Skin is the organ that defines our surface. It nurtures and protects us. It has the most remarkable ability to repair itself subsequent to trauma or injury. Like the genius that is, it warns us when we come into contact with foreign material that should not be present. The skin requests very little from us, other than understanding, respect and care. We can be better defenders of our body’s largest organ, if we simply understand some basics of skin’s design, structure and function. The most important function your skin has is forming a barrier between your body and the outside world. Your skin is your shield of armor. It protects you from external assault, such as bacteria, environmental toxins, UV radiation and most foreign invaders. Proper barrier function is by far the most important aspect to skin homeostasis and health, and barrier integrity should be every estheticians focus and credo. Skin is our livelihood. Learn it. Live it. Understand it.

 

Your skin is made up of many different layers, with the top layer (your Stratum Corneum), being the all-protective barrier. Continue to damage your Stratum Corneum and therefore your skin's barrier, and you get into a vicious cycle of inflammation, and complete loss of skin function. Rapid increase in water loss, exponentially decreases your skin’s operating system from functioning normally. Your skin becomes much more susceptible to further damage when we break it’s barrier down. Now herein lies the paradox: while the Stratum Corneum is made up of a layer of dead skin cells, it is furthest from being metabolically inactive. In fact, it’s ability to communicate and send messages to your lower layers of skin, make it the most viable “living” organism your body has to protect and defend us.

 

The barrier is made up of a composition of free fatty acids, cholesterol and ceramides. It is important to understand that it is these fats or lipids in our Stratum Corneum that are the active constituents in the permeability barrier. When it come to proper skin health and barrier function, fat is absolutely your friend. Lipids that are physiologically mimetic to the skin's barrier, should be the most prevalent seen in your moisturizers and barrier repair creams. Shea Butter, Jojoba, Squalane, Saturated Phosphatidylcholine, and Fatty Acids, all play a pivotal role in restoring barrier homeostasis and are seen in our Quench, Quench+, and Immerse moisturizers. Other actives like native Phosphatidylcholine, which is rich in Linoleic Acid, the most abundant fatty acid seen in our cell membrane, can help restore barrier integrity. It is also used as our novel delivery system (seen in all Vitamin A serums, Replenish, and StemFactor), allowing our actives to fuse with the lipid rich cell membrane and shuttled into the heart of the cell. Our liposomal Niacinamide (seen in the above mentioned products), also increases the skin’s ceramide production, further restoring our shield of armor. Your skin can absolutely use some help in order to carry out its protective work, luckily there are fantastic substances which can do this. The right products, with the correct composition of barrier repairing substances, are the best line of defense we have to keep the skin healthy. All skin. No matter what type, or condition it is in. Keep the integrity of the barrier intact, and you are on your way to a lifetime of beautiful and radiant skin. 

Tips from Alejandro Falcon for this year’s Spring makeup trends.

 

Keeping the skin fresh looking, without adding heavy foundations, is the way to go. Light mineral makeup can minimize flaws and add protection from the environment. Apply your mineral foundation as light as possible to make the skin look fresh and healthy. Increase hydration and give skin a natural glow with hyaluronic acid, found in Colour's Mineral Hydration Mist.

 

The colors chosen for lips and cheeks should be the same shade and should not contain any mixtures or other colors added to them. If wearing a red lipstick you would not add a pink or silver gloss to it, but rather stick with the boldness of the color. Blushes should complement your natural blush tone. If you are going to go with a bolder lip color, then add a subtle shade of blush to blend with it. The look for the blush is to accentuate the cheeks without utilizing a contouring effect when applying them.

 

Since eyes and lips have become a focus for Spring, mascaras and eyeliners play a big part in enhancing the eyes. Solid eye shadow colors applied all over the eye area and using a wet eyeliner can add a subtle yet defined look. Pick a shade that would be the opposite of your eye color so that it can bring out the color of your eyes. For instance if you have blue eyes use a shade that has brown, copper, yellow, bronze, plum or terracotta tones. For brown eyes you can use blues, purples, greens or mahoganies to enhance them. Use a good eye shadow base such as our Age Defying Concealer to cover any discoloration on the eyelids and noticeable capillaries. With an oval shadow brush, apply the shadow to the top of the lash line and sweep it back on the rest of the eye area. Try to keep the tear duct light in color and add a soft lighter shadow tone below the brow area, just as a finish.

 

Brows can be defined in their natural shapes but a square-type appearance is what's in for Spring. Use the Brow Gel to help fill in the brows. Lashes should be enhanced and built up. Use the Defining Mascara and reapply to add volume, coating both upper and lower lashes. Wet liners, such as the Liquid Eye Definer, will further define eyes. Apply a wing tip at the end of the lash line for the perfect “Cat’s Eye", giving your eyes the appearance that they are open and almond shaped. Use a regular pencil liner for the bottom lash line and apply to the inside rim of the eyes for a more defined and dramatic effect.