Winter Skin Series: Unbalanced Skin
Ok, I know I am a little late in the season but man these last few months have been busy and filled to the brim with friends, family and work, work, work, work, WERK! I'm back now and I've been listening to my friends and clients and taking notes on what issues they are dealing with this time of year.
One that has come to my attention is sudden oily skin, or basically skin that is out of balance, so I am going to take this first issue in the series to discuss what to do when your skin is unbalanced!
Back to Basics:
The most important point to note with anything regarding your skin is knowing what your using at home. One of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite instructors goes as follows:
““80% of your skin health is what you are doing at home, 20% is what we estheticians do in the treatment room””
I can't tell you how many times I have asked "tell me what your using at home" and the answers range from "oh whatever is on sale at Target", "some cheap stuff from the drug store", or my favorite "you know, the one in the blue bottle with a white label"....alas my friends, I don't know every skincare product out there and I think it is very very important you know what you are putting on your skin, which is a GIANT SPONGE and absorbing that product! So just to reiterate, please please please know what you are putting on your skin. With that said, when the season changes, so should your skincare.
You can definitely stick with the same product line if you are happy with it and getting good results. The only thing to note is this:
Your Skin Type is based on pore size and oil production, you are born with it and it does not change. It can, however, be off balance. Maintain balance with your Skin Type with proper cleansers and moisturizers.
Your Skin Conditions fluctuate and can be addressed, like acne and pigmentation. This will determine your exfoliant, serums, masks, toners and eye creams. If you think of your skin care like a bookshelf and the products are your books:
This is your order for using your skincare products
Your Skin Type is the book ends holding up the books, the books are determined by the Skin Conditions. You can change out the books, but the ends should be pretty consistent.
During the cooler months, exfoliation might need to be more frequent and serums will be more on the hydrating side. Look for exfoliants with chemical exfoliation like glycolic acid or papaya, these are great for working through dead skin while adding in benefits like hydration, skin lightening or antioxidants. Remember that exfoliants are based on current skin conditions, oil production is not a skin condition as it is a skin type, so using a clay based or scrubbing exfoliant to fix excessive oil production might have an adverse reaction.
Sudden Oil Production
If you are noticing an imbalance in your skin's oil production, there could be a few reasons for this:
Too drying of cleanser or moisturizer causing skin to freak and produce more oil.
Too heavy of products causing skin to feel greasy.
Stress. Yes, stress can cause an influx in oil production. What happens is your adrenal gland gets activated when your flight or fight response goes off, this causes an increase in androgens, a male hormone, which gives you that great reaction ability but also creates thicker skin oil.
Industrial oils like cooking oils in a restaurant or those found in mechanic shops, these might be getting on your skin via transfer (boyfriend/girlfriend works there and comes home with oils on them).
Once you discover the cause, it's easier to address it and get a handle on it. Here are some tips to treat excessive oil based on the above causes:
A foamy cleanser may work great during summer when we tend to be a little sweatier, but during winter artificial heat and air can dry us out. Try switching up your cleanser and gently exfoliating after. I love Origin's Modern Friction as it has the benefits of a scrub but also contains enzymes to exfoliate skin.
If your oil production happens right after cleansing your face and it didn't use to, it might be the ingredients in the product are sitting on top of your skin. Check with your esthetician or message below to figure out what's best for your skin. Be prepared to invest in yourself, you are worth it!
Stress is a hard one as no one can tell you to stop stressing and bam! no more stress. The best you can do sometimes is just knowing your triggers and breathing through them. We take our breathe for granted but it can make some amazing things happen in our body when we are taking full, deep breathes.
If you are the one working around those oils, carry skincare with you and wash troubled areas after work and change clothes immediately. If it is your partner whose bringing them home to you, have them change and decompress from work before giving you a big old hug.
I have found that a lot of time, when we become more conscious of an issue it seems to get worse but its actually the same we are just over focusing on it. Clay masks are always great, I would say just apply it in the areas that are oily and not your whole face. If you find you're getting oily in the middle of your work day when you can't wash your face, try blotting with toilet seat covers. They have no added ingredients like blotting papers do, and are super absorbent without stripping your makeup, just remove the first three for obvious reasons! There are many many other ways to treat oily skin but hopefully this gives you a good foundation.
Dry, Parched Skin
This is probably a more common issue people are facing (no pun intended) with skin issues during winter. Colder weather tends to dry us out from the outside weather, and dry us out from inside using our heaters and fireplaces. So we are pretty much screwed no matter if we're in an igloo or the worlds hottest office. So how can one keep their skin balanced when both inside and outside is doing it's best to dry us out?
Let's start with the place we spend the most time, work. Offices are well known for never being the right temperature and requiring either a blanket, space heater or extreme layering skills. Here are some tips to stay hydrated at the workplace:
Get a USB Humidifier- this little gadget attached to your computer and blows heavenly puffs of hydrating mist into the air. There are so many on Amazon I'm not even going to recommend one because you can't really go wrong unless it doesn't turn on, in which case Amazon is pretty good with returns. If you have a cold water oil diffuser, this is not the same thing. A humidifier has a different function and you won't want to add essential oils to a humidifier, especially in an open work space in case of allergies.
Spritz Yourself!- using a toner at work can help for many things: it set makeup, refreshes skin, gives skin a dewey glow, makes you smell nice and clean and overall just brings joy to your heart spraying your face a little. I love love love Skin Scripts Cucumber Toner, it is so refreshing and they have perfected the spray nozzle! Make sure its a hydrating toner and not an astringent.
Give Your Skin a Drink of Water- I'm not talking about actually drinking water even though, yes you should totally do that too! Hyaluronic Acid is like the Ant of the skincare ingredients world. It holds a ton of water and delivers it straight to your skin. Look for this ingredient high on your ingredient list! My favorite hydrating serums is the Ageless Hydration Serum from Skin Script, I use it twice a day.
Using great skincare is always key, and sometimes it's going to be an investment in your skincare. I highly recommend Image's Vital C hydrating masque as it deeply quenches skin and gives you the benefits of Vitamin C, also amazing for skincare. You don't have to change your entire product line, just a few key pieces. Adding a hydrating mask or serum could make all the difference. Not sure what to switch up in your skincare? Leave a comment below and let's work it out together!
Till next time, be good to your skin and even better to yourself,
xx eri