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Mariga Sheedy: Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2012 11:59 AM
 Oily skin is seems to be having a bit of a 'moment' right now. I've recently been sent a few questions about dealing with it and there are lots of blog posts on other Irish beauty blogs in the last few weeks dealing with the same issue. I have to say that I'm surprised by this because, while oily skin is a valid skin type, it is relatively rare in Irish/Northern European skins. In my salon I would not see a true oily skin type even once a week. This got me to thinking; are we suffering a sudden hostile takeover by this minority skin type? Maybe those few that have true oily skin are uniting as one voice to be heard? Or, just possibly, are lots of people mis-diagnosing their skin type or causing an oiliness rebound by using inappropriate products?
Personally I favor the last theory because this is something I see frequently. Clients often present for their first appointment complaining of oily skin, mid-day shine or make-up that won't stay on and nine times out of ten they do not have an oily skin type. (I'll deal with the one in ten that do below). What they do have is the mistaken idea that their skin is oily because they self-diagnose incorrectly or because they have past or present acne and assume this means their skin is oily.
Very often the "oily shine" they complain of is in fact water evaporating off the skin too rapidly due to a LACK of oil on the skin's surface. Yep, lack. In this instance a facial oil is prescribed to remedy the water loss and stimulate natural oil production. This is why sometimes you can drink gallons of water but still have dehydrated skin. With shine.
Some peoples skin is producing plenty of oil (as your skin should) but it is stagnating in the pores causing blemishes, flakiness and all sorts of havoc because many people use cleansing and exfoliation products that are too harsh or contain pore-irritating ingredients. This causes the pore to hold on to the produced oil in case you just come at it with paint stripper again to wipe it away! Your skin needs the oil and it knows that so it tries to protect it. All these harsh 'oil control' products do is dry out water from the epidermis and create a layer of dead cells that will keep oil stuck in the pores gathering bacteria and not doing it's job of protecting your skin. These people usually think that they have skin that is 'oily with dry patches'. Popularly known as combination skin. No such thing, trust me. It's a marketing term, not a skincare one.
Do you think you have oily skin but sometimes have dry or flaky patches too? This would never happen in a true oily skin type.
Acne skin is just as likely to be dehydrated for the same reasons so treating it with oil control products will just cause flakiness and have no effect whatsoever on the acne.
For those with a true oily skin the problems are usually enlarged pores, shine and make-up sliding off. Pores will rarely become blocked. Using appropriate products makes a huge difference in this case. You need vitamin C and salicylic acid to keep pores refined, all the necessary nutrients for skin health but without an emollient base, anti-ageing ingredients after a certain age that are not suspended in a greasy, silicone-based cream, and to help control the oil output you need....oil! My Lipid Repair Concentrate is designed to regulate sebum production and can be a lifesaver for oily skins.
The moral of my story, as it so often is, is to get a professional skin analysis done to determine exactly what you are dealing with. Then you can treat it appropriately and watch your problems disappear. Well, your skin problems anyway :)
Note: If your therapist does not examine your skin under some kind of UV scanning device such as a woods lamp or skin scanner then it is impossible to determine the level of oil in the skin. This is the one thing that no level of experience or expertise can tell without a diagnostic tool.
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Mariga Sheedy: Posted on Friday, January 20, 2012 10:55 AM
 I have been reading a little about the history of the
cosmetics and skincare industry recently and a little gem of a quote caught my
attention. It goes to show that human nature never changes, no matter how
sophisticated or clever we think we have become! Interestingly, I found this
quote just after writing my previous post on the price of skincare products.
It is from a Victorian gentleman named Peter McEwan who was
the author of a prominent book at the time called Pharmaceutical Formulas
(1898). At that time if you wanted a preparation made for your skin you went to
your pharmacist who made something up for you. Cold creams, lip salves and
pomades were popular. Each pharmacist would have his own recipes and would
custom make a product for each customer and also for the then fledgling cosmetics
business.
McEwan said of toiletries ‘they appeal to the tastes of the
refined and the rich – to the beautiful and those who wish to be..’ but he goes
on to caution the pharmacist against taking advantage of the naïve customer
when he says:
..’The public expect too much from the class of specialities called ‘beautifiers’.
It frequently happens that the higher priced an article is, and the more highly
it is vaunted, the better its success. This applied particularly to the class
of articles we are now dealing with [cosmetic
preparations], and is a source of danger
to the compounder’s self-respect.’* It seems to me that much remains the same. While we have
made enormous progress in respect of what our modern day ‘beautifiers’ can
achieve, it seems that there are still consumers who buy based on the belief
that more expensive means better, and many companies are very willing to exploit that.
Some skincare formulators would do well to read McEwan’s caution about
self-respect.
*Source: The Victorian Pharmacy by Jane Eastoe |
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Mariga Sheedy: Posted on Thursday, December 08, 2011 5:32 PM
 I was sent a tweet today asking me about propylene glycol in
cosmetics. The question specifically was whether there are any skincare
products on the market which don’t contain propylene glycol.
