I noticed that no matter what I put on my skin, certain things came back. When I was a teen, I would get pimples that only went away with time. No matter the routine, I always get that one pimple trying to come up along my upper lip the week before my period. Breakouts in the same spot. Dullness that serums can’t fix. Inflammation that never goes away. Those are all things to keep an eye out. It’s not 100% that it’s your gut, but it is absolutely worth looking into.

As an esthetician, I’ve seen the connection between the gut and skin first hand. Clients who cut out a certain food, like dairy or gluten, and see acne and inflammation go away. Clients who have perfect skin but start breaking out after getting sick and needing to take antibiotics, or the opposite. I once saw a client who one month, had a major breakout along the cheeks. The month she came in, her skin was clear. The only change: she went antibiotics after catching something on a work trip.

This issue, we’ll go into the science behind why your gut and your skin are deeply intertwined. What does it look like when that connection is out of balance? What can you actually do about it? Just as a reminder, I’m an esthetician, so this content is educational. This is not medical advice. If you’re dealing with a serious gut or skin condition, work with a doctor.

What Is the Gut Skin Connection?

Your gut is home to trillions of microorganisms. This includes bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Some of these microorganisms play an active role in your digestion, immune system, hormone regulation, and inflammation response. When something in your microbiome is out of wack, whether it’s stress, diet, medications, or illness, things starts to go haywire.

So why does your gut show up on your skin through acne, inflammation, dullness, and more? I like to think of it as communication. Your gut and skin talk to each other through your immune, nervous, and endocrine systems. When your gut is inflamed, your skin gets the message. You can think of it like this: The gut is the foundation of the house and skin are the walls. You can repaint the walls, but if there are cracks in the foundation, the problem will keep coming back no matter how many layers of paint you add.

What Happens When the Connection Is Out of Balance?

We’re going to cover some of the most likely ways you’ll see your gut impact your skin.

Acne: An imbalance in your gut bacteria is strongly linked with inflammatory acne. Excess inflammation in the gut can cause an overproduction in sebum or immune response. Studies have found a higher rate of gut issues in people with acne in comparison to those without.

Eczema & Rosacea: Both of these are inflammatory skin conditions with documented links to gut health. People with rosacea tend to have higher rates of small intestine bacterial overgrowth. Eczema has a strong connection with gut microbiome imbalances, especially in younger ages.

Dullness: If your gut isn’t absorbing nutrients properly, your skin is one of the first places you’ll notice it. Vitamins A, C, E and zinc are all critical for your skin’s health.

Premature Aging: Chronic inflammation in the gut can accelerate oxidative stress. This breaks down collagen and elastin faster than normal. You can use the best anti-aging products on the market, but if you’re not dealing with gut inflammation, then your skin is only going to age faster.

Do Certain Foods Harm Your Skin?

First thing is first, I’m not here to scare you from never eating a certain food. What might not bode well for one person’s gut isn’t the same for another’s. Personally, there’s nothing I haven’t removed completely from my diet, I just eat things in moderation. We’ll call these foods that you might want to take a second look at if you’re experiencing a gut/skin issue.

Sugar: Sugar triggers a process called glycation. It has the ability to attach to proteins like collagen and elastin, causing them to stiffen and become less functional, over time breaking down structural integrity of the skin. This process can lead to premature wrinkles, sagging, and overall dullness. Sugar can also spike insulin, which can cause inflammation and increased oil if your body has a hard time producing insulin.

Dairy: Research on diary and acne is very nuanced but tends to tell a consistent story. Some types of dairy can contain hormones and growth factors that stimulate oil production and trigger inflammation. Not everyone reacts to dairy the same way. If you happen to consume a lot of dairy and break out consistently after, it’s worth trying to reduce your intake for 1-2 weeks and see if there is any change.

Ultra-Processed Foods: These foods tend to be high in refined carbs, seed oils, additives, and artificial ingredients, which all contribute to inflammation.

