Essay on the relationship between beauty and skin health

Beauty and skin health are a symbiotic relationship with two-way support and clear boundaries. Beauty behaviors that conform to the physiological laws of the skin are important auxiliary means to maintain skin health. Excessive beauty treatments and illegal operations that deviate from the logic of skin metabolism are the most common external sources of damage to skin health. The two are neither inclusive nor antagonistic. The core boundary lies in whether to respect the independent regulation ability of the skin as the largest organ of the human body.

Not long ago, I was on duty at the beauty center of the dermatology department of a tertiary hospital. I met a 26-year-old Internet operation girl. When she walked in, her cheeks were as red as ripe peaches and hurt when she touched them. She said that she had followed the blogger to "brush once a week" for the past three months. The advanced beauty method of "acid + three times of moisturizing + two moisturizing masks a day" originally wanted to have clear skin even after staying up late at night. However, after spending less than 20,000 yuan, my face became a "sensitive ghost" that became red and itchy at every turn, and even the wind stung. I have received 17 similar cases in the past two months. Most of them equate "beauty" and "skin health". I feel that the more you do and the more expensive you use, the healthier your skin will be. This cognitive bias happens to be the source of many skin problems today.

Regarding the relationship between the two, there have always been two completely different voices in the industry. The clinical dermatology school has always regarded "maintaining the homeostasis of the skin barrier" as the prerequisite for all beauty practices. To put it bluntly, if you want to whiten and resist aging or improve dullness, you must first ensure that your skin's stratum corneum is intact and the transepidermal water loss rate is within the normal range. Otherwise, all functional ingredients will become "allergens" that irritate the skin.”； Most practitioners in the lifestyle beauty industry recognize the value of "active intervention" and believe that appropriate external intervention can help the skin metabolize waste cutin faster and replenish missing nutrients. As long as the frequency and concentration of the operation are consistent with individual skin types, there will be no problems. In fact, both of these statements are correct, but they are applicable to completely different groups of people. I used to help a 32-year-old friend with oily skin adjust a skin care regimen. She has a high tolerance and has no history of allergies. However, her skin color is dark and yellow after staying up late all year round. We asked her to follow the rhythm of low-concentration salicylic acid once a week, morning C and evening A every day. In three months, her skin tone has brightened by two degrees, and even the recurring claps have disappeared. Her skin condition is much better than before. But the same plan was given to a girl with dry and sensitive skin. She started to have acne breakouts and redness within three days of using it, and it took half a month to stop before she recovered.

The "Chinese Urban Women's Skin Health Survey Report" released in 2023 by the Dermatologist Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association also mentioned that 45.7% of urban women in my country have varying degrees of skin barrier damage, and 62% of the triggers are related to inappropriate beauty behaviors - including applying high-concentration acids at home, frequent exfoliation, applying patch masks more than three times a week, doing invasive medical beauty projects in informal institutions, etc. Many people always think that "I can use it if it works for others" and completely ignore the health foundation of their own skin. In essence, they regard beauty as a "universal formula for beauty" rather than a tool for maintaining skin health.

Of course, don’t think that beauty is the enemy of skin health. I once met a patient with severe rosacea who relied on medication to control the inflammation repeatedly. Later, he cooperated with the low-energy Shumin Star beauty program, and followed the doctor’s instructions to use functional skin care products containing ceramides and asiaticoside. Within two months, 80% of the redness disappeared, and even the symptoms of fever that often occurred before rarely appeared. For people with skin problems, reasonable beauty methods are even much more efficient than ordinary care.

There are still many supporters of minimalist skin care. They think that not using any beauty products and only washing your face with water is the best for the skin. This method is not unreasonable, especially for people who have suffered severe barrier damage. Stop all functional products and only use mild moisturizer to give the skin enough. Time to self-repair is indeed the best solution, but there is no need to go to extremes - the winter in the north is minus ten degrees Celsius, and the skin is dry and peeling. If you go out for a walk without applying anything, the skin barrier will definitely be damaged when the cold wind blows. At this time, applying a moisturizing cream is the most basic beauty behavior, and it also protects skin health.

In fact, in the final analysis, the relationship between beauty and skin health is really not that complicated. To put it bluntly, it is how you treat your skin. It is alive and has its own metabolic rhythm and tolerance threshold. If you follow its needs and use appropriate cosmetic methods to help it maintain stability and improve minor problems, it will give you a good state. ； If you have to violate its rules, mess around, and add too many ingredients, no matter how expensive the product or the most popular project is, you will still be the one who suffers in the end. After all, the original intention of us doing beauty treatments is to make our skin healthier, not to sacrifice health for beauty, right?