Reading between the lines on this I imagine that the
questioner has read the scare stories that abound on the internet. These
usually relate to the fact that propylene glycol can be found in anti-freeze
products such as airplane de-icers. While this may sound alarming, it is like
saying that there is also water in both anti freeze and cleanser thereby
concluding that water in skincare products must be bad for you! Remember, anyone can post anything on the
net, when you come across something like this, always consider the source.
Peer-reviewed scientific studies are the only reliable source of information on
topics such as these.
If you are not familiar with propylene glycol, it is a
clear, odourless liquid which is often used in cosmetic formulations,
foodstuffs, fragrances and, yes, anti-freeze. (Of course the concentrations vary widely between applications). It functions as a solvent for other
ingredients, an emollient to add ‘slip’ and helps other ingredients penetrate
the skin barrier. It also acts as a humectant, absorbing water from the air. It
has been approved as safe to use by all the relevant government bodies here and
in the US. (See links below ). A quick
check on wiki will give you links to other reliable sources, all agreeing that
PG is non-irritant to skin even in higher concentrations than are commonly used
in cosmetic preparations. It usually appears in concentrations of less than 5%
in skincare.
So, are there any skincare products on the market which don’t
contain PG? There are, if that is what is important to you just check the label;
it is required by law to list all ingredients. Sorry, I don’t know specifically
which ranges, I don’t carry that much info around in my head! In my Skin Essentials by Mariga range propylene glycol is present in the
Daily Nutrient Serum at a concentration of less than 1%. I hope this answers your question, please keep sending them
in, I love to hear from skincare fans. What other internet scares have you worried? Discuss in a
comment!
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Mariga Sheedy: Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 9:57 AM
 There seems to be a buzz happening around the world of cosmeceutical skincare. I don't know why this is or who started it, some marketing company somewhere looking for a new angle for a product I assume. The fact is that cosmeceutical skincare is far from new. There have been some great products on the market for years. So, what is it, do you need it and are you already using it?The difference between a cosmetic skincare product and a cosmeceutical skincare product is simply that 'cosmetic' refers to an ingredient that can affect only the surface appearance of the skin and a 'cosmeceutical' ingredient can affect skin function at a cellular level. It becomes obvious from this that the cosmeceutical product is where the smart money goes. You may already be using a cosmeceutical product without knowing that it has a fancy scientific name! Check the claims on the advertising. Does it say 'skin appears smoother' or 'skin becomes smoother', 'lines seem reduced' or lines are reduced'? This is the basic difference between the two, one presents a temporary surface change, the other effects an actual change. If you are unsure about any product, ask you skincare professional if the ingredients are cosmetic or cosmeceutical. Skin Essentials by Mariga products are cosmeceuticals, so you can be sure that the money you are spending is for the ingredients that are in your product which will improve your skin, not some faux-scientific advertising campaign to make you think it can.
Not sure what category your skincare falls into? Book a skincare analysis with me to have your skin and your products professionally analysed, or ask in a comment.
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Mariga: Posted on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 11:46 AM
 Last week I received some samples of a new serum which is just about to launch from one of the major department store brands. I don't usually use such samples as I've already got the perfect skincare bit sorted thank you very much, but I like to read the ingredients lists all the same on the basis that there is always an opportunity to maybe learn something new. The ingredients list on this one didn't impress me much having silicones and perfume included. It seems obvious to me that silicones shouldn't be included in a serum because they will block good absorption of any active ingredients present and as for fragrance, well, aren't I always telling you that it's the work of the devil when it comes to skincare products? Indeed I am. Which is why you might be amazed to hear that I actually put this serum on my skin this morning. Why I hear you ask? Well, I'm putting it down to a combination of curiosity and an overwhelming number of positive reviews of this product on beauty blogs. Can they all be wrong, I wondered? Well, yes it seems they bloody well can. Two minutes after putting it on my skin was a little pink. Twenty minutes later my eyes were streaming. Now, two hours later my skin is red, hot and dry looking. To be clear, I don't have allergies to any particular ingredient. This is just how normal skin that is not used to being covered in irritants reacts to a potent, known aggressor like fragrance.
So, why can some people use products containing fragrance without irritation? The fact is they can't. Fragrance, among other things, will irritate your skin. No question. The difference is that some people will show a reaction on the skin's surface and others won't. Those that do is either because they have an intrinsically sensitive skin that reacts visibly to lots of things or, as in my case, they deliberately avoid all skin irritants in their routine so that when presented with one your skin can identify it and warn you straight away. This is a normal function of the skin and is how it is supposed to work.
Unfortunately, fragrance and other irritants are so common in skincare that our skin's immune response becomes inhibited but the inflammation is still occurring on the inside. The eventual result of this is weakened cell response and structure, reduced ability to heal itself and eventual breakdown in collagen and elastin fibres which will end in premature ageing. A nice thing for your skincare product to do to you isn't it? All because these large companies know that women like things to smell nice, so fragranced products will sell more units and to hell with your skin. They can always sell you another 'new / amazing' anti-ageing product when the damage from this one starts to show. Fragranced of course.
I'm off to stick my poor burning face in the fridge. Before I go, say it with me: 'I will never use a skincare product with fragrance / parfum on the ingredients list. (again).' Are you guilty of buying with your nose? Would the scent be a deciding factor for you in a skincare purchase? Let me know in a comment.
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