Isn’t baby skin wonderfully soft? Yes, but also very fragile and still under development…

Our EV.E.I.L.S. (EValuation of Early Infant Life / focus on Skin), an unprecedented global study, has enabled three major discoveries on babies’ skin:

Immature skin

Babies have Immature skin

The barrier function of baby skin is immature and is more porous than that of adults, and needs more protection from external influences in order to preserve its cell capital. This cell capital – unique for a whole lifetime - with which the baby's skin is endowed at birth and which allows the skin to regenerate throughout life, is particularly vulnerable during the first 2 years of life.

Baby skin dehydrates faster

Baby skin dehydrates faster

At birth, baby skin is less able to capture and retain water and therefore becomes dehydrated more easily and faster than adult skin.

4 baby skin types

4 baby skin types

There are four types of skin with different characteristics: normal, dry, very sensitive and eczema-prone skin. With this discovery, we were able to design our Mustela products accordingly, using specific active ingredients which are perfectly suited for each type of skin.

Different skin types

  • Normal skin

    There’s nothing quite like the soft delicate skin of a baby. “Normal” refers to this “baby skin” idea: it is supple, soft and comfortable. Still... it is more porous to external influences (pollution, bacteria, pollen) and dehydrates constantly.

    During its two first years, baby skin needs to be hydrated and protected on a daily basis.

  • Dry Skin

    Dry skin is dehydrated and contains less lipids than normal skin. As a result, it becomes rougher and finer and can also peel or tingle, especially on exposed (harsh weather conditions, hot or cold air etc.).

    It is easy to relieve dry skin, with daily skin care and attention.

  • Atopy-prone skin

    Today, eczema-prone skin affects 1 in 3 children in Australia. It is a non-contagious chronic inflammatory skin disease, which causes red itchy patches on well-defined areas of the body and face.

    These chronic flare-ups differentiate eczema-prone skins from normal skin types. They affect the baby’s and the entire family’s sleep and quality of life.

    But here’s the good news: its symptoms can be controlled (the intensity and frequency of the flare-ups can be decreased) by adopting appropriate behaviour and care. These symptoms also reduce with age.

  • Very sensitive skin

    A baby’s very sensitive skin reacts instantly and temporarily to the slightest everyday stress, to specific products, or to stimuli that would not trigger irritation on normal skin. Consequently, the skin reddens with a tight, tingling or heating sensation. However, very sensitive skin can be soothed quickly, no matter what part of the body is affected.

    Multiple factors trigger very sensitive skin’s reactions. Fragranced products should be avoided, and to calm the irritation and redness, it is important to choose soothing products that protect the skin barrier.

Normal skin

There’s nothing quite like the soft delicate skin of a baby. “Normal” refers to this “baby skin” idea: it is supple, soft and comfortable. Still... it is more porous to external influences (pollution, bacteria, pollen) and dehydrates constantly.

During its two first years, baby skin needs to be hydrated and protected on a daily basis.

Dry Skin

Dry skin is dehydrated and contains less lipids than normal skin. As a result, it becomes rougher and finer and can also peel or tingle, especially on exposed (harsh weather conditions, hot or cold air etc.).

It is easy to relieve dry skin, with daily skin care and attention.

Atopy-prone skin

Today, eczema-prone skin affects 1 in 3 children in Australia. It is a non-contagious chronic inflammatory skin disease, which causes red itchy patches on well-defined areas of the body and face.

These chronic flare-ups differentiate eczema-prone skins from normal skin types. They affect the baby’s and the entire family’s sleep and quality of life.

But here’s the good news: its symptoms can be controlled (the intensity and frequency of the flare-ups can be decreased) by adopting appropriate behaviour and care. These symptoms also reduce with age.

Very sensitive skin

A baby’s very sensitive skin reacts instantly and temporarily to the slightest everyday stress, to specific products, or to stimuli that would not trigger irritation on normal skin. Consequently, the skin reddens with a tight, tingling or heating sensation. However, very sensitive skin can be soothed quickly, no matter what part of the body is affected.

Multiple factors trigger very sensitive skin’s reactions. Fragranced products should be avoided, and to calm the irritation and redness, it is important to choose soothing products that protect the skin barrier.

Mustela has published 79 international scientific communications on skin and has filed 14 patents.

An innovative research methodology on reconstituted skin

An innovative research methodology on reconstituted skin

Our teams have developed patented models of reconstructed baby skin at different ages – Stelaskin® - that mimic different skin types.

Thanks to this innovation, we are able to study different skin types in more depth, better understand the impact of specific skin stresses and evaluate and test all our products on these reconstituted skin models.

Learn more about Mustela

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