The Wrinkle Report

  

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O, The Oprah Magazine  |  From the June 2004 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

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The facts about skin treatments

  

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By Jenny Bailly
O, The Oprah Magazine  |  From the March 2007 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

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Peels

What they are: Doctor- or aesthetician-administered treatments that use either a chemical (hydroxy acids or trichloroacetic acid) or mechanical process (microdermabrasion) to lift away the upper layers of the skin.

How they work: For a chemical peel, an acid solution is painted on the face like a mask. The higher the concentration (or the longer it is left on), the more layers of skin that will be peeled away. Microdermabrasion uses aluminum oxide crystals to buff away dead skin cells. "Many women need more exfoliation around the nose, mid-forehead, and chin, and with mechanical exfoliation, it's easier to focus on those areas," says Heidi Waldorf, MD, associate clinical professor of dermatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Some doctors are praising a newer system called Vibraderm, which uses vibrating metal paddles to exfoliate the skin. Eliot F. Battle Jr., MD, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Howard University, prefers it for his African-American patients because the paddles are gentler than crystals—important for dark skin, which is vulnerable to spots when it becomes irritated or traumatized. More and more microdermabrasion techniques are also marrying exfoliation with topical treatments. The Vibraderm treatment can be followed up with a solution of antioxidants, glycolic acid, collagen, or bleaching agents. The SilkPeel or DermaSweep machines remove dead cells while delivering either hydroquinone to lighten dark spots, salicylic acid to heal acne, or hyaluronic acid to hydrate dry patches.

Results: One light chemical peel or microdermabrasion treatment will leave the skin temporarily brighter; a series of at least four is necessary to get results that can last several months, like a smoothing of rough patches and more even pigmentation.

Medium or deep chemical peels should be done only in a doctor's office. Because these peels reach all the way to the dermis, collagen production is stimulated with one treatment. Fine lines are effaced, and skin may even be slightly tighter.

medical: As a reminder, always consult your doctor for medical advice and treatment before starting any program.

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Study: 80 per cent sunscreens found ineffective

  

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Planning to buy a new sunscreen that you’ve seen in the market? Better think twice before you do that. According to a study conducted by the Environmental Working Group, a non profit research organization based in Washington D.C., 4 out of 5 sunscreen lotions do not give adequate protection against the harmful rays of the sun or contain harmful chemicals.

Most of these sunscreens seem to be effective for sunburns, but their efficiency in fighting skin cancer is under question. They seem to be having little effect on the prevalence of melanoma which is the deadliest form of skin cancer. The rate of contracting skin cancer remains steady. According to the National Cancer Institute this trend is actually on a rise. According to Dr. Marianne Berwick, a melanoma specialist, who heads the Division of Epidemiology (University of New Mexico), there is no evidence that sunscreens work against melanoma.

However, the industry experts are ready with their own versions on the effectiveness and safety of sunscreens.

According to John Baily , chief scientist at the Personal Care Products Council (a trade association for the cosmetic and personal care product industry) the materials used in sunscreens are tested in a number of ways in animal studies and clinical studies before being approved for usage by the public. According to him, the EWG is taking the laboratory studies into considerations and not the ones conducted on human beings and drawing conclusions that the products are unsafe and hence to be avoided. However, when asked about the effectiveness of the sunscreens on skin cancer he agreed that scientifically it cannot be said that sunscreens protect against melanoma.

A number of scientists believe that people who apply sunscreens remain in the sun for longer periods of time thinking that the sunscreen is actually protecting them against the sun. It has been observed that FDA (Food and Drug Administration), when checking a new brand of sunscreen, asks for the verification of its effectiveness against sunburn but not against melanoma and other forms of skin cancer.

But are the sunscreen manufacturers actually at fault? Before contemplating on that we should examine how the sunscreens have been working till now. It has been found that sunscreens are effective against sunburn but not skin cancer. How? The sun emits two types of rays that are harmful to the human skin. They are UVB (ultra violet B rays) and UVA (ultra violet A rays) both of which cause sunburn. Repeated sunburn may lead to skin cancer. The sunscreens that have been developed till now protect against sunburn caused by UVB and not UVA. Now UVA is being looked upon as a causal factor for melanoma. The SPF (Sun Protection Factor) might be effective in protecting against sunburn caused by UVB and not UVA.

Now, FDA that regulates sunscreens as over-the –counter drugs is rolling out a labeling system in which the manufacturer of the sunscreen has to specify its effectiveness against UVA by May. Also the acronym SPF will be changed to mean Sunburn Protection Factor rather than Sun Protection Factor.

According to Margaret Tucker, Director of Human Genetics Program and Chief of the Genetic Epidemiology Branch (National Cancer Institute), the newer generations of sunscreens might prove to be more effective against skin cancer. She was critical of the view that there is an increased risk of skin cancer in people who stay out in the sun for longer durations after applying a sunscreen. She opines that people do not apply adequate quantities of the sunscreen while exposing themselves to the sun. They do not reapply it during the day. According to her if you sweat, you need to apply it once every twenty minutes or at least after every couple of hours.

