(A Quick Guide to Skin Type Myths & What to Expect When You Move to Natural)
Your skin is begging for a change, but it can be overwhelming.
If you decide to take on a new skincare process you might worry about how to do it, which products to use, and what might happen if your skin reacts to something new?
It's a particularly good time to take a close look at your skin. Why? Because during the COVID pandemic, the world literally took a break. Dolphins returned to clear blue water in the canals in Venice, Italy. Coyotes started gathering in downtown San Francisco to howl in the empty city streets at night. Satellite views showed us how inversion and smog levels world-wide reached epic lows and in some of the most polluted cities in the world.
Everyone stayed home. We ate simpler food. We spent time with family. We didn't interact with normal bacteria in public places. We spent time outside on a daily walk or with exercise.
Our systems have had room for a reset. Though collectively we are likely more healthy as a global population than we have been ever in the recent past, we are also very sanitized, very over-cleansed. We are missing the disease resistance to simple colds and infections that being "in the herd" would normally bring to us.
What will happen when we return to group gatherings? When we start wearing makeup every day again? What will we learn? What will we change? How can we do better for ourselves and our skin?
Skin type definitions are a myth.
We have been taught that we all fall into a limited number of categories for a skin type. Normal, combination/oily, acne-prone, mature..... all are too narrow to account for things like what you eat, where you live, what your fitness level is, where your emotional stress quotient sits, who you share bathrooms and products with, and what underlying health conditions (or skin conditions) you may be dealing with.
Please see our "very important note" on very sensitive skin at the end of the article.
The necessity of using a line of products by age is also false.
Over time we have also been persuaded by big commercial industries that all beauty care is arranged by age. That's also totally false. It works to sell extensive product lines individually to different members of a household but it also produces a massive carbon foot print, results in a wide range of good >> bad products in a household and is fraught with use of plastics, which if left for a long period of time can break down in a product and become a toxin.
After I tested it with my family and many others, I wanted to break the myth. So I designed the SKÖN Glowing Skin Collection (and Mini Collection) as a one-stop for several members of a household, roommates, partners, family members, and to be effective for a wide variety of skin types from about age 5 yrs - elderly. We have infant and new mom products in order to be sensitive to a pregnant woman's needs and the needs of a brand new baby under age one, and these also work for the most sensitive skin of all ages.
How can several people share these products?
Barring those three categories (pregnant/nursing + baby + extremely sensitive skin) our products are good for everyone. In our family, my 10 year old daughter uses the gentle baby wash LILLA DU for her face and follows with our FUKTA blue oil. My 12 year old daughter uses REN to wash and follows with TONA and KLAR for her keratosis pilaris on her arms and her blooming oily skin that is a sign she's coming into teenhood. My skin is combination / very sensitive so I alternate between LILLA DU and REN to wash and follow with a layer of VÄN for moisture (with a drop of FUKTA in it) and when it dries I put on KLAR for a clay barrier and light oil control (it looks like a light powder finish on most skin). My husband is in healthcare. At night he washes with REN and clarifies with TONA and VÄN. In the morning he applies KLAR to clean overnight skin before going to work as a barrier. And at work at lunch to relieve his "mask fatigue" he uses VÄN as a refresher and a contributor to natural biome under the mask. He says KLAR protects his face when using a mask and also helps his skin not get too oily when he's doing heavy work like moving patients, and VÄN is cooling and refreshes his natural system during the day.
Purging is real. Give it time.
Skin holds A LOT. Environmental toxin. Excess oil. Leftover emollient ingredients from makeup - particularly if it is inexpensive makeup with synthetic ingredients. Even some of the "best" mineral makeups cause breakouts over time because the powdered ones involve application with a brush and the brush picks up a ton of bacteria and leftover clay product, which holds bathroom toxins like a sponge. Don't even get me started on subjects like face mites, which are a parasite that exist on everyone and burrow into pores feeding on excess oil and dead skin. When they get out of control they destroy your face's biome until they are put into balance.
