True Radical Honesty From Our Community

Red, bumpy skin? Itchy cheeks? Chances are you could be suffering with rosacea. Bummer, sure, but good news: great skincare and a few lifestyle switches can make a truly positive difference. 

Rosacea: if only the reality was as nice as the word sounds. But the harsh truth is, rosacea sucks. Not only that, but after decades of research, its causes are still not entirely understood. Dang. 

Reckon you might have a case of rosacea? Then let’s have a look at what it’s all about so you can try to understand why it might be occurring and how to manage it.

What Is Rosacea?

According to the National Rosacea Society, around 16 million Americans suffer from rosacea and that number continues to rise. Rosacea can rear its head at any time but it often starts in your 20s or 30s when symptoms seemingly start to come and go at random. Sigh. Common signs are excessive redness and flushing – particularly on your cheeks, chin, nose and forehead; crusty bumps; burning; swelling; itching; thickening of the skin and even dry eyes and blurred vision. Also, great news to all you middle-aged, pale-skinned women out there – you’re the most likely to suffer. Sorry about that.

What Causes Rosacea?

If only we knew. The real cause of rosacea is yet to be identified which is why it’s a tricky one to prevent, manage and treat. Rosacea is often misdiagnosed as acne, but acne is all about overactive sebaceous glands whereas rosacea is thought to be linked to your vascular system.

OK, so why does rosacea affect some people and not others? Well, many experts believe your genes are the main culprit at play here, but factors that seem to exacerbate symptoms include alcohol, caffeine, spicy foods, stress, physical exercise and extremes of temperature.

Another cause could be right there in your microbiome. The skin’s microbiome is a tiny ecosystem of harmless bacteria, viruses, fungi and mites which live on your skin and, when balanced, create the perfect environment to keep unwanted pathogens at bay. The key, however, is balance, and studies have shown that people with rosacea have an overabundance of microscopic Demodex mites in their microbiome – sometimes up to four times as many as those without rosacea. Further research is required to confirm the direct link but in the meantime, erm, yikes.

What Are Some Of The Best Ways To Control Rosacea?

Unfortunately, you can’t cure rosacea but understanding your triggers and managing your symptoms are great ways to help keep it under control. Here’s how to do just that…

1. Diarize Your Symptoms To Help Identify Triggers

Knowing your triggers will help you understand the things you should avoid – without doubt, one of the most important ways to keep rosacea under control. And the best way to do this? By keeping a diary. Make a note of when you go to the gym or feel particularly stressed, and try building a food, drink and maybe even a skincare diary to see if anything you consume or apply coincides with your flare-ups.

2. Avoid Super Potent Ingredients Like Tretinoin

If you have rosacea, your skin can be extremely sensitive to highly active ingredients like tretinoin, benzoyl peroxide, hydroquinone and even essential oils like peppermint, tea tree, menthol and eucalyptus. All of these can cause tingling, redness and be potentially irritating to your skin’s delicate barrier and that’s not something you’re going to want to climb on board with. You've been warned.

The good news is you may be able to tolerate antioxidants like vitamins C, E and niacinamide but you should still err on the side of caution and ALWAYS patch test new products before using them for the first time. To test any new product, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends dabbing a small amount near, but not on, the area where you’re most prone to flare-ups. Then, wait 72 hours and if it stings, burns or causes any kind of discomfort during that time, don’t use it.

3. Rethink Alcohol, Spicy Food and Hot Drinks

Studies show that alcohol (especially red wine), spicy food and hot drinks cause many people’s rosacea to go crazy. Sounds familiar? Then try to avoid them as much as possible. Go easy on the spices; allow hot drinks to cool down before drinking them; switch to white, instead of red wine, and make sure you counteract the effects of alcohol by supping a large glass of cold water after each glass of vino.

Still suffering? Then you might need to give up spicy foods, booze or hot drinks altogether. But let's hope it doesn't come to that.

4. Nail A Gentle Skincare Routine

Harsh cleansers, astringent toners and abrasive scrubs are seriously bad news for rosacea-prone skin, upsetting the balance of your skin’s microbiome and compromising your protective barrier function. In other words, they’re a one-way ticket to redness, irritation, inflammation and worse-than-normal flare-ups.

