Do you remember the part in Mean Girls where jungle freak, Cady Heron, ruminates on all the different ways a body can be flawed? “I used to think there was just fat and skinny. But apparently there’s lots of things that can be wrong on your body.” Well, that’s precisely how I’ve come to view skin. When I was younger and blessed with a high collagen count and freakish ability to bounce back from low-key skin trauma, I thought there were only two camps when it came to skin: People who were blessed with good skin, and people who were cursed with oily, pimple-smattered skin. I didn’t realise there was a whole universe of problems in between. Très foolish. Since then, I’ve become much more aware of the cavernous spread of skin types, skin concerns, and products on offer to faces everywhere, through lived experience (sup, puberty?), through group messages with girlfrands, by being a dedicated lurker of the internet, and most profoundly, by working at THE FILE.

We’re in the business of good skin here at TF. We could sink hours creating mood boards for all the makeup lüks and hairstyles we want to emulate. But when it really comes down to it, we’re all about investing time and money in the canvas (AKA our fleshy suits). We ain’t alone, either. Even creepiest villain of all time, Buffalo Bill in Silence Of The Lambs, knew the importance of rubbing lotion into your skin. Despite our best efforts, our skin can often be about as cooperative as a hungry toddler in a supermarket. This week is all about helping you become the parent you’ve always wanted to be to your skin. Nurturing, yet stern. Informed, yet intuitive.

So, what kind of content can you expect to find on TF this skincare week? First up, acquaint yourself with the low-key skincare routine of Laura Bannister, the high-key genius behind Museum magazine, before you read all about superhuman, Jessica Gomes, and her natural skincare range, Equal Beauty. Each day, an expert will answer one of your most pressing skincare questions, and TF matchmaker, Rose Howard, will be on-hand to recommend the products best suited to your skin type. Our gal Cassandra Wait-Hughes will help you say “laters” to milia, and we pinky swear we’ll drag you out of whatever skincare slump you might be in. (With our bare hands if we have to, but mostly with our words.) There will be skincare awards, there will be (happy) tears, and, by God, there will be dewy skin come Friday.

The overarching goal of the week? To reduce the many skin camps down to one: Good skin for everybody!