Shopping Cart: Exfoliants: Scrubs vs. Serums
While we can all agree that exfoliation is an essential part of any good skin care regimen, there is more than one way to slough dead skin cells. Manual exfoliators, such as at-home scrubs and professional microdermabrasion treatments, remove dead skin cells by way of small, sand-like granules scraping against the skin. The friction caused by this scraping removes the surface skin cells. While manual exfoliators have the benefit of instantaneous cell removal, they can be harsh if overused. Some aggressive manual exfoliants can even cause broken capillaries over time or exacerbate rosacea.
Serum-based exfoliants such as Emerge by Kalologie Labs dissolve dead skin cells on the surface rather than scraping them away. While the benefits of an exfoliating serum are often cumulative, they often do more than merely exfoliate; for example, Emerge is also anti-bacterial and anti-aging. Any type of exfoliation increases sun sensitivity, however, so sunscreen is a must regardless of how you de-flake your face.
Winter Skin Tips
Though good skin care is a year-round job, few seasons offer as many solid excuses for facial treatments as winter. Whether it’s overindulgence in holiday festivity fare, or the skin-taxing trifecta of travel, climate change, and stress, your skin-the body’s largest organ-has much to contend with. Factor in consecutive months of decreased sun exposure, and the stage is set for a regimen of more aggressive skin-changing treatments.
Facials and peels are powerful tools in battling many skin woes; but they are especially effective against the season’s most common complaint: dryness. Though it may seem counterintuitive, the sloughing of surface dead cells is an essential step in quenching thirsty skin. If cells on the surface of the skin are dead, then even the most effective (and often most expensive) moisturizers cannot penetrate the skin to deliver much needed hydration-wasting good product and, therefore, good money. So you see, winter facials and peels not only make good skin sense, but they also make good fiscal sense too. Isn’t it nice when indulgence is also practical?
Laser Hair Removal for African American Skin
Q. I am African American and extremely interested in laser hair removal, but Dr. Oz said on the Oprah Winfrey Show that African Americans are not good candidates for the procedure. Is this true?
A. This is no longer true. The advanced technology used in today’s pulsed light hair removal systems allows for safe and effective treatments of all skin types, from the fairest to the darkest. This technology is safe even for tanned skin.
Are IPL Photo Facials Effective on Melasma?
Can everyone benefit from a photofacial? I have melasma from years of taking the birth control pill but have heard contradictory information about who can benefit from this procedure.
Photofacials are widely known as the “gold standard” for treating vascular lesions and pigmented lesions associated with sun damage. However, photofacials are not the recommended treatment for melasma, which is blotchy pigmentation most often associated with pregnancy or oral contraceptive use. In fact, photofacials can often times darken this pigmentation. Fortunately, effective treatment for melasma does exist with the development of the Cosmelan depigmentation system.
Skin Care Products and Pregnancy
I am trying to get pregnant and in preparation I am beginning to eliminate foods and products considered unbeneficial or harmful during pregnancy. Can you tell me what ingredients in skin care products I should avoid?
Most of the commonly used ingredients in skin care products are completely safe for pregnant women. However, both salicylic acid (found commonly in acne products) and retinoids (popular in anti-aging products) have been shown in clinical studies to cause birth defects when taken orally during pregnancy. Therefore, although small topical doses are considered safe, it’s best to avoid these ingredients through pregnancy and lactation. Of note, alpha hydroxyl acids, such as glycolic acid and lactic acid, are generally considered safe.
