Skincare for Redheads

Did you know that natural redheads make up only 1-2% of the world’s population? At Tej & Co, we understand that your beautiful skin is complicated and vulnerable and needs special care. Do you find that OTC skincare products never hydrate your skin enough? No matter how many products you try, your skin feels drier, more sensitive, and rougher to the touch? Did you know that redheads are more prone to rosacea, pigmentation and dry skin all over the face and body because of your impaired skin barrier? 

Fortunately, corneotherapists love strengthening skin barriers and restoring porcelain complexions.

Understanding Redhead Skin

The MCR1 Gene

Does anyone else in your family have red or ginger hair and pale, fragile skin? The MCR1 gene runs in families, and you might have inherited it from your mum, dad, aunties, or uncles. It is more common in Celtish ethnicities (Scottish and Irish) but is present in all ethnicities. 

MCR1 regulates your skin pigment and hair colour, giving redheads your beautiful, fiery hair. But there is a downside – redhead skin is pale with a thin, fragile epidermis (outer layer). Your blood vessels are closer to the surface, so emotions are more visible – redheads have no place to hide! Your skin is vulnerable to the elements, especially heat, so avoid being in the sunshine. Summer is not your skin’s favourite season!

Sun damage

Sun protection is vital for your pale, freckled skin because redheads often burn before tanning and are more prone to melanoma and premature ageing. This is because your delicate skin has less natural UV protection. 

Impaired skin barrier

Being a redhead, you start from a disadvantage due to your impaired skin barrier. Mother Nature created a complex barrier to protect your skin from cold, wind, and pollution – think of it like the roof of your home. A home with a strong, waterproof tiled roof keeps the inside warm and dry. The skin cells in your barrier are like roof tiles, overlapping to keep skin-plumping moisture in and irritants out. A leaky barrier can lead to redness, tightness and irritation with visibly dilated capillaries around the nose and cheeks. 

Corneotherapists are like roofers, mending your leaky roof and restoring your porcelain complexion. 

Tailored care for your unique skin – beaware of over-the-counter products

Never settle for OTC skincare, which attempts to calm your skin but, ironically, is full of barrier-disrupting acids, retinol and perfume. Non-redhead-friendly skincare will upset your skin microbiome, leaving your skin reactive, dry, tight and blotchy. 

If your first line of defence is your roof tiles (epidermis), the second is your burglary alarm (innate immune system), which warns your skin barrier about potential irritants. Your overly sensitive alarm goes off at the slightest gust of wind or a wandering cat. Over time, it also becomes sensitive to internal issues such as wine, hormones and stress until your skin becomes permanently red. This prolonged redness can lead to rosacea, especially in women over thirty and some men.

Dermaviduals Skincare

At Tej & Co, we understand that redhead skin is unique and needs streamlined skincare. We know how to repair your skin’s defences year-round to prevent overreaction. 

Redhead-friendly Dermaviduals skincare is free from barrier-damaging fragrances, harsh preservatives, and surfactants. Instead, it contains skin-identical ingredients that mimic the structure and function of the skin barrier, helping to calm your skin microbiome. This derma membrane structure (DMS) in our cleansing milk, moisturisers and sunscreen helps rebuild the defences your skin struggles to make due to genes. (Ironically, OTC sunscreens will damage inflamed skin more than UVA damage).

Dermaviduals products are rich in calming anti-inflammatories to alleviate dry, tight, sensitive skin with reassuringly short ingredient lists. (Longer lists have a higher risk of irritation). 

Facial Treatments for Redheads

Bespoke Facial

We recommend monthly treatments using gentle inside-out technologies such as microcurrent, LED and enzymes to restore and strengthen your skin barrier, making it less reactive to modern life. At Tej & Co., we don’t offer generic facials or even know how to treat your skin until on the day. Your skin will tell us what it needs. 

We will devise your personalised home skincare routine to maximise results between treatments. (It plays an important part in your skincare journey, and we require you to be on our products to have Bespoke Facials). Don’t forget – we only treat your skin for one hour a month. You treat it every day! 

LED Light Therapy Treatment

Redhead skin gives a massive sigh of relief when you have LED because it takes the panic out of your skin and helps it cope with stress. LED calms inflammation, strengthens the skin barrier (especially capillary walls) and prevents premature ageing by supporting the cellular matrix (skin-plumping collagen, elastin & hyaluronic acid). Book a course and look forward to super resilient skin.

If you would like to talk to us about your skin concern, email us at info@tejandco.co.uk and we’d be happy to help.