Choosing skincare products can be confusing, there are a huge amount of products on the market and companies will spend millions of pounds telling you they are the best, though ads, through social media, through celebrities and influencers, even through word of mouth through your friends or beauty therapists. Products are designed to appeal to your senses through smell, texture and of course packaging. All of this information can be overwhelming and make it hard to know if a product is going to be right for you... or indeed do what it says on the tin 

 Our Co-founder,  Anti-ageing Dermatology Scientist {an invited member of the prestigious scientific adviser board} John wants to cut through the noise and here is his advice on three questions that will help you ascertain if a product will work for you…

"My work on skincare and antiageing was not just for others but as someone in his mid-sixties, I also wanted to know how to extend my healthy life and stay youthful  So I started following the leading scientists in universities who were involved in research of why we age and what could slow this process down"

The first thing  I noticed is just how much the beauty industry does not have a clue about anti ageing actually using chemicals which even age you faster ( maybe that's why so many beauty therapists have prematurely aged skin )

So below is some answers... 

Question One: What is in many products?  you may well be using...

Many products these days, including ‘natural’ ones, contain synthetic ingredients that are not only unpleasant but can actually cause damage to your skin and body when it’s absorbed. This study showed how artificial preservatives such as parabens and benzophenones found in hundreds of thousands of products can affect hormones. In fact, there are over 30,000 synthetic ingredients regularly used in cosmetic products that we would never touch in our products. Here is an article about the levels of air pollution caused by the use of personal care products  

Question Two: Where’s the science to back up the claims? 

Many skincare brands make big claims about their products, often without the science to back it up. The products may make your skin feel nice temporarily on the surface but it hasn’t been formulated with an understanding of why and how we age and how it can be stopped. We work with universities and use scientific data to drive our understanding of the ageing process at a molecular level, not just the surface level. To stop the ageing process you have to 1) stop the main source of ageing to cells, 2) use the right compounds to stop and repair the damage to elastin, collagen and fibres and 3) have a formulation that enables the ingredients to get absorbed below the surface of the skin to do this work rather than simply sitting on top of the skin. There are many natural brands with so many ingredients which can cause reactions and molecule sizes which just sit on the surface of the skin which may feel good but they do little to stop the biological process of ageing.

This is where we differ enormously because of our scientific knowledge of what affects and protects cells has come about from not just skincare but from the scientific research of what causes ageing and what can combat it. No other manufacturer has that knowledge from years of working with universities in such research. The test for this is to ask your therapist or skincare consultant what the product does to stop the damage to the mitochondria cell. This is the single biggest factor in skin ageing according to scientific research into why we age. 

Here’s a really interesting piece of research from Newcastle University on anti-ageing and the mitochondria 

Question Three: Is this right for me? 

Everyone’s skin is different, and because of environmental aggressors and the thousands of synthetic chemicals we use in all our skincare, body care and even homecare we are seeing increased incidences of allergies, acne, rosacea type skin conditions and poor conditioned skin. We have many customers contacting us with rosacea style symptoms that aren’t rosacea and a much simpler reaction to their existing skincare, an allergy to petroleum-based products or harsh abrasive synthetic retinoids all of which disrupt and damage the skin which turns into a damaging cycle when people use more synthetic products to ‘cure’ the symptoms. Just because your friend or a woman in the newspaper uses certain products does not mean it’s right for you, in fact, quite often they are being incentivised to say that! Take advice, pare back your routine and only use truly natural products to get on top of your skin’s issues so you can ascertain whether you have an issue or an issue with the products you use on your skin!  (by the way, these chemicals and skin issues aren’t just caused by facial skincare, think about what you’re using as shampoo, as a body wash, as a deodorant I was the first 20yrs ago to talk about parabens and breast cancer and now talk about the potential dangers of sun creams spf's).

Without question, natural oils are a key to slowing cell decay and that's why we say you must use them. The base oils are the key to anti-ageing and have this amazing ability to protect your cells, collagen, fibres & elastins from the daily damage of the main source of ageing they are your personal bodyguard. You are encouraged to eat fruit and vegetables for there benefits to health, well it's the oils in such plants which do this and our oils are the unadulterated concentrated extraction of them and they contain minerals, omegas,  fatty acid, amino acids and vitamins all of which by using them on your skin you are getting them in the most powerful form .. Now, most synthetic creams gels and serums don't carry such and if they do the whole formulation is too big a molecule to get to the dermis where it needs to be to do the protection.  Then we add in essential oils depending on what else you want to happen ie dry skin, inflammation, out of balance, hormonal pigmentation etc   

As always, John is more than happy to answer questions about your skin and recommended skincare products, simply email your details to john@naturelelementsskincare.com you can even talk to him on 01299 253994