Listen to the podcast for why and how to help nourish your skin. While we are not medical professionals, and cannot give medical advice, we go in-depth on the science of what might be contributing to the cause.
Welcome to episode 431 of The Whole View! This week, Stacy and Sarah dive into the topic of dry skin and other skin related issues. Sarah Stacy go over the science of how the skin works and what steps listeners can take to protect their skin this season!
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The Whole View, Episode 431: Troubleshooting Dry Winter Skin
Welcome back to episode 430 of the Whole View. (0:27)
Stacy welcomes viewers to this week’s show, announcing that she will be leading this week.
She thanks listeners for hanging into the super dense Collagen show last week and supporting Paleovalley, who quickly ran out of bone broth protein after last week’s show aired.
Stacy assures listeners that they will now be out of stock for long.
They also have set up their website to allow preorders in the meantime.
You can visit Paleovalley on their website here for 15% off your order.
Stacy also recaps that collagen is essential for skin, which is the focus of today’s show.
Things like collagen and gelatin from bone protein can help with certain skin conditions.
Stacy shares she’s personally had a lot of great results when acting using collagen.
Stacy reminds the audience that our skincare routine changes throughout the summer and winter months.
What You Can Do About Dry Skin
Winter is when we often see flares from dry skin conditions, such as eczema, milia, dermatitis, psoriasis, KP (keratosis pilaris), rosacea, and lupus.
While an anti-inflammatory lifestyle serves all of these, perhaps the AIP, and definitely nutrivore nutrient density, they also need to be treated and fed outside in.
Sarah and Stacy talked more about skincare in Ep 212: How to Heal Your Skin and Ep 344: Nutrients and Personal Care for Pre-teens and Acne-prone Skin.
Stacy really wants to take the opportunity to talk about what you can do topically to protect your skin even when there’s “less light” during these months.
Stacy takes a minute to talk about Stacy’s favorite brand, Beautycounter, is having a 15% sitewide through November.
Stacy is also happy to help find ways to save even more if you’re looking for what will work best for you.
Email her: stacy@realeverything.com Primally Pure has an awesome Black Friday promo coming, but you can use REALEVERYTHING10 all the time for 10% off their products.
Besides products, Stacy shares that there are many other things you can do to help your skin.
Hot Water Can Dry Skin Out
Stacy asks Sarah if she washes her face with hot water because it can inflame rosacea. (7:02)
Sarah answers that she doesn’t use hot water, but she’s not sure it’s cool enough to be considered lukewarm.
Luckily, it’s been so long since she’s experienced any symptoms of the skin issues that run in her family she doesn’t worry too much about it.
Stacy’s rule of thumb is if you can see steam from the water, that’s too hot, especially if you have dry skin.
She says this is because the hot temperature actually dries out the skin even more.
Sarah jokes that there goes her routine of washing her face in the shower since hers are steaming hot.
Changing Pillowcases Often
Stacy explains that as your skin goes through cellular regeneration, you’re actually losing skin cells, oil, dirt, and other such things onto your pillowcase as you sleep.
And then, you’re putting your clean face back on that pillow over and over again.
She suggests changing your pillowcase at least once a week, especially if you have a skin condition.
Laundry Detergent
What you’re using to clean your sheets and clothes is another big one for Stacy.
The soaps and detergents rub off against our bodies throughout the day.
Frequently we see eczema disappearing after simply switch in detergent because it turned out to be a sensitivity to the soap.
Stacy reminds everyone that fragrance-free is best if you have sensitive skin because of the hidden chemicals that can be in it.
Both Sarah and Stacy use Branch Basics in their homes, both as a detergent and a household cleaner.
Probiotic
Stacy also recommends taking a probiotic to help and recommends Just Thrive.
She and Sarah both love Just Thrive.
Stacy explains for healthy skin you need to heal your stomach and body from the inside out.
She also adds that despite the number of products in this show today, it is not sponsored by anyone.
