I had the honour of being asked to do a skincare masterclass for my friend Juliet's Pilates. I've known Juliet about as long as I've lived in this country... so many life chapters in 19 years and still women supporting each other as we develop and grow. I was Juliet's guinea pig when she was retraining as a fitness pilates coach, I was introduced to a heart rate monitor made to do all sorts of fitness challenges and learned a lot about pilates. Fast forward a decade or so and she is the pilates guru who now not only owns and runs Juliet's Pilates she teaches others how to teach. Her banter, knowledge and enthusiasm are what keep us all going back to her classes! We joined forces for a 'Ladies Night In' over the festive season and I had the absolute pleasure of meeting some of her pilates ladies and what a great evening it was. If you'd like to watch and learn more please click here to check our our zoom event.
Watch Juliet's Pilates Winter Exclusive:
For those of you who prefer to read and have a quick catch up on the content, please read on as we recap the top three tips for winter skin.
Our evening skincare special focussed on the the 3 R’s of Skincare for the Winter Season.
•Refresh the importance of clean skin and cleansing twice daily with a creamy cleanser to restore the skin’s barrier lipids leaving the skin feeling clean and moisturised.
•Relax and repair the skin at night. It's important to cleanse skin in the evening to help the skin rejuvenate and repair overnight. While you’re sleeping the body’s hydration rebalances. The skin is able to rehydrate and excess water is processed for removal. To further aid skin hydration use a soothing gel containing dual Hyaluronic Acid to help lock in moisture.
“Lack of sleep results in poor water balance, leaving the skin dull with puffiness under the eyes” Diana commented.
•Restore and hydrate the skin twice daily with a dose of orchid flower and chia seed oil to nourish and maintain luminosity. Then seal the nutrients in with a lipid rich moisturiser to restore the skin barrier protecting against harsh winter weather.
Dry skin is a genetic skin type and dehydration is the current condition of the skin. Dry skins produce less oil, skin is dry all over the body and need lipid-rich products to lock in moisture and keep irritants out. Dehydrated skin lacks water and can be experienced by any skin type. Fine lines appear and the water content can fluctuate. Dehydration sends the skin into overdrive causing tightness, sensitivity, oiliness and breakouts. Water-rich products help combat dehydration and rebalance the skin. To help decipher the difference between dry and dehydrated skin, guests used the dry skin lens found https://www.dryskinlens.com/
Dermalogica has just reformulated two of their top moisturisers and designed a cream cleanser to contain a Bio Replenish Complex that mimics the skin’s natural 3-2-1 lipid ratio to help strengthen the skin’s lipid barrier without altering the aesthetics of the current formula. The hydration mesh helps to protect and hydrate the skin for up to 48 hours.
“During the winter months dry skin becomes more dry and irritated with environmental assaults, increased stress and an on the go lifestyle. To help maintain healthy skin it’s important to cleanse, nourish and protect the skin twice a day.” Diana states. Ingredients such as the new Bio Replenish Complex, probiotic chlorella algae and Hyaluronic Acid help to lock in moisture and defend against dryness.
REFRESH
The first cleanse dissolves makeup, dirt, sweat and pollution while the second cleanse actually cleans the skin. Use an oil based cleanser as it acts like a magnet for oil melting away waterproof makeup and debris on the skin. How many of you cleanse your skin twice daily?
Did you know that 57% millenials will apply makeup over yesterday's makeup and only 1/4 women wash their face every 3 days!
There was a study done by the daily mail where one of the reporters didn't wash her face every night for a month - it aged her skin by 10 years - rosácea & eczema formed on the cheeks & eyes. It was a great example why cleaning the skin twice a day is so important to maintain a healthy glow.
The second cleanse should be suitable for your skin type, so for those with drier skins - feels a little tight in the morning or you get dry flaky patches on your skin use a cream based cleanser. If you develop oily shine throughout the day or are prone to breakouts a foaming cleanser will help to clean the skin.
At an event recently, I did a little trial to demonstrate the importance of a double cleanse. You can try this at home - use a bright pink or red lipstick. Draw 2 lines on your arm. Use a pea size amount of precleanse balm, if it was for your face you would need an almond size amount. Massage into one line, notice its dissolving away, add a little water to emulsify & remove. Then follow with the special cleansing gel, but this time to cleanse both lines and remove. Can you see the difference between the cleanses? Which appears cleaner? Double cleanse wins every time!
How many of you exercise? Do you wash you face afterwards?
Statistic says only 24% wash their face after exercise.
Sweat is salty and it sits on top of the skin...salt attracts water, so sweat actually dehydrates the skin by drawing moisture away. It also acts as a magnifying glass for pigmentation. For those of you who know me, know that I am a marathon runner and have struggled with pigmentation from the long hours training and the salt that has sat on my forehead for hours which has caused fine lines and pigmentation. I have learned the hard way about cleansing my skin immediately after exercise. Refresh your skin with a deep cleanse twice daily to keep skin clean and clear.
