POF : Is your skin concern affecting your dating life?

POF : Is your skin concern affecting your dating life?

Do you have some specific skin concerns? Do you think it’s affecting how you interact with other people, especially when it comes to dating? Though we’re brought up thinking these are skin deep problems, it takes a lot of confidence to completely ignore it.

We started digging into skincare science after my friend’s endless research to find creams to soothe her eczema. After tons of hours reading research papers, working with Stanford dermatologists, and talking with medical & holistic estheticians, we have learned a lot. Some of the many useful things we’ve learned so far:

1. If your skincare routine isn’t doing much for you (or sometimes doing worse), one of the possible reasons is that the products in your routine are canceling out each other. A lot of things need to be factored in (your skin type, the routine order, the PH, the ingredients’ interactions, the penetration, etc) to make sure ingredients efficacy is amplified rather than the other way around.
2. Always read the ingredient label: it’s quite an irony that even Retin-A cream(a common prescription by dermatologists to acne patients) contains Isopropyl Myristate (a highly comedogenic ingredient, a.k.a easy to clog pores).
3. Sometimes ingredients take effect by worsening the situation first: since a lot of active ingredients help speed up skin cell turn over rate, your skin might experience more pimples, dry patches and peeling before it turns for good. You need the wisdom to distinguish between a purge and a breakout, and also the patience to stick with it if it’s a purge.
4. Bogus claims by skincare company: e.g. « This product contains minerals that help boost the elastin in the skin » since elastin is not produced by cells of any type after puberty.
5. Eye creams’ biggest use is to protect the skin around your eyes from the actives put on later in your routine. So it makes no difference whether you’re using an eye cream of $10 or $300 or even your face cream.
6. Skincare is a battle on all fronts: besides topical treatment, you also need to maintain the balance within the body (insulin level, cortisol level, clean liver & gut, etc).
7. A lot of dermatologists don’t have the proper cosmetic chemistry knowledge to put together a home care routine for you.
8. Most estheticians would only have the knowledge of the products they’re selling.

We’re compiling all the learnings into a digital health app to help more people. Would love to chat with people who have this problem to learn more from them and share our progress so far. If you or your friends have this problem and are open to chat, let me know 🙂

By. lululi_lului