Azelaic Acid

One ingredient that even I only came to hear about over the past year is Azelaic Acid but it's already become one of my most recommended products and incredibly popular in my Facebook group.

What is it?
It is a gentle exfoliating acid that you leave on the skin to unclog pores and improve skin tone and texture. The thing that drew it to me was it can improve skin sensitivity which very few ingredients do successfully. It is also an antioxidant and you know how I feel about those (if you don't you can read how I feel about them here).

Vitamin C

If you are remotely interested in skincare and beauty the chances are you've seen or heard something about miracle worker Vitamin C. Over the last year it's visibility in shops, magazines and on social media has rocketed and now every brand has it's own version. But is it worth the hype and do you really need it?

I'm here to tell you that yes it is and yes you do. In a world where the beauty industry has boomed and you can spend a fortune on your face I'm often to be found shaking my head as I hear of another 23 year old and her 17 step skincare routine. I think very often we over do it and a few, good products would be a much wiser course for most of us. But Vitamin C is a skincare multi-tasker that can not only improve the way your skin looks now but will ensure it looks fantastic in the future.

Antioxidents - What are they and why do we need them in our skincare?

This post is a big one so make a cup of tea and get comfy. I get asked a lot about antioxidants in skincare I'm going to talk about some specifically here and some more in depth in the future. You can also have a look at my What's In Your Products Page. I've tried to keep it the right side of technical. I think it's important to understand the science behind it without needing a chemistry degree (which I don't have... I scraped a C at GCSE). 

Antioxidants & Free Radicals
A lot of the antioxidants found in skincare are already present in the body, which naturally produces them, but the amounts will decrease as we age meaning we need to use them in our diet and skincare to give our bodies a boost. We know that a healthy diet should give our bodies antioxidants but very often our skin is the last organ to benefit and, as it is on the outside and we are able to, we should apply things topically. Sometimes our environment, poor lifestyle and diet mean the natural antioxidants get overwhelmed so it is great to give the body, and the skin as much help as we can.

Free radicals (and oxidative stress) are the biggest cause of early signs of ageing and these harmful cells cause lots of damage including attacking collagen cells - collagen makes our skin look plump and healthy. Oxidisation is what you see when an apple or avocado goes brown if left open to the air. This oxidisation is why these fruits have great antioxidant properties, often in their skins, as they've had to naturally develop them to protect themselves from the environment, unlike us they can't move out of the sun when they need to. 

Ferulic Acid

The bigger the skincare industry becomes the more we are hearing about specific ingredients that are supposed to revolutionise our faces. But to those who don't have the time or the inclination to research everything themselves it can be daunting, overwhelming and off-putting to try and decipher
what you should be using and when. I'm here to help. I have a list of ingredients in my What's in Your Products page but will be posting a little bit more in-depth on the blog when I can. First up, Ferulic Acid.