RELAX
The skin repairs itself the most overnight and the lips are able to rest from the constant movement - eating, drinking, communicating, and other expressions, so it's important to nourish them while you sleep. The lip area is very thin, the lips are only 3 - 5 cell layers - the skin has 16 layers. The lip physiology is also different than the rest of the body as it doesn't have a stratum corneum- top layer of skin and it contains less oil and sweat glands. The only source of moisture to the lips is saliva, which dries out the skin around the lips causing feather lines as the skin ages. The skin starts ageing at 21 and by 30 the skin looses 1% collagen each year. So it's important to take extra care of these areas as they show signs of stress & dehydration first. Think of the lips as a sponge- when they're exposed to moisture they expand in volume and when they're dehydrated they feel dry & rough.
Lack of sleep can age the skin because the skin repairs itself with the circadian rhythm. 9pm - 12am the skin repairs the most and then 12am - 3am the second. If you're continually burning the candle at both ends the skin doesn't have time to repair itself.
How many of you sleep 8 hours a night?
The Sleep Council states that nearly half of Brits get 6 hours of sleep or less a night, and only 22% of Britons get the required 7-8 hours of sleep a night.
Regardless of the hours- let's make them count so we can wake up bright eyed & ready to face the day with a smooth smile.
Overnight Lip Treatment hydrates, nourishes & plumps lips as you sleep. It contains Indian Gentian Extract plumps cells improves cell renewal and skin integrity on the lips. Shea butter nourishes and hydrates the lips & sesame seed extract helps repair the delicate lip tissues and reduce fine lines.
In February 2017 the Global Information Group stated
that lip colour sales rose 23% to £80 million!
So let's make sure those lips are ready to wear those bright colours for the post pandemic spring and summer seasons outdoors.
Relax and repair your lips and skin overnight. Try to cleanse before 9.00pm to maximize the skin renewal time between 9pm - 12am. Apply your serums, masques and night treatments to help your skin replenish its lipids, boost collagen and nourish itself ready for the next day.
RESTORE
Hydrated skin is luminous and youthful, but how to we restore the skin with all that life throws at us? There are lots of stressors on the eyes- fluid intake, sleep, pollution, makeup and stress levels. Doing a 'stress poll' at a recent event proved that most people have high stress levels of 3/5 or above.
Stress isn't always a bad thing, it's how you deal with it that is important. Dr Claudia Aguirre is a neuro scientist that is bridging the gap between science and the beauty industry. She's done ted talks and gives presentations all over the world. I've seen her a few times at the professional beauty show in London. She's made a little movie about a teenage boy and his spot that is a great example of how stress can make skin worse.
Watch Dr. Claudia Aguirre video here: https://www.ted.com/talks/claudia_aguirre_does_stress_cause_pimples
Stress causes dehydration on the skin which can impair the skins barrier function causing irritation, sensitivity & fine lines. It is important to restore hydration by drinking water & eating healthy foods with high water content like watermelon that also helps ease inflammation & oxidative stress. Vitamins A, B, C, D and beta-carotene all protect against free-radical damage. Free radicals are off-balanced molecules that can damage the cell membrane & destroy normal cells by robbing them of oxygen. Antioxidants fight off free radicals before they cause harm to the skin's healthy cells. Beauty & Go sponsored an event of mine in London at the Ham Yard Hotel (pre-pandemic) which are healthy cocktails of macro-antioxidants, hydration & collagen to give your skin a boost of vitamins. They've researched that macro- antioxidants are impossible to obtain through a regular diet so have formulated these into a drink to give your skin a boost internally.
It's also important to hydrate externally as well, ingredients such as cross-linked hyaluronic acid which holds 5,000 times its weight in water is a small compound that enables the ingredient penetrate deeper into the skin and prevents trans epidermal water loss aka TEWL helping prevent fine lines around the eyes, lips & along the forehead.
The eyes are the first area to show signs of distress- dark circles, fine lines, puffiness...do any of you suffer from these? The thickness of the skin around the eye area is 10 times thinner than the skin around the face. The skin's elasticity is like a rubber band - facial expressions, rubbing, crying, and makeup removal can contribute to lines & sagging around the eyes.
Technique and pressure is important when working around the eye area. Always use the ring finger because it's the weakest so will use the least amount of pressure. Work from the outside in and sweep in and up to help prevent sagging. Let the ingredients in your eye products work their magic to help rebuild the collagen & elastin, depuff and brighten the eye area.
Types of ingredients to look for in eye products to target these concerns:
Algae to diminish dark circles
Hyaluronic Acid to hydrate 1000x its weight in water
Caffeine to firm
Micro-encapsulated niacinamide & ash tree bark to maintain hydration and reduce visible dark circles
Micro-encapsulation enables more powerful ingredients to be used on the skin. As they're applied to the skin the encapsulation bursts pushing the ingredients into the deeper layers of the skin and protects the top layers of the epidermal tissue.
So remember for bright eyes & plump lips Resfresh by cleansing thoroughly, Relax and get enough sleep to repair the skin at night, and Restore the skin's barrier integrity and maintain hydration to keep skin glowing, eyes bright & lips plump this winter.
Thank you for tuning into our weekly blog - put your best face forward! ~Diana x
Comentarios