Spring Cleaning Tips for Clients: 5 Skin Care Swaps

From cleansers to concentrates, there seems to be a new skin care ‘must-have’ launched every week. Clients can feel overwhelmed and end up with bathroom drawers full of fad products they don’t really need.

Discerning which skin products are actually beneficial can be confusing, but read this quick guide of skin care swaps your clients should make to declutter their routine and actually see results.

1. Toss: Pore Strips

Large and congested pores are a common problem because they often worsen with age regardless of skin type. Many turn to pore strips and blackhead strips to “remove impurities” from their pores, but these little adhesive strips can be severely damaging and don’t actually shrink pores. Point blank: pore strips are a visual gimmick that “strips” the skin and doesn’t deliver any real benefits.

Pore strips rip off surface skin cells, necessary natural oils, and superficial debris. Even if it may look effective at first, they don’t remove what is deep inside pores – and that can actually lead to future blackheads. Plus, they irritate pores and leave them vulnerable to appearing even more stretched out. They also damage skin by harshly stripping it, leaving it flaky, red and inflamed. It’s important to warn clients that pore strips can even cause spider veins and broken capillaries as well.

Have you seen those trendy blackhead removing masks on social media? Those have the same negative effects – educate your clients and urge them to avoid using these fad masks if they want clear, healthy skin.

Ditch the blackhead masks and pore strips ASAP and switch to a pro formula.

Keep: A Professional All-in-One Serum

If clients truly want to minimize the appearance of pores, instead of ripping off the top layer of their skin, they should coax problem pores into shape with effective professional skin care.

One of the most beloved anti-aging serums, Age Activist Clinical Youth Serum, uses microencapsulated retinol to refine texture and pores. This, along with the other gold-standard ingredients found in this all-in-one youth serum provide long term benefits by healing and strengthening the skin. The fermented pumpkin enzyme is also a superstar ingredient when it comes to diminishing the appearance of large pores long term.

This is one of the best skin care swaps you can urge your clients to make.

2. Toss: Sheet Masks

Take one look at any celebrity Instagram account and you’ll probably see a sheet mask. They’re the latest skin care trend, but are they as effective as the professional grade formulas used by estheticians in the treatment room?

We’re sorry to say that the current sheet masks on the market just aren’t as effective as tried and true pro formulas.

Depending on the brand, sheet masks can have some benefits (like hydration), but even the best sheet mask can’t replace professional masks. Most sheet masks are a “one-trick” product that can’t give you additional benefits, like clay, cream, and other types of masks can.

Sheet masks are trendy because they are fun and different, but they shouldn’t replace professional skin care formulas and methods. They have potential to become better, but for now stick with what’s proven to work.

Keep: Professional Masks

Professional masks, on the other hand, contain high quality ingredients that work together to benefit the skin. They also come in different forms (clay, cream, etc) and can tackle more skin concerns than sheet masks do, like problem pores, acne, and oily skin, which are often left out of the sheet mask category.

Do your clients balk at the price of professional masks? It might not initially seem like it, but professional masks are more cost effective long term. Clients feel like they are saving money when they buy sheet masks, but since you can only use a sheet mask once, they actually end up being more expensive in the long run.

A cream, clay, or other professional mask can last many months, as these formulas are so concentrated, and the ingredients are so active that only a small chickpea size of product is needed. When you break down the cost per each mask session, professional masks are almost always more cost effective.

Plus clients can multi-task and multi-mask when they opt for pro formulas, unlike sheet masks that cover the entire face and tend to slip off if a client is moving around and multi-tasking.

At the end of the day, highly trained and licensed estheticians don’t use mass market sheet masks because there are professional products that will tackle their clients’ concerns more effectively.

3. Toss: Makeup Wipes

Makeup removing wipes may seem like an easy skin care shortcut, but they have some nasty side effects for skin. For starters, they don’t remove all the makeup, dirt and debris that accumulate on skin throughout the day. When you drag the wipe over the skin, the makeup is driven right back into the pores, especially if it’s not being rinsed off.

