We’re super excited for this blog because we get the question almost daily about, “how important is having regimens and consistency?” So, let’s talk about it!
Having a daily skincare regimen is important both in our office and at home; we like to tell our clients that investing in their skin is the exact same as purchasing a series of anything else, you must use the entire series to see any kind of result. With anything you do, whether skincare, dental health, car maintenance, etc., you can’t expect that one quick service will fix it entirely. You must maintain.
Think of it this way, we know most of you reading this probably take care of your body and physical health in the gym, right? You wouldn’t believe for one second that you can go one time and expect magnificent, incredible results on your first visit (I mean, we’re not Dwayne Johnson). You’d never purchase a car, change its oil one time and expect to never have to do it again. Or even with your teeth, you’d never whiten them one time and expect to never have to do it again. See where we’re going here? It’s all about maintenance.
Our skin is an organ, our largest in fact and it’s so important to care for it regularly for maximum health benefits. Think about it, your liver or stomach or insert your favorite organ here requires you to take care of it right? You drink lots of water, eat a healthy diet, avoid smoking/drugs/alcohol, exercise regularly…. why? To keep your body healthy! It’s no different when it comes to your skin; it needs essential nutrients and sometimes, corrective treatments because of the sun, or environmental/free radical damage.
Healthy skin cells of a younger individual (28 and under) turn over every 28 days but when we’re babies, our skin cells turn over anywhere from 10-14 days! As we start approaching that 30 to 60 age range, our skin cells take as long as 40-50 days to turn over! That’s why we need monthly maintenance to really ensure your skin is healthily turning over and you’re getting proper exfoliation. Our bodies are incredible, aren’t they? Collagenases is what builds our skin’s tissue and keeps it plump but also helps with elasticity so we don’t deal with loose and sagging skin, this peaks at 14 days and will then start to show. We know that between day 14 and 28, you’ll start seeing a change in your skin on different cellular levels. Here’s a good example!
Let’s say you just did microneedling (or a laser treatment) and your skin is a little swollen. It might not be visible to everyone’s eye that you have edema (swelling). You won’t look like you got punched and your eyes won’t be swollen shut (let’s avoid the Rocky vs. Drago fight look), but it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening within those layers. You’ll head home and probably notice some redness; a few days later you might notice some dryness or tightness; then maybe a little bit of flaking when the skin finally starts to slough off. Now you’re about a week in and your skin is really turning around! From that point, it takes another week for the skin cells to really start going through deeper change; by the 28 day mark (or about four weeks after), you’ll have close to your end result of that treatment. Pretty cool right? Changes in your skin are always happening, even though we may not see it.
We love the end result, because your skin cells have turned over, they’ve shed and your healthy skin is now coming to the surface, you’ve done the cycle! Once our collagen has been stimulated, it can stay stimulated for up to six months and we really want to build on that, that’s why it’s so important to come back in for your second treatment. About four weeks later, you’d come back and we’d repeat the process; we build and build and build, and….you guessed it, we build some more. We want to reverse the damage that’s been done.
Let’s talk damage. It takes a long time to happen and can come in a variety of forms. With acne, it happens over the course of several years, but we’ve also seen instances of skin picking or scarring from trauma or accidents. Sun also causes major damage via free radicals which produces those pesky age spots or sunspots which typically show up out of nowhere. Most likely, you were exposed to the sun in your younger years and these spots are now unavoidable – UVA rays are the aging rays and can penetrate glass, so while people think the sun can’t penetrate their car window or home window, they absolutely can. What about UVB rays? These rays are the same as a ‘burning ray’ or a ‘tanning ray’ which you are exposed to outdoors. It’s fascinating because as we age, old dead skin cells work their way up to the surface as well as the pigment that’s trapped underneath from when we were exposed to the sun damage. Fascinating right? We’re telling you!
We all know by now that our body naturally loses collagen as we age, we start getting looser skin, and we lose fat pads in our skin as well. Cheeks aren’t quite as high, and our skin doesn’t feel as plump. You’ll start to feel like it’s hollowing out or getting laxer, or you’re maybe even noticing more lines. That’s due to the loss of collagen elasticity, hyaluronic acid production and fat pads in the skin tissue. It’s the worst! But that’s why we’re here, it’s so important to stay consistent with a regimen. Your body shows up every day for you, so why wouldn’t you show up every day for it?
People will tell you this is only for cosmetic maintenance, but we know better. This is absolutely for the health of your skin tissue and by caring enough to turn those cells over and get rid of the damage, you could potentially be alleviating pre-cancerous cells which lead to skin cancer. We can’t tell you enough how important this is. These procedures will definitely enhance your natural beauty and it’s okay to want to feel confident and it’s okay to want to look in a mirror and love what you see. It doesn’t mean you’re defined by your acne, or your age spots, or your scarring. Isn’t that powerful. It’s part of life. We love helping you embrace your natural beauty and helping you feel amazing
As we age, we repeatedly come in for maintenance (remember, it’s important). Maybe you try a HydraFacial or deep exfoliation treatment; maybe you pop in for a chemical peel to keep those skin cells turning over to maintain healthy results. You’ll always follow up at home, we always say your in-home care is your insurance policy for your treatments. Wear your sunscreen! Please from our hearts, wear your sunscreen. A good mineral sunscreen will provide a physical barrier to those harmful rays and will protect you from free radical damage. Your everyday routine will involve more that that, maybe cleanser, toner, serums or alternate hydration methods with AHA’s (alpha hydroxy acid – great for helping dead skin cells turn over) or BHA’s (salicylic acid – usually used for acne or keratosis pilaris). We have so many options for different needs.
Bottom line, take care of your skin, it should be a top priority just like heading to the doctor for wellness exams or the dentist for a cleaning. We are always here to answer questions or nerd out on skincare facts to help you get your regimens and consistency in place for your skincare routines; we’re glad you’re here!