Our skin is getting worse — and it’s not your fault

Skin issues today have basically become a “modern epidemic”.

70 years ago, before skincare got industrialised, the problems we battle constantly now were actually uncommon. Most women went through their day not even thinking about their skin. No redness, no dryness, no flare-ups, no irritation.

So if your skin feels like it’s fighting you no matter what you do — it’s not because you’re doing something wrong. Something bigger changed.

The hidden cause behind almost every modern skin issue

It comes down to one thing: your lipid barrier.

Lipids are the natural fats that hold your skin barrier together. The easiest way I can explain it: think of them like the waterproof coating on a good raincoat.

When that coating is intact, it keeps the good stuff (your skin’s moisture) in and the bad stuff (irritants, weather, pollution) out. But once it wears thin, everything soaks straight through — and you feel every bit of it.

That’s exactly what happens when your lipids break down — your skin can’t hold moisture in or keep irritants out, so it becomes weak, reactive and sensitive. THIS is the real issue almost nobody talks about.

So what’s actually wearing them down? That’s where it got frustrating.

Modern life is quietly breaking your lipids down

So why are sensitive skin issues SO much more common than 70 years ago? Because modern life is constantly wearing those lipids away. The main culprits:

• Environmental pollution
• Genetics
• Skincare product overload
• Harsh skincare products
• Poor sleep & stress

But the products we reach for to fix all this? They might be making it worse than anything else on that list.

The skincare industry is making it worse, not better

We all kind of know to be careful with non-natural skincare. But it’s worse than I thought:

• “Clean” skincare — A lot of it uses water and emulsifiers to bind the water to the ingredients. But the same way those emulsifiers bond with water, they bond with your skin’s natural oils and strip them away when you wash. And water-based products just sit on the surface — they can’t really penetrate to do much.
• Actives, acids & prescriptions — These use harsh ingredients to force their way into the skin. So they might work temporarily, but over time they leave your skin even weaker.

Ultimately, most of these just chase the symptoms and ignore the real issue. And with my tinfoil hat on… that’s a lot more repeat business for the 7 big corporations behind 90% of skincare.

But here’s the part I really wish I’d understood sooner…

And the longer you leave it, the worse it gets

Here’s the scary part: lipid barrier damage doesn’t stop on its own. Every day it’s not taken care of, it compounds. And collagen loss from aging only speeds it up.

That’s why skin can suddenly feel like it’s rapidly changing.

If I’m honest, that scared me. A bit more redness this month. A new line the next. Skin reacting to things that used to be fine. I could see exactly where mine was heading if I just kept doing nothing.

The answer was hiding in my great grandmother’s generation

In China, 70–100 years ago, skincare wasn’t a big deal — they didn’t have today’s endless products and complexity. But when something was needed, they used homemade remedies. For the rare skin problem, for glowing skin, for anti-aging — especially among high society.

And as I dug through remedy after remedy, one ingredient kept coming up more than any other.

One ingredient kept coming up across history

After a lot of digging, I kept running into the same thing: tallow.

If you didn’t know, tallow is rendered animal fat. And it shows up everywhere — China, Rome, Egypt, Greece, North American tribes, old England. The same ingredient, across completely different societies, all over the world.

There’s a very good reason for that. When modern researchers studied why tallow works so well, they found it’s packed with nutrients and vitamins — and it’s almost identical to the lipids in our own skin. So it absorbs effortlessly, with no issues.

Remember those broken-down lipids? Tallow doesn’t sit on top of the problem like everything else — it gives your skin back the exact thing it lost.

That was my lightbulb moment. That’s why it worked when nothing else did.

Why most tallow let me down (and how I fixed it)

I tried different tallow brands and saw better results almost immediately. But none were quite right — each was missing something. So I started making my own, the way women did generations ago.

Because there’s a lot to get wrong with tallow:

• Suet tallow — the richer fat from around the kidney. It’s harder to source and costs more, but it’s far more nutrient-dense. Many brands cut costs with mixed off-cuts instead.
• Chemically processed — to kill the “beefy” smell, a lot of brands bleach their tallow, which strips out the good stuff. I use a natural, slow rendering process I’ve perfected over time.
• Essential oils — many brands load up on essential oils to mask the smell, and that’s exactly what irritates reactive skin. I found the balance at just 0.5% dilution: pleasant, but gentle.
• Whipped tallow — whipping makes it easier to work with, but it adds air, which speeds up oxidation (it goes rancid faster) and means you’re paying for more air and less product.

And even perfect tallow on its own wasn’t enough. So I combined it with other natural ingredients to cover what tallow couldn’t — testing batch after batch until the balance was finally right.

The complete system that replaced every product on my shelf

After months of researching on the chair and testing combinations at home, I ended up with a simple system: a day balm, a night balm and a face scrub.

No 7-step routine. No actives, no acids, nothing that strips. Just three things working with your skin instead of against it — a day balm to protect, a night balm to rebuild while you sleep, and a gentle scrub so everything absorbs the way it should.

The results for me and my family were fantastic. So I started making them for other people too.

For me this is more than a business. While I sat on that chair wondering if a kidney would ever come, this mission is what kept me going. It’s a symbol of strength, radiance and unstoppable confidence.

It’s for women who refuse to settle — because your age and your situation don’t define you. Your resilience does.

Susan Cain, founder