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The concept of skincare has been around for thousands of years, with the very first evidence of a skincare routine having been traced back to Ancient Egypt.
However, although people may have been caring for their skin for centuries, skincare is, arguably, more important now than it ever has been before. Why? Because the modern world means that the skin now has even more environmental damage to deal with, mainly in the form of pollution. Not only is pollution now responsible for one in ten deaths globally but it has devastating consequences for the skin. Ignore the effects of this and you could find yourself dealing with a number of skin problems as a result.
Fortunately, even if you happen to live somewhere that’s heavily polluted, skincare can help. Keep reading as VouPre explains how to harness skincare to counter the visible effects of pollution and keep your skin looking healthy.
What Does Pollution Do to the Skin?
Before we get started, let’s first take a closer look at exactly what pollution does to the skin:
Accelerates Skin Aging
Most people want their skin to look as youthful as possible for as long as possible. Unfortunately, pollution interferes with this. When your skin is exposed to pollutants, oxidative stress occurs. This damages the collagen and elastin fibers in your skin, with these proteins responsible for giving your skin its structure, firmness, and elasticity. The more these decline, the faster the skin ages, turning wrinkled and saggy much sooner.
Causes Clogged Pores and Breakouts
Pollution particles are known for coating the surface of the skin. Not only can this leave your skin looking dull, but it’s only a matter of time before those pollutants end up in your pores. Once there, they’ll mix with dirt and other impurities to form blockages. This creates an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, meaning that breakouts won’t be too far away.
Triggers Sensitivities and Irritation
Pollution can severely compromise the skin barrier. Once this happens, barrier function declines. This means that the skin barrier is no longer able to keep irritants away from the deeper layers of the skin. This then leads to the skin becoming much more sensitive.
Dehydration
Of course, keeping irritants at bay isn’t all that the skin barrier does. It also plays a crucial role in moisture retention by preventing moisture from evaporating out of the skin. When the skin barrier isn’t working in the way that it should, moisture loss increases. This leaves the skin dehydrated.
Leads to the Formation of Dark Spots
Wrinkles aren’t the only issue caused by the oxidative stress triggered by pollution. It also increases melanin production, which is the pigment that gives your skin its color. However, rather than producing an even amount of melanin throughout the skin, your skin cells end up over-producing melanin in certain areas, resulting in dark spots.
How Skincare Can Help to Shield Your Complexion From Pollution Damage
Chances are that you don’t want to be dealing with any of the above issues, especially if you can easily avoid them with the right skincare know-how. Here’s what you’ll need to do to keep your complexion free from pollution damage:
Antioxidants to the Rescue
When it comes to dealing with the visible effects of pollution, antioxidants are everything. These powerful compounds help to neutralize the appearance of oxidative stress. As a result, they fight against the look of wrinkles and dark spots that so commonly arise due to pollution.
Which antioxidants should you be using? When it comes down to it, they’ll all help to keep your complexion safe. However, some are known for being more powerful than others…
Vitamin C is one. Research confirms that it’s an effective ingredient when dealing with multi-pollutant exposure. Not only will it help with the appearance of oxidative damage but it also keeps the skin barrier feeling intact and strong while lowering the feeling of inflammation.
Vitamin E is another antioxidant that tends to be the top choice among those living in highly polluted areas while grape stem cells are also known for their potent antioxidant properties.
Treat your skin to all of these ingredients in one single product with the VouPre Vita C Serum. In addition to the antioxidants that we’ve already mentioned, this formula also boasts vitamin A, along with a cocktail of antioxidant-rich plant oils. These will help with hydration too – something else that pollution interferes with.
Moisturize for a Barrier That Feels More Resilient
Your skin barrier is your skin’s first line of defense when exposed to pollution. Unfortunately, as we mentioned earlier, it doesn’t take much for this barrier to undergo damage. Not only is this damage caused by pollution but everything from UV rays to the weather can affect it too. This hinders its ability to block pollutants from entering and harming the living skin cells that lie beneath.
What can you do about this? Turn to skincare that will help your skin barrier to feel stronger and more resilient. Moisturizers are great for this. They pretty much form their own barrier over the skin’s natural one, doubling up on that all-important defense system. This way, pollutants would first have to make it past your moisturizer before they reach your skin’s natural barrier.
Of course, your moisturizer is another great opportunity to add even more antioxidants to your skincare routine, so look for a cream that contains plenty. The Cannabis Silk Cream from the VouPre Cannabis Collection would be a great choice! With grape stem cells, rosemary extract, chamomile extract, green tea extract, and vitamins, it’s loaded with antioxidants. Meanwhile, sodium hyaluronate, algae extract, hemp seed oil, and amino acids keep the skin feeling deeply hydrated and beautifully supple.
Double Cleanse Those Pollutants Away
You’re probably aware of how important it is to cleanse your skin every evening. However, if you’ve spent the day submerged in a heavily polluted environment, cleansing becomes even more vital, so much so that you may need to do it twice.
The concept of double cleansing was born in Asia, which happens to be the most polluted continent on the planet. It involves first cleansing your skin with an oil-based cleanser and then following up with a water-based cleanser, like the VouPre Radiance Facial Cleanser. This ensures a more thorough cleanse. The oil-based cleanser will remove the majority of the pollutants from your skin while the water-based cleanser will then sweep away any remnants, ensuring that your skin is pollutant-free.
While you shouldn’t necessarily double cleanse every evening (this could only end up damaging your skin barrier, which you need more than ever when dealing with pollution), doing so after spending time in a particularly polluted environment can be very beneficial.
Exfoliate Regularly
Earlier, we mentioned how easy it is for pollutants to sink into the pores and cause blockages. Cleansing, or double cleansing, every evening will help to prevent this by removing any pollutants that are currently lingering on your skin’s surface. However, by that point, some of those pollutants will have already entered your pores, meaning that your cleanser won’t be able to reach them.
This is where exfoliation comes in. Exfoliants work on a deeper level, clearing out the pores and releasing any blockages. Again, you don’t want to exfoliate too often as this runs the risk of damaging your skin barrier. However, exfoliating a couple of times a week can work wonders in keeping the appearance of pollution damage at bay.
The VouPre Deep Renewal Facial Peel is a fantastic product for doing just that. While some exfoliants can be a little too powerful, this one can safely be used on all skin types without the risk of barrier damage. It also happens to be infused with vitamin E, giving your skin access to yet another antioxidant.
Prioritize SPF
SPF can help to shield your complexion from pollution damage in a couple of different ways. Firstly, use a mineral sunscreen and the minerals within will act as pollution blockers on your skin’s surface. The pollutants that surround you will have a much harder time accessing your skin cells when they first have to fight past a mineral sunscreen.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that UV rays can exacerbate the damage that pollution causes. In fact, some pollutants are actually activated by UV light. At night, they won’t be an issue but during the day, UV light will encourage them to wreak havoc on your skin cells. If you want to stop this from happening, it doesn’t matter what type of sunscreen you use, so long as you’re using one with a high enough SPF rating. Aim for a minimum of SPF 30, which is exactly what the VouPre Age Defense Cream SPF 30 provides!
Keep Your Skin Hydrated
We’ve already talked about a few hydrating skincare products. However, when dealing with the effects of pollution, you need to focus on keeping your skin as hydrated as possible. Not only will this help to counter the dehydrating effects that pollution can have on the complexion but it will also leave your skin barrier feeling thicker and stronger.
How can you do this? By incorporating hydrating ingredients into every step of your skincare routine. For example, once you’re done cleansing (or double cleansing), turn to a hydrating toner, like the VouPre Hydrating Toner. Not only will it boost your skin’s moisture content but it also contains ingredients that will soothe the feeling of inflammation caused by pollution.
Then, quench your skin again with a hydrating serum, like the Aqua Hydration Serum from the VouPre Aqua Collection. Finally, finish off with a hydrating moisturizer to seal all of that moisture in.
Summary
In today’s world, there’s no getting away from pollution – it’s absolutely everywhere. Not only is the outdoor environment full of it but chances are that there are several pollutants lingering inside your home too, meaning that your skin is never really safe. This is why skincare is now more important than ever. Your skin has to deal with stressors that weren’t around a thousand years ago, making it crucial to put together a skincare routine that’s able to keep your complexion safe and healthy.
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