The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances (23 page)

chapter
6

green
cleaners

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n previous chapters, you learned about the functioning of your skin, the dangers of synthetic skin care, and the principles of green beauty. Now it’s time to address green beauty in detail and develop natural, pure beauty routines for your face, hair, and body.

A green skin care routine includes five steps: cleansing (face, hair, and body), exfoliating (face and body), toning (face and hair), moisturizing (face and body), and protection from the elements (face, body, optionally hair). Each step plays its own important role. Skip one, and the results will be far less impressive. If time is running low, you can use multitasking products that will take you through two steps in one simple move.

So what is green cleansing? As we wash our face, we get rid of daily grime, makeup, dead skin cells, and oxidized sebum using a gentle cleansing agent formulated without sulfate detergents, penetration enhancers, harsh acids, synthetic preservatives, or synthetic fragrances. Such agents can be liquid and foaming or milky and nonfoaming, depending on your skin’s needs.

I think that most people, especially women, tend to overdo it when it comes to facial cleansing. For some reason, we believe that if we rub our skin really hard, it will be cleaner and automatically healthier. However, if you revisit Chapter 1, you will recall that human skin, thanks to sebum, is perfectly able to cleanse itself. If it wasn’t for makeup, environmental toxins, and city dust and grime, you could keep your skin clean with a cotton ball and some warm water.

Unfortunately, not all of us are blessed with the opportunity to spend lazy days in a seaside cottage on a remote beach. City life is ruthless to our skin, and a good cleanser is essential for a clear, healthy complexion. Do we really need a heavy-duty cleanser to make sure that our skin is truly, deeply clean? Not at all! All we need is to get rid of the dirt that accumulates on our face during the day. Remember, our faces are the most exposed yet fragile part of our bodies. If the weather is harsh, you can wear gloves or mittens to cover your hands, and you can wrap a scarf around your neck, but you cannot hide your face under a knitted mask— unless you plan on robbing a bank.

Every beauty book and skin care–related magazine article declares that neither dirt nor chocolate can contribute to skin problems. Well, it depends on what we call dirt. Dirt does not necessarily mean smudges of mud or streaks of dust on a sweaty face. Most often, dirt on our faces consists of airborne particles of soot, smoke, dust, dried sweat, and residue from makeup, sunscreens, and skin care. These fine particles pile on the surface of your skin, clogging up the pores and forming a sticky nonbreathable film on top of your skin. As a result, congestion forms deep under the skin’s surface, resulting in visible blackheads, an uneven, dull complexion, allergies, and acne. The solution: you must eliminate the dirt without over cleansing, which may cause skin irritation. In this chapter, I will describe the correct way to double-cleanse your skin using products and techniques designed specifically for each skin’s needs.

There’s no such thing as one “perfect” skin type.

Forget About Skin Typing

Combination oily, dehydrated sensitive with oily T-zone, mature yet acne-prone—the cosmetic industry comes up with endless variations on skin typing. Some cosmetic brands have developed complex facial “mapping” techniques that put a label on each square inch of our face and assign a separate product to tackle every zone, no matter
how small it is. Other companies would use computers and complex questionnaires, not to mention well-versed salespeople who seem to decipher your unique skin needs at first glance. The skin care industry tries to convince us of two things: (1) there is one ideal skin type, and that’s a “normal” skin: flawless, dewy, wrinkle-free, like the one you had when you were six years old; and (2) none of us have it. Of course, the sales pitch continues, we can correct our imperfect skin if we buy the right products.

Let’s take a minute to challenge this concept. There’s no such thing as one “perfect” skin type. Our skin undergoes constant changes. It can be drier at the end of the day, yet shine like a disco ball by midday, and all this is the perfectly normal way our skin functions. When we are at peak condition, our endocrine glands command sebum glands to produce more oil, but as we are getting tired and ready to go to sleep, our body systems, including the sebum glands, slow down and take a break. As a result, it’s almost impossible to define our skin type once and for all. Here are the main reasons you should stop being guided by a skin type and start choosing cosmetic products based on your skin’s unique needs.

The climate and environment we live in have a great impact on our skin.
If you live in Toronto with its breathtaking winter winds and humid, hot summers, you will have different skin care concerns than a person living in the hot, dry air of Los Angeles, even if you are both labeled as combination-dry skin types.

Women tend to overachieve when it comes to skin care.
We think that if we use a cupful of cleanser, followed by another cupful of a toner, and then cover our face with a thick layer of cream, we will stay young forever. As a result, we use too many cleansers, toners, scrubs, chemical exfoliants, and acidic “rejuvenation” serums. Our skin is overloaded with various chemicals that are busy interacting with each other rather than keeping our skin youthful and clear. Strong chemicals or concentrated essential oils can trigger allergies, while heavy moisturizers can aggravate breakouts. Your current skin care routine can create more problems than it’s trying to solve.

Gender matters in skin care, too.
Men’s skin is thicker, more rigid, and less fragile. Thanks to a different hormonal constitution, men’s skin is less prone to premature aging but can develop acne more easily. Also, the oily skin of a woman who uses ten products every morning will be dramatically different from the oily skin of her partner who uses two products: a shaving gel and an aftershave lotion.

Health problems, such as allergies, digestive problems, thyroid disorders, and polycystic ovary syndrome greatly influence the skin’s condition.
Hormonal fluctuations during the monthly cycle can make a woman’s skin drip oil one day and feel taut and dry the next.

