How to Rejuvenate Your Skin?

By 2028, the skin-related market in India is well-estimated to hit around $34 billion. That is a humongous number, comprising of products for boosting skin health, treating skin concerns and, the most famous of them all, skin rejuvenation.

As we age, our skin goes through several stressors (intrinsic, extrinsic) and changes with age, impacting its barrier, tone and health. This cycle makes our skin dull, tired and saggy over time, which is where the importance of facial rejuvenation comes in. Follow along with us as we detail skin rejuvenation practices, their meaning, and methods in which individuals can achieve youthful, radiant skin.

Keynotes:

• Skin rejuvenation is a process that includes several therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring the natural barrier function of the skin and promoting optimal complexion and volume.
• Certain causes that may dull your skin are aging, hyperpigmentation, dryness, buildup, sun exposure, lack of sleep and more.
• One may boost skin health and radiance at home through topical exfoliating serums, hydrating moisturizers, DIY soothing masks and optimal sunscreen application.
• Professional measures taken to boost facial rejuvenation include non-invasive and invasive procedures based on the nature of one’s skin.

Skin rejuvenation is a process that consists of detailed strategies and therapeutic interventions designed to restore the natural function, complexion, and texture of one’s skin. The multifactorial treatment targets both intrinsic and extrinsic factors, like genetic disposition, aging, environmental damage, and underlying skin conditions.

1. Static wrinkles: These are fine lines that form on the face when it is at rest, due to age, thinning skin and gravitational pull.
2. Dynamic wrinkles: Unlike the above, dynamic wrinkles (crows' feet, frown lines) occur through repeated muscle contractions, creating permanent creases over time.
3. Acne Scars: Inflammatory acne can manifest into deep skin depressions, bumps, and blemishes, turning the skin uneven in texture.
4. Pigmentation: With age, the process of melanogenesis is potentially impacted by several factors, resulting in an uneven distribution of pigment across the skin. Certain pigmentation concerns include sunspots, age spots, and other vascular irregularities.

When your body is young, the proteins, collagen and elastin fibers provide structural integrity and support several syntheses integral for optimal function of the skin.

With age and other factors, these fundamental mechanisms can take a hit, translating to collagen breakdown and elastin fiber fragmentation. This degradation can have a significant impact on the hydration, volume, tenacity, and elasticity of your skin. This is why skin rejuvenation is essential to bring back the youthful characteristics of one's skin.

With life getting the best out of you, there comes a time when your skin loses its luminosity and seems rough in texture, giving way to a tired complexion. This fatigue manifesting on your skin turns it in dull skin, making you appear older than your actual age.

1. Aging

   An individual's age can be correlated with their skin health, which means it is genetically predetermined. This results in natural aging over time. However, factors like underlying health issues and environmental factors can hinder this process, impacting collagen production, turning the skin thinner, drier and susceptible to fine lines.

2. Pigmentation

   Hyperpigmentation, or patches of uneven spots on your skin, can contribute to a perceived skin dullness. This is due to the irregular melanin distribution in the skin, which is triggered by inflammatory processes such as hormonal fluctuations, nutritional deficiencies, trauma or photodamage.

3. Dehydration

   Just as water is essential for promoting metabolic processes across the body, it is also integral for your skin structure, texture and luminosity. Dehydration can make your skin dull and affect its barrier function, elasticity and even lead to transepidermal water loss (TEWL). This dysregulates the water balance required for optimal oil content and microbiome diversity in the skin, resulting in flaky and dry skin, prone to damage.

4. Buildup

   Your body is equipped to naturally eliminate dead skin cells, up to a limit, on its own. This procedure, often called cell turnover, can slow down due to factors such as age, pollutants, UV exposure and more, resulting in a buildup of dead skin cells. Excess buildup on the surface of your skin can lead to clogged pores, acne breakouts and lackluster skin.

5. Lifestyle Factors (sleep, UV exposure and nutrition)

   Apart from these, there are a range of external lifestyle factors that influence the vitality of your skin. Take sleep, for instance; lack of it can impair the natural repair process and trigger hormonal effects. While nutritional deficiencies may potentially lead to hyperpigmentation, much like chronic sun exposure. All of these together can compromise your skin barrier and cellular health in the long term.