When you start to use a highly natural product line, particularly one with biodynamic ferments and a natural biome like SLOANE MARLEY™ the things leftover on your skin have to be evicted and purged in order to heal. The chemicals you may have applied in a commercial sunscreen, maybe leftover makeup (even if it's natural) and the bacteria that comes with it, the long term effects of pollution and grime from petroleum in the air from traffic, etc.
This may look like an over-production of oil for a little while, the appearance of blackheads or skin-colored "white" heads, or even some acne. If you are committed to changing your skin's biome, you need to give the process 2-4 weeks to work, for your skin to heal, and for your body to purge the oil, come back to natural oil balance, and reset. I have heard stories of people going from full-blown adult acne to complete repair at about the 2.5-3 week mark and maintaining that with regular use. At the 2 week mark, the natural biome in the products created by the VINOFLORA™ fresh juice ferment as well as ingredients like apple cider vinegar and kombucha will take hold on your face and set up residence as your own personal army. From that point forward, your face is prepared to "fight back" when it meets environmental toxin, grime, oil, and bacteria.
Face systems sometimes feel like "too many steps".... but wait.
No one in my family has ever been a "face system" person, but this stuff feels good, smells good, is meditative and feels like a ritual and it works. It's rare for any of us to use all of the products twice every day - it's more of a special mix based on what is happening: temperature, stress, acne, tiredness, etc. Having the flexibility of those options in one small set has actually reduced the number of bottles we keep around. And it's all in glass so you never get that "old" plastic smell as you use something. Because those things are true, we are all hooked.
On a family vacation we can travel with a SKÖN Glowing Skin Mini Collection and make it through up to almost two weeks as a family without refilling the bottles. When we get home, we top them off from the full-sized SKÖN Collection and we're ready for the next trip.
My favorite thing is to take these products camping because it's a stellar refresher for face, body and mind when out in nature and none of the products are harmful to the earth or a water source so I can feel good about that.
This is very important right now.
After almost two months with just our immediate families, quarantine buddies, etc. the world is slowly and gradually moving toward groups and even crowds again at some point. Meanwhile, every time you have gone to get essential products (grocery, gas, Home Depot, etc.) you have sanitized your hands and skin AND the workers have sanitized what you are touching.
Your skin is sort of bare naked right now. It needs the support of a natural biome again. To prevent acne and skin issues? That's a part of it. But more important than that is the idea of protecting your immune system. Sanitizers kill things like COVID, influenza and e-coli but don't kill a lot of other things. Over-sanitized skin is susceptible to everything when you go from no contact with others to all of the contact all at once. Think about a small child going from a family home to daycare for the first time. Or a kid going to kindergarten. They initially get sick. Their body is adjusting and developing a natural biome.
There's no time like the present and we'll support you.
Remember those lovely stories from quarantine about how the earth has purged and refreshed. Look at how much progress our earth has made in 4-6 weeks as we have changed the way we deal with her and the toxins we put in her way. Your skin is the same story. Minimum of 2 weeks and at a maximum of 4-6 weeks you'll know exactly what combination works best for you and you'll have the confidence (and new natural biome) to play around with options to support your skin during changing seasons of nature or seasons of age and life. You'll have a solid handle on how to share these products with the people you love. And they'll start on their own journey.
Very important note: If you have a medical condition of the skin or very sensitive skin, please take the time to contact us for a free mini-consultation to talk about your skin before purchasing our products. Then we can give you proper warnings about which ones might be safe and gentle enough, which ones to avoid, and questions to ask your chosen medical professional. If you decide to purchase without this consultation, we support you! Just be sure to spot test anything you buy from us in a very small area to see how your skin tolerates it before you proceed. You'll need to do this with each product as they are all very different from each other.
Do you have questions? We love to hear from you. DM us on Instagram or email me directly at courtney@sloanemarley.com and I will respond to you as quickly as I can.
Take good care of yourself everyone!
xx
Courtney