SHORT CONTACT ACTIVES
Try as we might, sometimes the skin just say’s”NO”, it doesn’t like a particular ingredient, albeit a widely talked about, celebrity endorsed, super ingredient you are desperate to reap the skin benefits of! It might be you that’s a little nervous to try something so active for the first time, getting scared off by any unfamiliar “tingling” feelings, associated with some results driven skincare.
I had a year battling with peri-oral dermatitis, during which time, my skin couldn’t handle most active ingredients, especially the hero’s that give the glow, namely, vitamin C, retinoids, and all the “acids”.
A comfortable starting point would be a treatment cleanser, that is only on the skin for a very short amount of time(short contact), before getting rinsed and swept away. Try just a couple of times a week, slowly build up frequency, then increase the amount of time its left on the skin, until you can happily tolerate a few mins without any pay back! Daily use acid toners and peel pads that are essentially designed to leave on the skin, could be applied, left 1-2 mins and rinsed off, for a gentler treat for sensitive skins. You will still get the benefits with a more softly-softly approach. Treating skin with short contact actives makes it possible for a usually, inflamed, highly reactive skin to build a stronger, more resilient barrier, that glows for days!
How I eventually came out the winner of my fight against peri-oral dermatitis, is one for another day, but how I reintroduced my skin to the big players again, was using short contact actives! Using active ingredients on the skin for a short amount of time, increasing gradually as the skins allows, until you’re a fully-fledged daily user of the good stuff!