Essay on beauty and skin health

The ultimate goal of beauty is to serve the health of the skin. All beauty methods that break away from the skin's physiological tolerance and destroy the barrier function, even if they can bring about visible beauty improvements in the short term, will cause irreversible skin damage in the long term. The correct beauty logic is never "fighting blemishes", but "refined maintenance that adapts to skin type".

When I was a trainee in a dermatology clinic two years ago, I met a 28-year-old Internet operator girl. She stayed up late for three months to work on a project, and her face turned yellow and she developed some nasolabial folds. She followed the online "anti-aging strategy" and went to the hospital to apply salicylic acid once a week. She also stacked high-concentration vitamin C essence and retinol cream every day at home, even skipping the steps to build tolerance. After struggling for half a year, my originally healthy and oily skin turned into severely sensitive skin. My whole face turned red and hot after two minutes of cold wind in winter. I got backlight rash after ten minutes in the sun in summer. Even the facial cleanser I had used for five or six years hurt my face. It took me almost a year to return to my previous condition. To be honest, I have seen hundreds to eighty cases of equating "beauty" with "skin care" over the years.

The two most quarrelsome views in the skin care circle right now actually correspond to the two extreme perceptions of the “relationship between beauty and health”. One group is a group of drug addicts who "prioritize efficacy". They believe that the skin must be activated by external stimulation. A combination of morning C and night A, acid peels, and high-concentration active ingredients can quickly remove pores, fine lines, and dullness. Some people even shout that "tolerant skin is created." This is not completely unfounded. I have a friend with oily skin who is naturally thick-skinned. I use low-concentration mandelic acid once a week. After two years of persistence, the blackheads have basically disappeared, and the skin has been quite stable. People’s barriers are naturally able to withstand this level of stimulation, and of course they can get the desired results. The other group is the "barrier first" maintenance party, which focuses on minimalist skin care. The extreme ones even advocate using nothing but warm water to wash your face, saying that all the functional ingredients are burdening the skin. The logic of this school is more in line with the basic conclusions of skin physiology: the brick wall structure of the skin is not a joke. Keratinocytes are bricks, intercellular lipids are mortar, and there is a layer of sebum film on the outside as a rainproof layer. If you use strong acids and alkalis to smash the wall every day, the transepidermal water loss rate will rise to 3-5 times that of normal skin. Rain leakage (redness, dryness, itching, sensitivity, acne) will happen sooner or later. Current clinical data shows that 90% of acquired sensitive skin is caused by over-effective skin care. Of course, some people in the barrier camp are wrong. I have seen people say that sunscreen can also damage the skin. If they go out in the sun without makeup every day, they will have sun spots on their face before the age of 30. You must know that photoaging caused by ultraviolet rays is irreversible. Sun protection is one of the few beauty steps that must be done regardless of skin type. Even if you don’t use any skin care products, you must arrange hard sun protection. This is the most basic protection for health.

I went through a similar trap when I was in college. At that time, I had some red acne marks on my face. I was anxious to get rid of it. I heard that vitamin A acid cream was effective, so I directly bought 0.1% concentration and applied it on my face. I even skipped the step of establishing tolerance. As a result, my entire face was red, swollen and peeling the next day. I wore two layers of masks even in class. It took more than three months to heal. Since then, I have understood that if someone else uses a product that is full of effects and puts it on your face, it may be a weapon that destroys your face. The skin's metabolic cycle is 28 days. Those products that claim to be "whitening in seven days and lightening spots in three days" are either added with hormones or fluorescent agents, which are not in line with the physiological laws of the skin at all, so don't touch them.

Nowadays, many people regard medical beauty as a life-saving straw for quick-acting beauty. They think that photon skin rejuvenation, Thermage, and water-light injections can be done whenever they want. In fact, there are more misunderstandings in this. A friend of mine who is a dermatology nurse said that he had a girl last month who had red, swollen, inflammatory acne on her face. She insisted on doing photorejuvenation and whitening, but she couldn't stop her. As a result, all the acne broke out after the treatment, and it took almost a week for her face to become swollen and disappear. Of course, medical beauty is a good thing, but the premise is that you must meet the indications: healthy skin can be brightened by photon treatment, but skin in the inflammatory stage can be made worse by photon treatment. ； For young skin without deep lines, thermage is not only useless but may also burn the dermis. These are typical examples of exchanging health for "pseudo-beauty."

Take "nourishing skin with oil", which has become very popular recently, for example, it also has mixed reviews. For those with dry skin, apply a layer of essence oil with good occlusive properties in winter. When you wake up the next day, your face will be soft and not flaky at all. I think it is a lifesaver. ； My oily-skinned friend followed suit and applied it once, then became sullen and shut up, directly calling it an IQ tax. In fact, both sides are right. It’s just that the skin types are different. If you have oily skin and your face gets oily in the summer, then apply a layer of vegetable oil with strong sealing properties. It’s no wonder that your pores are not clogged. ； If you have dry skin and even heavy creams can't suppress it in winter, essential oils can certainly help you lock in moisture. There is no absolute good or bad, it all depends on whether it is suitable for you.

To put it bluntly, the relationship between beauty and skin health is complex and simple. You should treat your face like your little pet. If it is afraid of irritation, you should give it less strong medicine. If it is oily, you should apply less heavy skin care products on it. If it is dehydrated, add some mild moisturizer to it. Don't just follow other people's pets and feed them imported nutrients. If you feed them wrongly, you will get upset. The beauty concepts on the market are changing faster than mobile phones. Today, it is said that applying acid is good, tomorrow it is said that nourishing the skin with oil is good, and the day after tomorrow, it is said that minimalist skin care is the way to go. If you follow the trend, only your face will suffer in the end. Sticking to the bottom line of "health first" and understanding your own skin temperament is much more useful than following the trend and stocking up on ten bottles of big-name essences.