There are SO many skincare products out there, but how the hell are you supposed to know which ones to use with which, and what to avoid when and where?! We sat down with Dr Iona Weir, CEO and Chief Science Officer of Atopis Skincare, for her take on how to build a safe and effective skincare routine WITHOUT falling into marketing hype. Here are her three biggest tips:
1 – Think “Inside-out”
When thinking about skin health, the beauty industry is primarily focused on what you see on the outside – the epidermis (the outermost layer of your skin). Just as beauty is more that skin deep, we know that real skin health starts below the surface.
From a cell biology point of view, the real action is at the base layer rather than the surface. That’s where skin cells form, and it plays a significant role in the elasticity, hydration and complexion of the external skin layer. That’s why an “inside-out” approach to your skin’s health including simple things like drinking enough water, eating a balanced diet, and getting enough sleep, will help you unlock the best external results over time.
It’s also why factors such as eating foods rich in antioxidants and probiotics will help support a healthy microbiome of the gut and skin, promoting healthy skin cell renewal. Likewise, moving your body has flow-on effects that impact more than just our physical health– consistent exercise will stimulate blood flow, energise a healthy skin complexion, and invigorate cell renewal.
That’s the inside story. On the outside, as well as a consistent and simple skincare routine – see below – my golden rule would be to apply SPF daily— especially under Aotearoa’s harsh sun!
Dr Iona Weir
2 – Skincare trends are not your friends
Most skincare trends are marketing-led, not science led. They’re just there to sell you stuff. One of the worst trends I’m seeing right now is “too much of a good thing” – the overuse of retinols and acids. Retinols can be helpful in small amounts, but like too much of anything – even water! – they can be really damaging.
In the last week alone, we helped four Kiwis with serious skin damage from high-dose and low-quality products on the market here in NZ—and it’s an alarming wake up call for what could happen to your skin. I’ve spoken to multiple Kiwi women who have burns from low-quality ingredients in cosmetics, and even more who have permanent thinning and bright red rashes from retinol over-use. I speak to families who are suffering through their children’s steroid withdrawals, too— so it’s not just cosmetics that ‘overuse’ conversations need to be had around.
Why is this happening? Well, ingredients have a dose range for use from minimum to maximum based on efficacy and safety. The minimum dose is the amount required to see any benefit. In many products, some manufacturers may opt to use the bare minimum (or sometimes less), meaning its benefits will either be greatly reduced or that there could be no benefit to your skin whatsoever. The medium range is where the ideal dose is located – it’s effective and is safe to use.
Unfortunately, the trend we’re now seeing in the skincare industry is products that push the dose of ingredients to the maximum or even further, such as ‘super retinol’ or ‘extra lactic acid’. The burning sensation these products may leave your skin with is a telltale sign that the product is too strong and could be harming your skin. Although with repeated use, your skin may appear smoother, this is only a short-term benefit. Continued use of ‘maximum strength’ products can lead your skin to become thinner and more prone to sensitivity in the long term. If you’re looking to reassess your skincare routine, my best advice is to start reading the labels and reduce high-dose retinol and acid products as soon as possible to avoid falling into the skin damage cycle. While your routine may be giving you short-term benefits, you’re risking long-term sensitivity and thinned skin.
3 – More skincare products = less skin health
Another trend that makes no sense scientifically are all these detailed, multi-step routines which consist of a wide variety of products and ingredients. When multiple products are used, they all come together on the skin and react unpredictably with one another, which upsets the skin’s microbiome and increases sensitivity. Skin sensitivity is caused by an imbalance in the skin microbiome and/or damage to the skin due to overuse of ingredients such as retinols or acids. Randomly combining all these products will usually just make things worse.
I wish more people knew about how important it is to keep your acids away from your retinols. Each of these ingredients work by removing the top layer of dead cells. So if you use too much of either or one in combination with the other, and you will be taking more than just the dead cells away – causing damage to the skin cells underneath, resulting in sensitive skin.
Additionally, with the current approach to mainstream skincare practices prompting people to use so many products at once, it is very easy to accidentally use too much of an ingredient with it being present in multiple products. Commonly we see this happen with vitamin C, niacinamide (vitamin B3) and a range of preservatives, however this can occur with any ingredient.
Your average skin creams have some active ingredients, but often these are padded out with things like preservatives, solubilizers, emulsifiers, humectants and often treated with potential irritants like bleaches and fragrances. Since active ingredients can react with each other, most creams put things like vitamin C or retinol into separate products to avoid this cross-reactivity, and then fill those separate products with a lot of inert fillers and cheap oils to make up the difference. I truly believe it’s important to keep your skincare simple so your skin stays in balance. This is why I developed my Atopis range to work with our bodies’ natural cellular defence and renewal systems to heal and calm your skin naturally to break the ‘skin damage cycle’.
Iona is a skincare scientist and cell biologist, and has invented the globally patented and clinically trialled ingredient, Myrecil® – the result of her life’s work in cell biology. It works to control the rate of cell regeneration so overworked and sensitive skin can rebalance itself and bring your natural defence and renewal systems back to normal. Myrecil also slows the cell aging process and increased hyaluronic acid production, strengthening skin cell structure.
