In all seriousness, I’m grateful you’re here on this crazy wild ride with me and I’m so excited to have a medium to share all the ups and downs, tips and tricks, sad times, good times, successes and failures. I'm so glad you're out there and I can't wait to start sharing it all with you.

Until recently, when I changed things up in my bathroom and fused my clean skincare with a blanket approach of other standard products. It was a combination of circumstances that prompted me to undertake a mini skin-experiment, combining Dermaviduals corneotherapy and mainstream skincare in my beauty regime. I am Karen, a corneotherapist & skin therapist, specializing in skincare. Skin Analysis is the first step and the beginning for many undertaking a real skin journey to create better and healthier skin. During a skin consultation, I get asked too often, "can I use what I've got left?", "use my cleanser with the range?", "use my make-up with the range?", "purchase just the moisturizer," etc. When the concept of Corneotherapy is clarified, there will often be an understanding and ‘aha-moment’ as to why staying with one skincare regime is the way forward. 

Corneotherapeutic products ARE made with pharmaceutical and pure cosmetic actives, not just mainstream beauty preparations. There are many ingredients incorporated into cosmetics to help develop complex formulations, and although the cosmetics industry is regulated, there are only the basic guidelines present. Bear in mind that rules and regulations are different for Europe and the States. Therefore it's strongly recommended that shoppers should continue educating themselves, staying updated with getting expert advice, learning, and understanding the ingredients in cosmetic formulations. When using a corneotherapeutic skincare line such as Dermaviduals collectively with common non-specific products, you won't get the full benefits for your skin. 

As it happens, It will work against the skin, not getting the most out of your investment. There is no middle ground and meeting in the middle when you begin a skin transformation with corneotherapy. And so I have seen and experienced with my own skin-experiment. Over the years, my skin has improved with aging, and I've been able to help many women and men getting on top of their skin concerns such as acne, perioral dermatitis, rosacea to age managing. In my consultations, I experienced a typical pattern. 

So, I surveyed entrepreneurial women to find that almost always products were purchased, looking at what it's labeled to do, not so much the ingredients.

The No1 mistake. 

It might help short term with problems experiencing but typically worsening skin problems and secondary skin concerns arising. Think of acne tarda, dryness, increased sensitivities. Falling down the rabbit hole of adding makeup and exfoliants to the list, and your skin is starting to look like an experiment. Shampoos, cleansers, exfoliants, and wipes - maybe because they fall in the category of solvents? - don't seem to be essential to have the necessary quality to them, their just cleansers, right? Also too often the products in a higher price category are being identified as quality. For the experiment, I have shopped a few products based on the label, price, and everyday habits. I mixed my products with a different cleanser and a higher-priced serum. Still, using the professional skincare that I have used for the last eight years. Two common ingredients found in skincare are:

Safe to say, I found a few questionable ingredients in the products that did not support the message on the product. For the mini experiment I chose a cleanser and serum for sensitive and mature skin, intended to calm and hydrate the skin. You can click through on the link provided holding all the ingredients in detail, with their function and behavior. My skincare generally is not extensive, blame it on a busy lifestyle, family, work, I think many can relate. I do religiously cleanse, tone, moisturize with serums and can’t go without my vitamin cream at night.

In a nutshell, avoiding fragrances and preservatives is the best practice when you shop around for skincare. The more the ingredients a product contains, the MORE LIKELY that many of them are unnecessary and unessential for various reasons. A common concept is the facial cleansing wipes found in cosmetics. They are not biodegradable and still commonly used for convenience when on the go. We look at the ingredients in our food therefore it makes sense to look at the ingredients in our skincare. Like our gut microbiome, our skin microbiome will suffer when it's continuously being exposed to harmful elements.

Let's do this,

sources: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271387744_Hazardous_Ingredients_in_Cosmetics_and_Personal_Care_Products_and_Health_Concern_A_ Review https://www.ewg.org/ https://www.dermaviduals.com.au/ https://incidecoder.com/