Avoid chemical-laden products, parabens and sodium lauryl sulfate, and look for non-drying products that care for your skin without stripping away essential oils and nutrients. While not specifically formulated for rosacea-prone skin, many people find our Rose Water Refreshing Facial Toner ideal for calming redness and soothing irritation.

When cleansing , avoid hot water like your life depended on it (because your skin really does). Stick with lukewarm water alongside a kind, gentle cleanser and never forget to moisturize.

5. Protect Your Skin From The Elements

Wind is a major trigger for rosacea flare-ups – especially in the winter when it’s cold as well as blustery. Limit time spent outside and when you do venture out, protect your skin by wrapping a scarf around your face. Scratchy wool is not advisable but soft fabrics like silk, cotton or acrylic will take care of business nicely.

The sun can also aggravate rosacea. In fact, it’s one of the most common causes, so don’t forget to apply broad-spectrum SPF every morning – whether it’s rainy, sunny, cloudy or even snowing. Look for sunscreens containing mineral sunscreens like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide as these are best for sensitive skin.

Finally, How Can You Actually Tell If You Have Rosacea?

If you think you might have recently developed rosacea, visiting a skincare professional for a proper diagnosis is the only way to go. As we mentioned before, it can be hard to distinguish between acne and rosacea, and treating each condition is very different, so if you self-diagnose and get things wrong, you could make matters way worse. Lecture over.

Because nobody’s perfect when it comes to their skin and beauty routine – not even us, gasp!

Why is it that along with colder, grayer days, we all seem to get a bit more lax with our skincare regimes? Maybe it’s because most of the skin on our bodies is covered up by knitwear… Which is valid. Or could it be that we’re just a bit less bothered about ourselves when we’re going out less and staying in more?

The problem is, some cold weather habits might seem innocent and harmless, but they’re actually far from it.

Here, we talk you through the five most damaging beauty habits to kick this winter. And trust us, come spring, you’ll be so pleased you don’t have to pick up the pieces of what could’ve been had you not heeded our advice…

1. Taking Long, Hot Baths

It’s Sunday night, it’s been a crazy week and all you want is a long, hot soak in a steaming bath with a glass of wine and some quality me-time, right? Well, we would never be so bold as to take this small pleasure away from you completely. But a few tweaks are going to make bath time a much kinder experience for your skin.

Scorching hot water, you see, compromises your skin’s barrier function, upsetting its balance and depleting the natural oils, fats and proteins that keep your skin protected, hydrated and healthy. This can leave it feeling dry, itchy and even inflamed – especially if you have skin conditions like psoriasis, rosacea or eczema. And even more so if you make it a regular thing.

Instead of bathing too often, shower in warm, never hot water for 5-10 minutes max. This is way better for your skin – as well as your water consumption. And if you can’t resist a weekly bath? Fine. Just remember not to go too scorchio with your water, don’t soak for longer than 20 minutes and, when you’re done, apply moisturizer all over your skin while it’s still damp. This will help lock in valuable moisture and avoid your skin from drying out like a prune.

2. Skipping Your Daily SPF

It’s funny how we don’t mind talking about certain beauty topics time and time again. And sunscreen is literally one of our favorites. Why? Because there are so many mistakes made when it comes to protecting your skin from the damaging effects of the sun. And one of the biggest is probably happening right now. And that’s winter sun protection.

Hopefully, you’re pretty strict about applying your facial SPF in the summer and think of it as part of your morning routine – like brushing your teeth and studying Instagram. But what about when the days get cloudier and colder and the sun seems to have checked out for the year? You’re probably a little more lax come fall and winter, correct? What a mistake to make. Sure, UVB rays (the ones that burn your skin) are lessened by the clouds, but UVA rays (the aging ones) are present all year round and penetrate right through those clouds.

This means you need to apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen every day of the year to any skin that’s exposed to the sun. We recommend SPF30+ moisturizers that contain zinc oxide, titanium dioxide or a combination of both. Apply this on top of your favorite antioxidant serum for year-long protection.

3. Ditching Water For Coffee

Too many cups of joe can pay havoc with your skin, so as tempting as it is to up your caffeine intake as soon as Starbucks whispers the words ‘pumpkin spice latte,’ don’t.

