Transcription
Thank you. Foreign, foreign.
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So what are these? Okay, so these things that are being lifted out of the skin are an accumulation of the oil from your oil glands, as well as dirt, debris, and gunk that just accumulates in them. This has been termed the sebaceous filament. You'll find this in like, old literature going back like 50 years ago, they termed it a sebaceous filament. Now, these are all over the place. People don't like having them and they always feel like, "Okay, maybe if I just use a pore strip to take these off, we'll get rid of them." This person really benefited a lot from this pore strip, but you really don't want to get to the point where there's that much buildup. It really is just a collection of these things. These videos can be super satisfying to watch.
Let's talk about why oil is actually really important, right? Like, our pores are really important. A lot of people don't want pores, they just want to eliminate their pores, but our pores are actually what is going to produce the oils that keep our skin soft and hydrated. So, the oils in our skin are made up of multiple things. One of the most abundant things in them is actually triglycerides. Also in them are things like, phytosterols, squalane, to a lesser extent, glycerol, which is similar to glycerin in how it acts on our skin. And collectively, these have a lot of protective benefits, and then they also interact with things on our skin like the microbiome.
Going back to that video, that buildup is probably a little extensive, right? When it gets to that point, you can imagine that if you have that much buildup in your pores, that it's going to make your pores look larger, right? So, the goal is to actually not get it to build up to this point. Now, pore strips have been demonized on social media where people will say, "You should never use a pore strip." But an occasional pore strip, once a month, once every other month, is going to remove those tiny vellus hairs on the skin and can be a nice cleanup treatment that you use like, occasionally. Our goal is actually to give you a skincare routine that's going to prevent the buildup. You actually probably don't need to use pore strips at all.
So, let's talk about the first ingredient I think is probably going to be the most beneficial for these sebaceous filaments, and that's salicylic acid. That was your first. That was your go-to. That's my go-to. I actually wasn't expecting that. Okay, so salicylic acid. Salicylic acid, it's a beta hydroxy acid, sort of. We always caveat that it's lipophilic, so this could dissolve the oil, remove it in a cleanser, which is my favorite way to use this. And then it can also work as a leave-on product to break down the oil and then maybe decrease oil production a little bit. It's going to lift away a lot of that oil and dead skin cells. It's a mild exfoliant, able to get into the pores and remove that. And so, it's going to do a lot of the work, right, and kind of removing it. So, a cleanser would be perfect. Daily cleanser or leave-on exfoliant, something like the Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant, really a good option to kind of target in these really sebaceous areas, and that's going to go a long way. I'd say that's probably my top ingredient for these.
So, my top ingredient is, I mean, the retinol. Retinoids. I mean, I guess everyone knew that my whole life apparently revolves around these things. But retinoids, I think, are the most consistent at decreasing oil production. And we see this to some effect in some scale, uh, with the topicals, and then to a much larger scale with the systemics. But I think if you're picking one ingredient to decrease oil production, this would be mine. Retinols also increase the skin cell turnover, which will help decrease those pores from retaining as much of the sebum that's produced. I guess they do through increasing the collagen and restructuring from the collagen. I think they might target the architecture of these pores in a way that a lot of other things won't. Some of that's theory crafting again, but that's another reason I like retinoids in this space. Retinoids, obviously a favorite ingredient for this. So, I would say definitely those are the top two.
And then you can add in the third ingredient, niacinamide, which additionally will decrease and regulate oil production. I would say third would probably be niacinamide and green tea, kind of tied in this category for oil production. But the main heavy lifters in this category are going to be retinol and salicylic acid. Now, which one's better? I mean, it doesn't matter because you can actually use both. So, what I would do is use a retinol at night, salicylic acid in the morning. Or retinol at night, salicylic acid cleanser either morning or night. So, the good thing is you could target from two different directions, and that's going to really reduce the amount of times you have to use pore strips, reduce the buildup for your sebaceous filaments, and additionally make your pores look smaller over time.
A nice thing about that third ingredient, niacinamide, is you can incorporate this almost anywhere. There are some cleansers with niacinamide in it. That's probably my least favorite place to use it. I think its benefits stem largely as a leave-on. But you can find this in your actives. You can use a dedicated niacinamide product. You can use it in your moisturizers. You can use it in your SPF. Incorporating a salicylic acid cleanser with a retinol or retinoid leave-on with your niacinamide in your moisturizer, SPF, that's kind of my favorite combination. And then green tea. Some green tea toners out there that are also really lightweight and nice. And then also green tea emulsion gels or emulsions, some things as well. We know the ingredients that are effective. Let's make a simple routine here.
So, let's start in the morning. Let's start with the CeraVe SA cleanser. It's got a low concentration of salicylic acid, but will help to lift all that oil from the skin and also help to mildly exfoliate. And then follow that with the sunscreen that has niacinamide in the morning. There's some great options here. EltaMD UV Clear is I think is going to be one of our favorites and one of the workhorses in the space. It's just like, very mattifying. It's just very lightweight. It has niacinamide as well. Another one that I've really loved and we've really loved recently is Isntree, which is a brand I think that you should check out. But this has the Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel. It's really more of a lotion. It also has niacinamide. Another nice way to sneak it into your routine, and that feels super good on your skin. It's like you're not wearing sunscreen at all, which is really, really nice. That's an entire morning routine. You're getting in that salicylic acid and that niacinamide.
Then you go to your night routine. You can slip in that CeraVe SA cleanser again because it's gentle enough to use twice a day. And then you can follow it with a gentle retinol therapy, resurfacing retinol. Your prescription tretinoin is going to get that job done. You've been liking this other one lately. Yeah, lately I've just been trying out and using this Bastide Retinol Serum. Another super lightweight retinol. Has bakuchiol also. It's kind of like that gel lotion hybrid. I think you could throw in a niacinamide serum there. I think this one here, keep it inexpensive. The Ordinary is 10% niacinamide. 10% maybe a little bit too high for niacinamide. Most of the studies, like we've said in the past, have been to 5%. But I think a lot of people tolerate that one pretty well. So, then you would just follow with any gentle moisturizer after that, and you'd be good to go.
I'll say what I do. I kind of mix in once a week in addition to all this, and I've said this in the past, The Ordinary Salicylic Acid Mask. I kind of use in this T-zone here to really kind of help clear out those pores. And that's got the 2% salicylic acid, which will give you a little bit of an extra boost. So, you don't need to use the pore strips as often, or at all, right? And that's kind of the goal is to keep this under control so you're not reactively trying to treat any sort of excessive buildup. So, simple sebaceous filament routine. Now you know how to treat it. But just know that we need this oil on our skin to build up. It's actually what's keeping our skin healthy. So, don't overdo it because they're there for a reason. All these things have a purpose, and that's why they're there.
So, thank you all so much for tuning in. Please like, comment, and subscribe. Yeah, we appreciate you always. Thank you for being a part of this journey. See you in the next video. See you next time.