Inflammation of the skin can come from a compromised barrier and we’ve seen a lot of that over the past two years. Wearing PPE masks during these past two years has it’s taken a toll on everyone, but today, I wanted to talk to you about how both PPE masks and other outside factors have affected our skin.
Covid Masks Lead To Inflammation of the Skin
Let’s talk about inflammation of the skin and broken barriers. These skin conditions have been around for longer than we know, but these last two years the skincare industry has seen an up-spike in inflammation of the skin. So many things have affected our skin including PPE masks, climates, harsh ingredients, and wind (if you are in the South or Midwest, you know what I mean!). Now the question is, how do we adjust our professional treatments and homecare to help reduce the sensitivity/inflammation for our clients and what types of skin conditions call for these adjustments?
Professional treatments are a great place to implement calming masks and anti-inflammatory adjustments to facial protocols are a great place to start treating inflammation of the skin. Look at your protocols and find where you can substitute masks, eliminate steam, and have more options to treat inflammation of the skin for your clients.
Tools + Ingredients To Calm Inflammation of the Skin
So where do you start? Remove steam from facials if your client is experiencing inflammation of the skin and add in cool towels instead of hot towels. As much as your client might miss the steamer, their skin will thank you! The cool towels quickly calm and soothe their inflammation.
There are other great tools you can implement as well, such as cold rollers, ice globes, and LED light therapy. What about skincare products? In a world full of hundreds of masking options, what ingredients should you look for? The following are the go-to ingredients to treat inflammation at BiON Skincare. Amino acids, Almond Oil, Niacinamide, Green Tea Extract, Turmeric, Wild Marjoram Extract, and Lavender Extract, the list could go on.
Masks That Soothe Inflammation of the Skin
BiON’s Hydrating Gelee Mask is packed with amino acids such as proline, alanine, and valine to reduce inflammation and promote wound healing. It is an essential mask to use following microdermabrasion and chemical peels to add immediate hydration and reduce erythema. Another calming mask that goes above and beyond within BiON’s line is the Green Tea Clay Poultice. This award-winning mask is the king of calming and reducing redness. Although this mask is listed in BiON’s acne line, all skin types can benefit from its anti-inflammatory and healing properties. Green Tea Clay Poultice combines green tea, lavender water & lavender oil, zinc oxide, turmeric oil, and rosehip seed extract. This powerful combination has extreme anti-inflammatory benefits and the best news is, that Green Tea Clay Poultice can be used both in the treatment room and can be sold as a retail product to further their treatment at home.
Contribution by Andrea Matczyszyn
Andrea has contributed many articles to Lipgloss + Aftershave. Andrea is BiON Skincare’s Licensed Esthetician and Director of Sales & Product Education. In this role, Andrea manages incoming orders and provides support to our licensed professionals on a day-to-day basis. She also attends trade shows to be there hands-on for our customers and to provide education and recommendations on how to use our products. As a big believer in BiON Skincare and our mission, Andrea supports our family-owned and operated business by holding herself to the same level of customer service standards that our customers have come to know over the past 20+ years of being in business.
Andrea has held an Esthetician license for over 9 years now. She attended esthetics school right here in Lincoln, NE at College of Hair Design in July 2011, graduating in December 2011. After graduation, she moved to Colorado where she quickly became the Lead Esthetician at her first esthetics job. After a few years in Colorado, she moved back to Nebraska to be closer to family and has been working in the business industry since. Passionate about skincare and its ever-changing world, Andrea is excited to be able to work with so many different licensed professionals around the world to help grow and learn from each other.
Okay, so now we know what we need to look for in products but what types of skin conditions do these ingredients benefit? Generally, I am going to say ALL SKIN TYPES/conditions because these days, everyone’s skin barrier is a little out of whack it seems. But, less generally, I would say the following should be your main focus; rosacea, barrier compromised skin, inflamed acne, skin that has recently had an aggressive treatment such as a chemical peel or laser, etc.
Always Check For Any Inflammatory Triggers
Doing a thorough intake each time you meet with your client will help determine if they are actively experiencing any of these skin conditions. Reminder, skin conditions come and go and may differ from the initial intake you did with them. Maybe they grabbed an aggressive salicylic wash when they were at the drug store and now have a compromised barrier so that chemical peel you had scheduled is now going to be a hydrating and calming facial instead.
See If They Need Anti-Inflammatory Home Care
It’s ideal to constantly evaluate homecare products for clients, they want your expertise and opinions. That is why they are in your treatment room and not just purchasing online. Help them by adding homecare products that can help treat temporary inflammation and regulate their skin. BiON has many great barrier repair products within our line but Bio-Essence Nighttime Calcium is a top seller. Calcium in the epidermis helps the body regulate how fast it generates new skin cells to replace old ones and how quickly it sheds old skin cells. Skin that does not have enough calcium stored in the epidermis may appear fragile, thin, and dry. Topical application of absorbable calcium, such as what is in Bio-Essence Nighttime Calcium Complex, aids in barrier repair by up-regulating antioxidants within the skin and normalizing cellular growth.
All in all, there is a lot to consider when treating and addressing inflammation within the skin, but as skincare professionals, we have many different tools, products, and adjustments that can help you become successful when treating inflamed skin both in your treatment room and with homecare recommendations for clients.