin that disrupts the epidermal barrier function – that disruption can cause the skin to release certain inflammatory cytokines that have an effect on other cells linked to Alzheimers, heart disease and diabetes.
Essentially, inflammation in the body can lead to unhealthy skin, which can create even more health issues in the body.
” One of the top factors that impact the health of the skin is the condition of the epidermal barrier as it relates to Trans-Epidermal Water Loss (T.E.W.L) and pH balance to maintain the microbiome of the skin surface. The latest research has found that maintaining a proper moisture barrier may even have a direct link to maintaining overall health and wellness. A pilot study published March, 2019 in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology* found that a loss of moisture and breaks in the permeability barrier cause the skin to release inflammatory cytokines, the substances such as interferon, interleukin and growth factors which are secreted by certain cells in the immune system and have an effect on other cells linked to Alzheimer’s, heart disease and diabetes. The study found that treatment with a reparative skin cream lowered cytokine levels. Furthermore, the microflora of the skin consists of transient, temporary-resident, and permanent-resident species. Normal flora growth is optimal at acidic pH levels, whereas bad bacteria thrive at a neutral pH levels. Studies have also shown that elevations of pH in normal skin create a disturbed barrier.”
Leading Inflammation Triggers
Referring Client Out To Other Professionals To Achieve Healthy Skin
Skincare is not longer just about treatments and products. It’s about approaching the client’s lifestyle and getting to know how they live. When the skincare professional is truly aware of the overall lifestyle of a client, they can truly understand why they are observing the skin situation. Inflammation is now being commonly referred to as inflam-aging. That’s aging in the skin related to inflammation.
Since a majority of inflammatory issues are a result of poor lifestyle choices, it’s vital that skincare professionals maintain a list of other professionals that they can refer their clients to for assistance in improving the lifestyle issues that can be a cause for concern. Having a list of Registered Dieticians, Certified Personal Trainers and Wellness Coaches that can be used to offer to clients who need help that is outside of your scope of practice will help your clients begin their journey to healthy skin.
10 Easy To Follow Tips From Pro’s For Healthy Skin
Healthy skin can be achieved by reducing potential triggers of inflammation. Having a list of tips to offer clients on ways that they can work to improve their skin health will make your job a little easier. Remember it’s important that you work within your scope of practice. Offering general advice, with a referral to another professional in some cases, is the best course of action.
Some Basic Tips
- “Be kind to yourself and choose progressive treatments over aggressive treatments.” Kaelin from Herbal Skin Solutions
- “Sleep is the number one factor for total health, this has a direct affect on everything!” Jenelle Paris from LashAffair
- “Diet, stress and sleep patterns truly affect all of the factors of healthy skin.” Kris Campbell from Hale & Hush
- “Clients must use the correct sunscreen in their daily skincare home care.” Darnell Wise from Universal Companies
- “Clients should have a stress free environment and a healthy lifestyle.” Pam Huck from MedSpa Distributors
- “Washing too frequently or with water that is too hot can damage the barrier function.” Maria Vasquez from DermaSwiss
- “Use pH balanced products. The pH of skincare products plays a role in a balanced microbiome. The pH of the skin is on average 4.5 – 5.5.” Phyllis Hsieh from Sesha Skincare
- “Avoid harsh cleansers! After they remove excess oil, they start removing barrier lipids!” Dr Mark Lees, Mark Lees Skincare
- “Maintain balance as much as possible. Protection of the skin on a holistic level, inside & out.” Victoria Tabak from Nature Pure Labs
- “When we lack endogenous cannbinoids or endocannabinoids, many systems including our largest organ, the skin are impacted negatively due to a deficient endocannabinoid system.” Heather Kreider, Hempfield Botanicals
5 Modalities & Factors in Achieveing & Maintaining Healthy Skin
Nutrition Is A Key Factor To Healthy Skin
“Our skin is a reflection of our internal health, and especially our gut health. If we are experiencing imbalances in our GI microbiome it shows up on our skin, as do other inflammatory health-skin conditions. There’s NO topical facial product that can fix internal nutritional issues. The answer is to feed our bodies wholesome foods and clean water every single day so we are healthy from the inside out. We simply can’t make or maintain new skin cells without certain nutrients. The easiest way to achieve healthy skin is to focus on eating a rainbow of healthy plant foods every week, and to keep the inflammatory foods out!” Ginger Downey BS in Food & Nutrition, MS in Nutrition, CNS – Certified Nutrition Specialist, DermaMed Solutions
Nutrition + Healthy Skin
Nutrition is a key factor in healthy skin. Our article 5 Essential Vitamins & Minerals For Healthy Skin , is one of our favorite pieces that we’ve written on the topic. Ginger Downey has helped us with 2 Webisodes of L+A Now on Nutrition behalf of Dermamed Solutions. We’ve also focused articles in our Advice From Our Experts column on nutrition for skin.
