Why Sunscreen AND Antioxidants Are A Summertime No-Brainer

Do you feel like your already-supersized-pores are growing by the minute? They're not. But it might feel like they are...

Pores are the foundation of healthy skin. Of course, collagen makes your skin strong, supple and plump. And yes, elastin gives it that all-important bouncebackability. But without pores, your skin would be a dry, shrivelled up shadow of its former self. Not to mention the fact that your entire body would lose its ability to regulate its own body temperature.

As a quick reminder, pores are tiny, microscopic openings found at the surface of your skin right at the top of your hair follicles and sweat glands. They exist to allow important liquids (as well as other particles and gases) to pass through the surface of your skin. The human body has two types of pores: sweat pores which help regulate body temperature; and oil-producing pores that are found at the top of your hair follicles where they release sebum to moisturize and lubricate the surface of the skin. The good thing about sweat pores is that they’re so small you can’t see them making them of very little concern in the grand scheme of things.

Oil-producing pores, on the other hand, are just so annoyingly visible. So why?

What Determines The Size Of Your Pores?

Like your height, skin tone and color of your hair, the size of your pores is largely shaped by genetics. This means that yes, you can blame your parents, and yes, the size of your pores is pretty much fixed.

Of course, this is great news if you have almost invisible pores. Not so much if yours feel like they take over your entire face. But let’s get one thing straight: no matter how enlarged you believe your pores are when you study them in the mirror, they’re rarely as bad as you think. Because the truth is, nobody else scrutinizes your skin on the same level as do you.

Do Pores Get Bigger Over Time?

Yes and no. The size of your pores never really changes on a physiological level. So yes, all those half-truths about being able to ‘shrink’ your pores with alcohol-heavy toners or freezing cold water is a bit of a con. But there’s a little bit of truth in there because while the actual size of your pores doesn’t alter, their walls can stretch and expand, making them appear more pronounced.

Penny drops.

What Causes Pores To Stretch With Age?

Many things happen to your skin throughout your life that can cause the walls of your pores to become damaged and loose. Of course, regular aging plays the most obvious role as your collagen levels naturally decrease over time. Sadly, there’s not a huge amount you can do about your biological clock (there’s those genes doing their worst again!) but there are many other factors of which you can control that contribute to the rate at which your pores become slack. 

Sun Damage

Gosh, the sun gets blamed for a lot of skin issues. But we don’t apologize for that because it really is one of the worst things for the condition of your skin. UV radiation breaks down important proteins like collagen and elastin thanks to a build-up of free radicals. This weakens the collagen fibers that give your skin its structure, thus allowing the walls of your pores to become slack, weak and kind of baggy-looking. AKA more visible!

Picking Your Skin

If you have a tendency to pick or squeeze your skin, this not only irritates your skin as a whole, but it can seriously mess with the collagen and elastin fibers that keep your skin firm and supple. Scarring is the most obvious possibility from picking your skin, but you pores will also suffer as a consequence.

Excess Sebum

After puberty sebum production usually levels out to a somewhat more ‘normal’ rate. However, things can get messy again during significant hormonal changes in your life. Menstruation, pregnancy, the menopause, all of these periods in your life cause your hormones to become unbalanced and your sebum levels to fluctuate. And when sebum production increases it fills up your pores causing them to expand, stretch and appear bigger.

Slow Cell Turnover

When you’re in your 20s each skin cell has a life cycle of around 28 days in which time it is formed at the lower levels, moves up to the surface and then sheds. As with most biological functions, however, cell turnover slows down as you mature, causing dead cells to hang around longer than necessary at the surface of your skin. Like excess sebum, these dead cells have nowhere else to go but to clog up your pores. And clogged pores = saggy, enlarged-looking pores.

