Hypochlorous Acid 

[00:00:00] Speaker: It fights bacteria, soothes irritation, and is gentle enough for uber sensitive skin. 
  

[00:00:07] Speaker: Today we're digging into another ingredient. This one was brought to us by one of our listeners. We're talking about hypochlorous acid. I've had to rehearse that a couple times. Hypochlorous acid. Have you heard of it? 

[00:00:21] Speaker: Have you used it? We're going to talk about it today. 

[00:00:23] Speaker 2: Yeah, this was brought to us by a listener, so thank you. When you guys do that, it's, we love that we're bringing things forward that you're wanting to know about, because that's why we do what we do. Mm hmm. Yeah, this was an interesting one, too, because it is, I would say, probably newer to a lot of people in our industry but again, you've got to thank social media for pointing out things to us, and this is how we can stay on top of, you know, even if you don't have it. 

[00:00:48] Speaker 2: In your treatment room, maybe knowing about it would be a good idea so you can help your clients because you got to love that they can just order this anytime, anywhere. So giving them some education on it I think is really important so [00:01:00] people understand what they're using and what they're doing, not saying you have to run out and buy it. 

[00:01:07] Speaker 2: Just saying, educate yourself on it.  

[00:01:09] Speaker: Well, you could be asked about it by your client, right? Yeah, exactly. I mean, you're  

[00:01:12] Speaker 2: doing a waxing and they ask you. That's happened, I'm sure, to many people, right? Not even a facial service. It doesn't have to be. You could be doing nails. And they might, Hey, have you heard about this? 

[00:01:23] Speaker 2: Cause they know you're in the beauty industry. So another, you know, add to your toolbox of knowledge to, to be that go to person with your clients.  

[00:01:32] Speaker: Absolutely. So, I mean, why don't we just, first of all, like the, what is it? What is hypochlorous acid other than a really hard word to say?  

[00:01:44] Speaker 2: So actually interesting enough, it's a naturally occurring compound. 

[00:01:50] Speaker 2: It's a powerful antimicrobial and anti inflammatory and wound healing properties. Now in skin [00:02:00] care, just hearing that you can see there's some I'll say different ways that you could probably incorporate it in or use it. So it's, it's very effective and gentle, yet when you think about it's reducing bacteria and soothing irritation and supporting skin health, like it sounds pretty powerful of an ingredient to be. 

[00:02:20] Speaker 2: To be using. Yeah, I think I read,  

[00:02:24] Speaker: I read somewhere that it was as we're researching this build as being a hundred times more powerful than bleach when it comes to fighting bacteria. And then I read bleach and I'm like, what on our face, but it's just comparing. The power to fight bacteria to bleach. 

[00:02:43] Speaker: It is not bleach, which I had panicked at first.  

[00:02:47] Speaker 2: Exactly, yeah. No, and there's different degrees of it, right? So you're going to think skin care for beauty professionals to medical level so think your doctors, nurses, that type of thing. And then there's also [00:03:00] the hospital grade, maybe that's the way to put it. 

[00:03:02] Speaker 2: Of course, it comes in different ways, but we're going to. I think it would be the best way to talk more about our industry, I think, would be the best way.  

[00:03:08] Speaker: I agree. I do want to note, though, that, like, in researching it, obviously, I went on TikTok there are lots of people talking about it as a cleaner. So, that is a different grade and a different Yes. 

[00:03:25] Speaker: So we're not talking about that one. Yes,  

[00:03:27] Speaker 2: right. Not the hospital grade level.  

[00:03:30] Speaker: The hospital  

[00:03:30] Speaker 2: grade levels are for cleaning purpose. Floors and bathrooms and tables and, you know, think another level. Yeah, so this is how  

[00:03:42] Speaker: it's used in skin care.  

[00:03:44] Speaker 2: Correct. Exactly. So so why is it good for skin? So let's talk about when we said antibacterial. 

[00:03:51] Speaker 2: Or antimicrobial, I should say, and acne fighting, so it's going, it helps to kill bacteria and viruses and fungus which is [00:04:00] commonly known in acne prone skin, so it's going to help reduce the breakout without the irritation. So you think of products that sometimes disrupt the skin barrier at the same time, this will not do that, which I think is really good because I'm always trying to help educate educate people on this pro professionals and clients that you don't want to go that aggressive and that strong on your skin because you're going to alter the barrier. 

