Makeup gets a bad rap. People blame it for causing acne, clogging pores, and disturbing our skin’s balance. But it’s just not true. So, does makeup ruin your skin?
Does Makeup Ruin Your Skin?
Your makeup is not your enemy. Acne and skin issues are just not that simple. In fact, it’s entirely possible to not only coexist peacefully (and zit-free) with your foundation — but also for your makeup to be a fun and wonderful skin care friend.
Acne And Makeup
First, let’s look closer at what’s going on with acne — a metaphoric microscopic mirror, if you will. It’s well established that our intestinal microbiome, genetics, and hormones play a significant role in determining if we will develop acne or not. In other words, at its root, acne is largely an inside-out problem, not the other way around.
However, what we put on our skin does play a major role in what happens with our skin; even the work of the happiest belly and most balanced hormones can be hijacked if we slather our face in yucky products. So, equally as important as these internal factors are the skin care products we use externally to clear up our skin.
It’s teamwork, really.
Most often, the conventional skin care products that claim to fix acne actually make it worse. Or at best, they only help temporarily. They’re like a Band-Aid masking the problem, not fixing the reason why you broke out to begin with. So what’s the solution?
Misconceptions Of Acne
Acne woes are steeped in skin care mythology. It’s outrageous how many misconceptions people have about it. There are so many superstitions, falsehoods, and myths of what causes acne, and the wearing of makeup is often incorrectly mentioned as a big culprit. Many things like lousy hygiene, dirty bed pillows, and cell phones are on this same list. Until recently, many people believed that excessive bacteria, oil production, and skin cell buildup caused acne.
If this sounds like you, make sure you read three of my previous posts written to spread the most updated, science-based truth acne.
Problems with makeup will only happen when our skin is chronically dehydrated from acne products, along with the combined use of oil-free moisturizers. Skin that continually lacks water and has a disrupted natural barrier function (caused by traditional acne products and withholding any topical oil) will continue to worsen with congestion.
Here is the kicker: Skin that is subjected to these conditions will develop acne.
Yep. Seems counterintuitive, right? It’s wild, but true: Traditional acne protocols frequently cause acne. Not your makeup. The real enemy is your acne treatment products.
How To Give Our Skin What It Craves
When your skin is optimally hydrated and enjoys a healthy, proper natural barrier function (due to the use of a lipid-rich moisturizer), your skin will be soft, balanced, and permeable. In that state, makeup will glide on and off easily, no problem. It won’t get crammed into dehydrated pores. Your skin is protected. Your skin knows how to take care of itself, if you let it do its natural job. It can really bloom if you give it the skin care elements that it craves like hydration, barrier restoration, Dermal Nutrients, and extractions.
Your skin will never self-congest. It doesn’t let harmful things in. Dirt, bacteria, excess oil production, and sweat do not cause acne. The lack of topical water content and being oil deficient does.
Needless to say, if your skin has a slight problem with congestion, think twice before making it worse with the common, outdated acne strategies.
The Bottom Line
If you want to wear makeup and have healthy skin without blemishes, you absolutely can do both. That being said, of course, makeup should be a choice, not something that must be done so we can leave our house. Makeup is for fun. It’s not supposed to be a crutch we depend on for our self-confidence and sense of self-worth. And as a bonus, most makeup contains SPF that can add a layer of sun protection to our faces. So in that, makeup really can be a friend, if you want to wear it.
Learning the Skin Harmonics basics can make makeup fun again and take the worries and the drudgery out of it. Plus, skin texture and color issues that often lead people to want to wear makeup to begin with can be healed gorgeously with these new functional skin medicine methods.
So give your skin what it really wants and needs, and you can release all of that unwarranted makeup guilt.
About the author
I took many wrong turns when I started learning about skin at 19. The more I spent on skincare, equipment, and training, the further I felt from actually helping skin. I was frustrated with only being able to offer temporary and superficial solutions at best. What emerged from the disappointment and turmoil, I now call, The Regenerative Skin Process. Skin Harmonics is a dedicated medical fusion holistic skincare clinic that provides a root cause approach delivering lifetime skin health through medical grade skin care products, new learning, and Deep Pore Cleansing Facials.