Bad Makeup Choices

Certain foundations and face cosmetics that contain heavy oils and thick butters can also block your pores, causing them to expand and become more noticeable. Make sure you scan the labels of your favorite makeup formulations to ensure they’re non-comedogenic. Non-comedogenic means they’re way less likely to block your pores (comedone is the fancy term for pore, if you didn’t know).

The Best Ways To Keep Your Pores Tight

After reading the above you can probably guess what you need to do to avoid your pores becoming damaged and saggy. But we’ll lay it out for you anyway, just to drive the point home!

1. First up, wear sunscreen. This is the best thing you can do to conserve the collagen you’ve already got while ensuring you’re still making quality fresh stuff. Apply SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen with Vitamin C every morning as par for the course, and do your skin even more of a solid by doubling up your protection with an antioxidant serum underneath sunscreen. Niacinamide is a very good ingredient for smoother, more resilient skin so try our Niacinamide (B3) Facial Serum.

2. Don’t pick your skin. Pimples or no pimples. Nothing good can come of this.

3. Balance sebum by gently cleansing and lightly moisturizing your skin come what may. It’s super important to keep your skin clean morning and night so that oils don’t build up at the surface. We love Tea Tree Super Cleanser+ which harnesses the power of tea tree oil to clarify the skin without leaving it feeling parched. Just remember, it’s equally as vital to follow with moisturizer so your skin doesn’t think it’s dry and overcompensate with more oil than you started with!

4. Exfoliate to boost cellular turnover. But don’t overdo it. Listen to your skin and exfoliate just once or twice a week if that’s all it needs. Our Vitamin C Gentle Face Scrub (which just won an industry award may we add!) is a fantastic way to keep your skin bright, clean and dead skin cell-free. Plus, it’s kind to your skin. Which is super important, at any age.

5. Finally, don't underestimate the powers of retinol. Retinol is an incredible way to boost collagen AND encourage healthy cellular turnover. That's great news for your pores. And for controlling acne. And for reducing the appearance of wrinkles. And... well, you get the picture. Try our classic Retinol Facial Serum once or twice a week to begin with, building up to nightly as your skin acclimates.

We’re back again with our September Spotlight series and today we’re singing the praises of our fabulous Vitamin C Super Serum +. Yet to be acquainted with this super powered brightening serum? Then let us introduce you…

Vitamin C is one of the hardest-working ingredients in skincare. It’s like the Taylor Swift of skincare: never tiring, always delivering.

If you’re a true TruSkin fan you’ll be well aware of our Vitamin C Facial Serum which has been around for over ten years now (gosh, where did the time go?) and continues to brighten skin up and down the country thanks to its harmonic blend of rejuvenating vitamin C, beautiful botanicals and other skin-nourishing ingredients.

But we’re not all Vitamin C Facial Serum this and Vitamin C Facial Serum that at TruSkin HQ. In fact, we have many other incredible facial serums in our arsenal. And one you really should know about is Vitamin C Super Serum +. Because if you’re a C fan, you will be all over this potent, skin-changing treatment.

What Is Vitamin C Super Serum +?

Often thought of as Vitamin C Facial Serum’s more grown-up sibling, Vitamin C Super Serum + is one of the most powerful skin treatments we have in our serum collection. The name ‘Super Serum’ kind of gives it away, right? And we weren't joking when we named it because it really is super by name and super by nature.

Of course, it’s greatest superpowers come from vitamin C which is one of the most trusted skincare ingredients we know, packing a punch against environmental damage and helping to keep your skin bright, radiant and healthy-looking. But vitamin C is really just the tip of the iceberg here, for Vitamin C Super Serum + is powered by so much more.

And if you think it’s going to be heavy and too rich for your skin, think again. It may be concentrated and packed with ingredient heavyweights, but its texture is the exact opposite – lightweight and an absolute joy to use. So good, you’ll want to use it every minute of the day, in fact. Full disclosure: don’t do that. More on how to use Vitamin C Super Serum + safely and effectively to follow…

But First, What Makes Vitamin C Super Serum + Different From The Rest?