[00:04:25] Speaker 2: Yes. Okay. This will kill that bacteria in your pimple, but what's it doing to your skin? So we, we need to find that. Balance when we're working with things so I'm happy to share that this will not disrupt the skin barrier while it is fighting  

[00:04:39] Speaker: And I, one way that it's being used is you could use it like a face mist or a spray and like after your cleansing step to do that to reduce bacteria and refresh the skin. 

[00:04:51] Speaker: Or you can do like spot treatment on acne,  

[00:04:54] Speaker 2: right? Exactly. Yeah. The other thing it does, it's actually really ideal for [00:05:00] sensitive skin and reactive skin. So think irritation, inflammation, rosacea as well. So it's going to calm down the skin. And because rosacea sometimes can be prone to the bacterial. 

[00:05:13] Speaker 2: Side of that world. Then it's going to help fight that as well. So it's anti inflammatory, which is an amazing thing, which leads into it's an accelerated wound healing. So it helps wound healing. So again, you're thinking skin conditions. What would need healing, but then there's also treatments and we'll we'll dive into a little bit more about some treatments. 

[00:05:36] Speaker 2: We'll give some examples, but just slowly getting into that idea of how to use it as a recovery or, or ongoing skin condition battle. You know, the other thing, when we talked about the barriers as a balance, as a skin barrier. So everything is about, it sounds to me that this is all about the skin barrier and it's re applenishing and helping at that [00:06:00] level of bringing things back to that normal. 

[00:06:03] Speaker 2: Barrier and  

[00:06:05] Speaker: goal for us all,  

[00:06:06] Speaker 2: right? Yes. Yeah. Especially, you know, when I'll speak of North America, we are doing a lot more than what we should. More is better is the theory out there, but it's really not less is better. Less is more. That's what I always say. But the other side of that, if you look in your treatments, how else could you use if you had a client who wasn't sensitive and they don't have acne? 

[00:06:26] Speaker 2: Well, if you think of extractions. You could use that as a preventative so it's not as harsh as some other products out there Maybe that you're using or not using at all because you don't want to use harsh This is an easy one to bring into it keeping the the skin clean And fighting any potential infections that could happen. 

[00:06:48] Speaker 2: So and like you said how it's being used as a mist You know, I even wanted to search what they're misting it. What's that doing in the eye area? And it really doesn't say anything about the eye area. I still [00:07:00] generally cover my eyes or my client's eyes when I'm doing things like that. So be mindful of that one. 

[00:07:05] Speaker 2: And in the end, you need to do a test, right? Always make sure you're testing at first. But when they say about, you know, you could spritz that on before applying your serum. So think of your sensitive skin, rosaceas, acne, breakouts or just moisturizing. So it's kind of doing all everything in there, which is pretty, pretty amazing. 

[00:07:24] Speaker 2: And if you're sending it home with a client, or maybe your client has it without knowing their brand and what they're doing, but just being mindful, like, the affected area, if it's acne or breakouts, not just everywhere sometimes is a good thing. Maybe once, twice a week, it's localized to that, and then once a week, twice a week is everywhere. 

[00:07:43] Speaker 2: I think that's kind of like a puzzle you're going to have to follow along with your client to see how things are going with them. Because you didn't, they didn't buy it from you, but you still want to help them, you know, like, if them coming to you to tell you about it, I think is really crucial. That's that rapport you're building with your client, [00:08:00] that they're coming to you and telling you about this. 

[00:08:02] Speaker 2: And then you're, you know, being nice and guiding them through it somewhat. Right. And then. That redness and irritation, it's the same thing to calm it, so if it's a rosacea client and you know that, I don't know, they had a burst, like it's inflamed and, and not doing well, maybe this, maybe they went skiing and it affected it, you know, because the temperature changes or the vice versa, they've gone on a beach vacation or they're just in the sun golfing, you know it's going to calm that inflammation down, which is essential, they can miss that directly to the area as well, and what I love too is it's wound healing, so if anyone You know, let's say they have acne and the breakouts have slowed down. 