These are the products they genuinely enjoy and recommend.
Taking Care of Yourself
Stacy also says we need to be sure we’re getting more sleep when troubleshooting a skin condition.
Your body regenerates while sleeping, so all the things you do to heal yourself won’t help if you’re not giving them a chance too.
Sarah expresses how much she loves that things always seem to come back to the same pathways, such as nutrients, gut health, and sleep, no matter what topic they seem to be talking about.
Stacy agrees. She never set out to become a skincare expert but learned to navigate and manage several autoimmune disorders.
Stacy goes over a 4-step skin routine that they’ve talked about in the past.
When trying to troubleshoot a skin condition, she recommends adding the extra step of exfoliation.
Wash
Stacy says the most important thing to do in this stage if you have sensitive skin is to be gentle.
She recommends a gentle soap like activated Charcoal Cleansing Bar or an oil-based cleanser, like Cleansing Balm or Lipid Defense Cleansing Oil).
Stacy shares that she does a double wash because she is so prone to acne and other conditions due to her autoimmune issues.
Using a cleansing oil first, followed by an exfoliating wash.
She likens this to conditioning her hair before shampooing.
She recommends Clear Pore Cleanser to exfoliate with jojoba beads gently.
Jojoba is an oil or fat, most like our skin’s natural sebum (oil) and usually works for almost all skin types.
Stacy explains that exfoliation is so important because you need to slosh off dead skin before the new skin can come through.
For your body, use a sugar scrub.
Stacy refers to this Blue Tansy sugar scrub made for these exact issues.
The anti-inflammatory benefits combine with sugar and probiotic-rich honey and avocado oil rich in skin food and lipids gently exfoliate and nourish the skin.
Tone
Sarah expresses how much she loves toner.(25:01)
It’s her favorite part of her skin routine, and she learned it all from Stacy.
Stacy goes over how toner can condition very dry and/or aging skin on your face.
Nutrient-rich Essences, like Hydrating Mineral Essence, are best for dry skin.
This is a product Stacy herself uses in her routine!
What it does give your skin food for priming and helps to make the next steps more effective.
For your body, try Primally Pure’s Everything Spray.
It’s what Stacy uses under my arms after she washes to prevent irritation and rashes.
Stacy knows it sounds like she’s asking you to do many extra steps but that it’s not as tough as it sounds.
You already have your body wash in your shower, so it’s as simple as adding another spritz to the routine.
Sarah uses a mineral-rich toner with a sea-salt base and shares how easy her skin routine is.
Stacy has switched to an Essence with Swill Alpine rose in it.
Sarah shares a fun fact that apple, pears, and stone fruits are part of the rose family.
Treat
Stacy says that if there’s one step you’re going to skip, this is the one you could skip.
Although “treat” means treat for the condition for which you have concerns.
So when skipping this step, you’re not treating the problem causing you issues, you’re keeping the baseline.
She also tells listeners that this stage is very personalized to the individual.
A serum, like exfoliating Overnight Resurfacing Peel, or facial oil targeting the skin concern is incredibly powerful for so many different skin conditions.
Stacy does encourage you to do a test patch first before completely diving in, which Sarah found out the hard way.
She also loves the Balancing Facial Oil for skin irritations and finds it works best to help heal the lipid barrier.
Stacy also really loves Herbivore’s Blue Lapis facial oil with blue tansy.
So what you’ve done up until now is get your skin ready.
And now, you’re giving your skin what it so desperately in search of- lipids!
Stacy also mentions that there are so many different products out there to choose from.
If listeners do decide to deviate from what she and Sarah love and recommend, she asks that you’re definitely looking into the ingredients.
Hydration
Stacy thinks of this step as the “protection” step and encourages Sarah to take this step when she goes out to walk the dog every morning. (35:54)
She explains that SPF is the biggest in the summer for protection. In the winter, however, it’s important to protect your skin from the dry air.
