The acid culture of skincare that predominates the market today has left behind many whose skin has a greater density, that is, a greater amount of cells per cubic centimeter than those who tolerate acids.

In the past, skincare practitioners would identify these as “ethnic skin” which has nowadays become much too vague to be helpful. In one respect though, visually, an ‘ethnic’ is easy to identify because of their finely textured skin. Skin color has very little to do with this skin quality, by the way. It is very much a person to person classification.

So, as a practical matter we need to discard the quick visual assessment of ‘ethnic skin’ because it doesn’t tell us anything useful. Let’s refer to those of us with this finely textured skin as “high density skin types” or HDST.

Let’s summarize what we have observed. The HDST’s are left behind by the acid culture in skincare because they cannot tolerate exfoliating acids, such as glycolic, lactic and salicylic acid (actually not an acid, but a phenol).

Say it another way. Those HDST’s whose heritage is predominantly African, Asian and southern European and many others with finely textured skin such as a fair-haired Irish colleens and Latvian blondes often have a very low threshold for exfoliating acids.

These HDST folks tend to go through real struggles to keep their skin smooth, free of flare ups and just stable through hormonal surges and everyday stress. They tend to use way too much makeup or try terrible things like benzoyl peroxide washes and daily applications of Vitamin A (see BENZOYL PEROXIDE and VITAMIN A).

302 Skincare has been developed for HDST people, the majority in the world, as it turns out. See the TRAINING MODEL for guidance.

HDST’s require very little for their skin. Effective cleansing, acid free and mild. This is the essential factor. An occasional clay mask with no active ingredients: no vitamins, no magic herbs, no CBD extracts, no acids, no proteins. Using makeup MUST be limited to a very light powder, with no active ingredients, no cyclopentasiloxane, no trimethicone, no vitamins, no acids.

Use makeup only when absolutely necessary: your wedding or your wake.

Use no sunscreens. (see SUNSCREENS).

Vitamin A is your friend only if used wisely: try a Retinol, an acid-free type available from 302 Skincare as either A 0.5 DROPS / A 0.5 SERUM or A 1.0 DROPS / A 1.0 SERUM (both are excellent, follow their directions). Or, a retinaldehyde. Start with once per week, in the evening. Maybe move to 2x per week. Don’t exceed that frequency. Ever. You may have used it too often in the past and run into problems. Less is best when it comes to VITAMIN A.

No scrubs. EVER. They will ruin your skin and cause endless problems.