Skin Vs Pollution
As skincare experts with over 65 years’ experience. Our clients are always asking our advice. We base our answers on fact and experience from our time in the industry. Pollution is a hot topic right now and the question is this... ‘What does pollution do to your skin?’
For you to achieve better skin for life it’s important to understand what pollution does to your skin.
Nowadays pollution comes in many forms
Air pollutants surround us in both urban and rural environments, at home and at work. Your skin is under threat from the effect of Nano particles which have toxic effects on your skin.
Nano particles are pollution particles; they contain sinister sounding gases and chemicals, including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, mercury and arsenic.
The thing is this, pollution particles don’t sit on the surface like dirt on a window, they get right into your skin.
A 21st Century ‘villain’
There is the new generation of damaging toxins too. We must protect our skin from these on a daily basis as you should with ‘traditional pollutants’. This ‘bad guy’ is blue light, coming from our smart technology.
Then there is UV. I count this as pollution as it will have a similar toxic effect on your skin cells.
For smokers, it's worse again. We know the damaging effect smoking has on our internal organs. Count the smoke coming from the lit end of a cigarette as an external pollutant, which contains air pollution microscopic Nano particles know as PAH’s (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons).
What does pollution do to your skin?
Fail to protect your skin and the long-term effect will be visible signs of skin ageing, including dark pigmentation patches, your lines and wrinkles will become more visible. Skin dehydration, open pores and loss of tone are often problematic. Not to mention the increased risk of sensitivity, not only redness but skin intolerance to many everyday products. This includes heat and the way your skin responds when you are in stressful situations. Even an increased risk of eczema and other skin allergies. (sorry to be the bearer of this news).
Skin V’s pollution
Your body is under constant attack from reactive oxidative stress. Oxygen in the body splits into single atoms with an unpaired electron. Electrons like to be in pairs, so these atoms called free radicals, scavenge the body to seek out other electrons becoming a pair. This causes damage to cells, proteins and DNA. From your skin’s perspective, this will trigger a deterioration in its youthful look and feel.
The pollutants mentioned earlier are all around us, (from lifestyle, environment and climate) and responsible for an increase in free radical ‘invasion’.
Call in the cavalry on anti-free radicals
The most efficient anti free radical is the antioxidant. Our bodies produce antioxidants in good numbers, battling against free radicals and skin ageing at 1:1 ratio. This continues up until your mid-twenties. Around this time your body stops producing high amounts of antioxidants. Changing the 1:1 ratio.
At this time, free radical numbers are no longer kept under control by the antioxidants and reactive oxidative stress occurs. We are not producing antioxidants in the number we once did, so we must include more antioxidant rich food in our diet.
As well as diet, we can bring antioxidants to your skin by using antioxidant rich skincare products. There are some great products that you can introduce to your Katherine Daniels 4-Step skincare regime.
I love our Total Skin Repair Concentrate. We have used 2 powerful antioxidant ingredients to protect and repair your cells after exposure to pollutants which will reduce reactive oxidative stress within your cells. In our efficiency tests these ingredients helped to ‘reset’ skin cells to work as hard, repairing themselves as they did 11 years before!
Our Nurturing Night Balm, rich in vitamins A, C, E and B and Spirulina Extract is a rich source of antioxidants.
The beautiful balm-to-oil texture you’ll love if you have a dry skin. It comforts and well…nurtures your skin at night-time and delivers the all-important antioxidants to your skin while you are sleeping and your skin is repairing itself.
So How is pollution making things worse?
Pollutants trigger the production of free radicals and a chain of destruction starts.
Our Daily DNA Defence SPF30 not only protects from UVA & B. It protects from blue light and pollution particles too, thanks to our protect and repair enzymes, which have powerful antioxidant properties.
You’ll love the texture of this product too, it forms a weightless coat of armour for your skin.
When exposed to pollution particles it will protect the DNA of your cells which are under attack. It then goes onto repair the DNA of your cells after exposure and helps to reduce the damaging effects of reactive oxidative stress in your cells. (it's also the best makeup primer I’ve ever used!). As light as a feather, no white residue, no oiliness and it is fragrance-free, making it a favourite for the most sensitive of skins.It doesn’t matter if you are 25, 45, 75 (or anywhere in-between) your skin is ageing; we can help you achieve better skin for life!
I have 1 more piece of advice for your Skin Vs pollution case
Remember what goes on must come off, makeup will harbour pollution particles from the day. Cleanse once to remove your makeup and the ‘grime of your day’ and the second time to clean your skin.
Sources of information
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_smoke
https://www.livescience.com/54901-free-radicals.html
