How does air pollution affect your skin and what you can do about it?

How does air pollution affect your skin and what you can do about it?

It is no secret that the world is experiencing climate change. The UN estimates over 56% of the world’s population live in urban areas that produce 78% of carbon emissions. And sadly Americans have historically been the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, meaning we’re a major contributor to climate change. Living in megalopolises, we all experience significant pollution. As continuous urban air quality decreases, traffic, energy use and industrialization only increases. Children, the elderly and low-income individuals are more at risk in developing diseases as a direct result of air pollution. Not only are there effects on our respiratory and cardiac systems, but pollution also heavily affects our skin.

It’s impossible to know exactly how much pollution penetrates through our skin at one given time. However, our skin is our biggest organ, so it acts as a sponge that absorbs a lot of environmental toxins around us causing a variety of skin impurities. Many studies show that airborne pollutants on human skin can lead to chronic skin inflammation, age spots, and skin cancer as well as skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis and acne.

To combat the effects of air pollution, at Romer, we do our best to address those concerns by:

• Incorporating non-irritating ingredients in our products that won’t strip your skin of their natural barrier and instead work to defend your skin from environmental stressors and free radicals (antioxidant-rich Seed Oils)
• Using sustainably and ethically-sourced ingredients whose extraction and manufacturing processes have been rigorously vetted
• Avoiding ingredients that make your skin more prone to be affected by pollution and are harmful ingredients that are contributors of pollution. You’ll never find parabens, phthalates, sulfates, benzyl acetate, hydroquinone, formaldehydes, glycols, drying alcohols, artificial colors or synthetic fragrance lurking in any Romer formulas.
• Supporting programs as a business to eliminate our carbon, water, and plastic impact of every unit sold.

Diet and lifestyle are also a way we can help reduce the effects of pollution on our skin. We should all reduce stress, get more sleep, and cut down on processed foods, sugar and fast food. Instead, we should eat foods that have high levels of antioxidants such as blueberries and leafy green vegetables.

At Romer we believe that taking care of the Earth is a human right. So when you buy Romer Skincare products you’re contributing to the solution. Not only through the ingredients and products themselves, but also the environmental projects we participate in. We are excited to see where this path takes us and we’re happy to have you on board with us as we work to combat the climate crisis.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-74524-9

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/global-continent-urban-population-urbanisation-percent/

https://goop.com/beauty/skin/how-does-pollution-affect-your-skin/