What is the difference between beauty and skin health

The most essential difference between the two is that the underlying logic is completely different - beauty is a result-oriented appearance improvement action, and the core evaluation criterion is "whether it looks good or not"; skin health is the steady-state expression of the skin's physiological functions, and the core evaluation criterion is "is it comfortable or not, is it normal or not".

In the six years I have been working as a skin care supervisor, I have met too many people who confuse the two. Last month, I met a young girl who just went to college. In order to take her graduation photos, she went for intensive skin whitening for two weeks. Her face was indeed two shades brighter, and her friends who took photos and took photos praised her for her beauty. Not even half a month after the results, my face started to become red, itchy and peeling when exposed to heat. Even ordinary moisturizing lotion stung when I applied it. I went to a dermatologist for a test and found out that the thickness of the stratum corneum was one-third thinner than normal and the barrier was completely damaged. This is a typical example of sacrificing skin health for beauty effects.

Of course, many practitioners will put forward different opinions. They feel that skin health has long been taken into consideration in current compliant beauty projects, and even many repair projects can improve the health of the skin. This is indeed true. Many hospital projects now include post-operative repair kits to minimize irritation to the skin, but the difference in priority between the two will always exist. For example, if you want to use fractional laser to remove acne pits, the essence is to use controlled thermal damage to stimulate collagen regeneration in the dermis. This process will inevitably break the healthy homeostasis of the skin first, and it will take about a week of scabbing and redness to slowly recover. Finally, you will get the cosmetic effect of lighter acne pits. If the energy of the operation is not controlled well and the damage exceeds the skin's repair capacity, permanent pigmentation or even scarring will be left, which is not worth the gain.

To use an inappropriate analogy, skin health is like having a good body. You can run and jump and eat well. Even if you get a little tan or have small acne marks, it will not affect your normal physiological functions. Beauty is more like wearing good-looking clothes and exquisite makeup, which can make you look more energetic and beautiful.

Many people now regard the aesthetic standards of beauty as health standards, thinking that "white and flawless skin with zero pores" is considered healthy. In fact, this is a complete confusion of concepts. What we often call healthy skin actually allows for natural skin color, a small number of spots, and age-matched fine lines. As long as the barrier is intact, there is no repeated inflammation, the transepidermal water loss rate is within the normal range, and the water and oil are balanced, it is considered healthy skin. There is no need to overdo it in pursuit of the so-called "perfect skin feel."

When I usually consult with clients, I always first ask about their needs. If you want long-term stable and good condition, you must first put your skin health first. Even if the skin you develop slowly is not cold white, it will still be in a shiny and comfortable state. If there is an important wedding or interview, it is perfectly fine to do a quick-acting beauty project as an emergency. As long as you can distinguish the difference between the two and don't treat emergency measures as daily life, you will basically avoid any big pitfalls.