The beauty industry is confusing. Even for a beauty editor. When you have all the information at your fingertips and all the access to experts the world over you would think you would find yourself with a definitive answer. But the truth is that beauty is contradictory. One brand recommends what another discourages. What works for my skin, won't necessarily work for yours. 

But personal preference and differing skin types aside, how do you wade through the misinformation that brands proliferate? 

Beauty reporter and advocate of natural skincare “through science and spirit”, Jessica DeFino spends her time researching the skin, skincare products and publishing her findings for platforms across the globe. So where does she land? Most often she doesn’t recommend any products at all. But instead comes back to what can be found in your fridge, how small steps in your daily routine can be most effective and how the psychology behind how we think about beauty is just as important. 

She published her 10-step beauty routine that contained specifically 0 products. Instead she advocates for things such as gut health, seed cycling and facial massage. We are so often told we need more. To do more in order to take care of our skin. There are the 10-step, 12-step routines. The double clease and the multi-masking. The mists, essences, serums, toners, moisturisers, boosters and creams that must be used daily. But perhaps, just maybe the opposite is true?

On how to get glowing skin? “Meditation, masturbation, affirmations.” She isn’t even advocating for ‘clean skincare’, but advocating for less skincare. Yoghurt can is as good for your skin when eaten as it is when used as a face mask. Breathing counts as skincare and doing nothing to your skin often results in more. 

DeFino argues that dead skin cells can be a good thing. That this naturally forming layer on our skin is there to protect and not to be stripped away. That self care isn't always skin care. And prompts her followers to question, “who makes more money when you feel less than?” 

There are as many ways to live as there are people in this world. And as many ways to take care of the skin. So continue to use your products if you so wish, but also know that it counts as much to “befriend the sun, get dirt on your hands, drink water, eat plants, see the beauty of it all and know that you are nature, too.”