| New products to soothe sensitive skin
Jeanne Davis tests the waters at
Avene Spa for laterlife.com and looks at a new range of special skin care products Water is the source of life it is
wisely said. Water, when it comes from the
Avene spring, is also the source of soothing
treatments. At the Avene Spa Laboratories in
the Cevennes, southern France, dermatologists are developing new products for
sensitive skin as well as for conditions related to ageing skin.
Avene Laboratories have several of these products on the
market —cleansers, moisturisers, masks –all based on the spa waters, extensively
used on the Continent and now available in the
UK.
Why
is the thermal spring water so special?
It all goes back to a French nobleman and his horse. In
the 1700s, the Marquis de Rocozel owned the land around Avene, including the spring. In 1736 his favourite horse developed an unsightly
skin disease, and his vets advised that the horse should be put down.  But the Marquis was too
fond of the animal and instead decided to retire it to the meadows surrounding the spring,
where the local peasants watched it drinking the spring water and rolling in the pond
formed by the spring..
That autumn, the Marquis ordered that his beloved horse
should be stabled; to his amazement the horse’s coat gleamed. The cure was attributed to the powers of the spring
water, which has been used in the treatment of skin diseases ever since.
Avene water, especially rich in silica, and free from known irritants and allergens, has been proved effective against skin conditions
such as eczema, psoriasis and pruritis. This
water is also the basic ingredient for the new creams and moisturisers that help sensitive
and older skin.
How
to take the cure
In the busy spa centre, I was treated to one of the
whirlpool baths which, combined with an underwater shower to cleanse and decongest,
soothed and lulled me off to a never- never land. Then I had a massaging shower. My skin felt baby smooth. I
discovered also that the recent itching I’ve been bothered with (I had blamed it all
on the harsh London water) was a normal effect of older dry skin.
Why
ageing skin looks the way it does
 Most of us are all too familiar with the visible signs of
ageing – wrinkles, loss of firmness, yellowish complexion, dull and rough skin.
Christine Fetro, pharmacologist for the
Pierre Fabre company producing the treatments, explained the reasons for this.
She said that two of the skin’s layers, the epidermis
and the dermis, get thinner and thinner with age, with a decrease in cell turnover. Another layer, the horny layer, is getting thicker
because of an accumulation of dead cells on the surface of the epidermis.
Result: dead cells are no longer eliminated, leading to a
dull, rough complexion and a dry skin with wrinkles and loss of firmness. Furthermore there is a decrease in sebaceous and
sweat gland activities also contributing to skin dryness, as well as loss of collagen, the
skin’s connective tissue.
What
do we mean by ‘sensitive skin’?
 I
wanted to understand what is meant by this term, so often used very loosely. I hear of people with sensitive skins who search
the world for the right cleansers and cosmetics. There
are others who are bothered by their skin but not sure what is wrong and what might help.
Christine defined it this way: skin is called sensitive when it reacts more
quickly to external stimuli than skin with normal sensitivity (when exposed to the same
circumstances). This type of sensitivity does not necessarily present visible signs, but
there will be physical reactions. For
example, sensations of prickling, itching , skin discomfort. Skin type, genetic background, age, climatic
conditions, inappropriate cosmetics can cause these reactions.
Know
your sensitive skin type
1.
Irritated skin: presents visible signs such as redness, dryness,
flaking. The skin’s barrier function is
undermined and encourages the penetration of irritating substances (detergent, some cosmetics).
2.
Intolerant and hypersensitive skin is an
irritated skin but with more severe and persistent symptoms.
3.
Allergic skin: due also to a damaged
skin’s barrier function. But this time
there is penetration of an allergen (and not just an irritating substance) leading to an
allergic reaction such as eczema. Skin
allergies may also occur in reaction to certain foods and may respond to treatments other
than skin care.
An older skin can become sensitive more easily, showing more symptoms and reactions to allergies.
What
is the right product for me?
To help you find the correct product for your skin,
Christine Fetro suggests the following:
|
