Skincare Articles

The cleansing action in any cleanser comes from the compounds called "surfactants". They are molecules with two different ends: one end loves oil, and the other one loves water. Because of this property, these molecules get attracted to oil on one side, and also pull towards water on the other - and this is how you remove dirt and oil from your skin when you use a cleanser, and then rinse it off with water. A physical action of whipping the surfactants off together with a bit of water present in the product achieves the same effect - this is how micellar waters work (we still recommend to rinse micellar water off with water to make sure no surfactants remain on the skin to reduce the risk of irritation).

Not all surfactants produce foam. The ability of a surfactant to produce foam has nothing to do with its cleansing abilities (as in your skin can get perfectly clean without any foam whatsoever). It is just so happened that the first surfactant that was readily available for skin cleansing (soap) creates foam, and this is how we've learned to associate foam with cleanliness.

Cleansing is always a stress for our skin. As we remove the dirt, sunscreen, sweat or sebum, we also inevitably remove some of the skin's protective lipid layer and interfere with the surface's pH. Even contact with a plain water has some of this effect and can lead to irritation of the most sensitive skin.

The more cleansing steps you take, the higher the risk you'll disrupt your skin's barrier. So think twice before falling for the double-cleanse hype.

I love a good spongebob meme

Reading a skincare label can be terrifying - lots of symbols and ingredient names that seem like a foreign language. But it doesn’t have to be that way! 🚫Understanding the basics of a label can be empowering when choosing/buying a product🤩

Note: In the EU, if a product contains one of the 26 allergens official allergens, it needs to be listed on the product explicitly. You can find it with an Asterix (*) or in italic. There are also differences in labelling between the EU and the US which we can explore in another post!🌍

UVA rays are a type of light emitted from the sun. UVA rays are known to cause premature skin aging with wrinkles, elasticity loss, and age spots. They can also trigger hyperpigmentation (for example, post-acne marks and melasma). UVA rays are responsible for the natural tanning of our skin (this is why the so called "healthy tan" always comes together with skin damage). UVA rays contribute to development of skin cancers.

UVA rays are defined based on the length of their wave. UVA light has the wavelength between 320 and 400 nanometers. Not all UVA sunscreen filters can cover this range in full, and this is why it is useful to split the UVA spectrum further into the UVA I (the longest UVA waves with the length of 340 to 400 nanometers) and UVA II (shorter UVA waves with the length of 320 to 340 nanometers). Most of the UV radiation we are exposed to falls within the UVA I range (long rays). At the same time, protection against the UVA I rays (the longer ones) is the most tricky to achieve. Because of that, in skincare, a sunscreen filter is defined as a UVA one in most cases only if it is able to protect against the long UVA waves (UVA I).

UVB rays are a type of light emitted from the sun. UVB rays are known to cause sunburn, skin cancer, and accelerate skin aging. UVB rays are defined based on the length of their wave. UVB light has the wavelength between 290 and 320 nanometers.

UVB waves are shorter than the UVA ones. This is why they cannot penetrate human skin as deep as the UVA light can. At the same time, UVB light has more energy in it, meaning that it can cause a more direct damage to the skin cells (and their DNA more specifically).

Sun radiates different types of light. Some of it falls into the so called ultraviolet range (UV light). When you hear terms "sun protection" and "sunscreen", what is usually meant is protection from the UV light.

The effect of light on the skin depends on the length of its wave. The shorter the wave, the more energy it has, but also, the more "shallow" it is in terms of how deep it can penetrate into our skin. The longer the wave, the less powerful it is in terms of energy, but the deeper it can penetrate into the skin.

I discovered this brand - London Grant (handcrafted in Atlanta) - looking specifically for indie brands founded by people of color. I'm so grateful I've discovered it - beyond a great story, I just love the way they approach skincare and formulations.

In a nutshell, it's the best of the two worlds that rarely meet in skincare today: natural + fragrance free. And I personally as a skincare minimalist dig the name of their product line: The Minimalist Collection ❤️.

Hello! Let me introduce myself: I’m Chloé and I work with What’s In my Jar 👋🏼I am about to graduate with a degree in Biomedical Sciences, but my focus was Neuroscience, so I never particularly focused on skincare (until I got so obsessed with it that I decided to do my thesis on the microbiome and skin ageing this year🔬)

Like many of you, I have an acne journey. It started 3 years ago out of nowhere when I started university. I didn’t know why my skin was acting up and I didn’t know who to turn to because I thought my condition wasn’t severe enough to see a doctor. I had a preconception that acne was only related to poor hygiene which led me to over-exfoliate, pick at my skin, grow increasingly paranoid about each new blackhead or pimple, and be very hard on myself. It took me 2 years to go see a dermatologist...when my confidence was at an all time low. And it took me an extra year to finally feel equipped to take care of my acne on my own - phew, took a while!