For one thing, caffeine is a diuretic which means it makes you pee more, causing you and your skin to become dehydrated. It also constricts your blood vessels and therefore slows down your circulation which means less oxygen gets to your skin and less toxins get drawn away. This is why big-time coffee drinkers often have a sallow-looking or gray tone to their complexions.

Lastly, sure coffee contains some good stuff like antioxidants, but it can also raise the levels of cortisol in your body. Cortisol is also known as the ‘stress hormone.’ Say no more…

Our advice, if you care about keeping the signs of premature aging at bay, is to stick to one cup a day – decaff if possible. And the rest of the time, drink water. Cold water might fill you with dread if it’s freezing outside, so if that’s the case, drink hot water. Or herbal tea. Simple.

4. Cranking Up Your Heating

If you live in colder climes, of course you’re going to need to turn on the heat inside. But excessive heat indoors that turns your home into a sauna will completely dry out the air. And this is seriously bad news for your skin. Think of it this way: the combination of low humidity and low temperatures outside already reduces your skin barrier’s function and its capacity to act as a protection from the outside world. Then, when you couple this with boiling temperatures inside, your skin literally has no chance of retaining water or staying hydrated and moisturized. Cue dry, dehydrated, itchy, red skin. Not good.

The ideal indoor temperature is 68 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 10-15 degrees lower while you’re asleep, so stick to these guidelines as much as possible. And if your skin still feels parched? Moisturize more often and choose formulations that are laden with humectants to draw in water and occlusives to lock it all in. Our Vitamin C Deep Hydration Night Cream is a great choice for your face as it contains aloe, hyaluronic acid, glycerin, cocoa butter, jojoba oil and many, many more ingredients to thoroughly moisturize your skin.

You could also try investing in a humidifier for your bedroom to help add moisture into the air – and consequently your skin.

5. Not Exfoliating Your Skin

Reckon your skin is too dry and so you give up exfoliating in the winter? Well, as much as we hate over-exfoliating, under-exfoliating can have just as bad an effect. You see, leaving all those dead skin cells sitting on your skin will make it look dull and stop the rest of the products in your regime from working to the best of their abilities.

But this being said, please don’t start scrubbing your skin like your life depended on it as this WILL make it extremely, red and irritated. Instead, use a gentle, chemical exfoliator twice a week.

Chemical exfoliators are serums, toners and moisturizers that contain exfoliating acids like glycolic, lactic and salicylic which break down the bonds between your dead skin cells and encourage them to slough off naturally. Try our Ocean Minerals Super Toner which contains glycolic acid as well as strengthening peptides and the mighty MSM, or go for Vitamin C Super Serum+ if your skin is oily. This hard-working serum contains salicylic acid, making it ideal for targeting and balancing excess sebum.

Now, bring on the summer. Jokes!

Thanksgiving is synonymous with overindulgence. But what goes on your plate doesn’t have to screw up your skin. You just need to make good menu choices.

It’s time to be grateful for everything life has thrown at you this year. Sure, it’s been a tough one, but you’re here and you’re alive, so don’t take that for granted.

Thanksgiving is a time for friends, family and reflection. But it’s also a day to eat a little too much – which, frankly, is one of the things we love about it ;) So sue us.

The thing about overindulging, however, is that you often wake up the next day and totally regret it when faced with what’s staring back at you in the mirror. An excess of salt, sugar, processed foods and refined carbs (coupled with one too many pinot noirs) can make your skin puffy, dull, dry and dehydrated. And depending on what you’ve gorged on and how your body reacts to certain foods, your skin might even break out or certain conditions like eczema or rosacea could flare-up.

But it’s not all doom and gloom, people, because there's plenty of good stuff involved in your Thanksgiving dinner your skin totally loves. So, if you’re concerned about morning-after skin, cut down on your mashed potatoes and overload your dinner plate with the following…

Turkey

As long as you don’t brine it in a ton of salt, turkey is an excellent source of nutrients. It’s high in zinc and selenium, packed with protein and fairly low in fat. Together, zinc and protein play a vital role in the production and maintenance of your valuable collagen and elastin fibers which, as you know, are the backbones of healthy skin. Zinc also helps speed up cell turnover and may even keep your sebaceous glands in check so they don’t overproduce oil and make oily skin look super shiny.

