This post was supposed to be an in-depth look at Retinols, sorry! That's to come next week. Instead I've been increasingly (more than usual) shouting at the TV, YouTube and adverts. Various things have gotten under my skin, but in an attempt to find my inner calm I'm venting to you beautiful readers.
Firstly, why do we still use the term 'Anti-Age' in skincare? We're definitely all ageing, that's a fact, but why is it portrayed in such a negative way? It's an absolute privilege to get older and millions of people never get the chance. I much prefer, wrinkle reducing or skin smoothing as terms, anything but 'Anti-Ageing'. We should embrace beauty at all ages and thank ourselves we have the luxury of enjoying the ageing process. So there, ageing is good, not bad!
Secondly, products that claim to 'reduce pore size' need to stop! NO product can change the size of pores, fact! It's your genetic makeup. Products can smooth the skin and clean pores making them appear less noticeable, but they can't physically reduce in size. Sorry for those that have wasted good money on products on the back of these claims but no, you're stuck with what you were born with.
Finally let's talk Petroleum. Petroleum jelly in its pure form is Vaseline. Petroleum is a petrol byproduct, yuk, so not surprisingly not ideal to use on your face! It's a great barrier product yes, but that's it. It stops water evaporating from your skin but it also doesn't hydrate or allow moisturising products to penetrate. It's not hydrating at all, so please use an alternative like a beeswax product for your lips instead and if you use E45 you should be aware this is a liquid form of petroleum. People who suffer with breakouts and roseacea should also check their skincare ingredients as this barrier ingredient will wrap the skin like clingfilm and as a consequence increase bacteria and sensitivity if the skin can't breath properly. This ingredient isn't generally considered to be irritating but there are definitely better alternatives if you suffer from dry skin.
Sorry for the rant but advertising in the beauty industry can be misleading and I hope I have shed some light on just a few areas where people are being misled.
Next week will be all things Retinol.