{"id":13608,"date":"2013-12-10T08:30:45","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T00:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/?p=13608"},"modified":"2013-12-09T10:55:20","modified_gmt":"2013-12-09T02:55:20","slug":"skin-fatigue-energy-drainers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2013\/12\/skin-fatigue-energy-drainers\/","title":{"rendered":"Why isn’t your skincare working for you? Are you experiencing “Skin Fatigue”?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“Skin Fatigue” – I wonder what’s that? I hear you ask.<\/p>\n
Well, here’s some things I learned about our skin and why we may feel that sometimes, some skincare doesn’t deliver what they promise, or why our skin may just not be receptive to certain skincare. I’ll try to distill the science of what I’ve learned from listening to a couple of scientists during my trip to Sydney with Olay \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
I’ll allow that the take away is quite Olay-centric which is to be expected, but a lot of the sciencey bits made sense so I’ll share those \ud83d\ude42 So, what’s that about skin and energy then? How does our skin get tired and how does that affect how we look?<\/p>\n
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Left: Dr. John Oblong, P&G Right: Prof Mark Birch-Machin, University of Newcastle UK<\/em><\/p>\n By way of preface, this was on the fringe of the 6th Asia and Oceania Conference on Photobiology which is the study of the effect of sunlight on human health including its benefits and detrimental effects. Thankfully, I might add, I wasn’t required to sit through the actual conference or I might have been that rude participant snoozing away at the back. That wouldn’t have been very impressive would it? \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n During an insightful and oft-times amusing presentation by Prof Mark Birch-Machin and also Dr. John Oblong in a closed session, we learned that photobiology research has shown that sunlight, whilst beneficial to us for producing Vitamin D and keeping us feeling happy and sunny (literally) can also be detrimental to our health and our skin. Now, many of us already know this.<\/p>\n That’s why we slather on our sunscreens everyday, rain or shine to protect ourselves from the harmful UV rays, which are known to cause aging, pigmentation and generally, bad skin. Well, you ARE applying sunscreen daily aren’t you?<\/p>\n But other than the sun, Prof Mark Birch-Machin also shared that in the study of Cellular Bioenergenetics, research has also found that our skin loses energy through other means, which in terms of beauty, means that our skin starts looking dull, gets dehydrated and ages more quickly. These skin bioenergy drainers are:-<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When energy is low, our cells become less efficient. Pretty much like us. When I’m low on energy, I am pretty darned inefficient. My messy house is testament to this because I’m just too tired to clear up as often or as efficiently as I like \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n Ditto our skin cells. When the energy in our skin cells is low then:-<\/p>\n Basically, the energy drainers are making us age more quickly and look older faster. Never thought of it in that light did you?<\/p>\n So, this loss of skin energy and the energy drainers are basically what contributes to the “Skin Fatigue Theory”. Basically, your skin just gets tired. And whilst skincare can help in boosting energy, it takes specific ingredients and sufficient levels of such ingredients to combat these energy drainers.<\/p>\n Our lifestyles can affect our skin<\/span><\/p>\n What we need therefore, are skincare that protects our cells and recharges them with energy so they work more efficiently. I asked Prof Mark if this loss of energy has a co-relation to our lifestyles.<\/p>\n For example, I noticed that if I’m hardworking and exercise more often (I go through exercise in fits and bursts) and eat more healthy foods my skin generally looks better, no matter what skincare I use. If I don’t exercise as much, or start indulging in too much junk food, then I do find I need more upkeep.<\/p>\n Prof Mark confirmed that there is a co-relation. If you exercise more, naturally your body’s energy levels are higher and this will help boost your cell energy levels as well, but to protect from external aggressors, we need to use skincare that works for us, so the take away is, if you want better skin, be sure to exercise, stay healthy and use skincare that works for you \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n New cells do not necessarily mean better skin<\/span><\/p>\n We also know that our skin cells renew every 28 days or so, so I asked Prof Mark if these new skin cells might perform better. After all, they’re new right?<\/p>\n Well, not really, Professor Mark explained. These new cells are epidermal cells on the surface of the skin. However, fibroblast that makes collagen, found on the lower surface of our skin doesn’t regenerate once it breaks down, and it will, with the external aggressors and with age. So, that’s where skincare products can help maintain or protect this fibroblast so you have firmer skin.<\/p>\n Olay, of course, uses niacinamide which is a well known anti-oxidant that is now recognised as being an efficient antioxidant and protecting and reinforcing skin cells. But I also probed and found out that what I’d learned from the Cellular Bioenergenetics talk is that the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II<\/a> (The new ANR2) operates on a similar principle as well! ANR2 explains their product using the circadian rhythm – sleep and it’s effects but when I probed Prof. Mark about this, he agreed that the circadian rhythm theory has its merits as well and a product that helps boost skin energy while we sleep and are at rest does have merit. I admit that was a bit sneaky of me, but I had to know if there was merit behind what I was told about ANR2 and who better to ask than a scientist \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n <\/p>\nSkin energy drainers<\/h3>\n
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What happens when skin loses energy or skin energy is low?<\/h3>\n
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The Skin Fatigue Theory<\/h3>\n
Some skincare may not be working hard enough to replenish or boost your skin energy levels<\/h3>\n