Selenium, meanwhile, is a powerful antioxidant so it works hard to fight off damaging free radicals and protect your skin from inflammation and cellular damage. Gotta love that.

Finally, turkey is a great source of niacin (vitamin B3) which not only lends another helping hand in the production of healthy collagen and elastin, but also reduces inflammation and strengthens your barrier function to keep your skin hydrated and healthy (*immediately increases turkey order to largest bird possible).

Leafy Greens

There’s literally no part of your body that doesn’t benefit from a diet that’s rich in leafy greens like kale, chard, bok choi and spinach. Rich in chlorophyll ­– which gives them their beautiful, dark green pigment – leafy greens are critical for your heart, circulation, thyroid, the works. And your skin is no exception.

Greens have powerful anti-inflammatory properties so they’re an awesome choice if you suffer with inflammatory skin conditions like acne, rosacea, eczema and facial redness. They also contain a bunch of vitamins, minerals and nutrients including vitamins A, C, K and B9 (otherwise known as folic acid). Vitamin B9 helps build proteins in the skin and can also help reduce congestion so is super important for acne-prone complexions.

Looking for the biggest superhero of them all to add to your Thanksgiving feast? Then kale is your guy; it’s one of the most nutrient-dense veggies in the world. No exaggeration.

Sweet Potatoes

While white potatoes are certainly not terrible for you (they’re packed with potassium), sweet potatoes win hands down when it comes to the glycemic index (GI). What does this mean? Well, according to the Mayo Clinic, the glycemic index is a way of assigning carbs a number depending on how much they increase your blood sugar levels. Low is good, high is not so good. High GI foods include things like white rice, white bread, pasta and the aforementioned potatoes.

Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, have a relatively low GI, especially if you boil them and keep the skin on for extra fiber. They’re also rich in healing magnesium plus antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene (a precursor of vitamin A). This makes sweet potatoes ideal for preventing pesky signs of aging such as fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots and sagging skin. Just don’t mash them up with oodles of butter and bake them with sugar-laded marshmallows – as tempting as that may be…

Cranberries

What’s Thanksgiving dinner without a good dollop of cranberry sauce? Well, good news, folks: cranberries are not only good for helping you lose weight and keep your heart in check, but they’re chock-full of polyphenols. Polyphenols are awesome antioxidants which aid in the ongoing war against skin-damaging free radicals. Free radicals are devils when it comes to breaking down collagen and elastin, so if you want to maintain your healthiest skin ever and help minimize unwanted lines, wrinkles and dark spots, antioxidants should be your BFFs. Evidence shows that cranberries have more free-radical neutralizing antioxidants than any other fruit or veggie out there. Take that, kale!

Cranberries are also full of vitamins C, E and K, packed with dietary fiber and are a decent source of calcium, manganese, amino acids and iron.

We recommend making your own cranberry sauce to control the amount of sugar – you could also try adding honey or maple syrup instead of white, refined sugar.

Pecans

Finally, let’s get a little nutty for a hot minute because we all know how great nuts are for your skin and overall health. But what’s the deal with pecans, in particular? Well, for starters they contain more than 19 vitamins and minerals including healing zinc and strengthening calcium, along with plenty of fiber and a good amount of protein. As you know, fiber is great for your digestive health, but it also works hard to process and eliminate toxic waste which goes a long way to helping keep your skin healthy and glowing.

Pecans also contain ellagic acid which is… guess what? Yes, say hello to yet another effective antioxidant. Ellagic acid, along with vitamins A, C and E is perfect for protecting your skin from oxidative stress and promoting collagen production. It’s also an anti-inflammatory so can be helpful in soothing and calming stressed out skin – which can be a real bugbear during the holidays when the pressure of the perfect day can be a tad overwhelming.

Now, time to get cooking folks… and happy Thanksgiving to both you and your skin.
 

Feel like you might be overloading and stressing out your skin? Then the best ways to get results from your skincare is to go low and slow. Say hello to skincare microdosing...

Many skincare fads come and go and oftentimes they’re not worth the time of day (here’s looking at you ‘slugging’). But every now and again, something crops up that actually does your skin the world of good.