[00:08:43] Speaker 2: Well, now you're actually helping to promote the healing to the skin as well. So there's a lot of benefits to this ingredient for sure.  

[00:08:52] Speaker: Some stuff I read too was that it could be used after microneedling because of that calming and [00:09:00] sensitive, you know, for sensitive skin. But. In reading more about it, it does seem like a, a do it all, because it's like post vaxxing, you can use it post vaxxing to calm irritation or prevent ingrowns or soothe lash and brow treatments. 

[00:09:15] Speaker: It's just like, it seems that you can use it across the board, and I'm going to play devil's advocate here, but is it too good to be true? Like, how long has this been around? And. What is, I haven't used it, so I can't, like, talk from personal experience, right? Have you used it before?  

[00:09:37] Speaker 2: Nope.  

[00:09:38] Speaker: No, so I think because it is newer, right, like, I would take it all with a grain of salt. 

[00:09:43] Speaker: Like, I'm just like I'm a cynic, I think, at heart, and I'm just like, this sounds too good to be true. If it does do all these things, great. It probably, I mean, I don't, I think a lot of the places I've looked, these were reputable resources that we had researched, so I [00:10:00] would trust that. But I think if you are, getting into it or you're using it to do so I think, I  

[00:10:07] Speaker 2: don't think it's new. 

[00:10:08] Speaker 2: I think it's just, it's, it's drawing traction, right? Like it's been around for like forever. But how it's been brought forward, I mean, that's the beauty of skincare. In general, as they're always researching and trying to find ways to do it. So maybe they found ways to bring it into the brands, not just in the whole world of our doctors, right. 

[00:10:29] Speaker 2: Dermatologists and stuff that they're bringing it into. Again, there's different degrees of it, the medical grade versus, you know, our grade of what we can use and then studies and seeing like. Is it on a rise now? Because rosacea's on the rise over the last how many years? Like, whereas, you know, in the, when I was doing a lot more treatments before, there wasn't a ton of people with rosacea. 

[00:10:52] Speaker 2: It was very rare. And you know, so then they were using again, the medical side of, of the process of their doctor [00:11:00] prescriptions and things like that. But I think, I think that they just are becoming more effective on stabilizing these ingredients so that we can use them. Safely in our scope of practice as well. 

[00:11:11] Speaker 2: And you gotta love social media for bringing all these things up and these, how do you stay on top of it? And this is, in some ways, I wish social media was big in the 2000s for me because that would have helped me figure out what the trends were ahead of time. In that sense, or to be ready for it, because the questions that would come from the clients as well, right? 

[00:11:32] Speaker 2: So, yes, you know, it is, I'm sure you're going to see a little bit more of this coming along. But, you know, it's still that same idea of, it's specific. It's been used and I mean, if you look at micro needling in our world didn't come forward for how long that didn't exist before for us as professionals, right? 

[00:11:54] Speaker 2: And now they're showing treatments specifically what to do, like you mentioned after waxing. It's great after [00:12:00] waxing for sure. It's going to be soothing, calming. It's easy enough. I have no idea what the cost is. Never even looked at that. If you could order it and have it maybe check with your brands. 

[00:12:10] Speaker 2: Maybe it's hiding in there already. You just don't know. But yeah, so the treatments like acne or blemish, you know, you could do it, think after extractions or even before keeping a clean palette of the skin and then doing it between like you, you know, you're working on an area, maybe it's a little bit more than a lot of on the congested area of the chin and more came out than you were hoping in a sense because you don't want to overdo extractions, but you could. 

[00:12:37] Speaker 2: Missed it right to that spot and carry on to another area. So I think there's ways to do it. And of course, of course, post treatment helping with your clients for home. You mentioned microneedling or we mentioned that too. That's again, it's just keeping that microbiome load low so that we're not. 

[00:12:53] Speaker 2: overdoing or a potential risk of infections or anything like that. Chemical peels, [00:13:00] I think that if you see this out there, they're referring to our world of superficial, the, but you want to wait 24, 48 hours. I've used your rule of thumb in your education of what things can be used and what can't be used based on the chemical peels you're doing. 

