When it comes to treating melanin-rich skin, one Toronto health expert isn’t playing around.
Charmaine Cooper, also known as The Skin Theologian, has made it her life’s work to bring Black people to the forefront of the conversation surrounding beauty and health.
“Black people have been gravely left out from having not only seats at the table of Dermatology Associations and boards, but big box brand skin care companies for decades,” Cooper told Now Toronto.
“The marketing and research dollar has never been provided to support a genuinely leveled skincare landscape for all skin tones. It simply has not. For the most part, the general public has seen this for decades, not just in the skin health arena but in other industries as well,” she continued.
According to her, only three to four per cent of dermatologists in North America are of colour which has no doubt led to a lack of confidence in dermatologists supporting people with skin tones different to their own.
“I think it is important to note that Black women spend almost 10 times as much money on beauty products than their caucasian counterparts. The beauty of Black skin has been traditionally excluded from mainstream media.”
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Her journey began 28 years ago, after her mother, a hard working single mom of three, died from stress-related complications.
“She had only scratched the surface of pursuing her dream of helping women feel beautiful in the fashion space. It was the year of her death that I decided to pursue a different direction for my future career to help women achieve their best skin health in every sense of the word,” she said.
Cooper would go on to achieve a master’s degree to help her create resources for the most under-represented skin in the beauty space.
And become an author and speaker with three successful books under her belt, including “The No Compromise Black Skin Care Guide” series.
“My books have been described to me by a skin enthusiast as a skin conversation with their bestie over a cup of tea or coffee,” she said.
“I wanted a relatable voice so that readers could [really understand] the years of oversight they experienced that lead to misconceptions, myths and misdiagnosis about black skin.”
In her literary work, she pushes the boundaries on everything relating to Black skin and makes it a point to shed an important light on the rich history of Black beauty while also dispelling untruths.
Her latest body of work is “Melanin-Rich” where she teaches people how to properly care for their skin and in turn creating a healthy relationship with it.
“I wanted people with melanin-rich skin to feel assured of the validity of the quality of the information through clinical research studies, broken down for them in palatable ways. This is a research-based resource in conversational style, to support a better understanding and celebration of those with [melanated] skin,” Cooper said.
SKINCARE TIPS
When starting your journey to healthy skin, Cooper says the secret is the oil and moisture levels in the skin and how intact the barrier of the skin is.
“If the skin’s moisture retention ability and lipid levels are out of balance, it leads to all of the other conditions and concerns that are common in the skin; such as sensitivity, fine lines and wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, congestion and breakouts and even dullness,” she shared.
In short, she says making sure your skin’s barrier is balanced is the biggest green flag and from there, any solid skin care regimen can be created to address other concerns.
When asked about must-have products, she said “cosmeceutical grade quality formulastions” are essential.
These are products that sit between cosmetic-grade and pharmaceutical-grade and are of the highest quality in its formula.
“I say this unapologetically, because the skin is a complex and highly resistant membrane. There are very specific routes of penetration to the epidermis that lower-grade quality ingredients simply cannot effectively support,” she said.
“Top performing formulations don’t all have to be super pricey, but one should be aware that skin is worth the investment, as you only get one shot at it. Most of our damage is incurred before the age of 18 and the manifestations of that damage show up in later decades. And so, incorporating quality skincare ingredients that perform reparative, corrective and restorative functions without compromising the skin’s health is essential for every person who values their skin.”
In today’s era of TikTok, we tend to see people with 10 step skin care routines, prompting people to wonder if it’s actually necessary?
Cooper says this rise in popularity comes from Korean-beauty, known as K-beauty, that has taken the internet by storm.
“This has a popular concept to approach skin health, by layering many hydrating formulas. As effective as K-beauty is – and it is, having a 10-step routine is not realistic for everyone. Nor is it necessary to achieve healthy, glassy skin. The priority is knowing what is right for you, as an individual,” she said.
Cooper says it’s best to skip the antics and focus on real professional consultation with professional grade level formulations.
“Today, many consultations can take place virtually and are offered complimentary by skin professionals. So, there are lots of great options.”