Here are the three ways how to rejuvenate one’s skin:

• Exfoliation

  Skin Exfoliation is a treatment strategy that drives skin rejuvenation benefits through controlled elimination of surface dead skin cells, revealing even-toned skin underneath. The method primarily targets buildup, clogged pores and hyperpigmentation, along with boosting collagen and cell turnover in the skin. Common exfoliants used for this purpose may include alpha hydroxy acids such as glycolic acid and lactic acid or beta-hydroxy acids (BHAs) like salicylic acid.

• Hydration

  Dehydration can be detrimental to our skin health, while a nourishing balance of skin hydration can ease metabolic processes, thereby boosting sound barrier function and radiance. This is the reason it is recommended to maintain adequate hydration and supplement your skin care routine with moisturizers. Water binds with the proteins in the skin and provides barrier support, preventing excessive transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and inflammation, while boosting tissue elasticity.

• DIY Masks

  Skin rejuvenation benefits can also be experienced with at-home remedies like weekly DIY masks. These promote common markers of sound skin health like hydration, soothing redness and inflammation, and boosting antioxidant activity in the skin. Some common ingredients that you may employ to create your homemade masks are cucumber extract, aloe gel, green tea, shea butter or coconut oil.

While home remedies can provide relief and moisturize the skin, moderate to severe concerns do require advanced treatment options to target specific concerns. Skin rejuvenation can be achieved through a range of methods based on the severity of the concern, such as:

Minimally non-invasive methods: These comprise topical agents (tretinoin, peptides or antioxidants), laser therapies, radiofrequency therapies, dermal fillers, botulinum toxin, or thread lifts.

Non-invasive strategies: Apart from the above, your dermat may also advise you on rhytid reduction (wrinkles), microneedling, tissue tightening and volume restoration.

Invasive methods: Surgical procedures are typically used for addressing significant aging in the skin and tissue repositioning. Some of the common invasive interventions include eyelid surgery, facial implants and brow lifts or face lifts to provide precise structural changes for facial rejuvenation.

To optimally support skin rejuvenation, one must include these three products in their skincare routine:

1. Serum with a Topical Agent

   These target excess melanin in the skin, boost cell turnover and promote collagen synthesis in the skin. One product that your skin can benefit from is the Anti-Pigment Skin Illuminating Serum. It reduces dark spots, treats pigmentation, boosts radiance and smoothens fine lines.

2. Nourishing Moisturizer

   Secondly, you need a hydrating, rich moisturizer to supplement the actives in your serum. Products such as Hyaluron-Filler Moisture Booster Night Cream act as a powerful humectant, supplying hydration to the surface and epidermal layers of your skin.

3. Sun Protection

   Lastly, you simply cannot complete a skin rejuvenation routine without a high-performing sunscreen like the Sun Face Hydro Protect Ultra-Light SPF50+. It protects your skin from photoaging and major markers of dull skin; hence, apply it liberally every day.

Skin rejuvenation, when done right, can help you uncover youthful, radiant skin that lies beneath a cover of dullness, buildup and dryness. Utilizing the strategies mentioned above, based on the needs of your skin, along with at-home treatments, can immensely promote skin rejuvenation and deliver long-term results.

1. What is skin rejuvenation and how does it work?

   Skin rejuvenation comprises of therapeutic strategies undertaken to restore the optimal barrier function of the skin through cell repair, exfoliation and structural support. It works through a variety of home treatments and professional interventions that target tissue regeneration, collagen synthesis, skin resurfacing, hydration and more.

2. How to rejuvenate skin naturally at home?

   Some at-home treatments one may utilize to reap the skin rejuvenation benefits are weekly or biweekly exfoliating masks, hydrating your skin with moisturizers and soothing antioxidant-rich DIY masks with ingredients like green tea, cucumber and aloe. One should also follow a well-structured skincare routine with active ingredients, moisturisers and sunscreen to holistically promote facial rejuvenation.

3. What are the benefits of facial rejuvenation treatments?

   Professional facial rejuvenation interventions like topical solutions, microneedling, laser therapies or dermal fillers, amongst others, can refresh one’s complexion, reduce wrinkles and fine lines, restore volume and eliminate hyperpigmentation.

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