Alcohol: Alcohol is dehydrating, inflammatory, and disruptive to your gut microbiome. It can deplete Vitamin B and zinc. Both of those are essential for your skin’s health. It’s not a coincidence if your wake up the morning after drinking feeling dull, puffy, and congested.

Gluten: This is another nuanced one. For some people with gluten intolerances or who have celiac disease, gluten can cause inflammation throughout the body, including in the form of rashes, eczema, or persistent acne.

At the end of the day, the key isn’t to remove all of these foods willy-nilly. Diversify your diet. Eat in moderation. Change your diet based on what your body needs.

Foods That Help Your Skin

Now that we’ve covered the bad, we’re going to talk about foods that help your skin.

Antioxidant Rich Fruits & Veggies: Antioxidants neutralize free radicals (which are unstable molecules that damage your skin cells and can cause premature aging). Some of these foods include leafy greens, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and tomatoes. They’re all full of vitamins C and E.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: These are anti-inflammatory foods that help support your skin barrier by helping maintain the lipid layer that keeps moisture in. Think salmon, sardines, and mackerel. If you don’t eat fish, flaxseeds, chia seeds, and walnuts are also good sources.

Probiotic & Prebiotic Rich: Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that help maintain a healthy diverse microbiome. Fermented foods like yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, and miso are all amazing sources. Just remember to eat in moderation since too many at once cause some digestive discomfort. Prebiotics are fiber that feds the good gut bacteria. Garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, bananas, oats, and legumes are all good sources and a diet rich in these will help promote a healthy gut.

Collagen Supporters: Your body makes collagen on its own, but it uses building blocks to do so. Vitamin C and amino acids from protein rich foods support collagen production in the body. I’m sure you’ve seen bone broth and collagen supplements yo add to water or smoothies. Both can be affective in increase collagen in your body.

Water: Yes, this one may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised by how much water your body actually needs. Even the smallest amount of dehydration will show on your face in the form of dark underlies, tightness, dullness, and an increase in fine lines.

What’s The Deal With Supplements

Before we dive into this, it’s important to remember that supplements are not a replacement for a whole food diet and they are not all made equal. Supplements have no FDA clearance. Always check with your physician before starting any, especially if you’re on any medications.

Some common supplements people take for skincare related issues include probiotics, collagen, peptides, omega-3’s, and zinc. I’ve even heard of clients taking prenatal vitamins, not for trying to conceive or when pregnant, but for their skin. I’m not recommending trying any. We’re just here to discuss what they potentially help with.

Probiotics: These supplements help rebuild and maintain a healthy gut. They can be especially beneficial after a course of antibiotics or a period of poor diet. I’ve taken these before, but prefer to add into my diet rather than add supplements.

Collagen: Collagen helps our skin’s elasticity, hydration, and the appearance of fine lines. We naturally produce collagen in our body, but it does decrease as we age.

Peptides: This one overlaps with collagen since its amino acid chains that are the building blocks for collagen in our body. If you’re on TikTok, I’m sure you’ve seen people using peptides for weight, hair, skin, and so many other things. The research is varied on what peptides can do for us in different forms.

Omega-3: This is great for inflammation (which can see many ways on our skin) and also for other health reasons. I like being transparent so I do take Omega-3 fish oil supplements, which I consulted with a physician prior to taking.

Zinc: This is another anti-inflammatory, plus it is antibacterial and essential for healing skin. There’s some evidence it helps with acne. I use it topically for inflammation and started adding some seeds high in zinc to my diet.

At the end of the day, your skincare routine matters, but what you put inside your body is just as important. Your skin is a reflection of everything happening inside your body. When your gut is well fed, you’re eating the rainbow, and reducing inflammation, you’re giving your body the raw material it needs to do its job on the inside and out. Remember, the key is consistency. Start small habits and build slowly. Try not to overwhelm yourself with too many things at once, especially if you have trouble being consistent.

Next issue, we’re going somewhere a lot of clients ask about - how birth control can affect your skin.

