When it comes to cleansing our skin, we’ve all heard that’s super important to wash our face before bed.
But why?
Truth be told, there isn’t just one reason. And while I could probably write a novel (ok, maybe a short story lol) about all those reasons, today I want to focus on one that you might have heard about but perhaps didn’t fully grasp … there’s a lot of jargon floating around the beauty industry after all!
What reason for washing your face at night will I want to talk about today? Free radicals. If your eyes just glazed over, stick with me here lol.
First up, what are they? Real quickly…
?Everything is made up of molecules.
?Molecules are made up of atoms.
?Atoms are made up of PAIRS of electrons.
Still with me? Good.
How free radicals fit into the situation:
Free radicals are atoms with UNPAIRED electrons so they go around stealing them! In the case of our skin, they try to grab an extra electron from the atoms in our skin. If they are successful, this theft causes damage to our skin’s DNA. Booo!!
Washing our faces at night helps remove free radicals that can be created from pollution. Do you live in the city? Then it’s especially important for you to remove pollution from your skin! Country folk, you’re not immune however since pollution doesn’t just come in the form of smog, cigarette smoke, and poor quality air – think of vehicle emissions, factory/industrial output, etc! It also comes from dust and some agriculture practices. And no matter where you live, our good friend the sun can also create free radicals.
What happens if free radicals do manage to burglarize our skin?
We call this free radical damage and it shows up in a few different ways including: changes in skin colour (think: age spots, freckles, hyperpigmentation, uneven skin tone), damage to elastic fibers in the skin (think: skin that’s loose, saggy, or weakened), and/or the break down of collagen in the skin (think: fine lines and wrinkles).
Besides washing our skin at night, what can we do to keep electron thieves at bay?
Protect with antioxidants (plant-based oils and vitamins are packed with them – which is why our formulas are based on antioxidant-rich ingredients) and light-reflecting minerals (like zinc and titanium dioxide – found in our moisturizers and many of our makeup products).
When we wash our face at night, we remove what we can (free radicals, bacteria, etc), but we ALSO remove any debris (like dead skin cells) that would get in the way of our skincare products absorbing deeply (when they absorb deeply, they can do their best work).
C.P.R. for your skin!
Now, when you get ready for bed tonight remember C.P.R. which stands for…
- C – CLEANSE off free radicals + dead skin cells with a gentle, natural cleanser.
- P – PROTECT your skin from further damage with a vitamin + nutrient-packed hydrator.
- R – REPAIR your skin with barrier repairing lipids which come from plant-based oils like those found in our serums and moisturizers.
Until next time,
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