One such thing is microdosing. To be honest, skincare microdosing isn’t a new phenomenon, but something we’ve advocated forever – it’s simply been given a name. So, what does it mean? Simple: it’s the process of using lower concentrations of active ingredients in your routine, so as not to irritate your skin with potent skin-changers like retinol, vitamin C and exfoliating acids like glycolic and salicylic. These kind of active ingredients are extremely effective on the skin, but they can be a little too effective and intimidating for some folks, causing no end of problems like unwanted redness, dryness or irritation.

Even if you don’t have sensitive skin, your skin can only take so much before it will start freaking out and reacting to this bombardment of ingredients. Take exfoliating acids, for example. Use these in high strengths every day and you skin’s natural renewal system simply won’t be able to keep up, risking flaking, peeling, redness and dryness. Continue on this ‘no pain, no gain’ road and you could even risk longer-term damage such as dermatitis and sun damage.

Applying such ingredients in smaller doses, however, is a much better way to treat your skin with respect. It’s all about paring back your regime to avoid overloading your skin with a complicated cocktail of powerful ingredients and products. This gives your skin time to accept and better tolerate these potent, active ingredients, allowing you to safely use retinol and friends more regularly while avoiding damage to your skin’s all-important barrier function.

Your skin’s barrier is the absolute foundation to a healthy complexion. This is the very top layer (the stratum corneum) which works hard to defend your skin from environmental toxins and damage, while simultaneously retaining water to keep it soft, supple and well moisturized. If you upset your barrier with a super harsh skincare routine, beware because it will thank you with dryness, redness, breakouts, itching, inflammation, sensitivities and no end of other problems. So, you gotta treat it with respect. This means gentle cleansing, no hot water, exfoliating with care and never overloading it with too many active ingredients, lotions and potions – aka microdosing.

The 3 Rules Of Skincare Microdosing

Is your skin feeling overwhelmed by an over-zealous daily routine right now? Then here’s how to cut back and nail this microdosing malarkey…

1. Refine Your Skincare Regime

Microdosing traditionally takes on the form of using low rather than high concentrations of active ingredients. This means you don’t need to waste time hunting down the latest, super potent anti-aging serum that promises a massive hit of 5 percent retinol. Instead, look for products that contain smaller amounts (even 0.1 percent of retinol can offer great benefits).

A great trick here is to try a moisturizer instead of a serum. Moisturizers usually contain less active ingredients and don’t penetrate your skin as deeply as serums, meaning they’re kinder to sensitive skin. Try our Retinol Moisturizer for a gentle hit of retinol with much less chances of causing irritation.

You could also think about swapping out some potent ingredients for their gentler alternatives. Pure vitamin C, for example, is known as l-ascorbic acid and, while this provides awesome brightening and antioxidant protection for your skin, l-ascorbic acid is extremely powerful and can irritate some skin types. Instead, we use a vitamin C derivative called sodium ascorbyl phosphate in our Vitamin C Facial Serum and, in fact, across all of our C products. Sodium ascorbyl phosphate is way kinder to your skin and much safer to use daily as long as your skin can tolerate it. Not sure it can? Then carry out a patch test first. In fact, even if you think your skin will be OK, it’s always prudent to patch test, just in case.

Other ways to successfully microdose? Pare down your routine to just the essentials you know are good for your skin. The three absolute musts are cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen, then you can add in one or two treatments, an eye cream and you should be golden.

Finally, always use your products as directed and never apply too much – this is literally the opposite of what microdosing is trying to achieve! For help on how much product you need, check out our handy guide, right here.

2. Be Patient

Of course, there has to be a trade-off from using lower concentrations of active ingredients rather than going for the heavy-hitters. And this is, it will take a little longer for your products to show visible results.

But come on now, if you’re noticing some skin sensitivities, waiting a few extra weeks (around six to eight is probably the sweet spot) will be so worth it in the long-run. And hey, if your skin adapts to ingredients pretty swiftly, you can always up your dosage accordingly. It’s all about listening to your skin.

3. NEVER Microdose SPF

If there’s one product you should never scrimp on, it’s sunscreen. Too much of a good thing simply does not apply here. According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) you should apply a sun protection with at least SPF 30 to your face every morning to block a good 97 percent of the sun’s UVB rays. You must also look for broad-spectrum formulations that offer UVA as well as UVB protection. UVA rays are the ones that age you up (think A for aging), while UVB rays are responsible for burning (B for burning). And they can both lead to skin cancer, so it’s vital to protect your skin from the works.

