If you find yourself heading to the Great Oracle of Google for your burning beauty questions, find out what the expert has to say when it comes to the most Googled beauty questions.
Skin specialist, owner of Louise Thomas Skin Therapy and Panasonic Beauty Ambassador, Louise Thomas Minns shares her answers to the internet’s top searches
How to combat breakouts from wearing a mask?
Firstly, preventing ‘maskne’ starts with choosing the right mask. So, try and buy a reusable mask that can be washed at a high temperature after every use and make sure it is made of a material that is kind to your skin.
We can also take extra care with our skincare routine to help prevent those breakouts. Using a gentle cleanser will prevent damaging the lipid barrier which protects your skin. When applying your cleanser, stick to using your fingertips around the mask area to avoid irritation. After cleansing, pat your skin dry to avoid any friction.
It is also important that you ensure your skin is moisturised. Using a device like the Panasonic Facial Steamer will help hydrate your skin by opening your pores and allowing your hydrating products to seep in more effectively. Throughout the day, you can also keep a facial spray handy to lock in moisture and help fight bacteria.
How to take care of dry skin?
Something that I see a lot when treating my clients, is trans-epidermal water loss, which is when the skin loses water because the lipid barrier has been impaired.
The heating goes on, we’re going from hot to cold, and this can dry out the skin. One of the at-home solutions that I would recommend is using the Panasonic Facial Steamer as a humidifier.
Whilst you can of course use it to steam your clean skin, to open your pores, to help to decongest and to achieve a deeper cleanse; if you put the steamer on in your bedroom for example, it will help to humidify the atmosphere. This will stop some of that water-loss from your skin, and will even help your hydrator to work more effectively.
How do you fight dry skin?
The best way to hydrate your skin to replace and re-build its lipid barrier is by eating good fats. Sources of good fats include oily fish, walnuts, chia and flaxseeds. It may be that you’re eating those already, so you may want to take a really good omega-based supplement to help hydrate your skin from within.
In addition to this you can also combat dry skin as part of your skincare routine, for example by using the Panasonic Facial Steamer whilst you’re applying your moisturiser or hydrating mask.
The nano-technology helps the steam to penetrate deep into the skin, whilst opening the pores, softening the skin, and helping those hydrating products to seep into the skin more efficiently. For example, if you’re using ingredients like hyaluronic acid whilst using your Steamer, the hyaluronic within the product will attract and bind the moisture deeper within the skin.
How can I get flawless skin?
You can build a great at-home facial treatment with the Panasonic products. Firstly, you could have the Facial Steamer on while you’re double cleansing the skin, which would softly open your pores whilst making your cleanse more relaxing and efficient. This will lead you into doing some gentle exfoliation.
You could then build in the 3-in-1 Facial Enhancer. This has a purifying mode which I love for around my nose and skin, where my pores are a bit more dilated and clogged. I would do the purifying mode first, before switching to the moisturisation and cooling modes.
Finally, you could really indulge, and use the Radio Frequency device to tighten, lift, sculpt the tissue, and help to smooth fine lines and wrinkles. You can bring all of these steps together into a good 45 minutes to an hour at-home, luxury winter facial.
What is the best skin care routine?
What are you trying to achieve? Radiance? Immediate gratification? Are you congested? Do you have dry skin? The first thing you need to do is clean your canvas – so always start with a double cleanse. I like to remove make-up with a cleansing oil or a cleansing balm to start with, which I remove with a clean washcloth, and then follow up with a second cleanse.
As a general rule of thumb, you should exfoliate between 1 and 3 times a week. However, bear in mind how old you are as the older you get, the slower your skin responds to cell-turnover. So you might need to exfoliate more when you’re older.
A toner traditionally was used after your cleanse to remove any dirty cleanser, dirty oil, or dead skin cells. A lot of toners are now alcohol free, so a lot of people like the feeling after using a toner. However, if you’re using an efficient cleansing system where you’re using a balm and then a wash, your skin may already be sufficiently toned.
In the morning you still need to cleanse but if you’ve done an efficient one at night, it’s more about removing the dust and excess cells.
Answers provided by skin specialist, owner of Louise Thomas Skin Therapy and Panasonic Beauty Ambassador, Louise Thomas Minns.