We are gonna take our skincare and beauty into our own hands and the first step is learning how to make head from tails from the ingredient labels.

How Labels Actually Work

Off the bat, ingredient labels are ordered from the highest to the lowest concentrations. The first five ingredients are doing the most work. The ingredients towards the bottom matter a little less, but still count. Sometimes those ingredients are there to stabilize the product. Some might impact our skin more than others, which is why it’s important to still check them out. When I pick out a product, this is my process:

1. Check for any ingredients I’m allergic to. This is my baseline for picking products. I’m allergic to snail mucin, so if I see that, I’m out. The main allergies I see from clients that impact skincare are nuts, fruit, and milk. These three ingredients can be found in lots of acids.

2. Search it up on EWG’s Healthy Living app. This isn’t for everyone, and there is no judgement if this isn’t for you. I’ve become more conscious of what I put in and on my body over the past few years, and once you start learning about how some ingredients can enter your bloodstream and possible effects, it’s hard to unknow. You might go down a rabbit hole like I did. I pay most attention to the health concern tabs for a product on EWG, specifically their information on developmental and reproductive toxicity and cancer risks. That being said, I’m not here to fear monger. I’m here to make sure every choice is an informed choice.

3. Figure out if an ingredient is doing something for my skin. Like I mentioned before, not every ingredient is there for your skin. Some of them are there to stabilize, preserve, or add to the texture of the product. I tend to look for products with less ingredients. The less ingredients = the less opportunity for irritation.

4. Check whether it’s oil-based, water-based or something else. I want to make sure the product is going to work will with my routine. Layering products gets tricky if you’re working with different bases. I learned that the hard way when my moisturizer started peeling off after I applied I added an oil to my routine before it. (Spoiler, it was a water-based moisturizer.)

We’re gonna start off simple by covering the ingredients I think are worth knowing. These are going to be ceramides, peptides, and zinc.

Ceramides: These lipids naturally exist in our skin. If our barrier is irritated, ceramides can help repair it. If you read the last issue, you know how important our barrier is.

Peptides: These amino acids are amazing for helping our skin boost our collagen, which is helps with fine lines, wrinkles, and plumps our skin. They’re gentle, and a clean option for slowly building up our skin’s strength and elasticity.

Zinc: This is an antibacterial ingredient that helps our skin control oil production and calm irritation. Zinc’s common forms are Zinc PCA and Zinc oxide (which you’ve probably seen in mineral sunscreen, which I love, but that’s a topic for another day). You’ll find Zinc PCA in serums and moisturizers to help with oily or acne prone skin.

Now, we’re switching to the opposite end of the spectrum, the ingredients I avoid. Some of these ingredients are probably in your favorite products, I know I’ve found some in mine when I started looking.

Parfum & Fragrance: This is typically listed as one word, even if there’s multiple fragrances in a product. Legally, a brand only has to say “fragrance” or “parfum” in the US, and that’s it. Just one word to cover possibly hundreds of undisclosed ingredients. The bad part, fragrance is the most common cause of allergic reactions and contact dermatitis. There also tends to be the most phthalates in fragrances, it we’re going to talk about those soon. For those with sensitive and reactive skin, this is one ingredient you’re going to want to skip out on. In case you thought products that are “unscented” are safe, they’re not. All unscented means is that you won’t smell anything. There might be fragrance neutralizers in these products.

Parabens: These are synthetic preservatives that help extend the product’s shelf life. They’re great for preventing mold and bacteria, but they can also be endocrine disruptors. When I started my deep dive on what I’m putting in and on my body, identifying endocrine disruptors have been incredibly important. Endocrine disruptors mimic estrogen and interfere with our hormonal system. There continues to be research on this, but it’s reasonable to keep this in mind, especially since many products enter our bloodstream and we’re applying products on our skin daily, even more than once a day. Since parabens are in so many products, I’m still using products with them in them, but I’m slowly faxing them out of my routine and replacing them with cleaner products.

