Skin Overcare Syndrome

The topic of excessive skincare may seem rather unusual for beauty industry professionals, as skincare procedures constitute the core of a cosmetologist’s work. However, a closer examination shows that such care, under certain circumstances, can lead to problems.

For a long time, we have been promoting cosmetology: encouraging people to cleanse their skin properly, use creams in a timely manner, treat acne, protect themselves from the sun, and prevent and correct age-related changes, among other things. At the same time, not everyone has yet embraced an interest in cosmetology, and regular self-care is still not part of a healthy lifestyle for many people. Therefore, it remains necessary to promote this aspect of everyday life and explain how to care for the skin properly.

However, in recent years, an opposite trend has also been observed among both specialists and patients: obsessive attention to one’s appearance, exaggeration of real and imagined problems, and excessive enthusiasm for the achievements of modern cosmetology. This has created a need for educational efforts in this direction as well. This article will address that issue.

Let us consider several examples.

1. What happens when exfoliating products are used too intensively.

Exfoliating products have been used in skincare since ancient times because they provide quick and visible results. After the exfoliation of the stratum corneum, the skin tone becomes more even and refreshed, its texture improves, it feels smoother to the touch, reflects light more evenly, comedones become less noticeable, and pores are reduced.

However, when exfoliating procedures are performed too frequently, the skin perceives this as an aggressive environmental impact and activates a protective response.

How can the skin defend itself against external factors? By thickening the stratum corneum, producing a protective mantle, and increasing pigmentation. This is exactly what we observe in our patients.

Depending on the individual baseline characteristics of the skin, excessive exfoliation leads to increased keratinization, sebum production, and melanin synthesis, which in turn result in hyperkeratosis, enlarged pores, flaking, dull complexion, and uneven pigmentation.

In addition, due to the gradual depletion of the skin’s regenerative capacity, its reactivity increases, making it more sensitive to external factors and leading to signs of dehydration:

• a dry, dull epidermis;
• a network of fine superficial wrinkles;
• increased skin creasing.

The described sequence of events is typical for patients with an initially high reparative potential, usually those with oily or combination, relatively thick skin.

In patients with dry, thin skin, signs of dehydration and increased sensitivity appear already at the early stages of “overuse” of exfoliation.

When excessively aggressive exfoliation methods are used, persistent erythema and capillary dilation can be observed even at the earliest stages.

The deceptive nature of the situation lies in the fact that, first, after the initial procedures, the results may be исключительно positive: both the patient and the cosmetologist are satisfied and attempt to improve them indefinitely. Problems arise when the interval between procedures is too short for a given patient.

Second, immediately after an “extra” procedure, the skin may look quite attractive, smooth, and polished. Only in the following days do signs of dehydration begin to appear, such as a network of fine wrinkles; sensitivity increases, and eventually a full cascade of reactions develops, including hyperkeratosis, enlarged pores, and so on. As a result, neither the patient nor the cosmetologist often associates changes in skin condition with the frequency of procedures, instead searching for other causes: a change in formulation, the use of a new product…

A similar, though less dynamically developing situation occurs with the use of exfoliating products at home. Initially, a gradual positive effect is observed, followed by a “plateau,” when improvements become less noticeable or disappear, and the condition stabilizes. If the products continue to be used at the same intensity, some patients begin to show signs of overexposure: the skin texture gradually worsens, pores enlarge, and hyperkeratosis develops. The mechanism behind these changes is similar to that described above; it simply follows a milder course.

It should be noted that these effects do not occur in all patients. Many use exfoliating products for years without any side effects, undergo numerous procedures with various types of peels, including aggressive ones, and cannot imagine their routine without them.

As mentioned, the skin’s response is highly individual and depends not only on genetic factors and external and internal influences, but also on how the patient perceives these changes: for some, the feeling of tightness is uncomfortable and disruptive, while others are willing to tolerate it.

2. When moisturizing products are used too intensively or at the wrong time.

At first glance, what could be wrong with moisturizing the skin? However, there are pitfalls here as well: a hydrated epidermis swells, which can lead to the narrowing of the ducts of sebaceous and sweat glands. In combination with certain weather conditions and the overall state of the body, this may disrupt the outflow of secretions, resulting in inflammation and irritation.

This mechanism plays a role, in particular, in so-called tropical acne, as well as in the formation of inflammatory lesions during the second phase of the menstrual cycle. Now imagine a girl in this situation who tends to excoriate any irregularity on her skin. She adds another factor of mechanical damage, intensifies the inflammatory response, then unsuccessfully tries to extract the contents of the lesion and… Several possible outcomes may follow, which the reader can easily imagine.

3. When creams are used too frequently.

In general, the human body is well adapted to functioning independently. The skin is no exception. It is fully capable of moisturizing, lubricating, and restoring itself. It requires assistance in cases of significant damage, as well as when certain functions are either insufficient or excessive.