Identifying your skin type is a very subjective issue.
Most women think they have oily or combination-oily skin just because their face develops a bit of a shine by the end of the day. We get one blemish and we instantly label our skin as acne-prone. We notice a tiny wrinkle at the corner of the eye, and we rush to buy the newest, most expensive antiaging serum for dry, mature skin types.

Skin problems take time to reach the surface, so the skin that you see in the mirror today won’t be the same tomorrow.
Signs of sun damage may not become visible until you are forty, yet sun protection is vital for everyone. Dry skin doesn’t happen overnight: it takes weeks if not months of skipping moisturizers, worrying too much, smoking, tanning, and drinking more bubbly than water. Acne blemishes also need weeks to reach the skin’s surface. It takes consistent, diligent efforts to handle skin dryness and acne, and treating only what you can see (dry patches, tightness, flakiness, pimples) worsens your skin’s condition. What you see on your skin’s surface should not dictate what kind of cosmetic products you need. Always look at the bigger picture.

Some “experts” will determine your skin type based on your age.
This is according to the theory that most young women have oily or combination oily skin; most women in their thirties are combination or combination-dry; and all women over forty are in the dry skin category. While our skin indeed changes with age, “older” or “younger” skin works the same way. Women over fifty can suffer from acne and oily skin, and twenty-somethings can have dry, dehydrated skin at risk for premature aging. However, all women with mature skin are prescribed creamy cleansers and emollient, heavy moisturizers, while all women under thirty are being aggressively sold harsh liquid cleansers, alcohol-based toners, and lightweight, “shine-controlling” moisturizers. All women, no matter how old they are, need gentle, nonirritating products formulated with as few chemical ingredients as possible.

Skin typing serves as a powerful marketing tool.
Instead of helping women choose products that help solve their skin problems, cosmetic marketers label products based on traditional skin types. Salespeople can start their endless song about how you’re not using the right product for your skin type, which creates problems and can actually destroy your skin. The moment we learn that our skin is anything but normal, we open our wallets and buy whatever is sold to us so our skin will be back to normal again. In fact, using products that are “wrong for your skin type” cannot destroy your skin. Your skin can be damaged by careless tanning, using synthetic chemical skin care, and smoking, but not by using a creamy cleanser if your skin is “combination oily.”

In fact,
all of us have combination skin.
The middle section, or T-zone (the T-shaped area around the nose, forehead, and chin) will usually seem shiny by midday. It will feel drier in the evening and oilier in the morning. It will become sensitive in the winter and acne-prone, with a few blackheads, in the summer; but it can become fragile and dehydrated if we spend too much time in the sun without sunscreen. Most of us have all four skin types at the same time: oily in the T-zone, combination to normal on cheeks, dry at the neck and around the mouth, and sensitive around the eyes.

There’s little use in choosing skin products based on your skin type, simply because our skin is much too complicated to be labeled by only one of four types. If you choose a cleanser based on your skin type, you can end up using a product that is too harsh or too mild. For example, if a cosmetic salesperson looks at your midday skin and tells you that you have some blackheads and an oily T-zone, she’ll sell you a whole routine for oily skin that will include a drying bar soap, a harsh alcohol-based toner, and a salicylic acid–based moisturizer “to clear blackheads.” Instead of normally functioning combination skin, you create an oily, sensitive, and easily irritated skin that develops new pimples daily.

When you choose cosmetic products based on your skin type, you assume that once you’ve been told you have oily or dry skin, it’s going to stay that way forever. That is not going to happen. Your skin is a living organ with a complex life. Climate, hormonal fluctuations, stress, lack of sleep, and certain medications can instantly change your skin type, making it oilier or drier. A perfectly good product can become plain wrong for you the very moment the hormonal roller coaster hits its peak or you have had a tough day in the office.

Instead of picking cosmetic products based on the skin typing theory, I suggest that you tune in to your skin’s own voice and focus on your skin’s needs. This way, you will be able to choose ingredients and textures that are able to satisfy these needs. An effective skin care routine should be based on the current condition of your skin, not on the assumption that it should “get back to normal” in a few days because you use a heavily advertised beauty product.

It couldn’t be simpler: pay attention to what’s going on with your skin today and adjust your skin care routine accordingly. Whenever your skin feels different, the cosmetic industry suggests that you need to spend a fortune on an entire new set of cleansers, toners, and moisturizers, but you can get away with much more subtle yet effective changes. If your skin feels dry, wash it as usual, but add a drop or two of facial oil underneath your usual moisturizer. If your skin feels oily, don’t try to cleanse it excessively or soak up the oil with a new drying, alcohol-based toner or moisturizer. Just carry around blotting papers and use them frequently. In the evening, apply a clay-based mask to absorb excess oil and debris from pores, drink a cup of soothing tea, and use a lightweight serum instead of your nighttime moisturizer.

If your skin suddenly starts behaving oddly, it may be that it is reacting to a new product or, sadly, developed an allergy to something you’ve been using for quite a while. Carefully reevaluate your skin care routine, checking for possible irritants; pare down your morning and evening skin care regimen; and use soothing baby care products until the condition improves. This way, you will only need a few additional products: a pack of blotting papers and a clay mask for oilier days, a soothing and hydrating serum for sensitive days, and a lightweight, possibly homemade facial oil blend for days when your skin feels dry and tight. Spend less, waste less—this is one of the main principles of green beauty.

Green Cleansing Essentials

For some people, the condition of their skin starts improving once they master the art of cleansing. Surprisingly, this is very simple. Here are essential tips for getting a good facial cleansing.