In recent years, facial masks have been selling like hot cakes, which is a topic shared by many sisters and girlfriends. I remember when I was a child, my mother also cut cucumbers to apply her face, or used flour + egg yolk + plant juice to apply her face. These methods are often publicized in beauty media or on the Internet, which also makes many friends move and follow suit.
Can face application improve skin quality?
In the field of dermatology, [application] is a way to deal with skin problems. Doctors will take different treatments according to different situations, using coverage to force skin absorption to achieve therapeutic purposes.
Therefore, from a medical point of view, [application] can have obvious effect on the skin surface, and [application on the face is effective] is reasonable.
However, you must know that after applying the face, the water only stays in the outermost stratum corneum of the skin.
This is a very important key. Do you think, if the skin cannot prevent water from entering the deep skin, then if human beings accidentally fall into the sewage, will they not be invaded by bacteria and viruses and eventually become sick and die?
Therefore, it is also a fact that water cannot enter the body through the skin.
Why is the skin dry?
There is [stratum corneum] in the outermost layer of the skin. In the healthy and complete stratum corneum, 10% ~ 30% of the components are water, which makes the stratum corneum moist and swollen, closely arranged, exerts a complete protective function, and protects the tender tissues of the body from chemical and physical injuries. Outside the stratum corneum, the grease secreted by sebaceous glands can reduce water evaporation and loss.
However, as the skin grows older and ages, sebaceous glands will shrink. At this time, sebum secretion decreases and skin moisture evaporates faster, so the skin will obviously become dry, and in serious cases, cracking and peeling may occur.
Generally speaking, the following conditions may indirectly or directly lead to dry skin, and in serious cases dermatologists may be needed to help solve the problem.
- Skin aging, excessive exposure to sunlight, bad living habits, climate change diseases, taking drugs
How does skin moisturize?
Then let’s understand how the moisture in the skin comes from.
- The reason why the skin surface can remain moist and soft is that the moisture in the dermis layer is continuously sent to the outermost epidermis layer. The water in dermis comes from capillaries, the final structure of blood circulation. Water supplied to the dermis in blood vessels comes from intestinal absorption. The biggest source of water in the intestinal tract is the water we drink.
Can face be applied to moisturize and replenish water?
As mentioned just now, even if the face is applied, the water only stays in the stratum corneum. Therefore, with the help of face application, water cannot enter the skin, but it can stay in the stratum corneum. After absorbing water, the stratum corneum will expand, and the stratum corneum will be arranged more closely, neatly and softly with each other.
This helps to reduce the evaporation of water in the skin, and also because the stratum corneum is closely and neatly arranged, under the reflection of light, the naked eye will feel that the skin looks tender and transparent, and even has the feeling of whitening.
However, the ability of stratum corneum itself to maintain water is not good. Sebum membrane must play a sealing role on the skin surface to cover the skin in order to reduce the evaporation rate of water.
Therefore, many experts suggest that a layer of cream or lotion containing grease can be applied immediately after the face is applied, which can enhance the effect of moisturizing and locking water.
Risk of Applying Self-made Mask to Face
It is risky to use fruits, vegetables or Chinese herbal medicines to make facial masks.
1. Many natural plants contain light sensitive substances
These plants include:
- Fruits and vegetables: lemon, orange, orange, grapefruit, citrus fruits, celery, lettuce, rape, spinach, amaranth, pakchoi, nine-story tower and coriander, etc. Chinese herbal medicine: Ju Ye, Psoralea corylifolia, Radix Angelicae Dahuricae, Radix Saposhnikoviae, Radix Adenophorae, Radix Angelicae Pubescentis, Cortex Dictamni, Rue,
What is light sensitivity?
In other words, some of the ingredients they contain will become darker after being applied to the skin after being illuminated, and even lead to allergic reactions of the skin. As a result, the originally good face will be [destroyed] within a period of time after applying the self-made facial mask.
You see, these plants, which usually look ordinary, are hiding [big crises]. We cannot identify which of them will cause phototoxicity, photosensitivity or other side effects.
2. Self-made facial mask has the hygiene risk of being contaminated by pathogenic bacteria;
3. Self-made facial mask cannot effectively extract [active substances] with high enough concentration, but in fact such substances cannot play a role;
4. Self-made facial mask contains various uncontrollable impurities, which are easy to cause skin allergy and inflammation.
Therefore, it is really not recommended that everyone make facial masks at home, because the unexpected risks are too high.
Pure natural food is used to apply face, the effect must be better?
The skin is not a digestive organ. What can be digested by eating cannot be digested or absorbed by the skin. Therefore, not all things that are effective after eating are suitable for use on the skin.
Skin care is very much in need of scientific guidance:
- When talking about whitening, we must talk about melanin inhibition and sun protection. When talking about [moisturizing], it is necessary to discuss the rate of skin dehydration loss and skin water holding capacity. When talking about [acne] [acne], we must first talk about skin physiology and bacteria.
Therefore, milk or coix seed cannot whiten skin, because scientific experiments have proved that there are no effective ingredients in these raw materials that can inhibit melanin or help cutin metabolism, and cola or soy sauce will not blacken skin, because scientific experiments have proved that they have nothing to do with skin color or melanin formation.
It is not because the food is [nutritious], [beneficial], or [effective] that you try it quickly.
If it doesn’t work, it will be regarded as paying tuition fees, but what if hair growth is harmful?
What should I do if I want to replenish water and moisturize?
Mask is not a panacea, whether DIY or not has certain risks. This is a summary of the outpatient experience of many dermatologists:
- Apply facial mask every day will lead to excessive water absorption of the cuticle of the skin, which will become fragile and reduce the barrier function. The composition of facial mask is complex and skin discomfort is easy to occur.
So for now, what you want to moisturize is:
- Take good care of the stratum corneum and do a good job of cleaning.
Only in this way, keratin denaturation is reduced, lipid loss on the skin surface is reduced, and the skin’s own moisturizing effect will play its due role.
Responsible Editor: BruceLi
This article is exclusively authorized to be used by Clove Garden and refuses any other form of reprinting.