A (0:00)

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B (0:55)

Hello and welcome to ASCP and the Rogue Pharmacist with Benjamin Knight Fuchs. In each episode, we will explore explore how internal and external factors can impact the skin. I am Maggie Stasik, ASDP's program director, and joining me is Ben Fuchs, skincare formulator and pharmacist. Hi, Ben.

C (1:11)

Hello, Maggie.

B (1:12)

Ben. Estheticians are often taught to reach for soothing ingredients whenever skin is reactive. And probably consumers are too. But clinically, that doesn't always lead to better outcomes. Why do calming ingredients sometimes make things worse?

C (1:27)

Well, if you have a baby and your baby's crying and you soothe your baby, what generally can happen after you see the baby, when the baby soothes?

B (1:37)

I don't know. Oh, baby goes to sleep.

C (1:40)

Asleep. Exactly. Do you want your skin to go to sleep? No.

B (1:45)

You don't know.

C (1:46)

You don't want your skin to sleep, you want it moving. You want dynamic. It's a, it's a barrier. It's. You want to revved up.

B (1:52)

That went right over my head.

C (1:53)

Yes. So soothing ingredients. If you use soothing ingredients, you can suppress skin chemistry. In fact, this is one of the big problems with our standard skincare products that we use, the emulsions, the lotions and the creams is they have a suppressant effect on skin chemistry. The classic example is the so called nobody can see me doing this, but I always have to do this when I say this. Moisturizer, Right. How does a moisturizer work? It shuts things down. Now, they're not necessarily soothing, but many of the ingredients in moisturizers are used, are soothing ingredients. They're occlusive. And occlusion is one of the strategies for soothing the skin. And while occlusion can be helpful for things like eczema or when the barrier is disrupted, like you have a burn or some kind of trauma, for the most part you do not want to occlude healthy Skin, and that's one of the strategies that it's used with soothing is occlusion. So, number one, occlusion and soothing can suppress skin chemistry. Number two, another soothing ingredient or soothing class of ingredients are herbal. And while lavender has wonderful soothing properties and St. John's Wort can be soothing, and chamomile can be soothing, and calendula can be soothing, you run the risk of allergenicity and you run the risk of sensitivities because many people are reactive to the terpenes and the phytochemicals that are in these ingredients. So, number one, you run the risk of suppression of skin chemistry. Number two, you run the risk of allergenicity. And number three, when you soothe the skin topically, you're trying to counteract a response that the body wants. When our skin is irritated, it's actually, or you're using something to soothe the skin. Your skin is telling you something. It's telling you that there's something getting into the skin, usually from the bottom up or from the inside out, not from the top down or from the outside in, that's causing an inflammatory response. And so the real answer is, let's figure out what the heck is inflaming the skin. It's kind of like we were talking before, rather than trying to tamp down the inflammation and the irritation from the top down. Now, there are times when soothing can be very helpful, for sure, particularly if you have eczema, for example, and avena, Avena sativa, or oats can have wonderful soothing properties. And oatmeal baths have been used forever for their soothing properties. And those, those are. That can be an important way to address these conditions. But any more than as a temporary solution, you run the risk of, A, not really solving the problem, and the problem continues, but even worse, B, the problem gets worse and becomes systemic as opposed to the skin. So if you have eczema and it's due to toxicity that's getting into the bloodstream, as we talked about many times through a leaky gut, and you don't address it at that level, you could end up with arthritis, autoimmune diseases, ultimately cardiovascular health issues, and a shortened lifespan, because you're ignoring the signal that's being communicated to you through the skin by trying to strictly soothe. So soothing has its place for sure, but you gotta be a little bit careful because it can be counterproductive in the sense that A, it can occlude and suppress skin chemistry. And by the way, skin electricity, skin respiration, this is one of the big problems, as I say, with so called moisturizing products. Number two, if you're using herbal ingredients to soothe those can actually trigger a hypersensitive or immune or allergic response. And number three, if you're trying to take care of a irritation or inflammation that's topical on the skin, without addressing the cause, which oftentimes, not always, but oftentimes is internal, you run the risk of allowing the problem to perpetuate and sometimes get worse and cause other systemic issues that can ultimately shorten your life. So if you have a burn, like a mechanical trauma of some kind, or if you've gone to an esthetician or a dermatologist and had laser peel or a chemical peel, soothing can be beneficial. But the best soothing ingredients, as always, because I'm a nutritional pharmacist, is going to be nutrients. And vitamin C is tremendously soothing. Vitamin E has soothing properties. There's a fatty acid called gla which I don't know if you've heard of, which is a derivative of an essential. It's not an essential fatty acid, but it's a derivative which has wonderful soothing properties. Topical ionic minerals, ionic polyelectrolytes, folic minerals, if you will, those have one. In fact, that's my favorite soothing ingredients. So the best way to soothe the skin, if you want to, number one, not have to deal with occlusion leading to suppression of skin chemistry. Number two, if you don't want to deal with any potential problems with herbal or botanical ingredients stimulating or activating the immune system, the best strategy is going to be nutritional. And vitamin C is a super super superstar anti inflammatory, as is vitamin E and as are ionic plant derived minerals.