The Complete Make-Up and Beauty Book. Leigh Toselli
Your skin is a protective barrier against harmful external substances such as bacteria, chemicals and UV (ultraviolet) rays. It also helps to retain electrolytes (minerals lost in perspiration) and other essential body fluids. Whatever your particular skin type, there are three basic factors you need to bear in mind if you want a youthful-looking skin. You will need to cleanse regularly, hydrate properly and protect your skin from the elements before you address any of the problems that relate to your particular skin type.
Cleansing
If you want your skin to look and feel great, careful cleansing is important; after all, cleanliness is next to godliness, or so say ancient scriptures and over-zealous parents. True, nothing beats that freshly washed feeling, but there’s a fine line between a clean complexion and a scrubbed one. The latter does little to raise your beauty profile and plenty to destroy your skin’s pH balance.
Choosing the right cleanser can be daunting. There are wash-off gels, AHA (alpha-hydroxy acid) rinse-way liquid gels, tissue-off cleansing milks, and soap-free bars. If you experience spots, dry or sensitive skin, it’s worth looking very closely at your cleansing regime. Too much cleansing can cause problems with the protective layers if you are constantly stripping away essential oils.
Soap can dry the skin because it dissolves and washes away skin oils or lipids that seal the skin’s dead, horny layer. Normal skin should be able to make up this lipid deficiency within a few hours, but dry skin often can’t generate enough lipids to make up the shortfall before you next wash your face.
Skin is naturally acidic with a pH balance of around 5.5, soap is generally alkaline with a pH of 8 or higher. If you use soap with hard water you will find it difficult to rinse off. The residue left behind can upset the skin’s natural acid balance and may continue to dry out skin lipids long after the washing process is over.
Cosmetic cleansers are formulated to dissolve the most stubborn of make-up formulations, excess skin oils and dirt. The best cleanser is one that leaves skin lipids in place so that your skin feels supple and fresh without any clogged pores. In the past cleansing milks and lotions were prescribed for dry skins, while foaming washes or non-soap bars were indicated for oilier skins, but with the numerous choices available, texture and preferences are really up to you.
I’d suggest using formulations that rinse away with water – the action is very gentle and the water helps to soothe and hydrate. Tissues can be harsh on fragile skin and may not completely remove residue to keep skins spot free, although you can find moist towelettes that remove all traces of make-up in just one swipe.
The new-generation cleansers mean that old-school toners are no longer needed to sweep away the alkaline film left by some cleansers, but if you live in a hard water area you may need to rinse for a little longer to shift deposits of water’s naturally occurring minerals, such as calcium and magnesium.
Psychological needs aside, improved circulation and a more radiant complexion are probably the best results of a hands-on water-based routine.
Toning
Not long ago the accepted beauty routine was to cleanse, tone and moisturize. However, with the advent of rinse-off cleansers, separate toners are becoming increasingly old-fashioned. When rich cold creams and milky cleansers were mainstream, a separate toner was essential for removing any greasy residue. However, new formulations are making the need for a toner a rarity rather than the norm.
There are two types of toner. The first, for oily skin, can be formulated with up to 70 per cent alcohol and/or exfoliating salicylic acid; astringents such as witch hazel; solvents such as resorcinol; as well as colourants and fragrances. The second, for normal-to-dry skin, contains no alcohol and no other solvents but it does contain emollients such as allantoin or glycerine, soothing plant extracts and fragrances instead. Ultimately, unless you have a very oily skin or use a cleansing oil, milk or cold cream that does not rinse well, there is little need for either.
Toners can feel very refreshing but they are an alternative to water for removing excess oil. Unlike water, however, they can irritate the skin. Toners, astringents, clarifying lotions, refreshing mists and the like all contain solvents, which essentially dissolve and remove essential lipids from the skin’s surface. If your skin is very dry, these solvents will cause your skin to dehydrate. So use toners cautiously and be guided by the reaction of your skin.
Hydrating
With the beauty focus now falling on added extras – antioxidants, fruit acids and sun protection – there’s a tendency to forget that water is the basic common denominator, making up around 60 per cent of a typical skin-care product.
How do you know when a skin is thirsty? Dryness and tightness are the most obvious signs, but these are common to both dry and dehydrated skins – essentially two different conditions. Dehydrated skin may be naturally dry, normal or oily, but happens to be temporarily lacking in water. A good way to test for dehydration is to stand close to a mirror and move the skin of the cheek gently upward with the index finger. A dehydrated skin will fold into a tightly packed range of lines or ripples.
Taking in enough water, both externally and internally, is therefore crucial to preventing dehydration. When we become severely dehydrated, the skin’s lower layer, which is 80 per cent water, ‘donates’ water to the rest of the body. Without water in the upper layer, enzyme activity slows down, skin becomes thinner, water evaporation accelerates and external aggressors penetrate easily.
If skin is not treated immediately, the skin deteriorates quickly, becoming fragile and irritated. The only way to break the cycle is to provide the skin with intensive, long-lasting hydration and to stimulate enzyme activity with an effective moisturizer.
A product’s moisturizing abilities are also determined by the humectants it contains. These work by either drawing water up from the depths of the dermis or attracting it from the surrounding atmosphere. Look for hyaluronic acid, sodium PCA, propylene, butylene glycol or marine extracts.
Protecting
Given all that we know about the damaging effect of the sun, you need to protect your skin not only at the beach, beside the pool or in the great outdoors, but every time you go into the sun. While it’s true that the darker your skin, the more protection you have against the sun’s damaging rays, specialists warn that all skin tones are at risk for skin cancer, pigmentation, vision damage, and rapid ageing.
YOUR BEAUTY ROUTINE
One of the keys to beautiful skin is a cleansing routine that is gentle, thorough and relaxing.
Pull hair back. Squeeze a walnut-sized blob of cleanser into your palm and gently warm it by rubbing it between your hands. This will emulsify the cleanser, making it more able to loosen dirt and grime.
Apply the cleanser with your fingertips, beginning at the centre of your face and working upwards and outwards. Massage the cleanser in with your fingertips to soften any congested areas in the skin. This relaxes the pores for further treatment and helps boost circulation. Rinse off excess cleanser.
Soak cotton-wool pads in cool water, and then douse them in eye make-up remover. Lay one over each eye, wait for a few seconds, then rub the pads with your fingertips to loosen the eye make-up. Vigorous rubbing or pulling of the delicate skin around the eyes will eventually cause the skin to loose elasticity and sag. Remove and gently wipe under the eyes to remove the final traces of make-up.
Using cotton-wool pads soaked in warm water and alcohol-free toner, sweep the rest of the face to remove the cleanser. Gently splash with cool water to stimulate the skin before applying mask.