The difference and connection between beauty and skin health

Beauty is an optional means for aesthetic needs, and skin health is the basic state of normal skin physiological functions. The two are neither equal nor in opposition - all beauty treatments that are separated from skin health are short-term overdrafts, and health appeals that ignore reasonable beauty intervention can easily fall into the misunderstanding of "functionalism", which is also the core source of pitfalls in skin care for most people.

I just received a post-00s girl a while ago. In order to look good in her graduation photos, she applied two Sanwu masks known as "Seven Days Whitening" every day for ten consecutive days. She also searched for tutorials at home to apply 30% concentration of fruit acid. As a result, the day before the photo was taken, my face was swollen like a dough bun, with red rashes all over my face. When I walked in, I still held half a box of unopened facial masks in my hand. Tears welled up in my eyes. I said that I wanted to become more beautiful, but in the end I almost couldn't even go to the defense. Do you think what she did is beauty? Forget it, but she prioritized beauty over health and stepped on the most common pitfalls.

In fact, the core evaluation logic of the two is fundamentally different. Skin health has objective physiological indicators: when the barrier is intact, the transepidermal water loss rate is stable, there will be no redness or itching, the water and oil secretion is balanced, and the metabolic cycle is about 28 days. Even if you occasionally stay up late or go to the beach for a day, you can recover in three to five days. This thing cannot fool anyone. Your face is the first to send you a signal whether you are comfortable or not. But beauty is different. Its evaluation criteria largely follow aesthetics. Ten years ago, cold white-skinned melon-seed faces were popular, but now healthy wheat-colored faces with clear contours are popular. Which one do you think is right? There is no standard answer, it all depends on what you like.

There have always been different voices in the industry regarding the priorities between the two. I was talking to a deputy chief physician at a skin care department. There was half a box of Sanwu WeChat products sent by patients on the corner of her desk. She laughed and said that her advice to all young people now is "Don't mess around, clean gently, moderately moisturize and strictly protect yourself from the sun. Skip everything else if you can." In the eyes of clinicians, as long as the skin's physiological functions are normal and there are no pathological problems, it is considered to be up to standard, and additional beauty needs are often "unnecessary troubles." But friends who are engaged in research and development of functional skin care have a different view: There is no need to completely deny the value of beauty. For example, the currently compliant niacinamide and prototype VC ingredients, as long as you establish a good tolerance, will not only not harm the skin, but also reduce post-inflammatory pigmentation, delay photoaging, and can actually help the skin maintain a healthy state longer. Both statements are correct, but everyone stands in different positions and faces different crowds.

If you really stay in the industry for a long time, you will find that the boundaries between the two are often blurred and cannot be clearly distinguished at all. For example, if you wear sunscreen every day, say it is a beauty treatment. It can indeed prevent you from getting darkened and develop spots, which is in line with your need for an even skin tone. Say it is a health care regimen. It can reduce the damage of ultraviolet rays to skin DNA, reduce the risk of photoaging and even skin cancer. It is inherently a part of health care. I had a client who had sensitive skin for three years. He tried all the big-name whitening and anti-aging essences to no avail. Later, he stopped all effective products and only used repair creams and physical sunscreen. After maintaining the barrier for half a year, the red blood streaks were reduced by 70 to 80%, along with the previous dull skin. The yellowish air has dissipated, and the dry lines at the corners of her eyes have faded a lot. She was surprised when she said, "It turns out that healthy skin is pretty enough on its own." This is true. The transparency that comes with healthy skin cannot be achieved by layers of foundation or instant beauty treatments.

Of course, there are negative examples: some people think that "pure natural is the best" and apply fresh cucumbers and raw aloe vera on their faces every day, but the application makes the face sensitive and red; others excessively pursue "zero burden on the skin" and insist on using only basic moisturizers even though they are already 30+. Collagen loss is accelerating, but the wrinkles that should appear will still grow. Appropriate use of alcohol and proper hydrating injections are not "unhealthy" at all, but can maintain the condition of the skin better.

I have been in this business for almost seven years, and my deepest feeling is that there is no need to put "beauty" and "skin health" on opposite ends of the balance. Just remember the simplest standard: No matter how hyped up a product or item is by others, if you feel tingling, redness, itching, or discomfort after using it on your face, then stop immediately no matter how much whiter it can make you or how many lines it can reduce. Health is always the "1", and beauty is the "0" at the end. Without the 1 in the front, no matter how many 0's there are, it's useless. But if your skin is already healthy and you want to try whitening, anti-aging, or even some medical beauty treatments, it’s absolutely fine to choose the ones that are compliant and suitable for your skin type. Isn’t it just to make yourself comfortable and happy?