There are too many products in the beauty industry, claiming to “detoxify” your skin.
Detoxing is simply removing toxins from your body. Did you know that your liver, colon, and kidneys already do this on their own?
While our skin is the biggest organ in the body, the concept of detoxifying your skin is riddled with fallacy. From a medical perspective, there is no such thing as skin detoxing because toxins can’t exit the body through the skin. As I've talked about in previous blogs, your skin's main function is to provide a barrier against the outside world. The skin is a one-way defense system, ensuring most things are unable to penetrate through and does a superb job of stopping unwanted substances.
Your skin doesn’t contain toxic substances. You ultimately should be more concerned about what you can do to protect your skin barrier from the outside environment. Let your kidneys and liver handle the detoxing, since it’s their job anyway.
Charcoal masques and various other products on the market say they’re detoxing your skin, making claims of "purging" your skin of pore-clogging grime. Although your skin may feel cleaner or smoother afterwards, all it’s done is remove any excess sebum or dirt from the surface of your skin. Your skin may feel nicer from physical exfoliation that has helped slough off any dead skin cells. Does that mean you should stop using these products? No, of course not, especially if you enjoy using them, but do understand that there is no detoxifying happening.
Protect your skin instead: use AHAs a couple times of week, add vitamin C and other antioxidants to your skincare ritual, try a retinoid at night, and above all else, wear an SPF every damn day. 😆