What a normal, daily skin care regimen looks like.

Making the correct choices for your daily skincare regime can be a daunting task. You need to know how each product benefits your skin and which order to use them. You must choose products that work best with your skin. The following list is what type of products should be used and the order of which to use them:

Cleanser: This product must be used 1-2 times a day. A water soluble gentle cleanser that removes oil, makeup, and debri is best. This product allows other products to work to their best performance in the AM and PM. Using the correct cleanser will make your skin healthier, and smoother.

Exfoliation: Remove build up of dead skin cells gently and reveal new fresh skin with a daily exfoliator specific to your skin type and daily skincare goals such as: a BHA like Salicylic acid 2% for oily/acne prone skin types to exfoliate the surface of skin and treat pores, and blackheads. An AHA such as Glycolic 10% for normal/dry/sun-damaged skin to treat dry skin cells that need to be removed, or Vitamin C 10% to help brighten the skin daily and treat dark spots. Both AHA or BHA daily exfoliators reduce redness and will stimulate collagen production.The skin thickens from sun-damage and oily/acne prone skin further complicating matters, therefore a daily exfoliator is useful for these conditions because they eliminate buildup that causes build up, clogged pores, uneven skin tone and acne. A daily exfoliator will help you achieve more younger radiant skin.

Treating Acne: If you have acne prone or oily skin, using a serum and moisturizer specifically designed to treat oily/acne prone skin after using a daily exfoliator will help with killing acne bacteria conditions and help you maintain the correct balance of oils that you skin produces. As a result you will have less breakouts and blemishes will be treated.

Brightening Treatment: Use these treatments once daily. These treatments reduce brown spots, age spots, and discoloration.The over-production of melanin in the skin is treated of which causes dark spots and discoloration. You should see results of reduction of brown and age spots within the course of a couple of months if used consistently.

Anti-Aging Treatments/Beauty Oils: These treatments are applied in the AM/PM. These serums/oils and moisturizers are potent in antioxidants that protect your skin from free radicals in the environment that cause accelerated aging. Use these serum and moisturizers with an SPF 30 moisturizer to seal them into the skin. Improvement of fine lines, wrinkles, collagen is shown and the skin is healthier and begins to look younger in appearance.

Anti-Aging SPF 30 Moisturizer: Apply an Anti-aging SPF 30 moisturizer over all skin regime products used for the day. This will help protect your skin from UV rays and sun-damage. The sun is the primary cause of fine lines, wrinkles, aging, and dark spots. New skin cells will be generated by protecting your skin from sun-damage therefore in resulting in radiant and younger looking skin.

Intensive Result Treatments: These treatments can be used a few times a week or once a month to give your skin a boost into further achieving your results that you would like to accomplish with your skincare regime. These treatments would include: masks and microdermabrasion treatments. Take this extra step to even further your results to treat your skin for a special concern or need. Depending on your goal, results will vary with the specific concerns you are trying to target.

Gel based cleanser vs cream cleanser

Cleansers are an essential part to everyone’s skincare regime. Gel cleansers are a lighter based cleanser that purifies the skin of debri. Cream cleansers are a solid non-transparent color that usually have added nourishing ingredients to further benefit the skin. Skin type and season are a variable to keep in mind when deciding on a gel or cream based one. 

Gel cleansers remove excessive oils from the surface of the skin. Oily or acne prone skin can benefit the most from this type of cleanser. Additional ingredients that decongest and detoxify are usually added into these cleansers. Synthetic free gel cleansers are best because they do not excessively strip your skin of natural oils. Oil and water components of the cleanser are allowed to interact with each other from emulsifiers and surfactants that are usually composed in gel cleansers. If you feel that a gel cleanser is making your skin produce even more oils, you may want to make sure you are using a cream based cleanser as your daily cleanser.

Cream based cleansers add moisture to the skin of which is suitable for normal-dry, stressed, aging skin types. Extracts that benefit the moisture of the skin are commonly found in these cleansers. A cream cleanser can help heal skin that has been damaged by free radicals environmental factors. These cleansers also benefit the most sensitive skin as it nourishes, repairs, and leaves you with a moisturized feeling afterward.

Holiday beauty survival tips

Let’s start with the eyes! During the holidays your eyes can experience a hangover because of late nights of celebrating into the late hours of the night. Cotton balls or a chilled gel pack over closed eyes for a minimum of 10 minutes will help reduce swelling of puffiness and drain fluid retention. Cotton balls should be soaked and flattened the night before and frozen.

Now the face! Eating salty and drinking too many cocktails can cause a puffy face. Water should be drank to dilute and break up water retention that is caused by salt. Sleeping propped up at night can also help with keeping fluids gathering in the face area.

The Hands! Your hands are usually your most over-used body part during this time of year with all the shopping and holiday card writing you will do. Treat your hands with a moisturizing oil based hand lotion and massage your hands to increase circulation in the hands by rotating each one of your fingers slowly in tiny circles and then by pressing down on the inner side of your palm where the meaty area of your hand is by your thumb, then transition by pressing down into the middle of your hand and then by gently pressing from bottom to top on of each of your fingers. Then slowly rotate your wrist in a circle in both directions. Applying pressure to these points in the hands helps soothe and relax your hands.

Stress Acne! Treat holiday acne resulting in the stresses of trying to get too much done in too little time by adding a salicylic daily exfoliator to spot treat where blemishes normally occur. You can camouflage this area by using a salicylic acid based concealer.

Flushed face? Cooking for too long can cause your face to flush as blood will accumulate in the face to naturally cool you down. Dipping a cloth in whole milk and applying it your face will help reduce inflammation. You can also chew on ice chips during the time that you are cooking to cool down while cooking. Yellow based primers will also help you camouflage flushed tones in the face before applying your regular makeup.