Want nutrition advice – use social media. We follow Kylie, a MS, RD, LDN on TikTok, get to know her, she’s got great tips!
@nutritionbykylie Did any of these surprise you? ##nutritiontips ##weightloss ##dietitian ##LearnOnTikTok ##TikTokPartner
♬ original sound - Kylie, MS, RD, LDN
Microbiome + Healthy Skin
The microbiome is combination of bacteria, viruses and fungi that live on the surface of the skin. Maintaining this delicate eco-system is vital to having healthy skin. Probiotics are a way to help bolster the microbiome, you can learn more about this in our article Probiotic Skincare Explained.
Karen Ballou, CEO + Founder of Immunocologie is a huge advocate for the correlation between the microbiome of the gut and skin health. “Your skin is a reflection of your gut and your gut is a reflection of your skin – microbiome is about balance – do you know your balance? A balanced microbiome is a healthy skin!” You can learn more about how Immunocologie supports the microbiome of the skin in their webisode of L+A Now Deep Dive Into The Microbiome
Lymphatic Drainage + Healthy Skin
The lymphatic system is the waste disposal system in our body. This system allows our body to expel its waste rather than allow it to store and build up in the body. We fell in love with OctoVie, the lymphatic system stimulating facial brush that you can use to wash face, perform facial massage and apply moisturizers and serums. Pam Auger, Founder of OctoVie tells us, “The inner environment of the body needs to be kept regulated, we can do this with our magical lymphatic system is to filter the entire body!”
We also fell in love with Pressotherapy from DermaJEM this is a machine that attaches to a body suit that a client wears. The machine then induces a manual lymphatic drainage massage that helps to flush the body’s waste. This is ideal after any body contouring treatment, and is an excellent form of recovery after hard workouts.
ATP For Healthy Skin
ATP is key to making sure that the skin cells are able to function effectively. One of the most effective ways to improve the ATP levels in the skin is to use LED Light Therapy. Denise Ryan from Celluma LED Light Therapy told us, “Let’s quickly run through two biology basics that can be important to our skin and overall health and how Celluma LED Light Therapy plays a critical role in both. The Krebs Cycle is what generates cellular energy inside your body. Light activation boosts the body’s natural Krebs Cycle which, in turn, assists in creating more ATP. ATP is the energy currency of all the cells in your body. When your body has sufficient ATP levels, then it has more energy to spend on restorative processes such as collagen and elastin production.”
The Skin’s Microvascular System + Retinol + Healthy Skin
We learned the most fascinating factor in skin health from Larry Lockhart, R.P. – BiON Skincare Products. He told us all about The Skin’s Microvascular System and how it impacts skin health over the long haul.
“The loss of small feeder vessels has major impact in escalating the skin’s aging process because the skin receives less nutrients, proteins, amino acids, essential fatty acids, protective antioxidants, oxygen and so on. This reduces the cells’ ability to function and subsequently the skin’s ability to perform its various maintenance, protective, immune and reparative processes. To achieve visible rejuvenation benefits, attention must be given to rebuilding the skin’s microvascular system.
Angiogenesis is the medical term for the body’s ability to rebuild its vascular system and within the skin this process is stimulated whenever the skin is bruised, cut or incurs damage to its vascular system. The major biochemicals that stimulate the rebuilding of the vascular system are angiogenesis factor (AF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). These chemicals are produced in the skin as a natural result of injury. The presence of blood spilled into the skin stimulates the production of AF and VEGF.
Vitamin A in the form of retinoic acid/retinyl palmitate is highly involved in the process of repairing and rejuvenating the skin. Retinoic acid is able to attach to receptors on macrophage cells (specialized skin cells involved in immune and repair functions). Macrophage cells then produce the chemicals AF and VEGF, stimulating enhancement of the skin’s microvascular system. Volumes of research has been published on the actions of vitamin A within the skin. In one study an 89% increase of the microvascular system was achieved after six months of vitamin A daily application. Twelve months after discontinuing the vitamin A treatments 23% of the beneficial effects still remained. The benefits of retinoic acid/retinyl palmitate can be seen in the improved healthful appearance of the skin and its color, and they reflect the skin’s improved health.”
Journal of Clinical Aesthetic Dermatology, April 9, 2016.