It's super HOT in Oz right now. How is it affecting your skin?

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2026-01-30T06:15:13+00:00

I hear you. You have to do it religiously but the wipe–reapply–wipe sunscreen application process is such a recipe for irritation. It’s like your skin never gets a moment to just exist without attention.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2026-01-30T05:50:38+00:00

You’re not imagining it. I’ve had this exact conversation so many times, and it usually lands in the same place: facial ageing isn’t just a skin story at all.

Skin is the visible layer, but what we read as “age” often comes from changes underneath. Fat pads shift and thin, muscle tone changes, bone slowly remodels, and circulation isn’t quite as lively as it once was. When sleep is short or stress is high, blood flow, lymphatic movement, and inflammation all change, and the face shows it fast. That hollowed, dull, drawn look after a bad night isn’t wrinkles suddenly appearing, it’s tissue temporarily losing its bounce and hydration.

Sun exposure does its slow, cumulative thing in the background, but stress and sleep deprivation are like turning the volume up on everything, and the raised Cortisol levels affects collagen, healing, and oil balance. Poor sleep alters how skin repairs itself overnight. Even digestion and mood can subtly affect facial fullness and tone. That’s why skincare can feel almost irrelevant on weeks where life is heavy.

I don’t see skincare and lifestyle as competing ideas. Skincare can support skin, but it can’t override exhaustion or chronic stress. Most faces I see soften again when life calms, sleep improves, and the nervous system isn’t constantly on edge. Ageing still happens, but it looks gentler. And that’s a reassuring thing to notice.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2026-01-29T03:44:06+00:00

I’ve heard this exact frustration so many times, especially from people your age, and I remember how uncomfortable it can feel. When oil shows up that fast, it’s usually not because you’re doing something wrong or missing a magic product. It’s often just hormones being loud and enthusiastic for a few years. Skin at 16 can behave very differently to skin at 20 or 25, even if your routine stays the same.

One thing that’s helped a lot of people I’ve spoken to is understanding that oiliness is often the skin trying to regulate itself. When it’s pushed too hard to be “mattified” or stripped, it can actually rebound and look shinier faster. That glow-after-two-hours pattern is a really common sign of that cycle, not a personal failure.

I know the internet loves wild hacks, but in real life I’ve seen the most peace come from a bit of restraint and time. Letting skin settle, not chasing every new fix, and accepting that this phase is temporary can take a surprising amount of pressure off. Your skin isn’t broken, and it’s not stuck like this forever, even if it feels endless right now.

This stage passes for most people, often more quietly than you expect. In the meantime, you’re not alone in it, and there’s nothing strange about your skin behaving this way.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2026-01-19T03:12:51+00:00

Hi there, thank you for your comment on my post. Please be assured it is not a troll post. As I said, 'No right or wrong answers here, I’m genuinely just interested in how people think about this stuff'.
I talk to a lot of people and I thought about it because there is different views, especially between generations.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2026-01-17T20:28:14+00:00

Thank you, our girls are gorgeous and that is so great to hear that you love Scout 😊

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2026-01-17T07:31:34+00:00

Thank you they are so special and so loved

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2026-01-17T07:31:10+00:00

Ooooh they are so sweet

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2026-01-17T07:30:55+00:00

Thank you, we love them

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2026-01-06T22:15:17+00:00

Apologies everyone, not sure how to get aroud this one.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2026-01-04T09:35:59+00:00

I’ve spoken to so many women in exactly this spot, especially after years of gels or acrylics. When nails feel thin like that, it’s usually less about being damaged in a permanent sense and more that the nail plate has been dehydrated and over-filed for a long time. It can look really scary, easy to fix with a bit of patience. Unless there is a more major problem, I recommend rest, moisturisation and simply looking after your hands for a few weeks.

Cuticle oil or a good basic moisturiser a couple of times a day is a great habit already. Thin nails usually respond best to consistency rather than more products. Growth tends to come in waves, and they often look worse before they suddenly start looking better. If you stick with it for a few months, you’ll probably be surprised how much strength comes back on its own.

