#Skinimalism, Yay or Nay?

Dialogue with Dermatologists ft. Dr. Mara Padilla Evangelista-Huber

We at Founders Beauty had the opportunity to engage in Dialogue with this incredible human being, who so early in life, has achieved so much! Not only was it educational but Dr. Huber is also great company! From her insights to her interesting parallels - we definitely look forward to sitting down with her again!

“Skincare is like dating” She said to us. Our Founder, Sonam sat back and tried to interpret this, immediately seeing the expression of uncertainty, Dr. Huber quickly added, “we start by looking at the whole package, and then perhaps the product’s “online profile”; we think to ourselves, well the packaging is great, it’s priced to my budget, ingredients definitely look great, but when you try it out it isn’t great, and you think to yourself, “guess this isn’t for me”; well it’s the same with skincare!”

Why didn’t we think of this before? Yes, skincare is like dating! There is truly no one-size-fits all. The skincare industry at the moment is immensely cluttered. There’s something for everyone, every skin concern, every season, you name it the industry has it. Keeping all of the above in mind, a lot of skincare experts have now started recommending a minimalist skincare routine with fewer products that can prove to be beneficial for your skin.

Dr. Mara P. Evangelista-Huber believes that “Minimal skincare can be defined in the context of who is using the skincare. For example, for someone who doesn’t care about aging or someone who has cancer, sunscreen isn’t the most important skincare product. For them, the priority is to keep their skin clean which automatically makes cleanser a key ingredient for them. For individuals, skincare products are as per their needs and desires primarily." What a lot of people are unaware of is that using too many ingredients at once can lead to adverse skin effects and that’s not ideal. With this piece today, we at Founders Beauty in collaboration with Dr. Mara are stating some essential information about #Skinimalism.

We’ve learnt that the simpler your skincare routine, the healthier your skin. In our conversation with Dr. Mara, she said, “there are 3 simple and super basic steps to identify products that can fall under a minimal skincare category.”

Choosing from the clutter:

We recognise how overwhelming it is to choose products from a range of skincare that's so vast. Our expert said, "Always start with you! Identify if your skin is oily, dry, or normal. Then decide what your skin concern is. And finally, understand the ingredients available to treat that concern." Breaking concerns down and tackling them one at a time will not only help treat your concerns more effectively but will also give your skin a breather from multiple products.

Mixing ingredients:

Mixing too many ingredients means compromising your skin’s natural pH balance as well as its moisture barrier. With so many offerings in the skincare world today, more and more people choose to experiment with the hope to achieve their desired skin almost instantly. But is it worth it?

According to Dr. Mara, “The fact of the matter is that mixing isn’t well-studied. I prefer layering rather than mixing because the results of mixing ingredients are unknown. So if you say you’re applying niacinamide followed by retinol, the result of the two could lead to a reaction. I would rather recommend using a product that’s formulated with the two ingredients together, to reduce the risk of a reaction. Go for synergism in the same bottle.” The minimalism focus here is that you target one area of concern and use supportive products.

To DIY or not to DIY?

While DIYs work for some medical and skin conditions, there is also a lack of awareness and misinformation around the same. In an example, Dr. Mara mentioned, “ A homemaker will use lemon on her skin with a certain objective but will eventually expose herself to the sun which could lead to photo-toxic dermatitis or other skin allergies. Simultaneously, a teenage individual will use toothpaste to subside acne but doesn’t know about the harmful properties in toothpaste that leads to skin burns or other reactions.” Additionally, she also believes that there is a lot of FOMO (the fear of missing out) in the skincare world. A common notion she talked about is how people tend to believe that if a certain formulation has worked for someone in their circle, it will automatically work for them too. To explain this further she said, "before you DIY, understand that one of the reasons of skin minimalism as a concept is that there is nothing to repair on your skin if you didn't spot it in the first place." What is important to understand is what works on your skin. It could be a simple, non-expensive, and super light formulated cleanser that does wonders for your skin, for someone else it could be an extremely expensive formulation that works for them, or perhaps not even cleansing in the morning at all.

What’s important to remember is to do what works for you, and if you’re trying out a DIY, understand what the ingredients do, whether or not you should be exposed to the sun after using any of those ingredients, whether or not it needs to be diluted and so on. Ensure that your DIY is backed by research.

Travel and minimal skincare

With travel back on the charts for a lot of people, some often wonder and ask about the essential products that are needed. Breaking this down further, Dr. Mara explains how traveling on the plane leads to major skin dehydration. Below are a few things that skin expert, Dr. Mara recommends to do pre-flight.

All about Korean Skincare

“One of the most powerful messages K beauty shares is that skincare goes beyond the skin, they look at skincare as self care, it’s like you deserve the time to do that 10-step skincare routine.” Says Dr. Mara, she goes on to say “no dermatologist will tell you that it’s better to put more stuff on your face if you can get away with a few things, great.” Having said that she goes on to explain that there are multiple products today that are already formulated to do multiple things, for instance a single serum may have retinol, ceramides and hyaluronic acid in it, therefore ensuring that the product will hydrate, brighten, renew and refresh your skin. Hence, if one doesn’t need those 10 steps then yes it isn’t necessary.

“In summary, if these 10 steps makes you happy, and if spending time on skincare makes you and your skin happy, then it’s good to do it…If it sparks joy go for it, is it needed? It’s not.”

Dr. Mara put it perfectly and we agree, there truly is no one size fits all, and skincare is extremely inclusive, as it should be, so do what works for you and what’s minimal for you. When you do decide to introduce products or systems for your skin, do it one at a time, give your skin three to four weeks to decide if it works for your skin or not.

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