If you’re noticing more dryness, dullness, and wrinkles, it could be that you’re suffering from compromised skin.
Fortunately, you don’t have to settle for looking older. We have tips that can help!
What is Compromised Skin?
When we talk about compromised skin, we’re talking about the outer layer.
Your skin is made up of three main layers:
- The Epidermis: This is the outermost layer of skin. It’s thin, but it has a big job to do. It must protect you from the environment, keeping bacteria and other pathogens out while keeping moisture in.
- The Dermis: This is the middle layer. It contains the blood and lymph vessels, hair follicles, and sweat glands, as well as the collagen fibers that give your skin strength.
- The Subcutaneous Fat Layer: This is the deepest layer of skin, and is where most of the fat is stored. This helps conserve body heat and protects the body from injury. It also plumps the skin and keeps it looking full and voluminous.
Compromised skin has an outer layer that has been damaged somehow. It’s no longer the smooth layer it once was. Dryness, wear and tear, cracks, and more have developed, meaning that the skin can no longer hold onto water as well. This can cause itching, flaking, and redness.
Compromised skin can’t protect itself as well. That means you’ll be more at risk for sun damage, allergens, infections, and even the harmful effects of harsh chemicals in skin care products.
How Does Compromised Skin Make You Look Older?
When we see youthful skin—the skin on a child’s face, for instance—we are looking at fresh, undamaged skin. It is smooth and plump with an even texture and color. It hasn’t been damaged yet, so it appears flawless.
As we age and our skin becomes damaged, we can see the effects.
1. Compromised Skin is Dry
Because the outer barrier is damaged, skin loses moisture more easily. That leads to dry, dull-looking skin, which we know makes us look older.
2. Compromised Skin Shows Wrinkles
As you know, the dryer your skin is, the more visible your wrinkles become. So if your skin is compromised, it’s going to be dry, which is going to highlight your wrinkles and fine lines.
3. Compromised Skin is Dull
Because compromised skin is dry, it’s also going to look dull. Vibrant skin is fresh, moisturized skin. It has a natural glow from within. Compromised skin can’t hold onto hydration, and is also suffering from environmental assaults. It’s going to fade into the background, making you look older.
4. Compromised Skin is Thin
Think about young, healthy skin. It appears robust and voluminous, right? Dry, compromised skin, on the other hand, loses that volume. As it loses hydration, damage occurs to the collagen and elastin, and even potentially to the deeper layers of skin, where the fat lies. The result is dryer, thinner, and older-looking skin.
5. Compromised Skin is Often Red
As the outer layer is damaged, the immune system rushes in to repair that damage. That creates red, irritated, and sometimes swollen skin. You may notice redness on your cheeks, around your nose and eyes, or on other areas of your skin.
6. Compromised Skin is Sun Damaged
The less able the skin is to protect itself from environmental assaults—like UV rays—the more likely it is to become damaged from the sun and pollution. You may notice more dark spots or splotches, or more reddened areas that make skin look more aged than it is.
7. Compromised Skin May Reveal Broken Veins
Sun exposure, alcohol, allergies, rosacea, and other factors can all make the veins on your face more visible. In some cases, those around the nose and eyes can look particularly red and visible. The more damaged your skin is, the more likely you are to see these effects.
How to Repair Compromised Skin
The best approach to keeping skin looking as young as possible is prevention. Do all you can to avoid compromised skin:
- Protect your skin from the sun and environmental assaults
- Have a daily skincare routine that nourishes the skin
- Eat a healthy diet
- Use non-toxic, nurturing skincare products
Most of us, however, no matter how careful we are, will experience some skin damage as we age.
Here’s what you can do to remedy the situation.
1. Avoid Harsh Cleansers
If your skin is compromised, that means it needs to heal. You can think of it as being injured, and you wouldn’t use a harsh, sulfate-filled cleanser on injured skin. Choose gentle, creamy cleansers that are fragrance-free and pH-balanced.
2. Use a Repairing Toner
Yes, you still need a toner, but not the usual alcohol-filled kind. You want something that’s going to stimulate repair and hydration. We recommend our Rescue + Relief Spray. It doubles nicely as a toner as it’s moisturizing, but it also helps reduce inflammation and irritation.
Whatever toner you use, look for one that has some moisturizing ingredients in it. You want your skin to feel soft and comfortable—not tight—after cleansing and toning.
3. Moisturize Wisely
When your skin is compromised, it needs moisture, but it also needs healing. Choose a moisturizer with ceramides, natural oils, butters, and natural anti-inflammatories that will spend all day helping to repair your skin.
We recommend our Calming Moisture and Body Repair Lotion. Both include turmeric, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory, along with natural antioxidants that will help protect your skin from the elements while it is healing.
Of course, these products have deeply penetrating moisturizers that will help hydrate your skin and get it looking younger immediately.
4. Avoid Harsh Exfoliators for A While
Exfoliating your skin is usually a very good thing to do. It sloughs off dead skin cells and reveals younger-looking, fresher cells underneath.
But when skin is injured, you need to treat it gently for a few weeks. Give your skin a break from harsh acids, scrubs, retinoids, and other products. These normally help delay the appearance of aging, but when your skin is compromised, they can make it more red and irritated.
5. Keep it Simple
This isn’t the time to be trying new beauty products or makeup. Stick with nourishing, natural cleansers, toners, moisturizers, and sunscreens for a few weeks until your skin starts to look and act a little bit better.
6. Be Patient
It takes time to create compromised skin. It will take time to heal it. Give your skin several weeks for the repair to begin. Then continue with your gentle routine until you start to notice improvements.
At that point, you can add in some nightly anti-aging treatments, but make sure they are gentle. You don’t want to go backward. As your skin recovers, you can gradually add some exfoliation too, but again, avoid harsh scrubs and choose gentle options.
Have you repaired your compromised skin?
Featured photo by SHVETS production from Pexels.
