Even More Burning Questions Answered
Even More Burning Questions
🔥 (3rd Edition) 🔥
We’re back ❗❗ with more answers to your skincare questions. Every so often I put a Q&A box on my Instagram stories and invite your queries to answer in an upcoming newsletter. Read on to see
if your question made the cut!
Q: Is micellar water enough to cleanse at night? Are actives less effective without a full cleanse?
A: Micellar cleansers, whether in a water or pad form (see: Sofie Pavitt Face Micellar Cleansing Pads) are very effective at removing makeup, sunscreen and oils. Chemically speaking, micelles are surfactant molecules composed of a hydrophilic (water loving) head and a lipophilic (oil loving) tail. The tails cluster together in the center, forming a little ball. These microscopic micellar balls are suspended in liquid, creating the micellar cleansing product.
Because of the way they’re formed, they can pick up particles of dirt, makeup, oil, etc. and leave the skin clean. This may be enough to cleanse very sensitive skin, or at the end of a day spent totally inside, but for most people I’d recommend following with a gel or cream cleanser to make sure the skin is deeply clean.
As far as if actives are less effective without a full cleanse, the concern is that if there’s a film left on the skin, successive products won’t be able to penetrate as well. This is likely true to a degree, so a double cleanse is my preferred method. However, if for some reason your skin can’t tolerate a double cleanse (compromised barrier, rash, what have you), your use of actives should be minimized anyway, making it much less of an issue.
Q: What is beef tallow and why is it the hot new skin craze?
A: While walking around Williamsburg, Brooklyn recently, I saw a massive advertisement painted on the side of a warehouse advertising beef tallow moisturizer, indicating that this skincare trend has reached critical mass. If your IG or TikTok algorithm shows you homestead and natural wellness content, you have probably heard about it, but for those who haven’t, beef tallow (aka rendered beef fat) is being touted as an all-natural skincare savior. Adherents to this craze insist that it is a clean, nutrient-rich solution to dry skin and acne, that it’s safe for sensitive skin, and that it can even replace retinol. The reality is much less impressive.
Beef tallow is an unregulated ingredient, which leads to concerns regarding purity, safety and stability. It also has a very high pH, which can disrupt the skin’s more acidic pH, causing disruption of the barrier and leading to irritation and dryness. While its lipid-rich profile has led to it being considered an effective moisturizer, it is particularly high in oleic acid, which is irritating and can lead to a rash-like state. Additionally, it is occlusive and high on the comedogenic scale, making it a terrible choice for acne-prone skin.
It’s easy to understand the appeal of an all-natural product that has been used for centuries, but this type of nostalgia overly romanticizes the past – a time before scientific advancements allowed us to develop safe and effective formulas suitable for tricky skin types. For those seeking an all-natural, rich and balmy moisturizer that is safe for acne-prone skin but also suitable for dry skin, I recommend Furtuna’s Rinascita Delle Olive Replenishing Balm.
Q: I recently saw the movie The Substance and need to know what to do about aging??
A: Ok, I just saw this movie last week and I am OBSESSED. If you like campy, gory horror movies and you’re into beauty it’s a treat. Without giving any spoilers, the movie is about an aging celebrity who is confronted with the expiration of her career, and possibly the expiration of her worth as a woman. Desperate to recapture her youth, she injects a mysterious fluorescent goo called The Substance that promises to deliver a better, more perfect, and most importantly younger version of herself. I won’t tell you what ensues, but it brings into question how we define beauty and self-worth in a world obsessed with perfection and youth.
I wonder if the Ozempic craze had risen by the time the screenplay was written, because there are some definite parallels. But even if it hadn’t, the beauty industry has long been promoting injections of strange sounding substances to prolong the appearance of youth and vitality. Combine that with the popularity of biohacking and it makes you think that aging is optional.
Except that it isn’t. While what the film shows is a fantastical exaggeration of the dark side of trying to stay young, it’s not THAT far off from reality.
Every week there’s a new ingredient or treatment that promises to shield us from the horrible prospect of the passage of time. We surrender ourselves to a course of painful injections, lasers and surgeries, or place our faith in not-yet FDA approved treatments that are all the rage in South Korea, in service of what? Is the goal to be healthier and live longer? Or just to look younger?
I am part of the beauty industry, so I can’t wag my finger too much, but I do think it’s very important to accept and respect the natural course of aging.
This doesn’t mean we can’t try to look our best, but we must accept that our best now isn’t what we saw in the mirror 20 years ago. We are all aware of what healthy lifestyles look like, and I’m all for using technology to our advantage – we can stimulate our biochemical processes and strengthen our cells, in turn achieving some degree of “anti-aging”, but there is no magic bullet. And, as we see in The Substance, there is no escaping ourselves, so isn’t it better to practice self love and appreciate the person looking back in the mirror?