Skincare Decoded: What You Really Need for Your Skin, and How to Tell What You Don't
- Downloads：2608
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-01 11:51:12
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Victoria Fu
- ISBN：1681885646
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Do you really need a ten-step skincare regimen？ Is that $100 eye cream worth it？ And what the heck are “actives” anyway？ In this book two professional chemists and beauty industry insiders tell all。
Depending on who you listen to， the secret to beautiful skin is microbiomes。 Or Korean rice water。 Or maybe a dermaplaning tool。 It feels like you need a degree in chemistry to even understand what these products are， and if they live up to the hype。 Luckily， Victoria Fu and Gloria Lu， professional skincare chemists have done that work so you don’t have to。 The science may seem complicated， but this book will show you how simple it can be， giving you what you need to make informed decisions about your skin （and your wallet）。
Skincare Actives？ Technically， cat sneezes could count。 SPF？ Yep， super important。 Caffeine serums？ The science is still out。 CBD additives？ Not enough studies yet， so the jury’s still out。
The authors are the creators behind the popular Chemist Confessions Instagram， and this book brings the sass， humor， and solid information they’re known for。 Additional chapters address the best ingredients for every skin type， and reveal the only four products you really need。
Depending on who you listen to， the secret to beautiful skin is microbiomes。 Or Korean rice water。 Or maybe a dermaplaning tool。 It feels like you need a degree in chemistry to even understand what these products are， and if they live up to the hype。 Luckily， Victoria Fu and Gloria Lu， professional skincare chemists have done that work so you don’t have to。 The science may seem complicated， but this book will show you how simple it can be， giving you what you need to make informed decisions about your skin （and your wallet）。
Skincare Actives？ Technically， cat sneezes could count。 SPF？ Yep， super important。 Caffeine serums？ The science is still out。 CBD additives？ Not enough studies yet， so the jury’s still out。
The authors are the creators behind the popular Chemist Confessions Instagram， and this book brings the sass， humor， and solid information they’re known for。 Additional chapters address the best ingredients for every skin type， and reveal the only four products you really need。
Reviews
Geneva
，
Love me some skincare science！ As someone who's more recently gotten into skincare and have built a routine that needs tweaking， it was helpful to use this book as a litmus test for my current routine and skincare habits。 I so appreciate this book for focusing on the three things that matter most in skincare: cleansing， moisturizing， and sun protection （see Section 1: Basics）， and then for focusing on what has the most scientific proof of efficacy （see Section 2: Treatments） -- chemical exfolian Love me some skincare science！ As someone who's more recently gotten into skincare and have built a routine that needs tweaking， it was helpful to use this book as a litmus test for my current routine and skincare habits。 I so appreciate this book for focusing on the three things that matter most in skincare: cleansing， moisturizing， and sun protection （see Section 1: Basics）， and then for focusing on what has the most scientific proof of efficacy （see Section 2: Treatments） -- chemical exfoliants， retinoids， vitamin C， and niacinamide。 The chapter on how to build a routine was also helpful， but could have been expanded。 I absolutely loved the tables that broke down all different types of retinoids and antioxidants。 It's exactly the kind of truth-telling I expect from chemists！ Here's what this book doesn't have: -There's almost no mention of particular products or brands that the authors recommend。 This lends a sense of timelessness， but won't necessarily help you read this book and then immediately build a skincare routine。 -From my view， this book outlines the foundational information about the science of skin， how to protect it， and how to use exfoliants， retinioids， vitamin C， and niacinamide to treat skin， but stops short of proposing exact products on the market today。 To link that gap， I would pair this book with Caroline Hirons' 2020 book "Skincare" which delves into basics and includes photos， some real life advice， and lots of brand recommendations。 。。。more
Celia Ludwinski
，
I worked in the cosmetics industry for several years and yet I'm still in the dark about skincare and what's necessary and how it all actually works。 In the same way someone in IT doesn't actually know much of anything about hacking， I never really learned enough about it to make informed decisions about my own skin。 If I cared enough to become a full cosmetic chemist， I would be reading articles from Dermatology or Cosmetic Chemists journals。 But I'm not reading those。 Because as a typical mill I worked in the cosmetics industry for several years and yet I'm still in the dark about skincare and what's necessary and how it all actually works。 In the same way someone in IT doesn't actually know much of anything about hacking， I never really learned enough about it to make informed decisions about my own skin。 If I cared enough to become a full cosmetic chemist， I would be reading articles from Dermatology or Cosmetic Chemists journals。 But I'm not reading those。 Because as a typical millennial I am somewhat of a narcissist。 I really don't care about everyone's skin — I only care about my own。 This book is the stepping stone — a beginners manual to help define problem areas and then guide me to make the best decisions for me。 And it will work that way for almost everyone。 