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A Skinimalist Approach

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Your skin loves simplicity. It will always favor a 3-step ritual over a 12-step one. Your skin is an incredibly complex, intricately designed organ with so many processes and functions already, so why force it into overdrive with dozens of products?

Adopting a ‘skinimalist’ approach (a word that Pinterest predicted would be a trending word of 2021) might seem counterintuitive at first, but think about it this way - your skin knows how to function well on its own. It senses touch, regulates your body temperature, absorbs nutrients and protects you from the outside elements.

Here’s a fun fact: your skin actually sheds dead skin cells in a process called desquamation, aka cellular turnover. On average, about every 28 days new skin cells move up through the layers in your skin to replace dead cells that have shed. So essentially, your skin does exfoliate. That’s just one of its many incredible functions.

Although your skin can take care of itself in many ways, skincare products are essential to healthy, vibrant skin. So why did it become normalized to put so many of them on our largest organ every single day? In a word or two, money and marketing. I’ll leave it at that. The fact is, your skin truly only needs a few products per day to help it in its process.

More often than not I’ve advised new clients to take something out of their skincare lineup, not to add something in. It might seem odd that as an esthetician I would tell my client to use LESS skincare products, but time and time again I’ve seen how well the skin responds to simplicity (along with quality and consistency!).

To help get you started on a simple, minimal skincare ritual, or as 2021 will call it - a skinimialist ritual, here are my pieces of professional advice.

Use minimal ingredients that you recognize

  • When shopping around for a new skincare product, always read the ingredient label first. If you’re not sure if a product sounds safe, you can check the EWG or the Think Dirty app. If the list of ingredients looks like a short story, chances are there are more fillers than quality ingredients. Be cautious of anything that contains fragrance/parfum, alcohol, PEG’s, mineral oil, and phthalates. For a few more ingredients to stay away from and why, read this Byrdie article.

less really is more

  • Also, think quality over quantity. I always recommend my clients follow a few basic steps for an effective skincare ritual. For all skin types, the basics include cleansing, toning, moisturizing, and applying SPF - every day, rain or shine, inside or outside. If you follow those steps with the right products for your skin, it will be so much happier in the near future. From that basic ritual you can slowly incorporate a serum or mask when the time is right.

  • If you’re experiencing breakouts, maskne, irritation, dryness, redness (inflammation of any kind, really), NOW is the time to simplify. Layering multiple products will most likely further irritate your skin. This is the perfect opportunity to see how your skin responds to simplicity over time.

when in doubt, seek out a holistic esthetician

  • Many holistic estheticians will share a similar passion for minimal skincare. Asking your esthetician what you should be using based on how your skin is today will help you choose the right products, clear the clutter in your bathroom cabinet, and help educate you on how to be intuitive with your skin. This is a great opportunity to book an online consultation since many of us estheticians have made ourselves available to anyone through video calls. (Stay tuned for my upcoming virtual consultations!)

Look to these kitchen staples that multitask as breakfast and skincare

  • Plain goat milk yogurt or coconut yogurt. This might not be a staple for everyone as it can be somewhat difficult to find, but if you do have access this is such a great skincare product to keep on hand. Goat milk contains linoleic acid, great for its antibacterial properties. It also contains lactic acid which helps exfoliate dead skin cells and soften skin. Use about 1 tbsp on clean skin as an exfoliating mask once per week for 10-15 minutes before rinsing off.

  • Organic ground oats. I recommend using organic rolled oats and grinding them at home with your blender/processor of choice. Add the oats to a bath to sooth and hydrate irritated or dry skin. If they are indeed organic and grown without any pesticides you can try adding a tbsp to your goat milk yogurt mask.

  • Local raw honey. Raw honey is an incredible antibacterial and antiseptic ingredient that also hydrates and soothes skin. Plus its natural enzymes help to give skin a slight exfoliation and its antioxidants will help to fight free radicals. If you can only get one out of these three staples, invest in some good honey.

embrace your skin

  • I’ve already seen a trend in the decline of foundation use amongst most of my clients. I’m hopeful that this trendy word will allow us to see makeup as something fun to express ourselves versus a way to conceal what we don’t perceive as flaunt-worthy by society’s standards.

Adopting a minimal skincare ritual will put your skin on the path to skin health success. A skinimalist approach will give your skin the chance for it do its job of protecting you. Plus, you’ll save time, money, and our precious planet that provides the very plants your skin loves. Goodbye maximalism, HELLO skinimalism.

Below are my ideal choices from Botnia Skincare for a skinimalist ritual based on individual skin types and on real results I’ve witnessed from my clientele: