Do you feel like walking around the city can age your skin and leave it feeling clogged, dull, and lifeless? Or that just a stroll outdoors triggers the skincare troubles that you thought you had under control? Just like its damaging effects on health, smog is equally responsible for your skin going haywire!
Yes, we just found out about it as well! Latest researches in the skincare world are coming to light, touting pollution as the chief culprit behind skincare scaries such as acne, eczema, and even rosacea - and that’s just the beginning.
Polluaging (yes, there’s even a term for it!) is a combination of pollution and aging that causes the skin to age prematurely by clogging the pores of the skin with free radicals. These radicals then attack the healthy cells and it's all downhill from there. Sigh.
What You Need to Know About Anti-Pollution Skincare
The anti-pollution skincare movement is gaining momentum all over the world! A recent experiment in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology proves the correlation between pollution and sunspots while the NPD group in the UK shows the increase in anti-pollution skincare after discovering the emergence of eczema after smog exposure.
The Science Behind Anti-Pollution Skincare
First and foremost, SPF is your skin's best friend, no matter the season or time of day. But with new pollutants emerging, there’s a heightened need to upgrade your skincare routine to fight the nasties away. Here’s a quick breakdown to fight the smog skincare scaries:
Although we all are aware of the need to wash the face, we don’t necessarily do it properly. Washing your face thoroughly daily is the basis of the anti-pollution skincare that helps in de-stressing the smog-laden skin. Cleansing the skin with a cleanser that not only lifts away dirt, excess oil, and skin-dulling pollutants but also hydrates the skin, leaving it soft, supple, and never dry is key to anti-pollution skincare. Nourishing Cleanser is a non-comedogenic cleanser enriched with ceramides to strengthen the skin's natural barrier and remove the film of dirt, grime, and soot.
Want to get an even deeper cleanse? Be sure to opt for a gentle exfoliation routine with the Nourishing Scrub to remove pollutants that tend to hide deeper in the skin. Exfoliation not only removes the nasty particles lodged on the topmost layer of the skin but also prevents them from penetrating deeper.
Smog and pollution cause free radicals to enter your skin, causing damage to the healthy skin that pokes holes into the collagen. This can show up as hyper-pigmentation and fine lines. Not only that, it can even lead to triggering acne, rosacea, and cell mutation that can potentially cause cancer. To neutralize the free radicals and diminish their havoc-wreaking effects on the skin, be sure to use the Nourishing Hydra-Gel Mask that contains Ascorbic Acid, an extremely potent antioxidant that aids in the skins' regeneration process to reveal a glowing complexion. Antioxidants prevent free radical damage and bolster the skin repair process to help your skin look its best!
With the increase in pollution and depletion of the ozone layer, your skin is getting heightened sun exposure - even on rainy and cloudy days. This puts your skin at risk of more sunburns than before in addition to hyper-pigmentation and inflammation. Be sure to apply sunscreen even on days when you plan on binge-watching Netflix and especially on days when you plan to step out of the house. Your skin will thank you for it.
Getting Started
With the smog settling in and pollutants corrupting the environment more than ever before, adopting anti-pollution skincare is a must! While there are numerous products in the market, at Arvelon we go the natural route by formulating our products with clean and skin-loving ingredients that optimize skin health and help you look and feel your best.
Want to shop anti-pollution skincare products? Hop over to the online shop and get started on your journey to healthy and happy skin.