Think of it as a helping hand in applying the scientific method to creating the most beautiful you， but in an accessible way。 Unfortunately， what this book won't tell you is which products to buy as quick fix solution。 It is setting you up for success， but in order to truly succeed you need to do the work yourself to use this knowledge as an intro to skincare expert and figure out what works for you。 I actually find that more respectful and authentic than if they were offering an easy solution that sounded too good to be true。 It's educational。 The education bit to teach me to play mad scientist with my moisturizer。 Mixing and matching the amount of humectants， emollients， and occlusives for my personalized skincare needs is a throwback to the days when I played mad scientist with the lotions and soaps from my mom's cupboards and even flower petals from her garden to create my own concoction。 But this time I don't feel like I'm mixing totally blind。 I'm a slightly informed mad scientist。 People think ultranatural means ultrasafe and free from scary chemicals。 The reality is that plants are complex。 In its raw form， shea butter can be irritating。 We recommend sticking to refined shea; you'll have a range of options for texture。 It's accessible。In addition to offering all this knowledge， it's accessible to everyday readers。 The authors acknowledge the esoteric terms that the skincare industry couches all their claims in and then break it down for you with casual language。 They define scientific terms in ways anyone can understand。 And they even use modern references in their metaphors。 It's a bible of skincare， but it's a modern bible which unveils the absurd and mysterious。 Ridiculous claims are everywhere in skincare， but we find them most eye-roll-worthy in cleansers。 Assuming for a second that they did infuse their cleanser with a Fountain of Youth distillate， cleansers are just not really a good way to deliver all that anti-aging goodness into your skin。 Remember， a cleanser's job is to take things off， not to add on。 Regular priced cleansers with normal ingredients will do the job just fine。 It's persuasive。 Perhaps the most important point — my routine has changed because of what I've read。 I've been convinced to make actual changes to things that I've always known I should do but have been a bit to lazy to do super consistently （*ahem* like wash my face at least once per day and wear sunscreen whenever I'm outside）。 It did have a real impact on my life。 Applying product to an unwashed face can potentially trap dirt and unwanted microbes underneath。 In addition to causing breakouts， this can make it harder for your products to penetrate and go to work on your skin。 Overall， skipping the cleansing step is pretty counterproductive if you're wanting to build a good routine， so let's start off with a clean slate！ I even feel that if I pick it up in a few years， I will be able to get more out of it。 I will learn even more and re-adjust my routine to address my evolved skincare concerns， whether they're due to yet another move to another country， hormone shifts， or just getting older。 。。。more
Angela Chiang
，
Excellent reference that encourages you to understand your skin and the skincare industry！This book is packed with information and yet easy to read。 Each chapter is clearly laid out， delves in detail both informative and entertaining （see diagram: skin cells with parachutes！）， then reviews what you’ve just read with a summarizing page and a personal take from each of the authors （further emphasizing their point that every individual’s approach to skincare is unique）。 I enjoyed how all of the lis Excellent reference that encourages you to understand your skin and the skincare industry！This book is packed with information and yet easy to read。 Each chapter is clearly laid out， delves in detail both informative and entertaining （see diagram: skin cells with parachutes！）， then reviews what you’ve just read with a summarizing page and a personal take from each of the authors （further emphasizing their point that every individual’s approach to skincare is unique）。 I enjoyed how all of the lists， pictures， and tables emphasized the key points per section and helped me retain the information。 Not only that， the chemists are aware of how the skincare industry markets their products， and help explain what you should look for in ingredients lists or packaging formats， in order to judge actual efficacy vs just marketing。 For example， I knew before reading this book that vitamin C is a good addition to my skincare regimen and just looked for “vitamin C serums” when shopping - little did I know that there is a whole host of vitamin C derivatives that have different benefits （and in one case as the authors put it bluntly， “Kinda useless”）。 Their honest take extends to trends that are in vogue， too - just when I casually remembered a post from social media of someone touting a product or skincare tool， sure enough I found a blurb explaining what it was designed for， followed by guidance and recommendations。Basically， this book makes you want to understand what you’re doing to your face and do better！ I found myself grabbing the products in my skincare regimen to compare the ingredient list against the explanations in the chapters to understand what and why things are in there。 I was also inspired to improve my moisturizing regimen and be more conscious to adjust it when I’ve been doing the same thing every day - with the days getting hotter and drier， I should probably look to introduce some emollients in my moisturizing step。 I feel like I can keep going back to this as a reference when I want to tackle a problem with my skin or try something new to improve my anti-aging regimen。 。。。more
Kate
，