Apply your sunscreen generously (again, no microdosing, please) and don’t give up in winter. The sun can damage your skin just a much when the weather’s lousy as when the sun is at its best. End of discussion.

Glowing skin is a sure sign your complexion is happy. But what about when things don’t look or feel as good as you’d like? Chances are your routine could be the very reason your skin is having a mini meltdown…

Happy skin is something everybody strives for. And if only we were all blessed with the type of complexion that permanently behaved itself and looked downright perfect. But life’s not like that – no matter how famous you are or how much money you throw at your skin. Call it Murphy’s law if you like, but as soon as you accept that flawless skin is rarely achieved, the happy we know you (and your skin) will be.

That being said, while you can’t change your genes or suddenly transform your skin type from oily to normal overnight, what you can do is give your skin its best shot at happiness by ensuring your skincare routine is on the right path.

As you know, a great routine consists of gentle cleansing, an antioxidant treatment, regular moisturization and broad-spectrum sun protection. Then there are all the added extras like toner, exfoliation, extra hydration and eye treatments. Reckon you’ve got these down to a tee? Well, we hope that’s true. However, your skin might think otherwise and if it’s showing signs of grief – redness, itching, dry patches, breakouts etc. – chances are, you’re somehow upsetting your skin’s important barrier function. Let’s have a look into that a bit more…

Skin Barrier 101

Your skin has three main layers. The lowest is the hypodermis, followed by the dermis and on the very top, the epidermis. Each of these layers is split into even more layers which are super complex and all play a very important part in the health of your skin and body.

Right at the top of your epidermis is the uppermost layer, the stratum corneum, otherwise known as your skin's barrier. The stratum corneum is kind of like a brick wall of around 20 layers of cells, held together by essential lipids such as ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids. This brick wall is your body’s first line of defense against the outside world and works hard to protect you from the slings and arrows of everyday life like pollution, toxins and chemicals. It also stops TEWL (transepidermal water loss) to retain the right balance of moisture in your skin and help keep it soft, supple and healthy.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? Yes, in theory. it is. However, your skin’s barrier naturally weakens with age, a cruddy skincare routine and poor lifestyle choices. And if your barrier is not functioning to the best of its abilities, moisture can escape from the surface of your skin far too easily – bad news for things like lines, wrinkles, dehydration, sensitivities and irritation. It also means your skin becomes more sensitive to things like active skincare ingredients and other environmental irritants.

So, how can you ensure your skincare is barrier-friendly and your complexion is in a much happier place?

5 Simple Ways To Avoid Upsetting Your Skin

1. Always Perform A Skincare Patch Test

One of the most vital, and often overlooked ways to ensure everything you put on your skin is a-okay is to patch test it first. We can see you rolling your eyes, but hold on there because your skin is a very delicate organ and there’s always the possibility of it not liking a certain ingredient in your skincare.

The worrying truth is that other than color additives, cosmetic ingredients don’t have to be tested or approved by the FDA to be allowed into a beauty product. Scary huh? Of course, most reputable manufacturers (us included) ensure that everything is safe when used correctly, but still, that’s a worrying thought…

Your only option, therefore, is to test a product on a discreet area of skin and leave it for at least 48 hours before using it properly for the first time. Not sure how to patch test? We can help with that right here.

2. Go Slow With Your Active Ingredients

Piling on vitamin C, retinol, glycolic acid and anything else you can put your hands on is a recipe for skin barrier disaster. So, go steady. Check all of your skincare labels and write down any active ingredients you come across. Actives include any ingredient that has been proven to change the skin in some way – whether it be to improve acne, discolorations, dryness, fine lines or wrinkles. Think AHAs, BHAs, antioxidants, retinol, urea, hyaluronic acid and so on.

Once you’ve made your list, have a look at it and make a note of any major repetitions and how your skin is feeling right now. If your skin feels red and dry, for example, and you notice every single product in your regime contains some kind of exfoliating acid, think about ditching one or two of these products for more calming, moisturizing options.

