I love that the field of holistic health and wellness
encompasses so many different topics. I
get to write about nutrition, fitness, stress management, lifestyle, the
environment, alternatives to today’s mainstream healthcare choices, and healthcare
in general.
I also get to write about lighter topics like hair and
skincare, nails, and makeup. How do these topics fit in? They may seem
superficial, but I believe that these topics deserve as much attention as the
more mind, body, spirit topics because they are a reflection of the level of
balance, or lack thereof, of those areas of one’s life.
The skin can reveal one’s exposure to environmental and
internal toxins, whether or not systemic inflammation is present, one’s level
of stress, as well as the health of one’s digestive tract, or gut. The health
of one’s hair and nails also can indicate imbalances. Prematurely graying and
thinning hair may indicate inadequate consumption and absorption of vitamins
and minerals, or deficiencies of macronutrients such as healthy fats and high
quality proteins. Nails that have bumps, splits, ridges, discolorations, or
other abnormalities can indicate many different internal issues including
thyroid disease and adrenal fatigue.
And makeup? One’s choice of whether or not to wear makeup
depends on many things—level of confidence and self worth (some people feel
confident without wearing a speck of makeup at all and it shows), one’s value
of artistic expression, self care, health of the skin, and so on.
Sometimes I tend to focus on one topic for several posts,
other times I mix it up a bit. Since this blog and the HH communities on
Facebook and Twitter are growing and new readers join us everyday, I sometimes
like to post links to earlier posts about topics I don’t write about as much
anymore.
Today’s topic is Exfoliation.
My views on exfoliation have drastically changed over the
years. Like many, I initially thought more was better. I’d scrub away at my
face every day in the shower as a teenager, even though I had really bad acne
at the time. I just used the scrub indicated for acne-prone skin. Later on, I
went for microdermabrasion treatments and when I was in school for aesthetics,
I’d get chemical exfoliation treatments once to twice a week. Why? Because I
wanted to get rid of the dead, old skin on top and reveal the fresh, healthy,
young, new skin underneath—just like the commercials and advertisements say.
Well I began to notice broken capillaries on my face, and
some new mild discolorations. I also began doing research outside of our
standard textbook of what exfoliation actually does to the face, and how those “dead”
skin cells (the stratum corneum layer of the epidermis) are there for a reason—to
protect the delicate cells underneath. Those delicate cells underneath are what
produce melanocytes (our protective melanin pigment cells), and the “proteins
of youth”, collagen and elastin. When you interfere with the skin’s normal
processes by exposing those cells too soon, you are prematurely exposing them
to environmental microorganisms and toxins and free radicals. This can damage
those cells and even cause them to mutate. It can also cause dehydration of the
skin and prevent proper circulation of nutrients within the dermis (innermost
layers of the skin where skin aging actually occurs).
I’ve written a lot about this topic in the past, and more
experts in the fields of aesthetics and dermatology are beginning to teach
classes and publish material questioning the industry’s overuse of exfoliation
in general. As more information comes out, I will continue to write about it.
In the meantime, here are the my top 5 posts about
exfoliation from the earlier days of Holistically Haute™.
Enjoy!
- All About Exfoliation
- Help Your Skin Exfoliate Itself...with Water
- Chemical Exfoliation: What You Need to Know
- Microdermabrasion: Proceed with Caution
- Rethinking Exfoliation
What are your thoughts about exfoliation?
*Images 2 and 3 courtesy of the ASCP.
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