Is your moisturizer actually harming your skin?
Knowing that our body is made up of 80 per cent water, we’re often told to "feed" it by moisturizing. But is it possible to over moisturize?
According to Dr. Zein Obagi, a dermatologist to celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Lucy Hale, it is.
In an interview with Byrdie, Obagi not only claims that he doesn’t believe in moisturizer but he also says that moisturizer prevents your skin from naturally exfoliating, which can lead to a build up of dead skin.
“The thick layer of dead skin cells stuck to the skin will make your complexion look dull,” he says. “The mother cells deep in the epidermis will stop dividing and creating new cells, due to the accumulation of dead skin on the surface.“
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He goes on to say that over use of moisturizer can actually cause skin issues, such as sensitive skin, because it throws off the body’s natural moisturizing mechanisms.
"When the imbalance of water, lipids and proteins is altered using moisturizers, the skin’s ability to act as a strong barrier to protect our inner organs will be weakened,” he explains.
But before you go tossing out your moisturizers, we reached out to Linda Stephenson, CEO and Founder of luxury skincare line Mereadesso, to get her take on the whole moisturizer debate. Stephenson also holds a degree in Chemistry and Biology, with a minor in Botany.
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While Stephenson does see value in exfoliating and agrees that not all moisturizers are created equal, she claims that there is no direct link between the two.
“In the last 20 years of modern skincare millions of different moisturizers have been purchased by billions of people around the world,” she tells Yahoo Canada. “The combinations of lipids/emulsifiers and humectants for these various formulations are endless. Their combined effect on the skin barrier has been studied and it has led to no particular conclusion one way or another – and it is hypothesized that different ingredients can improve, or not, the skin barrier.”
“It really has nothing to do with exfoliation.”
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Stephenson claims that exfoliation happens in other ways – typically by washing, shaving, sweating or brushing away, and finds Obagi’s argument confounding.
“I really don’t know anyone who would not wash their face ever, but apply a moisturizer on the daily,” she says.
The only way to really test Obagi’s theory would be to avoid washing or shaving for a few months, only applying Vaseline to the face and body, and then test the functionality of the internal organs to see if they have been compromised.
“My humble guess would be this individual’s issues would end up being more social then medical.”
What do you think of Dr. Obagi’s suggestion that moisturizer is bad? Let us know your thoughts by tweeting to @YahooStyleCA.
