Are you making this common mistake with your moisturiser?
Bespoke skincare - hand-blended with your choice of 12 heavenly scents - sounds indulgent and it is. But with sensitive skin on the rise, QED Skincare offers an affordable, natural alternative courtesy of Sydney pharmacist Shoshana Eisner. Choosing to use only clean and active plant-based ingredients that are kind to our skin, Shoshana is passionate about helping women find a natural alternative to sensitive skin treatments and offers this sage advice:
1. What do you see women 45+ doing to their skin you wish they would change? “Use more moisturiser! I see women using just a touch of their moisturiser because it is expensive. You will get much better results if you use a product that you can afford to use more of. As a guide, for a woman over 45, your 50g moisturiser should last 2-3 months max. If it’s lasting longer and you are using it every day, you are not using enough.
Also, no-one over 25 should be using foaming cleansers. Never ever! They strip your skin’s natural barriers. We are prepared to spend all kinds of money on good moisturisers but are using the wrong cleanser, so our poor, old moisturiser has to use all of its energy undoing the stripping, we have just caused, rather than nourishing our skin. Use a non-foaming, hydrating cleanser (like QED Skincare’s Wrinkle Rewind No-Rinse Cleanser, $48), and you will actually see your skin perk up immediately.
Both of these tips, will give you immediate anti-aging results because your skin cells will behave like little sponges, plumped up with the extra hydration. Using more moisturiser will also protect you from damage as your skin won’t dehydrate during the day.”
2. Is sensitive skin on the increase? And has it been dramatic or a steady increase? "For sure! In the past, there was a steady increase in sensitive skin, but in 2020 we saw a dramatic increase. Stress does the strangest things to your body, and bizarrely, we are seeing it in more reactive skin.”
3. What are the contributing factors? “The stress of COVID, combined with changed habits, has driven many people’s skin haywire. A huge surge in self-care at home (which is great) has lead to many people over-treating their skin which has caused sensitivities to flare. Also, there are many more highly active products available for home use. It is hard to resist the idea that if you use more of a product, you will get a bigger response. You may get a bigger response, but it may not be the one you are seeking.”
4. How do you define sensitive skin? “True sensitive skin is skin that thinks it is being attacked when it is exposed to normal things, so it tries to warn you by being itchy and red, and even sore. Irritated skin is skin that has been exposed to irritants (ie. the wrong ingredients or even too much of a good thing. During COVID, many people suddenly had dry, chapped hands due to hand-washing and sanitising)”
(QED is a Latin phrase that translates as ‘thus it is proven.’)
* My favourite: I love the Ultra Sensitive Face Balm, $76. I suffered dermatitis as a child and although I’ve outgrown it, my skin still tends to react in extreme weather conditions. This instantly melts into my dry skin, then soothes and cocoons it on days when it’s feeling particularly vulnerable.”
QED Skincare is free of parabens, petrochemicals, formaldehydes, sulphates, synthetic fragrances and dyes, phthalates and triclosan.
NOTE: “I’m not paid to endorse these products (or treatments), I only recommend what I believe in and know works. If any of my content is in partnership with a beauty client, I’ll tell you - full transparency is important to me. And I will only work with sponsors to promote products that I have personally tried and loved. If I don’t love it and believe it works for women 45+, I just won’t recommend it.”
