Cosmetologist’s Opinion

‘What you have on your skin that you have inside, what you have inside will soon appear on skin’ cosmetologists say. That’s why external actions are not always enough for healthy skin. Svetlana Gnatyuk, a cosmetologist with 20-year experience, member of Ukrainian Assosiation of Cosmetologists and Dermatologists, helped us to hunt down this matter.

Olga Vykhodchenko took the interview

Even the most expensive cream might not be effective if the cause of problem skin is inside the organism.

The French women convince: ‘It doesn’t matter if you don’t like your nose shape or breast size. The only thing that can spoil your look is bad skin’. They are certainly right! Indeed skin is not only the measure of beauty it gives a prompt insight to the organism condition. ‘What you have on your skin that you have inside, what you have inside will soon appear on skin’ cosmetologists say. That’s why external actions are not always enough for healthy skin. Svetlana Gnatyuk, a cosmetologist with 20-year experience, member of Ukrainian Assosiation of Cosmetologists and Dermatologists, helped us to hunt down this matter.

Mrs Gnatyuk, it is assumed that seasons changing causes exacerbation. Does it refer to the skin health?

Change of seasons is always a stress for organism, which has to accustom itself to drops of temperature, change of menu, shortening of daylight. All its systems are involved in the process: endocrine, nervous, digesting. In addition, drops of temperature affect vessels responsible for nourishment of skin, hair and nails. Disturbed microcirculation of blood might cause rash, scabrities, flaking, skin becomes dull and pale.

Change of menu also has rather strong influence. While it’s getting cold our need in calories is growing in order to keep warm, consequently appetite is rising and we eat more greasy and substantial food so our digestive tract works harder. So we get season exacerbations our skin responds to.

Does it mean that skin health directly depends on digestive tract condition?

Beyond all doubt! There is a saying: ‘Skin is a mirror reflecting all the processes in our organism’. This is because skin, digestive tract tissues and nerve fibres forms during fetal life from one germ layer and that’s why everything in our organism is closely linked. Disfunctional intestine may evoke acne eruption, allergic skin rash, pigmentation and other problems. Type of reaction depends on a variety of factors: genetic disposition, constitutional peculiarities of organism, life style. The thread breaks where it is weakest! It’s important to comprehend that skin is just as organ as heart or stomach, it also may hurt and need treatment.

Are there food products which can be specifically harmful to skin?

There is food which is utterly harmful for stomach, liver, pancreas and subsequently for skin. An excess of carbs, refinements, starchy food, sweets, spirits in your menu evokes fermentation processes in the intestine. As a result beneficial substances digest utterly badly, and toxic agents and putrifaction products vice versa soak directly into blood and spread via vessels all over the organism.

Also I want to warn those who prefer to treat cold with antibiotics or have to take drastic remedies. You are surely familiar with the dysbacteriosis. It’s a problem of XXI century! Nowadays the question is not to kill pathogenic bacteria but to revive balanced micro flora. If intestine lacks lacto- and bifidusbacteria it affects the skin condition.

What solution could you propose in this case?

All recommendations are very individual. Before chosing a scheme of skin treatment I would always question closely my patients about their diet, and if they have compaints of dyspeptic character or if they suffer from coprostasia or vice verse from indigestion. If there are no serious gastroenterological disfunctions it would be enough to divest intoxication. For example, a person has eaten some greasy food, overeaten or tried an exotic dish and the skin responded with rash. In this case several cosmetological procedures and a course of sorbents would be enough.

Please, tell in details why do we need sorbents?

Adsorbing agents has been used in cosmetology years ago. In ancient times people knew that if you wanted to have healthy skin you would first need to cleanse you organism of wastes and toxic agents which interfered with proper functioning of all vital processes. Our ecology, non-balanced menu, and stresses result in slow poisoning of organism, fermentation products and toxic agents accumulate in the intestine and subsequently soak into blood intoxicating the entire organism. Application of the most expensive cream won’t be very effective if the reason of rashes is inside. There is a notion of detox. There are specialized clinics proposing a list of procedures for digestive tract, blood, liver, and entire organism cleansing. If you want to carry out mild detox at home, sorbents are exactly what you need. There is a huge variety of their types and names. I advise my patients to take sorbents of combined type. These are products containing absorbing agents and lactulose. Lacto- and bifidusbacteria, inhabiting our intestine particularly like Lactulose. It’s a sort of food for them. It’s not enough only to cleanse your intestine of wastes and and pathogenic bacteria. It’s also necessary to maintain beneficial microorganisms. As a result intestine biocenosis improves, immune system strengthens, and beneficial agents soak into intestinal wall faster.