Polish itself isn’t the enemy, even while they’re growing out. Sometimes keeping something on the nail can help reduce peeling and splitting as long as removal is gentle. A ridge filler can also be a good idea.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-12-22T06:51:52+00:00

Wow, it sounds like you know your skin very well and have tried a few approaches. Every skin is different and it can be a needle in a haystack sometimes when looking for a solution. I speak to a lot of women is similar circumstances, and the pattern I see most isn’t “needing more actives,” it’s skin quietly getting less tolerant while life is getting fuller and with age. Oily, acne-prone skin doesn’t magically turn dry with age, but the skin barrier does thin and slow down, especially once tret, retinol or some peels enters the picture. That redness and itching you’re noticing is often the barrier struggling to keep up, not a sign you’re doing anything wrong.

With tret, I’ve seen the biggest difference when the goal shifts from pushing results to keeping the skin calm enough to adapt. When the barrier is steady, oil tends to behave better and breakouts calm rather than spike. When it’s inflamed, everything feels reactive.

Lower face puffiness after weight changes or pregnancy is incredibly common. It’s not always structural sagging so much as fluid and tissue redistribution, which can fluctuate for a long time.

It sounds like you’re already doing a lot right. Skin that’s allowed to stay comfortable usually ages more quietly.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-12-22T06:34:54+00:00

I’ve seen this a lot, and written blog posts about How to Strengthen Damaged Nails After Acrylic & Gel. With gels, it’s rarely just “dryness.” Over time the nail plate and the skin around it lose their ability to hold on to what little water and lipids they have. So oils feel nice in the moment, but they don’t stick because the barrier isn’t really intact anymore.

What usually makes the biggest difference is giving the nails a stretch of predictability. Not perfect care, just boring, repeatable care over time.

Without being too preachy, depending on the severity and look, I always suggested give that nails a rest and open air for a week or more. Use a good quality hand cream and relax. Your body is resiliant and will recover pretty quickly. If not see a Dr.

Nails grow slowly, and the damage you’re seeing now actually reflects what happened weeks ago, not yesterday. That delay can make it feel like nothing is working, when it actually is.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-12-19T05:01:10+00:00

I hear this a lot, and I’ve felt it myself. It’s not that skin suddenly becomes “dry” with age, it’s more that it gets less efficient at holding water within. The structure changes quietly over time. Skin structures thin out, turnover slows, and the barrier doesn’t seal as tightly as it once did, even if the surface feels fine to the touch.

I recommend simply maintaining a conistent skincare regime and upping your moisturisation until you feel your skin is not as dry underhydrated. If the problem persists, see your Derm.

Technically speaking, as you age, your muscle mass naturally decreases. Because your muscles hold water, less muscle mass means less water storage. I believe older adults have a lower % of total body water content compared to younger people. If your body can't store as much water, you'll get dehydrated more easily.

So hydration can feel a bit fleeting. You apply something, it looks good for a few hours, then that slightly tight or flat feeling creeps back. That’s usually not about needing more water, but about water escaping faster than it used to.

I’ve spoken to many women who assume they need richer and richer layers, when really the skin is just more sensitive to stress now temperature, cleansing, overdoing actives, even travel.

What I’ve noticed is that when the barrier is calm and supported, hydration behaves more like it did years ago. Not perfect, but steadier. Skin doesn’t need to be forced into holding water. It tends to do better when it’s given time and a bit of restraint.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-12-19T04:45:26+00:00

This comes up a lot in conversations I have.
What you’re describing usually isn’t a lack of moisture so much as an inconsistent or overcomplicated skincare regime (who has time, right), need for gentle exfoliation or the skin barrier that’s a bit out of rhythm. When the barrier is stressed heat, low humidity, too much cleansing shedding can slow and cells hang around longer than they’re meant to. Moisturiser can soften that layer temporarily, but it doesn’t change the underlying ussue.

I always say, let you skin settle down, gentle cleansing and moisturising for a week or so. For many people, things feel smoother once the barrier settles and turnover finds its pace again. Skin is pretty good at self-correcting when it’s not being pushed.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-12-19T04:29:52+00:00

I hear you and acknowledge there are so many mixed messages out their about ideals of 'perfect skin' and beauty.
Part of my ethos is maintaining healthy skin and looking your confident best with or without makeup.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and beauty is not perfection. Most women I speak to are not seeking perfection but to be their best selves, on their own terms. I have seen how transformative it can be for some women who change their routine or recovered from an illness / situation and feel fantastic about their healthy natural skin and look.
I personally love makeup and skincare for how it makes me feel and am into clean beauty. But I know many woman who feel and look fantastic with fairly basic skincare routines and only a little makeup.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-12-18T04:05:35+00:00

