NPR’s Life Kit launched a weeklong email guide to skin care on June 12, featuring advice from half a dozen experts including dermatologists, researchers, and cosmetic chemists.
The series aims to help readers build an effective routine with fewer products — cutting through what dermatologist Michelle Henry called a market full of “noise.”
The guide comes as many consumers maintain a counterful of products they rarely use, according to NPR. “I own at least 10 skin care products. Of those, I use four regularly, and one or two I apply occasionally,” wrote Kelle Walsh, a health and wellness journalist based in Colorado, in the introductory article.
Walsh noted that “it’s easy to feel that if you don’t use the right serums, acids, creams and masks, you’re doomed to wrinkled, splotchy and prematurely aged skin.”
The series emphasizes that healthy skin is about function — not a wrinkle-free appearance — and that the simplest routines may deliver the best results without straining budgets. Sign-up is available through NPR’s website; subscribers receive four emails over a week covering different facets of skin care.
“At its most basic level, skin care is about keeping our outermost layer healthy so it can function as intended,” Henry said. She added that skin “needs topical support to help keep that protective barrier intact.”
The experts cautioned against unrealistic expectations. “Just because you don’t have wrinkle-free, rosy skin does not mean it’s not healthy,” Henry said. “Healthy skin is comfortable, functional skin. And the good thing is that for the most part, healthy skin does look beautiful.”
Some of the participating experts also do consulting work for companies that make skin care products, NPR disclosed in the article.
The email series was edited by Malaka Gharib, with visual editing by CJ Riculan.