Skin may look clean after using wipes, but the leftover makeup, dirt, and debris creates the perfect breeding ground for irritation and breakouts.

Furthermore, using makeup wipes can actually cause wrinkles! Repetitive motions, like rubbing and scrubbing a makeup wipe on skin, can reinforce already existing lines and set the stage for future wrinkles, lines, and sagging.

Keep: A Professional Makeup Remover

Use a high quality, professional formula, like Bioelements Makeup Dissolver Perfected, to remove all traces of makeup and grime without any of the negative effects of makeup removing wipes.

Cleansing is the first step to great skin, and it shouldn’t be cut short. In fact, it takes the same short amount of time – seconds really, to use an effective makeup remover. Don’t cheat the skin with a makeup wipe.

However, a makeup remover shouldn’t be the only step in a nightly routine. At the bare minimum, it should always be followed with a professional cleanser, toner and moisturizer before hitting the hay. 

4. Toss Oil Blotting Sheets

If a client suffers from oily skin, it can be tempting for them to buy any product that claims to control oil. However, while oil blotting sheets may seem like an effective fix, they can actually damage skin and cause more problems than they are worth.

The truth is a little oil is actually a necessity when it comes to having healthy skin. Oil blotting papers will strip the skin of all oils – even the necessary oil. This sudden lack of oil will actually prompt skin to increase oil production to compensate for what is missing.

Skin secretes sebum (oil), which combines with the water produced by sweat glands (or provided by moisturizers) to create an emulsion called a hydrolipidic barrier. This thin film stays on skin to keep it supple, healthy, protected and balanced.

Not only can blotting paper cause oil production to spike, but oil blotting sheets can also cause acne. While some of the oil is absorbed into the paper, it pushes the rest of the dirt, grime, makeup and the excess oil it didn’t absorb back down into pores.

That creates an oxygen-free environment deep down in pores that P. acnes bacteria thrive in, creating breakouts, blackheads, bumps and overall skin congestion.

Keep: A Skin Friendly Oil Blotting Cream

The difference between oil blotting cremes and paper is that a professional blotting creme is formulated to control oil all day without stripping the skin. Oil Control Mattifier is a feather-light formula with Chinese peony, saw palmetto, sesame seed and thyme that works from the inside out for total oil control. It soaks up excess shine on the surface while targeting oily sebum deep in skin’s follicles.

Clients can apply it in the morning to create a perfect matte complexion, and can even apply Oil Control Mattifier throughout the day right over makeup to blot any breakthrough shine.

5. Toss Harsh Scrubs

For happy and healthy skin, make sure your clients use an exfoliator that won’t do more harm than good.

Even products that claim they have natural exfoliating ingredients, like nut shells, can wreak absolute havoc on your skin. These shells can have jagged, sharp edges that may make your skin feel temporarily softer, but they actually create tiny tears and cuts all over that can lead to irritation, redness and premature aging.

Confused on which scrub to recommend? Look on your skin care labels for these gentle, but powerful exfoliating ingredients.

Keep: Professional Exfoliators

Exfoliation should be an essential part of everyone’s skin care agenda, regardless of skin type, but the key is to exfoliate correctly. Professional exfoliators use high quality ingredients that do away with dullness and congestion – without harming skin in the process.

Sensitive or sensitized skin: Measured Micrograins + is specifically designed for all types, including sensitive and unpredictable skin. Instead of harsh exfoliating agents, this advanced formula uses natural, spherical jojoba beads to gently buff away dead and dulling skin cells.

More resistive skin: Pumice Peel provides a manual microdermabrasion that buffs away dullness, fine lines and problem pores with ultra-fine, spherical pumice crystals. This physical scrub is ideal for those who do not have sensitive skin and want stronger physical exfoliation.

If a client can’t handle physical scrubs, opt for Skin Editor. This imperfection-editing leave on AHA peel creme uses lactic and glycolic acids along with natural buffering ingredient, Canadian willowherb, to edit skin to perfection.

You can learn more about the entire Bioelements professional skin care line at www.Bioelements.com/pros, and don't forget to check out the Bioelements brand page inside Sola Pro!