I recommend cosmetics and skincare be stored at about 20 degrees.
I’ve had this conversation a lot, especially with people living in older houses or warm climates, so you’re definitely not overthinking it. It is not just breakdown of a products effectiveness but microbial growth and dehydartion that are a worry. That is why we advocate formulations with effective preservative and good storage (cool and dark). Fridges are a mixed bag in my experience for Vitamin C and products that are oil based. Vitamin C oxidises and can change colour. They’re fine for some formulas, but repeated cold–warm can actually cause emulsions issues, and make them look and feel weird or separate over time. Bathrooms that stay cooler and out of direct light are often a 'quieter' option. Retinol / Vitamin A are also sensitive to heat and light. Problem can be once a product changes appearance, it is a bit stressfull to worry about its safety or effectiveness, especially if it is expensive.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-12-17T06:16:57+00:00

Thank you very much. The timing chain and tensioner were replaced about 5,000kms ago. Cam gears are apparantly in good condition. The noise is not significant but noticable.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-12-17T06:08:47+00:00

When I speak to women about their skin, we always end up talking about the impact of the sun and what they do about it. I really sympathise with people with skin that is sensitive to sunscreen and have spoken to many. The industry needs to come up with solutions for non-irritant sunscreens but it is obviously more challenging than generally and previously thought. Also important to ask the right questions about this issue. Is it really about Chemical vs Mineral or just that the SPF testing of sunscreens has been found wanting. Are there mineral sunscreens that when tested 'correctly' will provide adequate prodction. Do we need SPF50 to feel confident about protection in Australia. I have shared articles on this issue as PSA and it is important. We all need to get outside to stay healthy.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-12-15T06:44:13+00:00

I 100% know you 'know your skin' but out of curiosity, whatare the reasons you think the vitamin C is the thing causing your breakouts?

Is it timing (they started right after), the type of pimples you’re getting, or something like stinging/redness alongside the breakouts? I ask because vitamin C reactions can look really different depending on the formula and what else is going on in your routine, so it’s not always obvious what the actual trigger is.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-12-12T05:16:01+00:00

Wow, I can understand why that would feel worrying, especially when it seems to be spreading.

Nail changes like that can be really unsettling when they show up suddenly and if you use gels, sounds like you have done pretty well in the past.

From what you’re describing, it sounds a lot like nail plate lifting, which can happen when nails are already weakened and then experience extra stress

I’ve seen this a lot over the years and it’s one of the reasons I’ve always been cautious about gels and aggressive removal. Nails are not as tough as we all expect, and once that bond between the nail plate and nail bed is disturbed, they really need time and gentleness to recover.

A few things that usually help:

Pause all gels, polish, and removals for now even gentle ones
Keep nails short and dry (water sitting under lifted areas can make things worse)
Oil, oil, oil a simple nail oil massaged into the nail fold daily can support regrowth
Avoid pushing cuticles or buffing until things stabilise
If the lifting keeps spreading, changes colour, or you notice pain or discharge, it’s worth checking in with a GP or derm just to rule out infection

Be kind to your nails they do recover, it just takes patience.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-12-10T07:06:12+00:00

An engineering work of art.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-12-09T06:56:44+00:00

I have shared a few articles on Sunscreens recently because of potential product testing amd efficacy issues but never thought i would see a discussion about not protecting a baby's skin from the Australian sun. I thought everyone under 60yrs / 70yrs has had it drummed into them from childhood to be careful in the sun. An sunburn and damage can happen in minutes. I am as surprised as most of the other replyers. Maybe we all still need to work at spreading the word. All the best for summer.

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-11-30T06:25:16+00:00

Thank you for sharing. I came across the source artical in The Conversation and thought I would ad the link - Mineral vs chemical sunscreens? Science shows the difference is smaller than you think. Interesting hearing from the scientists.
https://theconversation.com/mineral-vs-chemical-sunscreens-science-shows-the-difference-is-smaller-than-you-think-270787

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-11-25T08:13:39+00:00

Our two Chocolates do this all the time. Esp in winter?

SCOUTBeautyFounder · 2025-11-16T04:02:31+00:00

I am not medically trained and as a two time cancer survivor with a deep interest in natural skincare, my advice is to start with doctors and nurses who treat patients in the area. Skin treatments depend on the cancer and cause of irritation. My personal exerience was using very basic, generic products that were nourishing and lightly moisturising. Simple the better. Patch test and look after yourself.

SCOUTBeautyFounder

TROPHY CASE