Is It Time To Give Your Skin A Break?

Have you damaged your skin and if so, how can you rectify the situation? 

If you’re into beauty and skincare, the chances are that you’re always on a mission to get that glowing, flawless, airbrushed skin, which always seems a little out of reach. Sometimes we have bad days, but sometimes we can actually do (or have done) some real damage in an effort to do the opposite. So, the question is… Have you damaged your skin and if so, how can you rectify the situation? 

Here are my 5 tips for getting your skin back on track this Spring. 

Identifying If You’ve Damaged Your Skin

The skin has a barrier and so if you’re having persistent problems, it may be that you have actually damaged your skin barrier. This is definitely something I’ve done in the past and thought it was just my dry, dehydrated skin. If this is the case for you, piling on the products is unlikely to help so it’s really important to identify if you have a problem. 

The main things to check for are persistent: 

  • Dull and dehydrated skin 
  • Red and inflamed skin 
  • An acne flare up 
  • Dry, itchy or rough patches 

Obviously, if you have one (or more) of these symptoms it’s not to say you have damaged your skin barrier. But if no matter what you do you can’t seem to fix it, you may well have caused some damage and it might be time to move on to tip 2. 

Take A Break from Skincare

Once you think you’ve damaged your skin barrier, it’s important to stop using your normal products and make some changes to your usual routine.  

The key here is to stop doing what might have caused the damage in the first place.

  • Don’t use cleaners which could be too stripping.  
  • Don’t use products that contain strong alcohols and fragrance. 
  • Cut back on the active ingredients in your routine while your skin recovers. 

Once you’ve eliminated the ingredients and products that may be causing problems you can move onto the next stage. 

Start The Healing Process

The next step is to find products that could help repair your skin. The key is adding and then retaining moisture and using great (and mild) ingredients. 

The ingredients to look for when looking at repairing your skin are: 

  • Ceramides – lipids that help form the skin barrier and retain moisture. 
  • Hyaluronic acid – a magnet for moisture to keep you hydrated. 
  • Fatty acids – these help produce the skin’s natural oil barrier. 

Having spent some time on my own healing process, I have a few products I would always reach for. My top 3 are: 

CeraVe Moistursing Cream 

This contains ceramides and hyaluronic acid to deliver a surge of hydration – plus it’s incredibly affordable. 

The Inkey List Hyaluronic acid 

Another affordable one, this non-sticky hyaluronic is a simple, fast moisture–binding product. Perfect to help the healing process. 

Ren Evercalm Overnight Recovery Balm 

Full of lipids, this recovery balm helps your skin strengthen the skin barrier while you sleep for getting things back on track. 

'Your skincare routine will be less effective if you don't finish with SPF...'

Slowly Re-Introduce

When you have managed to get your skin back on track, it’s really important that you don’t just damage it again. It can be quite difficult to identify what may have caused the issue in the first place so it’s really important you reintroduce products slowly and one at a time.  

And remember, products can take more than 30 days to have a real effect so give them time to work and time to see if they’re making a difference before introducing more. 

Ongoing Protection

The best ongoing protection (alongside knowing your skin and the ingredients that work for you) is to apply sunscreen every day! Sunscreen is what protects your barrier and your barrier is what protects your skin. If you’re looking for a good sunscreen below are some of my favourites: 

Purito Centella Green Level Unscented

Ren Clean Screen Mineral SPF 30 Mattifying Sunscreen 

Paula’s Choice Extra Care Non Greasy Sunscreen 

 

And that’s it. I hope for your sake you haven’t damaged your skin barrier, but if you have then I hope this helps you out and that you’re back to glowing skin in no time. 

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