Skin Detox Guide: Set Your Skin Up For Success
Cleanses, intermittent fasting, green juices - we’re all familiar with those kinds of detoxes, but sometimes our skin needs a little extra targeted TLC too. Celebrations, stress, dropping temperatures - can all take their toll on our skin. And, as our largest and most visible organ, our skin can often be the first signal that something is out of balance. Step forward the skin detox. Taking that cleansing mindset to both body and beauty can go a long way to improve your skin’s overall health and vitality.
When issues manifest on our skin, most often it’s coming from within. This could be hormonal, stress (aka raised cortisol levels), dehydration, overproduction of oil, an unbalanced microbiome, poor diet - too much fat, salt, sugar, or alcohol - you get the idea. Add to that environmental factors such as pollution and blue light, along with daily dirt and makeup build-up, and, long story short, our skin is dealing with a lot.
While one-off treatments can offer some immediate relief, to make your skin detox both holistic and effective long term, make this a weekly or monthly part of your routine. Respond to and assess what your skin is showing you, then make the appropriate adjustments in both your lifestyle and your skincare treatments.
Reading The Signs
Detoxing the skin primarily tackles what’s manifesting at the surface, rather than dealing with internal issues. Your complexion gives you clues as to what your skin needs. Tired, dull, and lackluster complexions sit on one side of the detox spectrum, while inflammation, redness, blemishes, and congestion are on the other end.
Looking at these skin symptoms can help you understand what your body may need too, which in turn will help boost your skin from within. For example, unusually puffy eyes are often a sign of too much salt or alcohol the night before, requiring extra water intake throughout the day to soothe and reduce that puffiness, paired with adding an antioxidant eye cream or jade roller to treat topically. Dry, tight, or dull skin are tell-tale signs of dehydration, so again drinking more water, as well as adding a hyaluronic acid-infused product to your routine will be key. For breakouts and congestion, opting for salicylic acid products and oil-free formulations can help detox, while being mindful not to dehydrate skin and replenishing moisturization throughout is key.
And, remember, a detox is not just about cleansing and purifying, it’s about replenishing and restoring skin’s balance and moisture-levels too.
Skin Detox Ingredients
As with our diets, in skincare, there are hero ingredients that offer detoxifying properties to really boost any targeted treatments you’re using.
Charcoal
A go-to for skin detoxes, charcoal binds to micro-particles trapped in the skin such as bacteria, dirt, dust, chemicals, and toxins, drawing them out and making them easier to rinse away. Our Charcoal Detox Mask infused with kaolin and bentonite clays, offers a dual-action treatment, purifying while also offering gentle exfoliation.
Hyaluronic Acid
Cold weather, drinking alcohol, not drinking enough water, there are many reasons your skin gets dehydrated. Making sure you restore and replenish skin’s moisture levels as part of your skin detox is key. Hyaluronic acid - akin to a drink of water for the skin, is an essential for this, with the micro and macro molecules in our HA-Revive Hyaluronic Drops replenishing both on the surface and deeper within, for a plumper, restored, quenched boost.
Niacinamide
Ultra soothing and hydrating, niacinamide reduces water loss through the skin and improves the barrier function, smoothing and refining skin’s texture.
Alpha Hydroxy Acids
AHAs such as mandelic, lactic, malic, and tartaric offer gentle exfoliation, stimulating cell turnover, and helping elevate the efficacy of serums and moisturizers. Our Hydra-Bright Pro 5 Liquid Exfoliant contains these AHAs plus a poly hydroxy acid too for an added hydration boost. It’s the perfect weekly treatment to detox and prep skin.
Vitamin C
A boost of brightening for skin, as well as offering protective properties against pollution and blue light, vitamin C is a nourishing ingredient to add to your detox regimen. We love it in the C-Shield Anti-Pollution Drops as part of your daily skincare system, but for a more concentrated smoothing and strengthening treatment, try the Retinol + C Smoothing Peel. Exfoliating, refining, and balancing the complexion, it conditions and renews your natural radiance. Ideal as a bi-monthly treatment.
Green Tea
As well as drinking it for all its internal benefits, green tea is a hero antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, perfect for depuffing, detoxing, and soothing tired eyes. For a relaxing home-remedy detox treatment, try moistening two green tea bags with warm (not hot!) water and placing them on your closed eyes for a few minutes at a time. Follow up with a cooling eye treatment cream such as Eye Restore.
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