Are sorbents effective in allergic rashes?

Indeed, they are, and I’m going to explain why. There are allergic rections of immediate and delayed type. People who respond immediately, even to the extent of anaphylactic shock, to a microscopic portion of some substance have immediate type of allergic reaction. They need no sorbents but the emergency medical help. They have to avoid contacts with the allergens for all their life. But there are responses of delayed type, when some substance is accumulating in organism and later could cause reaction in the form of Urticaria, itching, skin rash or asthma. In this case sorbents could help. They tie up and withdraw all allergens, toxic agents, and metabolites out of organism helping our immune system to cope with the allergens.

How often sorbents can be applied and which are better to choose?

Frequency of administration depends on patient’s health condition. If you do not have any specific issues with your skin you can carry out a preventing course twice a year during inter-season. But if you do have some serious issues the course of treatment should be defined individually, on the average it takes 2-3 weeks. In any case you would need to have a pack of sorbents in your home medicine chest. If you have eaten something unusual, exoctic or are going to travel, a couple of tablets will prevent unwelcome consequences.

As for choice of a certain sorbent, I recommend products of new generation containing absorbing substance and lactulose. As I mentioned above, apart from detox effect they help to revive healthy intestine micro flora allowing you to achieve wonderful results. Nowadays sorbents are produced in the form of pastes, powders, gels, and capsules. Personally, I prefer tablets. They are easy to measure and are very comfortable to take and carry about. Just don’t forget about the indications for use of these products: take them 1 hour before or 1.5 hour after meal.

Is there any need of some specific diet in case of problem skin?

There are rules of healthy eating and even people with healthy skin should follow them. The rules are well-known: eat less of fried, greasy, farinaceous food, and sweets; consume more fibre, fruit, vegetables, and food cocked in stove or steamed. It’s not a diet but a well-balanced menu. An excessive fancy for diets might cause exactly the opposite effect. Young women who are always losing weight more often complain about problem skin, especially if the diet goes with machine procedures for weight loss (meso therapy, anticellulite massage, electromiostimulation etc.). The thing is that fatty cells, while dissolving, start to let their content (toxic agents, decomposition products) out into blood. As a result general state worsens, in a flash, skin responds with rash. You are going to be surprised but sorbents may help in the situation. They help to divest intoxication and minimize harm of decomposition products. We are accustomed to cure everything separately: pill for that, pill for this. But our organism is an entire system, where all organs are interrelated. Each negative impact: either stress or smoking (especially smoking!), or lack of sleep or change of menu affects skin condition immediately. Luckily, it is a reversible process. Improving quality of your life, caring about your health you might also revive your skin.

Is there any need in cosmetic procedures on skin cleansing? Which would you advise?

Indeed, external cleansing wouldn’t be out of place. So that beneficial substances of cream could penetrate into deep layers of skin, pores have to ‘breathe’. Mechanical cleansing which leaves marks on skin is being applied less and less. Presently there are new products which help skin to self-clean without any harm and even cure it. These are enzymatic peelings or fruit acids peeling, natural smooth scrubs, and serums. Procedures with them are pleasant and absolutely painfree.

Don’t forget to cleanse skin every day. Never go to bed with your make up on. The only thing I always ask my clients is never wash face with soap, under no circumstances. Use gels, special milk, foams, anything but not soap for it makes, in combination with minerals in water, a ‘cover-up’ plugging pores. As a result skin overdries, gets allergic, and you feel tightness. Spend more time on washing-up and effect will come along soon. Skin wil repay you with radiant, soft and velvety texture.

After proper cleansing of skin you need to protect and moister it. For this purpose use nourishing cream suitable for your age and skin type.

Mrs Gnatyuk, could you please provide us with some more advises on everyday care.

In addition to the abovementioned I can say only one thing – get enough sleep! 8-hour sleep is a necessary minimum for healthy skin. There are some processes which happen in organism only at night and only during sleep. Moreover, crems and other cosmetic products render the best effect during sleep. For a good reason they say ‘While you sleep your night cream works’. If you smoke, I beg you to quit as soon as possible. Nicotine is one of the most aggressive and harmful substances for skin. And, of course, be less nervous. Take life easier, love yourself, care about your face and body and then your skin will look beautiful and healthy at any age!