1. It contains a special type of vitamin C called sodium ascorbyl phosphate

Just like the Vitamin C Facial Serum (and all of our vitamin C products, actually), our Super Serum + doesn’t contain pure vitamin C (l-ascorbic acid). Wait… what? Ha, of course it contains a certain type of vitamin C, just not the pure stuff. Why? Two reasons. One, we believe it’s way too potent which, sure, that can be a good thing. Until it isn’t. The hard truth is that many skin types can’t handle pure vitamin C as it’s kind of irritating – especially if you have sensitive skin.

Secondly, pure vitamin C is very unstable which means it breaks down when it’s exposed to light and air and thus loses efficacy. Which is kind of annoying.

Instead of l-ascorbic acid, we load up our vitamin C formulas with sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP) which is a salt form of the original. This little gem is much more stable and longer-lasting, plus it’s way gentler on your skin. But don't worry, it's still packed with all the same benefits. It's just better. We think so, anyway.

2. Retinol and salicylic acid add further power to this potent blend

As if the mighty forces of vitamin C weren’t enough to power up this serum, it also comes chock full of other skincare greats. Do retinol and salicylic acid mean anything to you?

Some skincare experts scoff at the thought of using vitamin C and retinol together and, true, if you try cocktailing them at home, you could end up with disastrous results. However, when they’re blended thoughtfully and smartly by the experts (that’s us, btw!) they team up perfectly to help smooth and brighten your skin while defending it from environmental damage and supporting collagen production. Say hello to youthful-looking skin for years to come.

When you add salicylic acid into the mix you also get a little gentle exfoliation as an extra bonus. This helps your vitamin C (and retinol) penetrate the skin better and more effectively. And that’s what we call a skincare win-win.

3. Hyaluronic acid and niacinamide help keep skin calm and collected

If all this sounds like a whole bunch of irritation waiting to happen, fear not. Granted, Vitamin C Super Serum+ may include a combination of some of the hardest-hitters in skincare, but it’s also balanced with hydrating, soothing and calming ingredients like hyaluronic acid and niacinamide.

It’s also free of common irritants like synthetic fragrance, silicones, parabens and sulfates which makes it surprisingly gentle on the skin as long as you don’t apply it too frequently. 

4. Unlike inferior vitamin C serums, it smells incredible

Of course, the smell of skincare isn’t the most important thing in the world, but we believe it plays a crucial part in the way you experience beauty products. Scent evokes emotions and memories: it can make you feel alive and energized (hello citrus and mint), and it can similarly make you feel sleepy and relaxed (here’s looking at you, lavender and chamomile).

This is why Vitamin C Super Serum+ is infused with a light touch of grapefruit essential oil. Fresh, subtle and uplifting, grapefruit is thought to help reduce stress and balance your mood. And who doesn’t want a piece of that?

How To Make Vitamin C Super Serum + Work For You

The most important thing to remember about our Vitamin C Super Serum + is that you don’t have to use it every day to see incredible results. In fact, we advise against it. Instead, we find that two or three times a week is enough for most skin types to reap the benefits of its four-way age defense formula.

On your days off, alternate it with Vitamin C Facial Serum, or any other of your TruSkin favorites for that matter. Have you tried our NEW Energizing Caffeine Facial Serum, for example? That one's a real goodie and an incredible morning wake-up call for tired, flagging complexions.

Apply a couple of drops of Vitamin C Super Serum + to clean skin and gently pat or smooth it over your face and neck. Give it a minute or so to settle into your skin, then finish with moisturizer. And remember, this juice contains tons of potent, concentrated ingredients which accelerate cell turnover to help you enjoy your freshest skin ever. So don’t ruin all of that hard work by skipping your morning supply of SPF. Generously treat your skin with a broad-spectrum sunscreen every day. And yes, we said every day and we mean it.

Now go and load up on Vitamin C Super Serum + while it's still front of mind!