My Skincare Wishes for 2021

This is inspired by a blog from The British Skin Foundation, written by Consultant Dermatologist Dr Anjali Mahto. Anjali also wrote The Skincare Bible (I’ve just been inspired to buy a copy).

Buy The Skincare Bible

She gives her predictions on skincare trends for the coming year as follows:

• Less is more
• Multipurpose products
• Representation of Skin of Colour
• Improving sunscreen technologies
• The ‘expert’ influencer
• Growing market for injectables
• Body care
• Online retail for prescription strength anti-ageing skincare

You can read the full review here in Skincare Trends 2021

And for anyone who does read the above article and isn’t familiar with Tretinoin – also known as all-trans retinoic acid, is medication used for the treatment of acne and acute promyelocytic leukemia. For acne, it is applied to the skin as a cream, gel or ointment. For leukemia, it is taken by mouth for up to three months. OR it could be something for acne and sun damaged skin. A product like this worries me when acne and leukemia are in the same sentence!

I loved some of her suggestions, such as using less to save the environment, buying products that have more than one use and representation of skin of colour. We can all do so much better on all of these three I’m sure.

The skin care industry is currently built around making us feel we are not good enough without this, that, makeup, cleanser, toner, moisturisers, face masks etc. etc. You could spend hundreds in a week if you bought everything you were told you needed to be beautiful enough.

We all need to look at what we buy and assess whether there is waste and whether we really need to buy it all. Not only will we save money, we will reduce waste and I don’t think our skin will suffer for it.

Body Care is a great one too because there is so much you can do to improve your skin health from eating clean healthy fresh meals, reducing inflammatory foods consumed, cutting down on meat, self care, reducing stress, drinking less alcohol and being more active. Yes to all of that!

Some of the trends are spot on, but worrying, like the rise in expert influencers, and by this I mean the stream of dermatologists we see on Tik Tik and Instagram pushing different products and treatments, most worrying being cortisone creams as beauty products. It’s dangerous, irresponsible and very scary to think people might use steroids for pimples, shaving or very mild rashes. I really hope we don’t see this trend coming into the UK. US dermatologists seem to be able to promote drugs and even sell their own brands! We’re talking about you Dr Sandra Lee and your Super Cortisone+

Read this blog, Ban Super Cortisone + here to find out more.

Things like injectables really worry me, I don’t understand why we can’t just age gracefully and rarely think botox looks good, although perhaps the only images I’m seeing are those that have gone wrong or look very obvious. That’s just my opinion but it is definitely now seen as a much safer option as more and more women turn to it to reduce fine lines and wrinkles.

Being able to buy prescription strength skincare online is also a worrying trend if it’s true. You know what I’m going to say here; I really worry about the over prescription of topical steroids and trends like this are only going to make this worse.

My Skincare wishes for 2021

Thanks to Anjali for inspiring me to write my own take on what I’d like the trends to be this year. They’re very biased and focused but for the sake of this blog, we’re talking TSW because it really does really need reform and change.

Here are the Skincare Trends I’d love to see happening in 2021 although I’m not going to hold my breath. I think we all have a long fight before people hear, listen and take us seriously:

1. TSW being recognised by the medical profession as a real condition
2. TSW being recognised by the National Eczema Society and other skincare charities in all countries
3. More awareness of the condition in mainstream media
4. Review in the way Topical Steroids are prescribed
5. Warnings on Corticosteroids made clearer to let people know they are addictive and can lead to a horrible withdrawal
6. Proper research into TSW to understand why it happens for some of us
7. Proper research into ways to alleviate suffering and length of time for those going through it.
8. Support on the NHS and Privately to help people through TSW
9. Psychological counselling for people with chromic skin conditions available on the NHS and privately. I’m talking here about therapy created for people with life limiting skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, rosacea etc. We know these conditions cause huge anxiety, depression and reduction in quality of life and yet no help is available.
10. More natural skincare, understanding the power of nature to heal us e.g. Epsom salts, honey, cider vinegar, oats, Vitamin D

If my journey with Topical Steroid Withdrawal has taught me anything it’s that you are not your skin and the way you look should not define you.

When the largest organ in your body is sick and struggling it does take over your life, but you CAN find a way to love yourself and find happiness in life without skin perfection.

We all want and crave good, clear skin and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still on a journey to find that, but right now, as my skin flares, crisps and flakes off in a continuous painful spiral, I can see worth in my life. I can still do good, help others and enjoy the little things in life.

I can still run, walk, read, write and enjoy audio books and podcasts. I can still enjoy nature and being outside and take comfort from my amazing family and friends who I will one day be able to hug again.

And one day, maybe not this year, maybe not next year, but one day, I will write the blog about finally being healed from topical steroid withdrawal.

Watch out for my own more personal goals for 2021 in a future blog. These are my goals for all of you, for the world, for the TSW and eczema community. What would you add to the above?