Side note, parabens may be called methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben on a label (and there’s so many more too!).

Sulfates: There are two main sulfates, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES). These are surfactants that create a satisfying lather in cleansers, shampoos, and body washes. The issue is that they’re also extremely effective at stripping our skins natural lipids and the oil that protects our barrier. If your cleanser leaves you feeling squeaky clean and tight, that’s your barrier telling you something is wrong. Sulfates can increase sensitivity and trigger dryness over time.

Phthalates: This group of chemicals help make a product flexible and help fragrances last longer. The tricky part of this is that phthalates can be hidden behind the term “fragrance” on a label. Similar to parabens, this is an endocrine disruptor.

Alcohol: It’s good to remember that alcohols are not all made equally. Fatty alcohols’ like cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol, aren’t that bad for the skin. They’re naturally sourced, usually from coconut and palm oil. They’re emollients and thickeners to moisturize and soften skin. The alcohols to avoid are alcohol, ethanol, alcohol denat, or SD alcohol. These can be drying and irritating, especially in higher concentrations. In low concentrations, they help a product absorb faster. My easy rule is if alcohol appears in the top five ingredients, then it’s a pass.

Formaldehyde Releasers: This one can catch people off guard cause you’re not going to see the word “formaldehyde” on a label. You’re going to see preservatives that slowly release formaldehyde. The issue is that formaldehyde is a known carcinogen, meaning they can cause cancer. Look for DMDM hydantoin, Imidazolidibyl urea, Diazolidinyl urea, Quaternium-15, Sodium hydroxymethylglycinate, and Bronopol. These tend to show up in shampoos, conditioners, and body lotions. This is actually why I love the EWG Sin Deep database, because they’re great at flagging these.

The Problem with Greenwashing

Sadly, there is no legal definition of “natural” or “clean” when it comes to beauty products. If you think you’re safe shopping exclusively from Sephora’s clean shop, you’re not. When I was doing product research, I learned that these terms are just marketing terms. Brands know they can lead consumers astray with marketing language. They’re hoping you don’t know there is no institution checking what they’re putting in a product to call it clean, natural or even organic. So how do you know the truth? This takes time. I like to read up on a company. Sometimes they’ll have an entire page on their website dedicated to what they’re doing to make a product clean. Are they using naturally sourced ingredients? If it involves a fruit extract, are they getting it from crops that haven’t been treated with pesticides? These are questions I ask myself.

Understanding a label doesn’t have to be hard. You don’t have to memorize every ingredient. There are many tools out there to help you understand what is going on your skin. My go to is the Environmental Working Group. They score products on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being low hazard to 10 being the most. I find their different tabs the most useful, breaking down ingredients by their risks for cancer, developmental and reproductive toxicity, allergens, and immunotoxicity. I like to use this as a starting point.

INCI Decoder is great tool to tell you what an ingredient does. You can search products or just copy and paste the ingredient list. They explain what an ingredient is, its job, and whether it’s an active ingredient for your skin or a filler.

These are a few of my current favorites, and don’t worry, you can shop them all easily through my linktree.

• Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment (Unscented)

• Kosas Dual Action Defining Pencil

• Supergoop CC Screen 100% Mineral CC Cream

• Primally Pure Plumping Mist

Remember, you don’t need to completely overhaul your entire routine overnight. That’s not what this is about. Next time you buy a new product, I want you to understand what’s in the product. I don’t want you to be looking at an ingredient lost over what everything is and what they do. Focus on the first five ingredients, search up the product on a database like EWG, and understand the ingredients mentioned above at a glance. One habit, don’t consistently. This is how you change the way you shop and what you use little by little.

Next issue, we’re taking a dive into what we put in our bodies and how that impacts our skin. We’re talking about the gut and skin connection: how what you eat shows on your face. Whether it’s superfoods or the ones that might lead to breakouts, we’re diving into the connection between food and our skin. See you then!

