What is our Epidermal Preservation Philosophy?
It’s the practice of never impairing, damaging, removing or exfoliating the very surface of our skin.
For so many years we have been taught to ‘remove’ the very surface of our skin through the means of chemical peels, exfoliation and topical prescription Retinoic acid. So, if this is the key to slowing down the aging process, why are we still looking for answers and doing the same thing expecting a different outcome?
So let's go back to basics…The skin is an extremely intelligent organ and goes through so many processes on a daily basis. So why is our skin so important? Well for a number of reasons; Primarily to protect our internal system and organs from infection, dehydration, UV damage. It is also responsible for so many other functions such as heat regulation, sensory response and a detox organ. It's our largest organ of the body.
So, surely it must know how to do its ‘job’ based on the fact that it’s so important for not only our skin health, but overall health.
If you had to ask the skin; ‘What do you want?’ It would say, ‘leave me alone’ stop working against me! However, if you are going to do anything, help me!’
So considering that the skin is an intelligent organ and knows exactly how to perform its ‘duties’, why do we keep working against it?!
The skin is a very complex organ that has been designed to carry out a 28-30 day process to ensure that all the functions it was designed to do happen seamlessly and according to plan. From the very beginning, when a new cell is generated, it has a 28-30 day cycle to achieve its primary goal…and that’s to protect us internally from the outside.
However, we have chosen to look into a mirror and not like what we see, so we decided that if we removed this layer, we would see a ‘younger’ healthier version of ourselves.
This could not be further from the truth!
When we remove the surface of the skin, to expose younger cells, that doesn't make us younger but merely exposes younger cells that are not ready to face the world…this means light, air and UV. Just because we don't like what we see on the surface, doesn't mean that’s where the problem is. Hence the birth of the ‘quick fix’.
Most of the concerns you see when you look in the mirror don't happen in the top layers of the skin, except for pigmentation. However, I call the surface of the skin the communicator…it’s trying to tell you what's wrong but that’s not where it’s happening.
Most skin conditions and aging happens in the deeper layer of the skin. So why have we been treating the surface when that’s not the problem?!
Traditionally, we have been taught that if you remove what you see on the surface you will achieve the goal to healthy younger skin, but that couldn't be more wrong…but then why do we see ‘better younger’ skin?
Well, what you have done is expose younger cells, but these cells are not ready to be exposed to the environment and due to the ‘trauma’ to the skin there is inflammation from the removal which in hindsight causes a swelling in the skin making lines, wrinkles and pigmentation seem better…but it will be short lived. Guaranteed! As 3-4 weeks later your skin starts to go back to how it was or worse and then you look in the mirror and think, Oh I need to remove this layer again. But if you really made a long term change to your skin, why are you doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result?!
When a new skin cell is generated, it has a cycle it needs to go through. Think of it as an infant that is born, it goes through being born into a toddler, child, teenager, young adult and then eventually a mature adult. Just as you would never ask a newborn, toddler or child to go to work, the same applies to skin cells. They are born, and slowly develop into a mature cell to be able to withstand and protect.
There is a valid reason for this process and it’s vital for our survival and optimal body and skin health. The reason you require a mature adult skin cell on the surface of the skin is to be the keepers and protectors for the rest of our internal system.
By the time the skin cell matures into the top very layer of our skin, it is now a mature hardened cell that has the ability to withstand environmental factors such as wind, air, pollution and bacteria. It also has the ability to prevent bacteria entering the body, moisture loss out of the body but most importantly, UV destruction and mutation to our skin and organs.
It’s our skin's first line against UV defense! If we constantly remove this layer we are highly susceptible to infection, moisture loss and detrimentally cell mutation through photosensitivity.
Even though our skin may present healthier, it couldn't be further from the truth. Our skin has sacrificed all it can to keep the epidermal barrier intact and once it’s removed it puts the skin into a state of havoc. Since the skin knows how detrimental not having this layer is to our health, it has to now go into survival and repair mode. Accelerated cell regeneration begins, but not for anti aging purposes, but to rapidly replace the top layer ASAP. Instead of releasing a new skin cell that usually takes 28-30 days to go through the desquamation process, it spits out a harder more fibrous type 2 connective tissue, which is not soft and layered but hard and forced out as quickly as possible. While this is happening the top layers now exposed are dealing with daily oxidisation.
Another side effect of this is that the skin, being such an intelligent organ, will also now work out how to prevent this constant attack and removal of the top layer. It does this by doubling up the top layer to form a ‘callus’ thickened layer. It is aware that if it doesn't do this, there may be further removal and that would lead to infection getting in and that would lead to possible septicemia, which can lead to chronic illness and even death. So it’s vital that it prevents this ongoing trauma on the surface.
This would explain then why your skin goes back to how it was or worse 3-4 weeks later. Pores appear larger, skin looks dull and pigmentation and redness starts to show. So what do we do, remove it again which just leads to the same ongoing issue. It's a vicious cycle that needs to be stopped.
In order to have healthy youthful skin, we need to provide the skin with what it requires to do its job on a daily basis and work with the skin rather than against it. If we protect, nurture and nourish the skin, it is obvious we will end up with healthier, happier, more youthful skin in the long term.
It really is that simple. This explains why we have been chasing the solution to slowing down the aging process but have kept looking for ways, as clearly what we have been doing hasn't worked.
Our Epidermal Preservation Philosophy proves in as little as 2 weeks, that stopping the traditional methods of exfoliation and allowing the skin's top layer to stay intact and protect, leads to healthy skin for life.