Deborah Tosline wrote and published “Skin Remodeling DIY: An Introduction to the Underground World of Do-It-Yourself Skincare” in 2015. Her approach to skin care is based on a scientific background, love of research and over 30 years of DIY skincare experience.

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There are situations that we try to avoid in life, like being involved with a covert narcissist, but sometimes we miss the subtle signs before it’s too late. DIY skin care is the same. In our goal to attain the healthiest (=most beautiful) skin, we may miss the red flags that can potentially lead to pain and suffering.

DIY skin care provides an opportunity to pursue advanced skin care in a financially reasonable way. You know what I mean, premium skin care = $$$ to $,$$$. Aside from the fact that I adore saving money, DIY allows me to use pure, premium ingredients in a sustainable way, two metrics dear to me.

I am not an aesthetician or a dermatologist. I’m just an experienced (>40-years!!) DIY skin care practitioner and scientist with a diverse background in geology, hydrogeology, hydrology, and ecology who is addicted to research and routinely practices DIY skin care.

I’ve chosen to practice DIY advanced skin care for a variety of reasons. I am a DIY gal across the board. I have luxury tastes for high quality ingredients and products that are not attainable on my fortunate yet practical scientist lifestyle. My coping strategy is to DIY the good and special pricy stuff.

Standard DIY skin care practices should rarely result in skin irritations with the exception of an uncommon allergic reaction because you will typically use basic, well-known ingredients. On the other hand, advanced skin care practices raise the potential for an unexpected or even a bad skin reaction to occur.

What’s the difference between basic and advanced skin care? I refer to them as:

• Basic skin care - Includes daily skin care practices that maintain, nourish and heal the skin that are not assertive, harsh or aggressive and do not disrupt the pH or moisture balance of the skin.

• Advanced skin care - Includes assertive to aggressive practices that may disrupt the skin’s pH or moisture balance or cause microinjuries to initiate a biochemical healing cascade that can result in increased collagen production and skin rejuvenation. These processes can revitalize and optimize skin health but can potentially irritate the skin.

One of the primary considerations of DIY skin care, particularly advanced skin care is, how much assertive / aggressive skin care is too much?

I like to think of it as, how much aggressive skin care can my skin tolerate without developing dermatitis.

Dermatitis describes a common skin irritation that can result from many causes. Dermatitis symptoms include redness and dry flaky, itchy skin or rash that may blister, ooze, or crust. Dermatitis is not contagious but it can make one feel self-conscious. Never let skin reactions persist and potentially develop into severe dermatitis. The article here provides examples of different types of dermatitis.

When you use DIY skin care and experiment with new products and tools, the skin may have a reaction, it’s important that you observe your skin carefully and respond appropriately to avoid adverse reactions.

I used basic nourishing skin care until my early 40’s when I began to consistently integrate assertive, even aggressive DIY skin treatments into my routine. My anecdotal observations and conclusions are based on hypervigilant personal skin observations of careful combinations of a variety of skin care techniques over time. Under optimum conditions, I’ve experienced and believe that it is possible to achieve noticeable skin health improvements using and combining advanced DIY skin care methods.

General observations and opinions regarding DIY advanced skin care and MedSpa results:

• Excellent health is mandatory for skin rejuvenation. Consume essential nutrients and develop a strong circulatory and cardiovascular system to optimize health to support maximum collagen production.

• It is vital to apply essential nutrients directly to the skin for weeks prior to advanced skin care treatments to ensure that the skin contains the building blocks necessary for collagen production as Dr. Desmond Fernandes describes here. Good skin nutrition is mandatory to achieve optimum results from advanced skin care practices.

• Remember that it can take up to 3 to 12 months to see final results from advanced skin care treatments because collagen production is completed in phases over time.

General observations and opinions regarding DIY advanced skin care practices:

• Be as informed as possible about the skin care ingredients, tools and protocols that you want to use.

• Always read and study the instructions before using a new DIY ingredient or tool.

• Always test new ingredients and tools on a small inconspicuous patch of skin to check for adverse reactions.

• Get to know your skin. Be your own skin analyst. Carefully observe and record or remember how your skin reacts to each new ingredient or treatment.

• Advanced skin care practices may result in normal reactions that include redness, irritation and inflammation and will typically be described in references and in instructions and information provided by advanced skin care ingredient and tool suppliers.

• Skin reactions are highly individual AND may change from one day to the next due to medications, dietary changes, chemical exposures or other reasons. It is vital to pay attention, make close observations and respond immediately if you recognize an abnormal skin reaction.