There's no vacation for skincare

  

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Anti aging skin care tips

  

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Anti-aging skin care tips

There is a simple test for skin aging: take your skin with two fingers, extend it slightly and see how long it takes your skin to snap back after being pinch-pulled away. Young skin snaps back on the instant. The old skin keeps this form to several seconds. The reason for such difference is the elastin quantity and quality. Wrinkles are formed as soon as the level of collagen and elastin gets low.

Anti-aging skin care starts with prevention early aging. There are many easy actions to keep your skin young, for example:
• Protect your face from direct sunrays;
• Always use moisturizers;
• Eat healthy food to prevent aging signs like dark circles, fine lines;
• Include fresh green vegetables and fruits to protect your skin against free radicals that destroy collagen;
• Wear sun glasses and apply a proper sunburn cream.

All physiological changes of the skin usually begin in thirties. It is the time when the levels of many hormones and growth factors begin to decrease. It is the time to make your skin care more elaborate. The fourth and fifth decades of life are characterized by a strongly marked reduction of hormones. Another problem of older skin is increasing of skin sensibility, density and elasticity.

Here are some common rules for anti-aging skin care after thirty:
- Provide hydration. By means of proper hydration it is possible to achieve an optimal anti-aging routine.
- Treat wrinkles and fine lines, which are common after 40.
- Treat pigmentation problems. Most of them caused by abnormal production of the skin pigment melanin.

Deficiency of certain essential minerals also leads to wrinkle formation. Also when speaking about anti-aging skin care, it cannot be denied that vitamins play an important role in anti-aging care.
\• Vitamin E is a fat soluble antioxidant. In living systems, vitamins C and E can regenerate each other and thus potentiate each other's antioxidant effects. Vitamin E has an effect on the ability of vitamin C to stimulate the synthesis of collagen.

Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) is one of the relatively few topical agents whose effectiveness against wrinkles and fine lines is backed by a fair amount of reliable scientific evidence.

Simple home recipes can also help you to prevent and treat wrinkles. You can use some natural and easy homemade recipes that will help you to remove aging signs at early stages. So, the main derivation is the following: make a salubrious habit to care your skin so as to avoid hard skin problems in future.

Why you should use Collagen

  

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Collagen creams have been around for decades. At the first glance, they seem useful. After all, the skin is made of collagen; so if you put on a cream with collagen, the skin should absorb it and thereby improve. This does not work. Let me give you an analogy. Imagine you live in a brick house and your neighbor is throwing bricks at it. Will your walls become stronger or smoother? Of course not: those bricks will simply lay scattered on the ground.

Same happens when you apply a collagen cream. Collagen is a large molecule, it does not penetrate the skin but stays idly on top of it, only to be washed off during your next wash. Traditional collagen creams are not entirely useless because collagen can hold moisture and makes a decent moisturizer. Do not expect any long term change in your skin.

  Some companies use partially hydrolyzed collagen, or collagen chopped up into pieces small enough to penetrate the skin. But even if such downsized collagen penetrates the skin, the fragments are too small to properly integrate into the skin's own collagen framework. Like a lock and key analogy.  They are likely to be quickly washed out of the skin via lymphatic flow. Finally, a few companies claim to possess unique trans dermal technologies to deliver full-size collagen deep into the skin via topical application.

Purigenex is a state of the art trans dermal collagen mask that is applied to to the skin weekly and promises plumper skin. In the 2 months we have been using them at the spa, we have seen a drastic difference in the clients skin. I am amazed by the difference, and have become a believer. Purigenex uses Porcine collagen that is only stable in 39 degrees Farenheight, so it must be refrigerated. I have thought a lot about collagen and why it doesnt work, but like the brick analogy, no matter how much you use or apply  it can't get in.To me as an esthetician, Purigenex makes sense. It has the right ingredients that like a applying a key in a lock, fit, and it has the perfect PH level to produce optimum absorbstion. And of course I have seen the results. It is a must for all my clients now. For those of you that are product savy or want to know how it works read on.

Their flagship products are collagen-based intensive skin therapies These formulas are medically engineered with the world’s most highly purified atelocollagen — a truly non-immunogenic, bio-compatible element in the most active animal-source form. Collagen of this quality has never before been offered in topical cosmetic preparations. Their masks and serums are FDA-registered, preservative-free formulas that are highly tolerated by even the most sensitive individuals.

Collagen is nature’s most abundant protein polymer. It has a triple helical polypeptide structure with antigenic formations called “telopeptides” at each end of the molecule. Telopeptides are the major cause of immune reactions to proteins, because they are unique to each individual. Consequently, general collagen can cause an allergic response or rejection in up to 20% of treatments. Like all the collagen injections people had in the 90's.     

In atelocollagen, the telopeptides are removed from a Type I collagen molecule, creating a far more viable, non-immunogenic form of the protein. Furthermore, atelocollagen is much higher in density than general collagen; so, it is easily absorbed into the skin.

PURIGENEX’s atelocollagen was originally developed by distinguished researchers as a medical grade raw material for tissue regeneration. Now it has been adapted for trans dermal cosmetic use, providing the most highly purified, safe, bio-compatible collagen available with rare to no side effects.

I highly recommend this to anyone seeking plumper skin, reducing fine lines and wrinkles or helping with acne scars.