Ok so now a year has gone by and there seems to be one common denominator within the questions asked by our customers and that is ..."what can I use for my sensitive skin?"
The truth in the answer comes from 26 years of making cosmetics and having both a skin care clinic and a soap store and that is............"we're ALL sensitive..its just how we deal with it both emotionally and physically"
Sounds pretty abstract but in the simple vein of the answer it is true that we all have issues whether mild or extreme at one part or time of our life.
Some people have legitimate concerns with regard to actual problems like eczema or environmental stressors that are hard on our largest organ.
Some people are simply whiners who like the whole world think they are so special that even the mildest product will create havoc with their skin, life, mental state. Its a wee bit tiring as its those people who can't smell a lovely lemon verbena soap but I find them smoking five minutes later.
.....aaaaaaand there is a whole slew of people somewhere in the middle.
In actuality the less we do for for our skin, the better. It has become increasingly clear to me that, the skin, if given the opportunity to balance itself out, will do so.
This is not to say that anyone with a legitimate skin condition ignore advice of a trained professional but I always ask and listen to people when they say they have an issue and what they are using to try to alleviate that condition.
As Oprah would say..."what I know to be true is"........often people are "bandaiding" a problem rather than getting to the root of what is ailing them.
A great example is a busy hair cutter/stylist comes into the store from last January to just yesterday and complains bitterly that his hands are dry and cracked, raw and bleeding. This guys hands looked terrible and he had tried everything to great distress and financial strain. The first day I saw him I mentioned that using commercial shampoo on his customers hands, especially a super foamy, traditionally made salon formula (which is super stripping as it has to get all the gunk that people have on their heads so color and perms take well) will simply be the problem.
Sooooooo five months later hes back after trying everything and more and he is back from vacation......two weeks of vacation..........where he was not using any shampoo in the salon..........and simply allowing his hands to heal............and he sheepishly asked for our new body mousse cream.
"hows yer hands? I asked.
"Great!...seems Mexico and the rest did wonders" he nods.
"......and no shampooing clients maybe?" through a wincing smile I offered.
The light came on.
"Use gloves at work!!...duh!!" I laughed.
"oh yeh...duh.....!"
"and use your Moisture Mousse sparingly.....its a great formula....is that on your visa?"
Another case is a wee girl (well she was 16 or so....wee to me) says to me that her skin has been bad since she was 12 and the only time it gets better is in the summer.
We figured out that there was no case for a CSI investigation after more chatting but more to it that she is a swimmer in the summertime....outside....at a lake...where she wore no cover up make up (an evil material) and it was the combination of sun, exfoliation, letting herself sweat, and lack of the make up particles that let her skin balance and normalize itself to its own best ability.
The list goes on with dozens of cases but getting back to the "sensitive" factor I know for a fact that most people are less sensitive than they think and more stressing on their bodies so that it cant take the BS we put it through.
