Victoria Fu - Skincare Decoded: The Practical Guide to Beautiful Skin

SKINCARE

DECODED

The Practical Guide to Beautiful Skin

The Practical Guide to Beautiful Skin

VICTORIA FU & GLORIA LU

Skincare Chemists & Creators of the Myth-Busting Blog

To the lost souls trying to figure out your skincare routine -

Read this book however you like, front to back, back to front, or a section at a time. We hope it helps you make some sense of the skincare world.

Enjoy!

The two of us met at LOreal, where we worked as skincare-formulation chemists. We quickly became friends because we share the same (terrible) sense of humor and the same frustrations with the industry. Thinking back, our whole crazy startup journey probably began as a little vent session powwow in one of our cubicles.

We both felt like the beauty industry is just inundated with useless crap that gives consumers no way of navigating an overcrowded and overmarketed product landscape. Moreover, the chemists voice (ya know... the people who actually put the formulas together?) was completely absent. Ultimately, we ended up leaving our comfortable corporate jobs, convinced that wed probably leave the beauty industry entirely and move on to bigger and better things. During our time off, we created the Chemist Confessions Instagram account in late 2017 as a last hurrah to the industry. We wanted to share our insider knowledge in hopes that it would help someone find their next skincare product a little more easily. Honestly, we thought itd die into the abyss.

When the account, against all odds, started gaining traction, we made a quick and perhaps foolhardy decision to jump headfirst into the startup world. Nowadays, we juggle the brand, the blog, the edu-Insta, and the podcastall fueled by the belief that skin science should be fun, approachable, and practical.

All in all, people say startup life is full of surprises. But this book was not even within the realm of what we could fathom creating. We used to joke that we pitied the poor future intern who would eventually have to catalog and organize our incredibly whimsical collection of Insta and blog posts. Jokes on us! This book was born from many nights of rereading all our old posts, researching, cringing at our evolving writing style, rewriting, drawing new sketches, brainstorming better ways to present difficult skin-science concepts, and just generally questioning our life choices. Oh, and alcohol. Lots of alcohol. Sorry, parents!

So, whether youve been a part of the Chemist Confessions journey all along, or are just discovering us through this book, we hope this book can help guide you on your next skincare purchase with a few laughs along the way. And as always, if you have any questions, write to us!

Your friendly neighborhood chemists,

Gloria & Victoria

Get in touch with us at

Theres no denying itthe skincare industry is a hot, hot mess! Toners, serums, essences... ampoules, creams, gel creams... lotions, maskswhat does it all really mean?! And how do I even begin shopping for what I really need?! We feel you, so lets dissect these questions piece by piece. But before diving into products, lets cover all the fundamentals. With a good understanding of how your skin works, different skin types, and an intro to the skincare-products landscape, youll at least feel more comfortable with these overwhelming options. Welcome to Skincare 101!

Why, yes! A skincare book does always start with a diagram of the layers of your skin. Heres another one, except were only highlighting the components that youll encounter in important skincare-science concepts and common marketing lingo. Feel free to refer to this when you cant figure out what exactly that newly launched product is referring to.

Your skin is like an onion

Now that weve established some basics, lets zoom in on the epidermis, as thats where most skincare products go to work.

Lipid Matrix In a nutshell, this barrier keeps the bad guys (pollutants, pathogens) out and the good guys (water!) in. This is why you hear all that talk about barrier functionsit helps prevent water from evaporating out of the skin, causing dry skin. More technically, the integrity of this matrix is important to overall skin health, as its the reason the skin surface is mainly hydrophobic. Consists mostly of ceramides, fatty acids, and cholesterol.

Hyaluronic Acid This popular skincare ingredient is actually naturally found in your skin in both the epidermis and dermis as a structural support and water grabber.

Acid Mantle & Microbiome Your SC has a slightly acidic pH that acts as a great defense system. Fun fact! The pH of your skin affects the little microbes living on its surface. There are theories out there that tie elevated skin pH to irritation and even acne.