• Skin health may be improved when advanced DIY skin care products and treatments are used consistently over time.

• The most noticeable changes are experienced when a variety of advanced skin care products and treatments are combined. The synergistic results of combining treatments can produce a visible difference in the quality of the skin and skin health.

• It is important to understand that without careful observation, overuse and over-combining advanced skin care products and tools can aggravate the skin. Proceed with caution and be observant to avoid and manage risk. Intentional AND unintentional over-treatment must be carefully avoided.

• It is possible to self-administer DIY skin care with safe and excellent gratifying results.

• When pursuing synergistic results by combining skin care practices be sure to maintain skin’s balance and do not disrupt healing to avoid an allergic response and potential dermatitis.

• NEVER over treat the skin, if there is any doubt about an inflammatory response immediately stop the use of advanced skin care products and treatments and instead use nourishing and balancing skin care practices.

• In addition to the well-known advantages of DIY skin care and let’s review them once again: save $$$ - $,$$$, use premium ingredients, reduce waste (because we love the Earth which provides for all our material goods), and it’s convenient, DIY can effectively improve skin health similar to MedSpa treatments but it will take more DIY treatments over a longer timeframe.

• Speaking of MedSpa’s, I sustained a forehead scar in 2020 and in 2021, I had CO2 Cool Peel Laser treatments to treat the atrophic (indented) scar. My scar is still indented but the skin quality (=health) greatly improved. My aesthetician said that some folks do not see noticeable results from this treatment but that my results were terrific; we determined that my great results were due to the DIY products and treatments that I use.

• Support your health for an optimum YOU to experience optimum skin care results.

Over the decades, I’ve taken calculated risks and pushed personal boundaries and limits while experimenting with DIY advanced skin care. For example, I’ve completed 4 to 6, deep microneedling DIY treatments per year from 2008. I began DIY microneedling before it was locally available from dermatologists and MedSpas. I educated myself, acquired the necessary materials and tools, began slowly and ultimately successfully achieved positive results following every treatment. At the time, microneedling was just a secret on the Internet but careful implementation helped me DIY a little-known practice and avoid unexpected or dangerous results.

Develop a Best Management Plan (BMP) to practice safe DIY skin care and keep skin healthy when using a new ingredient or advanced skin care practice to avoid unexpected skin reactions and dermatitis. My BMP for skin care includes:

• Past observations, if you know that your skin is easily irritated, you should avoid most advanced skin care treatments, use practices that are recommended for sensitive skin and proceed with caution.

• Never proceed with an advanced skin care treatment if the skin is red, irritated or inflamed.

• If there is unexpected redness or skin irritation discontinue use of any and all advanced skin care products and treatments.

• If the skin is irritated, treat the skin gently, use nourishing products, avoid artificial fragrances and allergenic ingredients. It is possible to become allergic to an ingredient that you safely used in the past.

• Use fresh Aloe Vera gel on skin irritations, be sure to test for allergies first.

• Redness and irritation should begin to clear up and the skin begin to heal after discontinuiing use of advanced skin care products and treatments.

• Allow the skin to stabilize for about a week, do not use advanced skin care during this time and observe the skin.

• When advanced skin care is re-introduced, carefully observe the skin for any reactions.

 If a dermatitis reaction does not subside and heal, make an appointment with a dermatologist and continue using gentle skin care practices.

In my opinion, DIY provides the best skin care. I am able to use high quality products at a tiny fraction of the cost of retail and am thrilled about this option for every positive reason you can imagine. The ability to use DIY skin care tools at home is an awesome way for me to combine self-care and relaxation into my routine. When DIY tools are used consistently over time, they can noticeably improve skin quality and help to prepare the skin for potential future MedSpa treatments.

I always feel a little uncomfortable posting photos but here are impromptu, unfiltered, sans make-up except for color on lips photos showing results of decades of DIY skin care practices.

It’s beneficial to take calculated risks to utilize DIY skin care knowing that you can reap the benefits and safely avoid any pitfalls.

If you need more information, go to the library, search the Internet, read my past Blog articles, or it would be an honor to me if you purchased my book. Thank you!

Take good care of yourselves!

XO Deborah

This article is intended to be used as general information only and is in no way intended to replace medical advice, be used as a medical treatment program, diagnosis, or cure of any disease or medical condition. There are no warranties, expressed or implied, regarding the effectiveness of the practices described in this article. Products or substances discussed herein are for educational purposes only and are not intended as recommendations of the author.