Spa Girl Beauty Tips

Skin Conditions: Sun Damage, Wrinkles, Acne, Hyper-Pigmentation

Now that you’ve determined your skin type, it’s time to take a look possible skin conditions you may have.

Skin conditions are what we are most concerned with when it comes to product choice. These are things that often can be helped, prevented or controlled by product.

This is not every condition, just some of the more common ones people are concerned with. Remember that any one of these can appear alongside any of the skin types in the other post.

Dehydration: this is often confused with “dry skin”. Dehydration is in fact a lack of water in the skin, not oil. So acne skin can be  dehydrated. It often manifests as a crepe-y look to the skin when viewed up close. Or as fine lines and wrinkles that aren’t always there. The cells lack plumpness and little criss-crossy lines are visible when the skin is lifted or pinched.  A good moisturizer or even just a hydrating serum added into your current routine can turn this around quickly.

Sun Damage: This shows up as wrinkles, sun spots and sagging. Think of how the sun breaks down spandex. It does the same thing to the collagen and elastin in your skin. There’s also an increase of melanin, which is what causes those lovely spots. A huge amount of the sign of aging come down to sun damage, which can also take years to show up. For the most part deep exfoliation is the best thing you can do…next to staying out of the sun.

Enlarged pores: There really is nothing products can do to help this, despite what they claim. You can “refine” pores by exfoliating though. Think of them as inverted cones, the widest part on the top layer of your skin. If you exfoliate deeply, you’re removing the top layers, getting down to a less wide part of the cone/pore. So they appear smaller.

Sagging and wrinkles: These come from loss of elastin and collagen. “Wrinkles” are meant as deep lines. As the muscles in the face weaken with age, everything moves forward creating the loose skin. The main on is the naso-labial lines from the outside of the nose to the corners of the mouth, when we’re young it shows when we smile. As we age the fat pads in the cheeks slide forward and make that line more permanent. It’s all about prevention with this. Use products that promote collagen production to strengthen and support the skin.

Sensitized: Something has happened to make the skin temporarily sensitive or reactive. Perhaps a medication, a product that was too strong, or even a sunburn. Redness, irritation and some inflammation may occur. The difference is that your skin hasn’t ever really been sensitive before, as opposed to sensitive skin that has always struggled with it. Use as few products that you can get away with, and use a soothing cream or mask until the skin re-balances. Make sure it isn’t a current product you’re using that is causing the issue.

Dull Skin: This can happen when skin isn’t exfoliated enough. Skin will look lifeless and have no glow. Changes to diet, sleep patterns or medication can cause this as well. Exfoliate and brighten with vitamin C products.

Hyper-Pigmentation: This is when you see darker spots or patches on the skin. For some it’s on the upper lip, perhaps it shows up across the eyes and cheeks during pregnancy, or it could be an accumulation of sun damage. Either way it’s extremely difficult to deal with. Any routine started needs to be strictly followed, you have to be very patient and pretty much stay completely out of the sun. Glycolics, AHA’s, microdermbrasion and laser can all reduce it to a certain extent.

In their own category are acne and rosacea. This is because their reasons and causes can vary from person to person. For some they may be a type, for others a condition.

I have a few posts on acne: here and here.

I haven’t touched on rosacea because it’s extremely complicated, and I really feel it’s more of something that is dealt with through a doctor or dermatologist.

I hope this helps you to identify what might be happening in your skin. When it comes to treating them, they sometimes need to be dealt with one at a time. Certain ingredients that may help reduce hyper-pigmentation may not mix with the ingredients necessary to reduce acne.

Choose what is most pressing and work towards solving that. Great skin care should change your skin and allow your routine to be flexible and changing.

Tags: acne, dehydrated skin, dull skin, fine lines, hyper pigmentation, rosacea, skin condition, sun damage, wrinkles

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