Similarly, you shouldn't need to apply more than one serum, so if you're doubling up, well, stop that. All of our serums have been formulated with at least one active ingredient, but they’ve been carefully blended to cause as little irritation to your skin barrier as possible. Niacinamide Facial Serum, for example, contains vitamin E and hyaluronic acid as well as strengthening niacinamide, so it’s the perfect choice for a healthy barrier function.

3. Don’t Double Cleanse

Double cleansing is fine if you wear tons of makeup or have oily skin that rarely feels clean after a single cleanse, but for most of you, we think it’s kind of pointless. Worse than that, it can strip away all of your essential oils and fatty acids which disrupts your barrier function and can cause long-term dryness, dehydration and irritation.

Instead, gently cleanse your skin morning and night with Vitamin C Brightening Cleanser to wash away impurities without sucking your skin dry. Massage it gently over moist skin and rinse with lukewarm, but never hot water.

4. Be Mindful Of How Much You Exfoliate

Hands down, one of the most common skincare sins is to over exfoliate. And this is a big mistake for your skin’s moisture barrier. Sure, exfoliation is great for boosting cell turnover and ensuring a radiant glow, but too much strips your protective barrier and is a one-way ticket to red, inflamed, excessively dry skin. Which is probably not what you were hoping for when you embarked on your kick-ass exfoliation regime, right?

If your skin is particularly unhappy right now, pare back on any kind of exfoliation – and yes, that means everything from scrubs and cleansing brushes to glycolic and lactic acid treatments. Stay away from these for at least 10 days then slowly introduce one form of exfoliation into your routine just once or twice a week. Cleansing using a soft facecloth is a great way to reintroduce light exfoliation into your life. We’re also big fans of glycolic acid so try our Ocean Minerals Super Toner which contains peptides and MSM to strengthen and rebuild your skin.

5. Moisturize Every Morning & Night

Never, we repeat, NEVER forget to moisturize your skin twice a day. Hydration is the absolute key for rebuilding and strengthening your skin’s barrier, so, even if your skin is oily, you need to apply a hydrating moisturizer after cleansing, toning and treating your skin to lock in moisture and stop water from evaporating from the surface.

When choosing a great moisturizer to support your barrier function it’s all about the right ingredients, and a truly balanced and effective moisturizer has to include at least two of three types of ingredient. 1. A humectant. 2. An emollient. And 3. An occlusive.

Humectants such as glycerin, aloe and hyaluronic acid draw water into the skin like a sponge; emollients like jojoba oil and squalane soften the skin and smooth over cracks, while occlusives like shea and cocoa butters form a physical barrier on the surface of your skin. Our awesome trio of moisturizers (Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer, Deep Hydration Night Cream and Retinol Moisturizer) all contain a fabulous combination of humectants, emollients and occlusives. Win. Win. Win.

Finally, Don’t Expect Your Skin To Cheer Up Overnight

Healing your skin barrier isn’t something that can be achieved with the click of your fingers. Far from it. It’ll more likely take somewhere between two and four weeks to truly see stronger, happier skin.

Patience is a virtue, people.

What can you do to counteract dry skin and the flakiness, itching and irritation that often comes as part of the package? Well, we believe what you put on your skin can make a real, difference…

If you have dry skin you’ll know that finding an awesome moisturizer is like discovering your perfect hairdresser. A veritable ‘eureka moment.' But not an easy one to accomplish, that’s for sure. So, why is this the case? Well, it’s confusing business. Firstly, skincare ingredients come and go thanks to technology, trends and the opinions of influencers and A-listers. Remember when snail slime was the future of ageless skin? Yeah, it didn’t last. Also, dry skin can be sensitive to certain ingredients, taking umbrage to the likes of synthetic fragrances, sulfates, parabens and the like, making it hard to find products that don't make your skin sting or become irritated.

This is why we believe it’s super important to know which ingredients to look out for when moisturizing dry skin. Not the fleeting ones that don’t stand the test of time (here's looking at you again, snail slime), but the tried, tested and trusted ingredients that derms have been recommending for decades. Because a) they work and b) well, they work.

But first things first, let’s talk about dry skin…

What Is Dry Skin?

