Happily Ever After …. Loving Your Skin Before and After the Wedding

So the wedding date has been set, you are getting married and there so much to do and plan.  Not only do you want the perfect dress but you want to look your most beautiful on the day too.  That means no shiny face, dull tired skin, dark circles and horror of horrors an outbreak of spots!

So let’s take a look at what is needed to ensure your best possible chance for perfect skin not just on your wedding day, but into the honeymoon and beyond, in fact happily ever after!

Shiny face…. Is a due to excessive sebum production and people with oily skin often have larger pores.  Unfortunately, pores size is genetically determined, so not possible to permanently shrink pores.  The hormone, Dihydrotestosterone is responsible for sebum production and men have more of this hormone than women and are typically 30% oilier.  The most effective way to reduce oil shine is to regulate this hormone and there are ingredients that can do this i.e. zinc.  Both Daily Defence Moisturiser and Nighty Night Cream contain ingredients that help reduce sebum production i.e. rooibos, rich in zinc and bidens pilosa.

Spots……. Are another consequence of oily skin, as the excess sebum oxidises and creates a breeding ground for bacteria causing spots.  Regulating oiliness and killing bacteria is recommended plus a healthy diet.  Salicylic acid is often recommended for spot treatments as these get rid of dry skin cells, but they can dry out the skin around the spot too.  Salicylic acid has no effect on the bacteria or regulating sebum, so not convinced it’s the best treatment.  Personally I’ve found Witch stick the most effective at drying out spots quickly.

Redness.... is the skin reacting to an aggression ie an irritant reaction, pollution, infection, sunburn and is known as erythema or redness caused by inflammation.   We live in a polluted world and common irritants are nickel, exhaust fumes, bacteria from things we touch our mobile phones, make up brushes etc.  Using bacterial gels on our hands, cleaning our brushes and phones regularly can reduce this and infections in general.  Sunscreens and anti-oxidants are also important in protecting our skin against UV rays and damage.  Daily Defence Moisturiser offers a “shield” against pollution and bacteria as well as Vitamin anti-oxidants to combat redness.

Epidermis (skin) ……..resembles a wall with our cells being bricks and the cement being lipids (oils).   We need to keep this wall strong and healthier by boosting it with ingredients that are similar to those already in the skin.  Vegetable oils like olive oil and jojoba are very similar to skins own lipids so are able to feed out skin essential fatty acids like Omegas, linoleic acids and vitamins etc.  I avoid cosmetics that contain paraffin liquidium and petrolatum as they sit on the skin and form a barrier to prevent water loss, rather than feed the skin nutrients.  They also clog pores, unfortunately this cheap and nasty petrol derivative can be found in very premium brands which is a rip off.  Beeswax, lanolin, cetearly wax, bio saccharide gums are effective in forming a natural barrier to prevent water loss.    Nighty Night cream, Cocoa Ration Body Butter and Lay Back & Think of England are rich in plant oils to feed the skin.  If a cream is quickly absorbed its good as the skin is drinking it in, if it takes ages to rub in, chances are its silicones and petrol based, and although safe, do not offer an benefits.

Dry, flaky skin ….  our cells naturally fall off every 28 days and are replaced with new ones (desquamation).  If skin is dry, grey and flaky, this indicates that this process needs a boost in the form of scrubs and peels.  Avoid overdoing this as it will cause redness if your skin doesn’t actually need it.

Dermis …. here we have the extra cellular matrix (ECM) which is made of fibroblast cells that make collagen and elastin which resemble spaghetti.  Hyaluronic acid is here to deliver moisture as it holds 1000 x its own weight in water.  Anti-aging is really about getting the ECM to function as it did when we were in our 20’s.  There are many ways of doing this and the most effective way is get the fibroblasts working harder as increasing collagen and elastin effectively plumps out deep wrinkles.  We start ageing in our 20’s and showing in our early 30’s so the earlier you start the more likely you can delay the outset of deep wrinkles.

 

If a product states it contains collagen than it will be from a cow or marine source usually, there are supplements out there too and they will be animal derived.

Daily Defence, Nighty Night Cream and Bright Eyed & Bushy Tailed eye cream all contain hyaluronic acid, which has an important moisturising function in our skin.  Nighty Night Cream contains a plant active that increases the ECM density.

Learn what your skin needs and look for products that contain those ingredients at meaningful levels i.e. English Rose Cosmetics and look forward to be a radiant bride and love your skin happily ever after.

Thank you for reading.