Among the acquaintances of this article’s author, there is an individual who has stubbornly used baby cosmetic products while claiming that her skin is as weak and sensitive as that of a baby.
She strongly believes that the use of baby cosmetic products will not worsen but alleviate her skin troubles.
But are baby cosmetic products really helpful to skin health?
CARD 1. Baby skin VS Adult skin
Generally, children younger than 6 are termed infants and people aged over 18 are termed adults.
There is not a big physiological difference between the skin of an infant and an adult. An infant’s skin is thinner with an incomplete keratinization process and the water content of the skin layer is around 69.4%.
In particular, because the water content of the horny layer is low, it is easy for the skin to become dry and sensitive to outside irritations. Hence, compared to an adult skin, baby skin has a higher risk of damage.
CARD 2. Baby skin that is weak against germs
Sebum is usually produced at the sebaceous glands and the amount of sebum drops to about 1/3 of that of adults from the age of 3 months after birth to the age of puberty. Therefore, the baby skin is vulnerable to bacterial infection and its function as a protective barrier weakens.
As a result, because the skin barrier is weak, it is easier to become a dry and rough skin if exposed to the outside air.
CARD 3. High skin sensitivity and risk of toxicity?
Although adults and infants have a similar number of sweat glands, the surface area of an infant’s body is comparatively smaller so there is a much higher number of sweat glands per unit area of skin.
Therefore, although an infant’s skin surface is acidic in the beginning due to the large amount of sweat production per surface area of skin, an infant’s skin becomes alkaline as time passes and makes it easier for bacterial invasion.
As a result, infant skin relatively has a high skin sensitivity to external forces and a high potential for toxicity problems compared to an adult skin.
CARD 4. A need for a cosmetic that protects the skin
Skin surface pH is generally 5~6 for around 1 month after birth but this pH tends to slowly decline after the start of the infancy period.
Therefore, baby cosmetic products are made of ingredients that can stably protect the skin and well respond to the physiological skin structure and the temporary changes of the skin.
CARD 5. Baby skin which needs to raise resistance against external forces
On the other hand, while adults have lesser water percentage of 64%, they have a high water percentage in the horny layer. However, as adults age, hormonal change and water percentage reduction occur and thus, fine wrinkles increase and skin elasticity lessens.
Sebum production also increases rapidly during puberty due to influence of sexual hormones but gradually declines for women after age 25 and for men after age 35.
The pH that raises skin resistance to external forces is maintained at around 4.2~5.6 but with aging, the pH slowly becomes alkaline.
CARD 6 . Tips and checklist for baby cosmetic products!
Because baby and adult skin have physiological differences such as these, purchasing appropriate cosmetic products is the correct action to take.
For infants, their skin barriers are weak and water vaporization is high, so cosmetics that help form skin protective barriers should be selected. Furthermore, because the skin structure of infants is highly vulnerable to external germs, one must also check if the cosmetic product blocks microbial propagation.
these, harmful ingredients that may irritate the skin should also be avoided. In particular, the user must examine the scent, colors, and alcohol ingredients of the cosmetic product.
CARD 7. One key point to pay attention to for even adult cosmetics!
For adults, because there are much individual differences, it is important to fully comprehend your own skin type and select cosmetic products based on the weather.
Let us not be misconceived that our skin is similar to the baby skin simply when our skin become sensitive. The sensitivity of our skin merely arises from the skin condition of our specific age and this sensitivity is inherently different from that of the baby skin. It is most rational to choose cosmetic products that are appropriate for our age.