Stacy recommends adding the facial oil to your cream-based moisturizer or using something like the Cleansing Balm as a hydrating mask.
This works well, too, if you have children who lick their lips a lot and end up with the chapped red ring around their lips in the winter.
She also advises listeners to press it to the areas needing hydration rather than rub.
If for your body, Primally Pure’s body butters and Blue Tansy Oil are incredible, but this Ultimate Bath Renewal Set has both a body scrub and a body oil that uses rose water, which is really anti-inflammatory and wonderful if it’s still available when you listen.
Sarah adds Buffalo Gal and Annmarie Skincare to her preferred and trusted brands.
Stacy used to think coconut oil was a catch-all for lotion, makeup remover, and more.
But now she knows that there’s no skin food and nutrients in it, so it’s not something that should be used and only used.
Also, it causes clogged pores.
Stacy specifies oils, lipids, and balms because the skin’s lipid barrier is compromised with these skin conditions.
It means that moisture isn’t retained properly, and that’s why the skin is dry and becoming inflamed.
By exfoliating and then nourishing with a fat-based product, you’re helping to heal fully rather than just treating topically.
Science on Stratum Corneum
Sarah breaks down the science of skin.
She tells the audience that skin cells actually regenerate inside, and then push out. So the oldest cells are on the outside layer of the body.
Sarah breaks down the brick-and-morter type structure of the skin and the five layers.
She explains that the cells deeper in are much more sensitive. And that skin itself is only about twenty layers thick.
Some areas, like your eyelids, are thinner.
While other areas, like the bottom of your feet, are a little thicker.
The stratum corneum consists of a series of layers of specialized skin cells that are continuously shedding.
For the deeper layers of the skin, hormone environment and nutrient intake are most important.
For the outer layer of skin on the top, we’re so far removed from the body’s inside, topical nourishment from the outside is most effective.
Sarah also notes that this is not the layer of skin where collagen is most important.
The Bricks
The bricks, also called corneocytes, are mostly made up of keratin.
Keratin is a protein also found in hair and nails.
Keratinocytes are created in the lower layers of the epidermis and operate with a phospholipid cell membrane, which can be permeable.
When the keratinocytes are pushed to the stratum corneum, they transform into corneocytes with a more durable cell envelope.
A healthy stratum corneum will shed approximately one layer of corneocytes each day.
New keratinocytes replace the corneocytes from a lower layer of the epidermis.
The desmosomes serve to connect the bricks by joining the corneocytes together.
This forms thanks to the connections of proteins such as corneodesmosin.
For the bricks to shed at a healthy rate, enzymes must dissolve the desmosomes.
The Mortar
Lipids make up the mortar that secures everything in place.
Tiny lamellar bodies present in the stratum granulosum release these lipids.
The lipids float into the space between the bricks and between the layers of corneocytes.
The mortar is very important in protecting the lower layers of the skin.
It creates the barrier that keeps out bacteria and toxins.
The mortar and whole of the stratum corneum are slightly acidic due to cellular processes that work to produce the lipids.
The stratum corneum has a pH of around 4 to 5.5. The acidity helps to prevent bacteria growth.
Final Thoughts on Dry Skin
Stacy talks about how healthy skin should shed its outer layer every day. (52:09)
However, some nutrients or other internal issues can keep skin from turning over like it should, causing clogging and other issues.
This is why exfoliation is so important because it helps our skin take that last little step.
Sarah also warns against overfishing because you don’t want to take too much skin off.
She adds that she and Stacy are talking about the face and delicate skin.
They encourage everyone to continue washing their hands!
Stacy also talks a little bit about combination skin and the dangers of over-drying areas that need the oil your body is over-producing.
Lack of sunlight is one of the direct causes of Vitamin D deficiency, which is important for skin health.
Stacy reminds listeners that simple, easy changes can make a world of difference.
She also adds that she doesn’t spend as much time on her routine when she’s not having a flare-up.
Thank you for listening, and we will see you next week!
