Performing a thorough skin analysis is one of the most important steps in your practice, whether you are working with an old or new client. Simply glancing at their face is not enough to gain the insights needed to create an accurate profile for long-term skin correction. The old paradigms of normal-dry, combination, and sensitive skin types are no longer adequate when it comes to understanding the leading causes of these conditions and their effects on cells and systems. A more insightful, comprehensive profile is necessary to determine the best course of action for treatment and product choice. Your ultimate goal is to help bring your clients’ skin health into a more balanced state.
Performing a thorough skin analysis with a client, whether they are a new or an old client, is one of the most important steps in your practice. A brief look at their face cannot provide enough information to establish a comprehensive profile and a more accurate pathway for long-term skin correction. Old paradigms no longer work when establishing the leading causes of skin conditions and their effects on cells and systems. Statements such as “normal-dry”, “combination”, and “sensitive” are understatements. Treatment and product choices are based on this analysis service, and your goal is to bring your client’s skin health into a more balanced state.
Start with a thorough health evaluation that includes age, skin type, nutrition, lifestyle, medications, genetic history, and predispositions (such as intrinsic characteristics like eczema and allergic contact dermatitis and potential conditions), as well as extrinsic characteristics due to the client’s daily activities and lifestyle.
Secondly, ascertain the levels of damage. This becomes more apparent through careful examination of information obtained from the visual, the written, and your diagnostic tools. There are three levels of damage that you can identify:
– Level 1: Oxidative Stress and Lipid Peroxidation, which initiates its damage within the cells environs and membrane.
– Level 2: Mitochondria DNA damage. Destruction has cascaded to the membrane of the mitochondria.
– Level 3: Mitochondria aging along with cellular senescence is a final result that affects the entire cell.
Lastly, invest in diagnostic tools, such as a skin scanner, and another electronic aid. Newer electronic devices can measure key indicators of the true health of the skin, such as:
– Lipid Levels: Skin lipids contribute to the first three lines of the skin barrier defense when determining the nutritional needs of the skin.
– Epidermal Hydration: Measures the free water available in the dermal reservoir that is an indicator of the enzymatic action necessary for maintaining the barrier function.
– Melanin Density: Reveals the melanin density down to the dermal junction. It is an indicator of the rate that melanogenesis occurs and potential hidden risk factors.
– Erythema: This measures the level of vascularity and density of the microcirculation system within the dermis. Vascular matting (telangiectasia) is an indicator that there are issues with the breakdown of dermal structures such as at the dermal/epidermal junction as well as in the collagen matrix.
Investing time in this service shows that you are a serious skin care professional who understands the science of the skin, the association between skin structure, function, and the leading causes of skin conditions. Moreover, you understand the cascade effect of structural breakdown within the skin, such as what occurs in a poor acid mantle, the bilayers within the stratum corneum, damaged melanocytes, the flattening of the rete pegs at the epidermal/dermal junction, and in the collagen matrix. One very important consideration is that you decrease your liability by avoiding potential mistakes.