By Kyra-lin Hom

The newest emerging trend in skin care – be you male or female – is all about natural or organic ingredients. The 'newly rediscovered' regimens are back to basics, minimizing what goes on and into our skin. But are these fads anything more than modern whimsy? I was recently presented with the perfect opportunity to find out.

I've been steadily removing a small tattoo over the last couple years via laser tattoo removal. The laser breaks down the tattoo ink and then leaves the ink for my body to process. When you think about all the metals and other unfriendly ingredients in ink, it only makes sense that my immune system grandly freaks out every time.

As a side effect, I've gradually developed an intolerance for something in my regular skin care products. So far no one's been able to determine exactly what. This is of course on top of my long standing acne problem. In other words, by now I have sensitive skin worthy of 'Princess and the Pea.'

Consequently, I've had to eliminate all potential irritants from the products that touch my skin. That means shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, laundry detergent, hand soap, and just keep on going. Some irritants like alcohols and aluminums make sense. Others like vegetable glycerin are just plain weird – and rule out even vegan organic products. So yeah, drug-store level natural wasn't going to cut it.

Enter the internet stage left. I tried all the advice. I exchanged my face wash for jojoba oil and steam (OCM). I switched my face and body moisturizer to Vitamin E oil then shea butter then food grade coconut oil. I even was desperate enough to give the 'caveman' technique a try (i.e. not washing my face at all, not even with water). Nothing worked. I was left flaky, itchy, oily and sporting teen-worthy spots. Sexy, huh? Just what I wanted.

It was time to look deeper. All of my research up until that point had been cursory, and I had managed to miss some very key details.

Minimalist skin care is designed to restore our skin's acid mantle and natural bacteria. And according to many aestheticians, this idea isn't wrong. Those things are just incredibly difficult to maintain without help in our modern world of pollution, chemicals and make up. The trick is to 'help' intelligently not overzealously, as has been the trend.

Oils can be the perfect addition to a gentle skin care routine. The right one can replace make up remover, toner and lotion with the added bonus of you knowing what's in it. But all oils have different comedogenic (pore clogging) properties and acid balances, which can further be altered/damaged if the oil is exposed to high heat. Most importantly, not everyone's skin needs the same thing.

Jojoba oil is great for people with already balanced skin because it closely matches natural skin oils (sebum). Coconut oil's lauric acid is the perfect thing to get smooth skin and nix those annoying 'skin bumpies', but it can also cause awful breakouts on people prone to acne. People like me (life-time acne sufferers in need of something moisturizing and gentle) need 100% non-comedogenic oils high in linoleic acid, as acne often occurs when sebum becomes viscous and sticky from lack of this essential component.

Just because something is natural doesn't mean it's what your skin needs. And just because one method worked for someone else doesn't mean it will work for you. I've finally found my holy grail in a gentle, commercial face cleanser followed by cold-pressed, high linoleic safflower oil, but it took work and failure to get here. This rising trend has its definite benefits. Just make sure you do your research embracing it.