Therefore, maintaining balance is essential:

• cleanse, but do not over-strip;
• moisturize, but not excessively;
• reduce dryness and flaking without suppressing the skin’s own activity.

When we apply a rich nourishing cream, we not only create an occlusive film on the surface of the skin and alter the composition of the natural lipid barrier, but we also often suppress the production of its own components. For this reason, when the skin is in a normal condition, it is advisable to regularly introduce “rest days”: simply cleanse with clean, high-quality water and apply nothing else.

The need to preserve the skin’s natural activity should also be considered during the rehabilitation period after damage. In particular, it is essential to manage the post-peel period properly. We often observe the following situation: a patient undergoes a peeling procedure, one of the goals of which is to stimulate synthetic activity and metabolic processes in the skin. Such procedures cannot be completely comfortable. Afterward, varying degrees of erythema, tightness, and flaking may occur, which can persist for several days or even weeks.

During this period, it is important to provide conditions for полноценное recovery of the skin, carry out timely rehabilitation procedures, and take advantage of the temporary thinning of the stratum corneum to enhance the penetration of stimulating active ingredients.

In practice, however, patients often become anxious, focusing excessively on the feeling of tightness and flaking. They try to eliminate these effects at any cost, using rich creams or applying multiple products indiscriminately, layering one over another.

As a result, we either lose the effect of the procedure, since dense, lipid-rich creams inhibit the skin’s own synthetic processes, or we encounter complications such as contact dermatitis due to the penetration of large amounts of various active ingredients, not always compatible with each other, into already thinned and stimulated skin.

4. When trying to completely eliminate comedones and any skin irregularities and resemble a glossy magazine model.

Overt or covert advertising of cosmetic products and services literally imprints phrases into the subconscious: wrinkles are not for me, blackheads are not for me… For many, these phrases become a real call to action: anything that differs in texture, color, or volume is methodically squeezed, burned off, or picked away. Because of a few irregularities or enlarged pores, masks, peels, dermabrasion, and resurfacing procedures are performed constantly. At the slightest hint of wrinkles in the periorbital area, injections are administered, including those involving non-biodegradable substances.

As a result, some spots are replaced by others, the skin becomes dehydrated and sensitive, pores enlarge due to fibrotic changes caused by repeated trauma, and areas where fillers were injected become noticeable. This, in turn, creates the need to correct newly developed imperfections. And so the cycle continues…

5. When botulinum therapy is used over a prolonged period.

If certain muscle groups remain inactive over a prolonged period, this inevitably affects both the muscles themselves and the surrounding tissues: theoretically, dystrophic changes in muscles and bones, as well as microcirculatory disturbances, may occur. In particular, we observe a tendency toward swelling in the zygomatic and periorbital areas in patients who undergo long-term botulinum therapy.

We also have the impression that in patients who undergo botulinum therapy and receive fillers too frequently, changes in the facial contour appear more rapidly, with the lower third becoming “heavier.” This may be associated with fluid retention due to decreased activity of the facial muscles, as well as fibrosis caused by repeated injections and the skin’s reaction to the introduced substances.

What should patients do to avoid complicating their lives with the consequences of excessive attention to their own skin?

Advise them to develop a reasonably proactive approach to their skin condition and help them accept the fact that everyone’s skin is different from birth. Therefore, there is no need to try to make it resemble the skin of others, especially those seen only in photographs and with makeup.

• Avoid examining yourself in magnifying mirrors; instead, take into account unfavorable lighting or angles.
• Understand that comedones on the forehead, nose, and chin are a normal variation. You can reduce their size and make them less noticeable, but you cannot eliminate them completely.
• Use creams not because you are “supposed to,” but when they are genuinely needed.
• Perform procedures not according to standardized courses prescribed for everyone, but in accordance with the current condition of a specific patient’s skin.
• Apply methods that significantly affect the structure and function of the skin (medium and deep exfoliation, botulinum therapy, filler injections, radiofrequency, ultrasound, and other types of device-based lifting with dermal remodeling, etc.) only when the possibilities of other, more physiological approaches have been exhausted: massage, exercises, creams, masks, serums, and superficial non-traumatic peels.
• Use invasive methods as rarely as possible, maintaining the achieved results through the approaches mentioned above.

The above is not supported by the results of rigorous research – it reflects personal experience and the outcome of long-term observation of both myself and my patients. However, I believe that the issue raised does exist and deserves discussion.

Author: Natalia POLONSKAYA – PhD in Medical Sciences, Chief Physician of the Optimed Aesthetic Medicine Corporation

Based on materials from KOSMETIK International Journal

Translation: Nataliya CHAYKA

First published: 2019
Updated in line with current guidelines and relevant research: 2026