Skincare and Make Up – Hand in Hand

The crowded, confusing forest of skin care includes treatment regimens and products promising effects from “amazing” and “age defying” to “flawless perfection” and “fountain of youth”.  How do you find your way? Make up products shout the same claims. With the ongoing changes in environment and lifestyles, trying to look good is getting more and more complex. Exotic skin creams, hair care products and body blitzes use everything from milk to seaweed. With all this going on how do you know what you should be doing to make the most of your look while taking care of the largest organ in your body- your skin?  Healthy skin is a source of pleasure, not only to its owner but also to those around us. Beauty and make up go hand in hand.

You can improve the quality and impact of your look by applying the right makeup.  Someone once said that “a woman without make up is like food without salt.” Obviously, make up is applied to the skin.  Your skin, not your make up, is where your look begins. Skin care, like the application of make up,  is an art for which you need a proper understanding of the basics. There are no magic potions that can make spots and pimples disappear overnight. Nor is there a fountain of youth in a bottle or jar that can turn back time and give you back the toned, unlined skin of your youth. But there are techniques and lifestyle habits that can help rejuvenate your skin and promote its good health.  Once you have done that you have the foundation, no pun intended, for the effective application of make up products that work with, not against, the underlying beauty of your skin.  But the way make up is sometimes applied it seems that skin care and make up fight each other instead of working together. Make up can clog pores, causing pimples and acne break outs.  Many of the ingredients in make up are synthetic chemicals that may actually harm your skin over time. One example is mineral oil, which also goes as liquid paraffin and petrolatum. Mineral oil is used extensively in make up  products because its is inexpensive.

However, mineral oil clogs pores, interferes with your skin’s natural ability to eliminate toxins, and can promote pimples. If used for an extended time your skin can become dependent on it, causing chapping and dryness if withdrawn. Consumers who only know only a little about skin care and make up can be confused by misleading information.  You are unique! And so is your skin. What kind of make up is right for your individual skin care needs? The marketing is fierce. In the face of aggressively marketed and chemically exotic make up products based on newly developed formulations, many people are falling back to the comfort and reassurance that attend ‘natural’ products. The underlying principle behind organic make up products is that no ingredient goes in without a reason. Historically, most of the evidence in favor of the effectiveness of organic make up ingredients was anecdotal.

In recent years however the rigors of scientific analysis and study have been applied to natural make up and skin care products with very favorable results.  Multiple academic research studies have shown that organic make up products are generally better for your skin. Particularly when it comes to your facial skin, which is usually more sensitive than the rest of your body, it is very important to choose the right natural make up product.