Dry skin, dehydrated skin: same difference, right? Wrong. Dehydrated skin is a temporary condition that any skin type (yes, even oily) can experience and occurs when skin is lacking in water. Dry skin, however, is a whole other ball game. Dry skin is a true skin type like oily, combination and the elusive ‘normal’ skin and it means your skin is lacking in natural oils, NOT water. This dryness is likely to affect your entire body and it’s something you’re born with and will live with your whole life. Sure, it may improve or worsen depending on things like the season, your age or the time of the month, and yes, you can relieve dryness with great skincare products, but all in all, dry skin is for life.

How To Moisturize Dry Skin

Let’s get one thing straight, moisturizing ingredients and hydrating ingredients are not one and the same. Hydrating ingredients add water (hydration) to your skin and include the likes of hyaluronic acid, glycerin and aloe vera, whereas moisturizing ingredients are those that lock water into the skin by providing a protective layer on the surface to help prevent transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Moisturizing ingredients are the most important for dry skin types, but often dryness and dehydration come hand in hand, so a great skincare kit should always include a combination of both.

Today, however, we’re concentrating on the best moisturizing ingredients. And in no particular order, here are our top five…

1. Ceramides

Ceramides are fatty acids that make up around 50 percent of your skin’s composition and are found in the skin’s protective barrier, the stratum corneum. Ceramides are super important to the health of your skin because they act like glue to hold your skin cells together, keeping moisture in and irritants out. Kind of like your body’s own natural moisturizer. Of course, like many good things in life, you lose ceramides as you age. Your levels also take a hit from things like cold, dry air; a poor diet and harsh skincare products that strip your skin of oils.

This is why ceramides are up there as some of, if not the most important ingredients for strengthening your skin’s barrier function and simultaneously moisturizing dry skin.

2. Palmitates

Just because ingredients like ethyhexyl, cetyl and ispopropyl palmitate are tricky to pronounce (and even harder to spell!), this doesn’t make them the bad guys. Far from it. In fact, these palmitates are extremely useful for treating and conditioning dry skin. They come under the umbrella of emollients which are types of ingredients (whether natural or synthetic) that soften and moisturize dry skin by filling in and repairing cracks on the surface to help prevent water loss and keep your skin healthy and free from irritation. Not to be sniffed at, people.

3. Plant Oils

We’re major fans of botanical oils like coconut, jojoba and sunflower for their natural ability to work wonders on all skin types. Like palmitates, they’re super effective emollients, but some oils also have occlusive properties which is an absolute must for dry skin.

Occlusives work by leaving a thin coating on the top layer of your skin which traps in water and other hydrating ingredients, so your skin can make the most of all that moisture and nourishment all day long. Rich oils like coconut and olive can feel a little heavy if you have oily or acne-prone skin. However, they’re awesome for dry or irritated skin whose barrier function needs a little helping hand.

Plant oils are also rich in nutrients and antioxidants, so they’re great for protecting your skin from oxidative stress while strengthening and repairing your skin. Big win.

4. Shea Butter

As butters go, shea is top of the class.

Shea butter is a fat that’s extracted from the nut of the African shea (or karite) tree. Not only is it rich in fatty acids like stearic, oleic and lineoleic which gives it outstanding emollient powers, but shea butter is also an anti-inflammatory making it a beauty for healing a compromised barrier function.

Unlike cocoa butter which can be too rich for some skin types – especially on the face – shea butter is light, easily absorbed and non-comedogenic which means it’s less likely to clog your pores and cause breakouts. But don’t think this makes it any less effective when it comes to moisturizing dry skin. Shea butter is a real winner and is also packed with vitamins and anti-inflammatory compounds to further repair damaged skin. It's so good, it may even help soothe and treat eczema. 

5. Vitamin E

Often seen on skincare labels as tocopherol, tocopheryl acetate or alpha-tocopheryl acetate, vitamin E is one of our favorite ingredients and up there with the likes of vitamin C and retinol as a must for any successful regime. Why is it so great for dry skin? Well, it’s an anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant so helps repair, soothe, protect and heal the skin’s delicate barrier function. But what’s most impressive is that it has a smart way of combining both humectant and emollient qualities all into one. This means it can draw water into your skin like a sponge, AND hold it there. Some experts believe it has the ability to retain moisture for up to 16 whole hours. Wowza.

An oldie, but a real goodie.