[00:13:15] Speaker 2: So if you're doing, you know, 2%, 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, like, what are the protocols? And remember to follow those, I would say. Wouldn't you say, Dream? A hundred percent, yeah. Especially if you're just buying it and you don't have an actual distributor per se selling it to you as a professional, giving you all of the details of the product the education behind it, and you're just trying to find it. 

[00:13:41] Speaker 2: I didn't dig that far into who's carrying it and who's not carrying it. Like. That's up to you guys. We're just bringing the ingredient forward here.  

[00:13:48] Speaker: Yeah. And you, I mean, you can find it obviously on Amazon in different forms, but I think one of the things I read from a dermatologist who said that you should be kind of [00:14:00] careful of what the ingredients, what other ingredients are in the product as well. 

[00:14:06] Speaker: So you kind of, you know, read, read the label. I think he had said.  

[00:14:14] Speaker 2: Well, yeah, you want to because it fillers. No one's controlling Amazon. Exactly. Yeah. So we forget that sometimes because you can go get it on there. And so are your clients, right? So,  

[00:14:25] Speaker: and he, okay, here it's a typically hydro. I keep wanting to say hydro. 

[00:14:29] Speaker: I know. Hypochlorous acid is formulated with only water and sodium chloride.  

[00:14:36] Speaker 2: Mm hmm. Well, I was sharing with you, which was interesting because the process of how they make it, I'm not getting into the chemistry of it, just found it interesting that if anyone knows electrolysis and using galvanic or the blend method, it's the same concept that they're using the current reacts to our moisture in our skin. 

[00:14:57] Speaker 2: That creates the [00:15:00] lie naturally occurring in our body. And this is very similar to the same thing. So it's very corrosive inside to kill the root of the hair. It's not going to harm the skin. Which makes sense when you think of it as an electrologist. If anyone's out there listening, that's an electrologist. 

[00:15:17] Speaker 2: You're going to understand that a little bit more. It's like, oh, now I understand why it's not going to harm the skin. Nor does the lye in electrolysis. I think though too, it's like if you look at it, a really easy way to think hypochlorous acid is, and you'll see the abbreviation H O C L, is the abbreviation for that is soothing, healing, and prevents infection. 

[00:15:42] Speaker 2: And if you can remember those three key things, I think it'll help you understand, or direct your clients how to use it. But again, don't back the product that they're using just say, Hey, this is what I know, but I don't know your brand. I don't know what's in it. I'm not sure an information, but if you're carrying it, then you [00:16:00] need to be able to, you know, think of it like prescribing when you get a prescription from the pharmacist, they're going to tell you all the details about it, what to be aware of, what not to do, what to do when not to use it. 

[00:16:12] Speaker 2: You know, all that direction to it. So I think that's a big part of it. And just based on your services, like I'm even thinking nail techs, you know, you're, you're using it and you accidentally with your electric file, Nick them a little bit where you could spray that on there or pre. Aspect of it of cleaning instead of using alcohol, which is so harsh on their skin. 

[00:16:34] Speaker 2: You know, I know that it's, you know, I get why they're using alcohol because they want to make sure there's no potential bacteria, but at the same time or whatever disinfectants they're using, but it's still really harsh on the barrier of the skin. So this would be to me, it sounds like, wow, this is actually a nice way or nice way to help not dehydrate the skin after all of that work done. 

[00:16:58] Speaker 2: And it prevents any [00:17:00] potential bacterial infections. So think pedicures. That's where my head goes as well, too. So I think there's a lot of ways you could do this. A lot of  

[00:17:08] Speaker: uses,  

[00:17:08] Speaker 2: yeah. I have no idea the cost of this. That's something I never thought about exploring. But yeah, very interesting ingredient. 

[00:17:18] Speaker 2: Thank you for bringing that forward. Yeah. I love that.  

[00:17:21] Speaker: We're always open to topic suggestions, something you're curious about. We can do the digging and I'm sure other people would want to know about it too.  

[00:17:30] Thanks for listening to Beauty Babble.