Most of us will have a morning or evening routine we follow to make sure our skin stays in top condition. This might include various creams, gels and products promising benefits to achieve an ideal appearence.
However, a doctor is urging people to reduce their skincare routine, insisting your skin probably doesn’t need as much help as you’re giving it. In most cases, people could be overdoing it and causing more problems.
NHS surgeon and lecturer, Dr Karan Rajan, known by millions on social media for sharing medical advice, says less is more. He addressed the topic after watching a clip of a young woman, who claimed she had ‘destroyed’ her skin in less than a year due to buying and using so many products
In the video, the woman admits she was ‘influenced’ by other TikTok users about their skincare routine and seemingly got into the habit slathering her face with all sorts.
However, the doctor said our skin, which is the largest organ of the body, can “moisturise, exfoliate and cleanse itself pretty well if you allow it to”. He added that our skin “probably doesn’t need as much skin care as you think”.
He explained: “The natural oils on your skin like sebum – that’s not grime, that’s actually a pretty effective moisturiser. The nightmare bugs that live on your face and eat dead skin cells – natural exfoliation.”
The NHS surgeon pointed out that our skin has its own natural protective film called an acid mantle. But, this starts to become damaged when we apply more and more beauty products to it over time and inadvetantly strip away “essential nutrients” our skin needs.
He said: “This can lead to flare ups of inflammatory conditions like acne, eczema and psoriasis which leads to the use of more products to fix the problems caused by the first products. An endless vicious cosmetic cycle.”
The doctor urged people that were in need of medical help with their skin to see a dermatologist and use the products they recommend.