While new skin care trends typically veer toward clients adding something new into their routine, the latest one is doing the exact opposite. Skin fasting is one of the latest trends to come into the beauty seen, recommending that people take a break from their skin care routines to "detox" their skin. This new trend can be credited to the Japan-based skin care company Mirai Clinical, who first suggested skin fasting after many Japanese studies showed that this detoxification process can help rid the skin of impurities.1
Backed by Science?
Mirai clinical explains how the skin is a breathing organ and suggests that some ingredients in skin care products can disrupt the skin's ability to breathe.1 The trend is designed to strengthen the skin's natural protective barrier that can be weakened by excessive cleansing or nourishing that can happen in many skin care routines.2
“The Japanese have studied the skin’s regeneration on a monthly basis and have proven that ‘skin fasting’ improves your skin’s condition and detoxify skin impurities,” says Koko Hayashi, Creator of Mirai Clinical Body Care. “Dry skin is dry on the skin’s surface. The moisture inside the skin becomes dehydrated because there’s not enough protection [natural oils] to keep the moisture inside. With too much added artificial moisturizer [cosmetics], the skin ceases to produce its own natural oils. This leads to even drier skin,” Hayashi continued.2
How to Properly Skin Fast
Mirai Clinical continues to explain how to properly execute this trend by explaining how you should gently wash your face at night and in the morning with lukewarm water. This helps to keep the oils on the skin, which essentially is the entire point. They recommend drinking lots and lots of water to restore hydration to the skin because it is no longer receiving that nourishment from a moisturizer. Further, they recommend that once a week, twice at the absolute most, you go to bed without any skin care products.2
A few other tips to properly skin fast include making sure the rooms in your house have a proper humidity level to avoid over drying the skin. Mirai Clinical does not recommend this trend for people who have atopic skin, a serious skin condition or have recently had a chemical peel or face treatment.2
The Misinformation
While the trend itself is something to be wary off, the misinformation that is being spread about this trend is a big problem. Some people have been fasting from using any form of skin care for an entire week, only using lukewarm water to rinse their face off in the morning and evening, while other have simply cut down what they are using in their skin care routine to a cleanser and moisturizer altogether.
It is important that you remain the skin expert with your clients and recommend what you believe is best for their skin to them. If they are determined to try out this trend, educate them on make sure they understand that under no circumstances should they actually be avoiding using any form of skin care for an entire week.
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