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Hi, I’m Isabela, a Licensed Esthetician based in Brooklyn, NY, currently working with clients on advanced treatments while finishing up my Certified Clinical Medical Assistant course. For the past couple of years, I’ve been writing about, reviewing, and researching beauty products. I’ve seen the complexities of the skincare industry, from what “clean” really means, to what goes into a brand making their own product. Plus, I’ve got an MFA in Creative Writing, so I know how to explain stuff without confusing and boring you.

The Beauty & Wellness Club is where those worlds are meeting. This is where you’ll find product reviews, ingredient knowledge, and wellness tips that connect to your skin’s health. I’m gonna let you know what works and what doesn’t. Don’t worry, this the newsletter for those just figuring out a routine and for everyone who knows their actives. Either way, there’s going to be something for you.

I’m glad you found your way here. Now, let’s get into one of the most important pieces of skincare: the barrier.

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First thing is first, what’s the skin barrier? We’re starting with the basics. Your skin’s barrier (also known as the stratum corneum) is the most outer layer of your skin. This is layer of skin that’s being exposed to the elements and it’s your first line of defense.

To get technical for a moment, the skin barrier is made up of skin cells held together by lipids (fats); ceramides, fatty acids, and cholesterol. When something happens to the lipids, it affects everything else.

What might be surprising is that the barrier isn’t just about dryness or moisture. The barrel impacts everything, including sensitivity, redness, texture, breakouts, and so much more. It can be a reflection of both how you’re doing on the inside and your environment. Have a cold or has the weather been drastically changing between temperature? Well your barrier will show it.

This is why we’ve gotta talk about the skin barrier before we get into ingredients, skincare tools or what to eat for your skin.

So, what’s a sign of barrier damage?

A damaged skin barrier might not look the way you expect. Yes, it could be dry and flaky, but there can also be constant breakouts, redness, inflammation, and tightness. These things aren’t just happening for no reason. So, why are these things happening? The most culprit can be over exfoliation. This can be when you use too many active ingredients, or use harsh cleansers that strip your skin. But of course, it’s more than that. Everything from stress, the changes in seasons, pollution, and what you eat all impact your skin.

In case you’re wondering how to figure out if your barrier is compromised, it’s not that hard. Does your skin feel tight, dry, or just all around uncomfortable? Do products burn when you apply them? Is your skin red no matter what you do and it never used to be like that? Those are all signs directing you towards barrier damage.

One of the most common misconceptions can be that oily can’t be compromised. It totally can. In fact, a lot of people who have oily skin are more likely to experience barrier issues due to over exfoliating their skin while trying to control the oil production. Sadly, the irony is that when you over exfoliate skin, your skin produces more oil to try to make up for stripping your skin.

It’s important to remember that sensitive skin is not necessarily a damaged barrier. They feel slightly similar, and can both be true. The difference is, sensitive skin is the skin you’re born with (and sometimes can be an affect of aging, medications, life changes), versus a damaged barrier develops over time and can be treated.

How do you repair & maintain your barrier?

A damaged barrier can be fixed. Start by simplifying your routine. You want to minimize the actives in your routine. When I say actives, I’m talking about acids, retinoids, Vitamin C, and more. Also avoid fragrances, alcohol heavy products and physical scrubs to minimize further irritating your barrier. Focus on actives that boost hydration and barrier repair, like ceramides, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and exosomes. Some small simple changes will make a big impact when it comes to a damaged barrier.

Here a few of my favorite barrier supporters:

• Rhode Barrier Butter

• Primally Pure Antioxidant Balm

• Tower 28 SOS Spray

• The Ordinary Exosomes

• Cetaphil Gentle Foaming Wash

Shop them here.

At the end of the day, you can fix your barrier. All it takes is one step a day, whether that’s starting by adding in barrier supporters your routine is missing or removing something that could potentially be irritating it.

Start simple, be consistent, and give your skin a chance to heal. Next issue, we’re taking on clean beauty and how to read a label.