Covid-19 had the effect of closing many outstanding professional skincare studios and many of those have not re-opened. Like seventy percent. Older pros have thrown in the towel and newer survivors are building their practices around basics like waxing and facials.
The more exacting areas of visible skin aging and inflammation, once readily addressed in the professional segment, are now on the increase; nor is the average consumer getting satisfaction from risky advice from product marketers and friends. The statistic that fully seventy percent (that number again) are very dissatisfied with their skincare is one the Skin Dork cannot ignore – because it speaks to an enormous disconnect between what we know about skin biology and the daily practices of skin care.
In short, the burden has fallen to the individual to find reliable information. Resolving skincare issues on your own, finding information and acting on it begins with questions. You can’t find the useful answers until you ask the right questions. That’s the dilemma.
One place to start is the REFERENCE TOPICS at 302Skincare.com. The list of topics is extensive, even overwhelming. You might cherry pick a few topics and find yourself with more questions and become dizzy from so much information. Information that steers you away from product ingredients and practices that have become the industry standard is unexpected and yet…
First, look at what you are doing to yourself. Look at the products. The Skin Dork is confident that 90% of what you have and what you apply daily is wrong for you.
For example, are you using an SPF lotion because you are afraid of skin cancer? That ship sailed. Even the dermatologists agree SPF will not prevent skin cancer. At all. The American Association of Dermatologists does not recommend the use of SUNSCREENS.
And yet for the last fifteen years, the absolute necessity of an SPF has been pounded into everyone’s head. Still is. Why? The lotions are almost all inflammatory and a chronic subclinical or clinical inflammation is probably more cancer causing than anyone likes to mention. Why are you using them? Fear is never a good regimen.
So, about the products. Why do you have them? Next question, linked to the first, what are they really doing?
This can really get you into the weeds. But you do not have to be a skin biochemist to ask a question. What is this tube of whatever doing to me, really?
The ingredients sound compelling. Almost always. Organic newt of cobra venom extract for eye firming; meadowlark top notes; isopropyl-chickenwire from an ancient Hungarian elixir consumed by centenarians many of whom became pregnant at 85 years old; sponges from the Amalfi Coast, dried and ground to micro needles and massaged in for a relentlessly youthful complexion.
But what is it doing for you?
This you are unsure of, but you know that if you stop using it (them), then in the next day or so you look like who did it and ran. That is known in esoteric science journals as, uh, addiction (SKINCARE ADDICTION).
Things can get confusing. But focus on what you see. Are you looking at bright, supple skin or are you part of the disenchanted seventy percent? If you see bad things, how much is product usage and how much is Nature and her gene pool? Getting into a bad gene pool and finding yourself shriveling up the way Uncle Bob at 66 did can be unnerving at 33 years old.
The message here is that there are many ways to be in the seventy percentile.
An unexpected route is to find a magic product or regimen that clears your skin wonderfully for a week or two and then, horrors. Your skin has gone insane. What did that?
Likely, as in highly likely, it is the totality of what you are applying and how often you are applying it. The skin has said, no mas. Basta. Sayonara. Whoa.
Now what?
The basics. Start over. Stop everything. Even the magic stuff. Especially the magic stuff.
Seabiscuit couldn’t win a race until they let him be a horse again. Let your skin alone.
As a skincare coach you have to evaluate; assess what you see on your team.
Cleanse with something basic. Dawn dishwashing liquid, sponge on once per day, rinse off. That’s it. Or, if you are more selective, use REVIVE from 302 Skincare. You get the point, cleanse, once per day unless you work in heavy industry or a tough neighborhood and then twice is fine. Cleanser has to be an uncharged formula. The Skin Dork has given off the top of his pointed head two choices of uncharged formulas. Pick one.
Over a few days, sometimes longer, the real you will emerge. By the way, no makeup during this period. Remember, you can’t develop a strategy unless you know your players. Get to baseline. You may not be pleased, but it’s you (the team).
Oral medications are a joker in the deck and sometimes a very big one. These meds often result in side effects of transient rashes, flare-ups, breakouts and general skin instability, usually on the face but not always confined there. See about finding a substitute or a change in dosage. If you are stuck with the meds problem, use only REVIVE and REMEDY and MOISTURIZING DROPS. These are 302 Skincare products the Skin Dork is confident will give you your best chance at stability. Do NOT use an active serum or magic anything.
“Skincare products are not food for the skin.
Once you hold that fact close, much clarity will be yours.”
– Not found engraved on the wall of an Egyptian tomb
As skincare coach evaluating the team, you now have the visible story. Your skin, for example, is thin, blotchy, with uneven texture, tone is so-so. First reaction: where is my make-up!!
Hold on, Coach. One step at a time. Cleansing is first. Start with REVIVE from 302 Skincare. It will do more for unstable skin than anything else. It works. Or find a very neutral, acid-free cleanser. Probably doesn’t foam much, or the foam is weak – great.
Get a good cleansing ritual going. Once a day, more often only if you are in a tough environment: like a commercial kitchen, or in the building trades, once a day in a NY subway, anywhere in Chicago, or Houston on a summer day. Bakersfield ain’t so great either.
Skin will be stable. Not gorgeous, just predictable. Now do that for two weeks. Cleanse only. No make-up, yet. I know, easy to say, but we’re building. Make-up is for date night, once a week. More than that and you risk going down in flames.
Okay, Coach. You ask the questions, you observe the answers. You are hard as nails in your evaluation. You are down to cleansing. That’s all for now. But, it’s a huge step. You cut most of the team, but the players you have are reliable.
Next week, how to build the team and win. How to evaluate key players, how to look great without busting the salary caps, how to keep the winning streak going – it will surprise you.