End of Summer- How to address sun damaged skin

Let’s face it, some of us may not be the best about making sure our skin is protected from UV rays from an SPF 30 all of the time, and some of us are, but for those who are not, it is time start being more conscientious sun exposure. UV rays can cause fine lines, wrinkles, and discoloration. The UV rays alter your skin’s DNA each time it is exposed to UV rays. 

Luckily, it is not too late, you are actually capable of reversing sun-damage to an extent when you start using products to help protect your skin from the sun. Here are 5 steps to start treating your sun-damaged skin:Exfoliation: Use a daily exfoliator that will suit your skin type, whether it be an AHA or BHA exfoliator and leave it on for 1-3 mins and then rinse and you guessed it follow with an SPF 30 daily. You can also use a scrub 1-2 times a week to get an even deeper surface exfoliation.

Daily serum and moisturizer to brighten the skin daily: We recommend an Alpha Arbutin based serum and moisturizer. We do not recommend hydroquinone based products as it has been proven to make dark spots and discoloration darker after discontinuing usage. If a serum and moisturizer with this base is used on a daily basis, you will start to reverse and lighten up dark spots

Apply SPF Every day: Apply at least an SPF 30 every day to start to protect your skin from UV rays. Apply the SPF 30 a half hour before sun exposure and reapply once every 2 hours to achieve maximum protection.

Diet: Make sure you are eating antioxidant rich foods such as Blueberries, purple, red, and blue grapes, dark green veggies such as broccoli, kale and collard greens, to assist your body in producing the best natural skin melanin protection

Nightly use of products: After exfoliating, apply topical creams in the evening to help stimulate and protect collagen and elastin from free radicals that can enter the skin which cause fine lines and wrinkles. These topical creams that are rich in antioxidants can also communicate with the DNA to help alter the skin to reduce the risk of skin cancer. Also applying creams and serums containing Vitamin C will help reduce dark spots, fine lines and wrinkles caused by sun-damage.

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The transition from summer to winter and how to incorporate it into your skincare regimen

It is important to assess the needs of  skin seasonally. Weather can affect skin in multiple ways;  during winter, it can be begin feeling dry, flakey, or itchy and in the warmer months skin can get oilier resulting in the sebum melting inside the pores. Adding the following skincare products into your regime should help you get your skin winter ready:

Start to use an emollient and antioxidant based rich moisturizer to help retain moisture in the skin. Moisturizers should contain cell-communicating ingredients to increase the producing of normal skin cells and anti-inflammatory derivatives to help fight off free radicals that may affect the skin from the harsh effects from the winter season.Use a serum nightly followed by a night moisturizer to make sure the skin is being treated after weather exposure to keep your skin ahead of the winter game!

BHA, Salicylic 2% daily exfoliators are useful for skin that gets dry and cracked as a result in the change of weather, you should always include nightly exfoliation in your evening routine to rid of the build up of dry skin cells that usually result in breakouts and clogged pores.
UV rays are still greatly apparent and strong during winter weather; even if the sun is not visible, make sure to protect your skin daily with at least an SPF 30 year round to build up your skin’s resilience to be able to withstand these harsh effects that can occur with each season change..

Men and aging, how to keep those rugged good looks

Men age like fine wine, however when aging commences it does not mean that men should avoid getting proactive with anti-aging maintenance. Here are a few products for the gentlemen to add to their arsenal and some grooming habits to start combating the aging process:Make sure at least an SPF 30 is applied daily to start repairing and preventing UV ray damage. Reapply SPF 30 periodically throughout the day if you spend a lot of your time outdoors.

Apply vitamin based moisturizers such as: A,C, & E twice daily in the AM/PM to help nourish elasticity.
Wrinkles first appear near the eye area, therefore it is important to start applying an eye cream around this area daily. This type of cream is specifically designed to deliver concentrated nutrients to this sensitive skinned area of the face. Existing wrinkles in this area are plumped and cell turnover is sped up to reduce the formation of future fine lines and wrinkles in this area. Apply once in the AM and once in the PM using circular motions with the fingertips towards the nasal area.

Apply a daily exfoliator to unclog pores and slough off dead skin either daily or nightly before applying your daily or nightly moisturizer. Alpha or Beta Hydroxy acids are specifically recommended for men with mature skin.

Daily exercise is vital to a man’s physical and mental being. Exercise is a key component to maintaining young DNA

Eating healthy is also a contributing factor of keeping aging at bay. Eat antioxidant based foods such as blueberries, red and blue grapes, and dark greens to get the anti-aging process inside working inside out.

Last but not least, sleep is also needed (at least 7-9 hours) a night to regenerate your body and mind. While the body is in slumber, the body is repairing itself. Getting a adequate amount of sleep is important for one’s well-being to keep invigorated and refreshed. Sleep should definitely be treated like a work-commitment, so go ahead make sure you clock-in for a good snooze as your mind will thank you for it with the increased amount of productivity you will be able to achieve the next day.

Glycolic Acid- Who is it for and what does it do?

Glycolic acid is best for normal-to dry, sun-damaged skin types that is looking for anti-aging benefits and overall rejuvenation. Glycolic is derived from sugar cane and is an Alpha-Hydroxy Acid. This acid has the smallest molecular structure out of the Alpha-Hydroxy-Acids. This acid being small in structure means that it has the most deep penetrating potential. Elastin fibers and collagen is stimulated inside the dermis. Improvement with fine lines, wrinkles, and sun-damage are progressively shown. Skin disorders such as dry skin, acne, psoriasis, and ichthyosis have been shown to be able to be managed from applications of Glycolic peels. Glycolic peels do not peel visibly and have proven to be an essential fundamental for any skincare regime