What I Learned from a Professional Skincare Conference

As a creator, I get a lot of skincare products to test out and share with you guys.  I’ve shared some of my faves on my Instagram and gave you all my honest opinion.  But let’s be real, most creators are not dermatologist.  We can tell you that one particular eye cream we prefer over another because of consistency or how we wake up the next morning, but we’re hardly qualified to give you the real professional long-term effects.  I mean, are any of you trusting me to do your botox anytime soon?  Didn’t think so.  So when I was invited by a professional skincare line to attend a conference and learn more about what actually goes into quality skincare, I jumped at the chance (and brought my notepad).  Here’s what I learned from award-winning brand PCA Skin.

 

 

1. 90% of skin aging is from environmental factors.  This is huge especially from us city gals (and guys) to know that our daily commute is aging our skin.
2. OTC products that suggest they correct aging don’t give you the full story.  They temporarily fix the concern but the molecular makeup of the product is too large to actually penetrate on a cellular level and really make a difference.  They provide temporary protection, they can’t turn back time.
3. Start proper skincare in your teens to 20s to begin working on prevention, both in males and females.  This includes retinol treatments for skin discoloration/spots.  Retinol will cause you to shed your skin in 6-7 days, lessening sun damage, discoloration and acne scars because of the shedding.
4. We lose 1% of our collagen per year so the elasticity that helps our skin bounce back depletes consistently.
5. Chemical peels are of the top 5 most performed procedures in dermatologist and plastic surgeons offices (not including surgical procedures).  There are 1.5 million PCA Skin brand peels prescribed per year which is 50x that of competing companies.
6. Chemical peels are recommended once/quarter in your 20s and 30s and once every 4-6 weeks over 40.  The number you can do varies by severity and other procedures, ie. lasers.  Sometimes when doing chemical peels, you won’t peel.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t working.
7. When discussing chemical peels with your skincare professional, note the TSA percentage.  This increases in PCA Skin brand peels from 6%-20%.  The increased percentage the stronger the peel and quicker the results but the increased redness and downtime.  The intensity is tailored to the patient.
8. Be conscious of when to apply.  Retinol, Glycolic acid, Alphahydroxy and Betahydroxy should be used in the evening because they’re deactivated by sunlight.   Hyaluronic acid should be applied in the morning but can be reapplied as it evaporates in an hour and a half.
9. Buy from a legitimate source.  Products purchased from sources such as Amazon have been returned to PCA Skin and when their chemical engineers looked into it, some of these have been found as counterfeit where the seller injected water, hair conditioner and other substances.  Buy your skincare products from a licensed seller, dermatologist, or direct from the brand.
10. Finally, the order to apply your skincare: serum, hydrator, then moisturizer.

 

I’ve been trying out the PCA products I received after this conference and am currently working on an updated skincare routine to share.  It’s been a couple of months since I started using it and I wanted to hold off on sharing until I could see how my skin responded to it.  Stay tuned but in the meantime, I hope you learned something because I certainly left feeling much more knowledgeable about what I’m putting on my face!

*besitos*