DIY - What NOT To Do
There are a lot of DIYers (do it yourself-ers) among us and for certain things, I say fantastic! Like microdermabrasion, waxing, manis/pedis, etc. However, when it comes to the health of your skin, please do not play “chemist.” I may not know everything about skin care (though in my previous life you’d swear I was a dermatologist), but I certainly understand the risk involved in mixing chemicals and ingredients without said degree.
Websites such as Essential Day Spa, Garden of Wisdom and Skin Actives are popping up - offering an amazing array of botanical actives, as well as chemical powerhouses (lipoic acid, niacinamide, superoxide dismutase). It’s incredibly inexpensive to order vials of these botanicals and chemicals over the internet … enough to justify a shopping spree. I admit, it’s tempting. So what stops me? The facts. #1 - It takes a true professional to master the balance of ingredients in order to make a superior product. #2 - Product testing alone can take years. #3 - And what about FDA approval? There is good reason why formulations are performed in a lab, at the hands of experts.
Experimenting with chemicals is dangerous - bottom line. We are talking about the skin on your face. Skin, in which, you can willingly burn if you are not careful. Is it really worth the risk? It’s daunting to know that the skin novice will try to replicate a product, say SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic, by ordering all the suggested vials. What the novice doesn’t know are the interactions between the ingredients. Following a “kit” isn’t going to give you the CE Ferulic serum. In fact, if you make a mistake the product is worthless, or worse, harmful. See, antioxidants are unstable compounds. Unless you are a chemist, you won’t know how to intermingle ingredients so that they will last for more than 30 minutes. Both vitamins C and E can auto-oxidize in the wrong formula - meaning, they are no longer antioxidants. They can even cause oxygen decay rather than prevent it.
I realize that skin care products can be expensive. And technology used in skin care, such as nanotechnology, can up the ante. However, you have to live in your skin for a lifetime. Spend those years wisely.
Stumble it!
Dr. Hawkings,
What a pleasure to have you here. Thank you so much for lending credibility to this post and bringing a higher level of insight into the danger of home made skin care products. I will share your articles (below) with our community for further education.
Thanks so much,
Catherine
See Dr. Hawkings articles:
Ascorbic Acid/Oxidized C Serums
Skinceuticals/Serums/C E Ferulic
Skinceuticals/Serums/Supply Storage
Skinceuticals/Aficionados/Antioxidant Storage
AMEN!
Thank you for bringing the attention of your readers to the hazards of home made quasi-clinical skincare products.
We see and measure much highly unusual and irreversible skin damage in patients whom use the internet heavily in search of thoughtless (and stronger) panaceas. There is no doubt that it is possible to damage skin’s DNA not only by forcing it to process crude formulas, but even by injudicious implementation of formulas which are not universally suitable.
Patients’ skin often does not return to normal after discontinuation of inappropriate chemically potent skincare. Topical antioxidants, such as Skinceuticals C E Ferulic and Prevage (Idebenone) can cause any one or more of harm, benefit or a mixture of both these things.
It is impossible to know for certain the effect of these formulas if they are expired or copied by an unregulated laboratory.
Unfortunately, the beauty industry – as represented by sites such as Essential Day Spa, Garden of Wisdom, Skin Actives, Strawberrynet and so on – are producing net harm to individuals’ irreplaceable skins, although the end users of much of the skin care products and practices represented by such sites fervently believe they are making uncommonly great strides.
It is probably for these reasons among others that Skinceuticals (and other similar manufacturers products) will forbid online sale of any of their products in the coming months.
Best wishes,
Dr. Xavier Hawkings
Melbourne Dermatology