Aristotle’s concept of the golden mean is a strong life lesson that can be applied to skincare. The golden mean is the concept that the best place for anyone's behavior is somewhere in the middle, eschewing both extreme indulgence and deprivation.

This is one of the foundations of how we formulate at Skin Actives. Our principle is to put in as much of an ingredient as your skin can use. Not too much as to overwhelm or hurt you, not so little that the active isn’t concentrated enough to show improvement in the health and wellness of your skin.

But what if you are using a lot of different products, with a lot of different actives in them? What if some of those ingredients have overlapping uses? This can lead to a problem in its own right. There is such a thing as over-treated skin, and overdoing your skincare routine can do you more harm than good. Look out for the warning signs that you are over-treating your skin and how you can get back on track.

Signs Your Skin Has Too Many Actives

Your body knows what it needs and it will warn you if something is wrong.  Some signs that you are doing something wrong with your skincare are:

• Sensitive skin: itchy, painful, stinging sensations
• Inflamed skin: red, irritated, swollen, peeling
• Dry skin: very tight, uncomfortable, leathery or hard to the touch
• Acne that gets worse, not better, with treatment
• More pronounced wrinkles
• New “sun spots”

How to Care For Your Over-Treated Face in 3 Easy Steps

The first thing would be, if something is not working, stop using it. You may not know exactly what is not working, and you’ll have to give your skin a small break.

If you decide you’d like to help your skin recover after exposing it to too many, or harmful actives, here are some products from Skin Actives that will help you feel better.

1. Cleanse: Try our Cleansing Oil to gently remove waste from your skin while introducing beneficial lipids. Oil is good for your skin, don’t be scared!

2. Layer: Choose either Hyaluronic Acid Serum or Sea Kelp Coral for your first layer. HA Serum will help rehydrate your skin from damage it may have taken, while Sea Kelp Coral is better for firming applications.

>If you are prone to dry skin, go right for our Every Lipid Serum for skin hydration.

3. Lock: We have a number of mild, but beneficial skin creams to help you lock in your beneficial actives. Canvas Base Cream is perfect as a base lotion, free of actives, colors, and fragrances. European Base Cream has the same benefits but is formulated for more mature skin.

If you’d like something with just a small amount of actives in it, consider Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizer or Ultimate Moisturizing Cream for additional beneficial hydration.

7 Reasons for Your Sensitive Skin

There are a lot of ingredients and actives that can go into other products that could be causing you concern. As much as we’d love to think that you take care of your skin with Skin Actives Scientifics products exclusively, we know that’s probably not the case. Below we’ll list some problematic ingredients to be on the lookout for:

• Lovely fragrances or “healthy” essential oils might be irritating or allergenic, and some are photosensitizers>
• Strong peels may leave your skin feeling smooth but will remove the skin barrier and make your skin more sensitive to environmental irritants.
• Ethanol-rich (or isopropanol)  products will make you feel like you are “purifying” your skin but will remove valuable lipids from the epidermis, increase water loss and dry your skin until it can’t do its job anymore.
• Ingredients that are great for patching up the skin barrier may obstruct pores, making the skin a perfect growing medium for the acne bacteria.
• Benzoyl peroxide will kill the acne bacteria but will also irritate your skin and age it. What’s the point of using antioxidants when you are also using a strong oxidant?
• Hydroquinone may cause ochronosis and/or hyperpigmentation. Buyer beware!
• And, finally, remember that all those “at home devices” that tempt you with pretty lights may worsen melasma or simply age your skin. 

Also, whenever you buy a new product, you should always remember that everyone’s skin is a little bit different and what works for someone else might not work for you!

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