ANTI-POLLUTION:
SKIN IN THE CITY

Pollution is one of the main contributors to ill health in the UK – but have you ever stopped to think about what it might be doing to your skin? A significant number of studies have examined the effects of pollution on the ageing of the skin and found some alarming results.

What started as an Asian beauty trend to protect people living in highly polluted, smog-filled cities such as Beijing is fast becoming a global skin-health movement and with good reason, for London dwellers, the fact that our pollution levels have surpassed Beijing in 2017, should be food for thought.

PROBLEMS WITH POLLUTION

Particulate Matter

Every day, microscopic specks of soot, smoke and acid are released into our atmosphere, these tiny particles, up to twenty times smaller than the size of your pores meaning that they can penetrate the skin and bypass the protective outer layers.

To further compound the issue, scientists believe that particulate matter is covered on their surface by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH’s), being lipophilic by nature, these persistent pollutant compounds easily dissolve in oil, this is why these pollutants can easily penetrate through the outer layers of the skin, disrupting the connections between the surface cells, altering the skin barrier. This can lead to inflammation in the deeper layers of living skin tissues, where wrinkles and other signs of skin ageing are formed.

Free Radicals

When pollutants come into contact with your skin they can create what are known as ‘free radicals’, which are unstable atoms and molecules that are missing an electron. When a free radical is created it then goes searching for an extra electron to re-stabilise itself.

When it finds another atom it can ‘steal’ its electron to make itself stable again. However the atom that had its electron stolen is now itself unstable and so the process repeats itself again and again. If this chain reaction of free radical damage happens in your skin cells it can cause inflammation, making it harder for your skin to regenerate and therefore leading to loss of elasticity, suppleness and a depletion of the skin’s natural collagen levels.

EFFECTS OF POLLUTION ON THE SKIN

According to a controlled study conducted in Shanghai & Mexico, researchers discovered the following effects of pollution on the skin:

Increased Sebum rate:

Skin exposed to pollution experiences a higher sebum secretion rate when compared to non-polluted areas.

Increased Skin Ageing:

Ozone produced by degradation of NOx & other sources, appears to speed up skin ageing by depleting Vitamin E levels in the skin, causing oxidative stress.

Instability of the skin acid mantle:

There is a tendency for the skin pH to decrease when exposed to pollution, potentially disturbing your precious skin microbiome.

Disruption of the skin barrier:

Cholesterol in the skin is decreased when exposed to pollution causing an increase of trans-epidermal water loss & decrease of moisturisation.

THE POLLUTION SOLUTION

Thankfully, instead of wearing a trendy, hermetically sealed helmet, à la astronauts to go about your business, we’ve sourced an abundance of ‘force fields’ for your face over the last five years of developing our skincare range, which can help to deflect or neutralise the atmosphere’s man-made aggressors:

Remove & Cleanse

Living in a highly polluted area means that often your skin may feel as if it has a thick layer of grime and grease on your skin, as studies have shown that pollution increases the skin’s sebum production rate, our gentle cleansers based on advanced sugar technology will gently cleanse the skin of excess oil, balancing the oil content on your face.

Particulate matter pollution can easily enter into the pores in your skin, causing unforeseen damage, however cleansers don’t really get into the pores, due to our insistent of using no nanomaterials, that’s where our pharmaceutical grade (B.P.C 1934) Activated Carbon comes into play. Reduced down to 5-10 microns and with each gram of activated carbon having a surface area up to 1000m2, the activated carbon can adsorb the pollutants from within the pore itself.

With the increase in sebum production, increased oxidative stress & pore clogging particulate matter, this can lead to an outbreak of acne. Thankfully with the inclusion of Myrica Gail, hailed as a wonder treatment for people with sensitive skin due to its unique bacterial fighting abilities which specifically target acne, it should enable better protection for your skin.

Shield & Repair

A lot of us are cure-over-cause thinkers. If you’ve got wrinkles, spots or dry skin, you care more about rectifying it, than what caused it in the first place. The thing is, when it comes to skin, addressing the cause can save a lot of long-term bother. So now you have a fresh, clean face, how should you go about protecting it from the pollutants?

With oxidative stress induced by pollution, causing wrinkles, sagging skin and dullness, it is vital to include a powerful anti-oxidant system. We have you covered, not only do we have pure Vitamin E (One of the main anti-oxidants found in your skin) included in a high concentration, we have further boosted the anti-oxidant capability with Ferulic Acid, which works in synergy with the Vitamin E to help counteract the free radicals produced from pollution.
Not content with this super blend of synergistic super anti-oxidants, the inclusion of concentrated Coffee extract, which contains high amounts of Polyphenols, is shown to prevent free radicals from causing damage at a cellular level.

The damage caused to our skin barrier by the pollution that is present around us needs to be rectified. Restorative Argan oil & deeply moisturising olive oil with Cherry seed oil combine to provide your skin the nutrition it needs to maintain a healthy barrier even in arduous conditions.

The skin microbiome is incredibly important to the overall health of your skin. With disruptions caused in the acid mantle layer by pollution, which can in turn affect the microbiome, all of our products are pH balanced to help correct the acid mantle layer, in turn helping the microbiome on your skin.

Myrica gail mentioned above in our Active-Performance Face Wash works to help reduce Propionibacterium acnes, the bacteria which is often the root cause of acne.
If that wasn’t enough the inclusion of the concentrated botanical extract of Brazillian Copaiba Balsam, the highest known natural source of Caryophyllene (upto 57%). Caryophyllene is a powerful anti-inflammatory agent which can help reduce redness and irritation.

And of course, our proprietary Liquicrystal® Technology enables our skincare formulations to deliver unmatched performance in moisturisation, hydration, lower skin irritability and to deliver the complimentary high-tech natural actives to all parts of your skin.

Antipollution skincare is one of the biggest beauty buzz trends in the last year, according to NPD UK Beauty, sales of anti-pollution skincare – moisturisers and cleansers especially – has shot up by 30% in just six months – and it’s hardly a wonder as recent studies highlight that its daily attacks on your face are getting worse.

According to the World Health Organisation, dozens of UK cities—London, Liverpool and Glasgow included—are breaching the EU limits on pollution, with Oxford Street being the most polluted street in the world, it’s time you step up your skincare regime.