Why you will never need to moisturize again.

What if we told you that if you gave our skincare a try, you would never need a traditional moisturizer ever again? I bet most people wouldn’t believe us, so we’re going to break it down for you. 

Traditional moisturizers have been used for centuries in the beauty industry. We have been taught by our mothers who were taught by their mothers, our grandmothers, and so on that moisturizers are the best way to keep your skin young. (Disclaimer: No one is knocking our mother or grandmothers. Modern medicine and scientific advances have just come so far that what was once believed to be the holy grail of beauty, is actually not good for us at all.) 

Moisturizers firm and plump the skin, or so the company’s claim. They feel good and add a beautiful youthful sheen which must be a sign of youth and beauty. You may have even been taught that all that was necessary for healthy skin was to wash your face and apply your moisturizer at night. While I sincerely wish it was that simple, this is actually not the case. 

First of all, the most effective way to prevent signs of aging is not to apply a corrective product like a moisturizer or serum to the skin. It is to PREVENT aging in the first place by PROTECTING the skin from the thing that damages it most, the sun. The American Academy of Dermatology cites that approximately 90% of age-related skin changes are caused by sun exposure. That’s not even mentioning skin cancer. If you missed our blog on sunscreen, check it out here. It’s actually more interesting than you might think, and you’ll soon realize that sunscreen is one of your most important anti-aging products!

But what if I have dry or sensitive skin?

Perfect. That’s exactly why you do not need a moisturizer. Most moisturizers are actually barrier creams by nature. They are high molecular weight products which do not allow a great deal of moisture to penetrate the skin from the external environment. They also help pastedown the dead skin cells that our medical-grade treatments and products are trying to help remove. That sounds pretty, right? As you transition to medical-grade skincare products that actually repair the skin, you will begin to notice that what may have once been “dry, sensitive skin” will no longer feel that way. Of course, there are going to be certain products that will cause a mild amount of redness, flaking, and irritation initially. (Think retinol, tretinoin, glycolic and salicylic acid-based products.) But, this won’t last more than a couple of weeks and your provider will walk you through this process if your skin needs one of the aforementioned ingredients.

So what should I be using on my skin?

The principles behind our product lines at the MAC are pretty simple. First, you are going to get the skin ready. Then you will correct and repair. And finally, you prevent. Prevention is as simple as one of our broad-spectrum sunscreens. Our best-seller is ZO Sunscreen + Primer. We also carry several others to cater to all skin types and skin tones.

Since we have already covered prevention here and in our previous blog about sunscreen, let’s focus on the other two steps:

Step one: Get the skin ready.

To prepare the skin for correction & repair products, we recommend that our patients use a cleanser morning and night followed by a specially designed toner pad. Yes, I said toner, and no, they aren’t just for acne patients. Toners have many functions from additional cleansing, exfoliation, acne treatment and prevention, and most importantly, adjusting the pH of the skin to allow those repair & correction products to do their jobs. We also encourage all of our skincare patients to try ZO Skin Health’s Exfoliating Polish 2-3 times per week. It is our top-seller in terms of our medical skincare products. With multiple options for cleansing, exfoliating, and toning the skin, we are certain that we have something that will help get your skin ready for the step that you are reading this for, correction & repair.

Step two: Correct and repair.

Compared to OTC moisturizers, these medical-grade correction and repair products are life-changing! They actually DO something for your skin. They don’t just feel and smell good. They are working at a cellular level to turn on glycosaminoglycans, the tiny cellular bodies responsible for the maintenance of…..collagen and elastin! All of us have heard those magic words. Think of collagen as the pillow top mattress and elastin as the springs. You definitely want and need both to avoid wrinkles and fine lines. These molecules function as water-binders and can hold nearly 1000 times their weight in moisture! It’s all starting to come together, right? We need to turn these little guys back on instead of suppressing them with the false sensation of moisture from cheap, traditional moisturizers. Dr. Zein Obagi, a world-renown dermatologist and skincare expert says, “If you apply a lot of moisture, the skin will become sensitive, dry, dull, and interfere with natural hydration.” 

It’s all coming together, right? The skin essentially becomes dependent on your moisturizer and stops supplying its own hydration from within. The two medical-grade product lines we carry at the MAC, ZO Skin Health by Dr. Zein Obagi and Alastin Skincare, are both designed to correct your skin concerns without suppressing your body’s ability to hydrate itself.

Still have questions? Come see us at McKinzie Aesthetics Center for a skin consultation. We also offer virtual consultations for our out-of-state patients. We would love to get you started on the path to true skin health.