Skin Protection Tips From The Skin Saint

Top 3 Ingredients to Avoid

Do me a favor. Go check your current skincare products for these three ingredients:

1. Parabens
2. Synthetic Lauryl Sulfate
3. Synthetic Fragrances

See any of them? Take my advice and get better skincare products! Why am I so passionate about this? These ingredients do more harm to your skin than good. 

• SLS (Sodium lauryl sulfate) ‑ Strips the skin of its natural oils causing irritation, dryness and even allergic reactions.
• Parabens ‑ Can sensitize the skin causing allergic reactions, and can potentially affect hormones being estrogen mimicking. The small amount used in skin products is good for preservation (who wants bacteria in their products, right?), and may be no harm at all, but we don’t use them until proven more safe. 
• Synthetic Fragrances ‑ Can cause rashes, redness and irritation.

It’s just not worth it! So do your skin a favor and protect it from low quality ingredients by using medical grade skincare. Your skin will thank you!

Antioxidants

So far we’ve taken a look at things you should avoid and what’s accelerating aging of your skin, but now let’s take a look at more preventative protection!

These specific antioxidants are amazing to help with anti‑aging:

• Vitamin C ‑ boosts the production of collagen and elastin to plump and firm skin
• Vitamin E ‑ reduces UV damage, protects skin from free radicals
• Retinol ‑ prevents wrinkles, brightens skin, regulates oil production
• Niacinamide ‑ minimizes pores, smooths skin, hydrates, evens out skin tone and color
• Green Tea ‑ protects skin from sun damage, unclogs pores, fights premature aging

Antioxidants are a MUST for your skin. Whether they’re in your diet, in your skincare or both, don’t skip on antioxidants! Keep reading for my FAVORITE way to get lots of nutrients into your skin quickly.

IV Therapy

So what’s my favorite way to get skin loving nutrients? Nutrient IVs from @cutlerintegrativemedicine!

Nutrient IVs are amazing for getting 100% of nutrients into your body FAST, versus oral nutrition in which only about 50% is absorbed. 

It’s great to sit back and relax for over an hour knowing I’m doing something good that will benefit my body AND my skin. 

My personal favorite is their Fountain of Youth IV which is packed with nutrients that will protect my skin from aging, free radicals and more. Plus you’ll also FEEL better from giving your body all of these amazing vitamins and antioxidants. 

Getting an IV once is nice, but don’t forget that long lasting results come with regular maintenance. I try to do one once a week for a series then go down to monthly IVs.

P.S. If you want a full list of skin loving nutrients to keep an eye out for, keep reading!

Sunscreen / Self‑Tanner

I know, I know. We already mentioned sunblock, but I promised you at the start you’d get a lot of reminders to use it! So, USE SUNBLOCK! 

Even if you do that you might be inclined to sit in the sun to get a tan. 

I have an alternative that your skin will thank you for ‑ Self Tanner!

• You’ll get a beautiful bronzed look without having to sit in the sun
• Avoid premature aging and sun damage
• Since you don’t need the sun, you can do it anywhere, anytime!

Sounds amazing, right? If you’d like to try self tanner, look for my Sun Bum Foaming Self‑Tanner at theskinsaint.

DON’T Avoid Quality Skincare!

I see people in clinic as well as on social media saything they don’t want to use “toxic” skincare products. I have news‑ skincare products aren’t out to kill you!

Especially if you eat fast food, drink alcohol and use toxic makeup ‑ what are you really helping?

TikTok and Instagram like to push the idea that DIY/natural skincare is the way to go. And it works because they’re usually things that are cheap, you already have or are easy to obtain. You know what I’m talking about ‑ videos that say you should use lemon and sugar all over your face. There’s a reason why all of our skincare products aren’t made out of household ingredients and food!

So, PLEASE, if you want what’s best for your skin ‑ listen to the professionals. They want what’s best for you, not just likes and views (though I won’t argue with that either!).