What to know when treating multicultural skin

It is a common misconception that darker skin, with higher melanin production, especially black skin is tough and resilient. And while all skin is resilient, not all multicultural skin can withstand aggressive treatments. Melanin cells are extremely active in the skin, which means that discoloration can occur quickly. A higher Fitzpatrick level (4-6) is actually quite fragile, but a lot of people think the opposite. This is why professionals in the industry should be a safe haven to clear up all the false information surrounding multicultural skin & the skincare world. Our job is to educate not to fear-monger products, or ingredients saying that "you can’t" use products or try treatments. It means that your approach needs to be considered with careful thought to your skin and background.

Darker skin can often present more sensitivities to specific products and/or ingredients. This can be contributed to the absence of abundant ceramides in the upper layers of the skin that can be found in lower Fitzpatrick levels (1-3). Fewer ceramides mean more Trans Epidermal Water Loss. If you think of ceramides as a raincoat - their job is to keep the skin waterproof to avoid external water loss. If this is missing, you’re going to lose moisture. Moisture is essential to all skin types but skin that is chronically dehydrated is more susceptible to overexposure to sensitization. Not to be confused with oil production. If your skin is dehydrated oil will not feed the skin moisture. However, humectants will or water-binding ingredients like hyaluronic acid. Encourage a heavy-weight moisturizer with ceramides to seal it all in!

Learn more on Fitzpatrick Levels below.