Chemical Peel, Part 2

In the previous post, I explained what chemical peels are, the types of chemical peel and how chemical peels are applied. Here are a few more aspects to consider;

Which One Is Right For Me?

Chemical peels can remove just a few or many layers of skin. The key factors to consider in determining which chemical peel is correct for you include; the amount of skin problem/aging/sun damage, the skin colour or type, the amount of skin rejuvenation you would like to accomplish, and the amount of recovery time that is acceptable to you.

As a general rule, the deeper the peel, the more side effects and potential complications will be encountered. Usually the recovery period will also be longer. Also, the darker the skin type, the greater the number of problems may be encountered after the procedure. This applies especially to pigmentation problems such as post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. This occurs when the treated skin becomes darker than the untreated skin. Therefore, care should be taken when applying deeper peels in darker skin types. Consideration should be given towards performing several more shallow peels rather than one deep peel.

The extent of skin aging will also determine which peel to use. For patients with less skin damage, pigmentation and wrinkles, only superficial peels will be required. The opposite also holds true.

Different skin ailments respond differently to particular chemical peels. As an example, acne responds well to Jessner's peel and salicylic (beta hydroxy acid) peels. These chemical peels are very oil soluble, are able to penetrate deeper into pores to remove oil and sebum, and are anti-inflammatory. Both alpha hydroxy acid and beta hydroxy acid help exfoliate the skin. TCA peels, alpha hydroxy acid peels and Jessner's peels are best suited to pigmentation issues and sun damage.

Wrinkles can be best treated using any medium to deep chemical peel, such as TCA peels. These peels can be a cost effective alternative to laser skin treatment.

How To Prepare For A Chemical Peel

Skin preparation can be done by applying skin care products containing retinoic acid such as Retin-A/Stieve-A, which are available by prescription only. Topical lightening agents, which are creams or serums used to help lighten skin and skin pigmentation problems, can also be used. These include hydroquinone, kojic acid or arbutin. This should be started at least two weeks before peeling to help with even penetration of the chemical peel, decreasing the healing period and to reduce complications like post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Use of alpha hydroxy acid cleansers/exfoliants in the two weeks prior to chemical peeling can also help the peeling agent. These, however, do not reduce the risk of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.

Medical Issues That Your Doctor Should Know About Before A Chemical Peel

Patients with cold sores (herpes simplex virus) should advise their doctor before chemical peeling. If the cold sore is active, they may need to wait until it has passed before having a chemical peel. Or if the person has a history of cold sores, the doctor may recommend a course of anti-viral medication as a prophylaxis to any re-occurence during the treatment.

A presence of keloid (thick, pigmented scarring) may exclude a person from all but the most superficial of chemical peels.

Patients with HIV/AIDS or immunosuppression should stay away from chemical peels as it may increase the possibility of infection and scarring.

Also those who have recently had a course of isotretinoin (or Roaccutane) for the treatment of acne should avoid chemical peels for six months before undertaking medium or deep chemical peels. Likewise, people who have recently had a facelift should not undergo chemical peels for at least six months.

Skin Care Tips For Men

Yeah! Men have skin, too. So why shouldn't they get a few tips...

Compared to ten years ago, I'd have to say that men are becoming more aware of their skin and the need to look after it. Shaving is tough on the face, so a bit of care can go a long way towards skin rejuvenation. And with the campaigns making people aware of the damage that can be done to skin by over-exposure to the sun's UV rays, the idea of applying a sunblock and moisturizer no longer makes macho males go into a state of panic.

For many men, however, skin care is still little more than an afterthought. Skin care is important since our skin is our defense against the outside world. And no-one wants to develop wrinkles before their time.

For those men who are open to suggestions, here are a few simple, inexpensive tips to retaining that younger looking skin.

Shaving

Before shaving, make sure you wet your face with warm water before applying shaving cream. This will allow the razor to glide better across your skin. Take your time while shaving, to reduce the chances of nicking your skin. Rinse with cold water, not hot. And applying after-shave cream or a facial moisturizer is a good idea.

If you use an electric razor, apply lotion before shaving. This will get your whiskers to stand up and allows the shaver to glider over the skin more easily. It will also decrease irritation that can come with electric shaving.

Protection From The Elements

The wind and sun can dry and damage your skin. As part of your morning routine, apply a moisturizer that contains sunscreen. This should be used on all exposed skin such as arms, the backs of your hands as well as your face and neck. This is important if you intend to be outside for an extended period of time. A cream with a minimum SPF factor of 15 should be used. After being in the sun for a long time, use a moisurizer that contains vitamin E.

Diet And Exercise

A balanced diet and staying active are essential. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables, as these will provide you with anti-oxidants that can slow down skin damage. Although natural is best, alternatively, you may consider taking multi vitamins that contain anti-oxidants and vitamin E. Limit your intake of greasy, fried food.

Exercise will help clear your pores and increase your metabolism.

Drink Enough Water

Make sure that you drink lots of water each day. Our body's cells have a high water content, so it makes sense to keep yourself hydrated. Limit your consumption of coffee, tea and alcohol as these tend to dehydrate you.


Men should realize that proper skin care need not take a lot of time. A few minutes a day is all that is required. With just a bit of extra attention, your skin will look healthier and younger.

The Importance Of Vitamins & Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are essential for our body to function correctly. As our skin is an integral part of our body, healthy eating will assist with skin rejuvenation. In fact, an absence of some vitamins and minerals are damaging to the skin and possibly result in skin disease and a premature increase in aging.

The following are various vitamins and minerals important for healthy skin;

Vitamin B-Complex

B-complex normally refers to the group of vitamins that include B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenate), B6 (pyridoxine), B12 (cyancobalamine) and folate.

Vitamins B1 and B2 are important for energy production in the cells. Lack of these vitamins may occur in people who base their diet mainly on processed grains and potatoes.

Vitamin B12 is essential for a range of processes in the cells. A lack of this vitamin is very detrimental to neurons and rapidly dividing cells, including skin cells. B12 is found almost exclusively in meat, poultry, fish, eggs and diary products. It has been shown that no active B12 is found in algae (such as spirulina) or fermented soy products. Therefore, vegetarians are at risk of this vitamin deficiency.

Just like B12, folate is also important to rapidly dividing cells, including skin cells. Green leafy vegetables and beans are the most abundant sources of folate. Liver is the only food from an animal source that is rich in folate. Folate can break down during cooking. So the best way to get enough folate in your diet is to eat liberal amounts of fresh or slightly cooked vegetables.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is essential to the normal life cycle of skin cells. A lack of vitamin A causes the skin to become dry and prone to wrinkles. No skin treatment will work effectively if a person is vitamin A deficient.

Vitamin A can be found in foods such as eggs, organ meats and diary products. Several plants, like carrots and broccoli, can provide carotenoids that the body can convert into vitamin A.

Vitamin C, Iron & Copper

These three are important for the production of collagen. A lack of these nutrients decreases the skins elasticity and healing ability. Vitamin C can be found in fruit and vegetables, iron is found in whole grains and meat products and copper is found in trace amounts in a diverse assortment of foods.


Just about all vitamins and minerals are required for healthy skin, but some are particulary important. To maximize the benefits of any anti aging treatment, you need to eat plenty of healthy foods to get the necessary vitamins and minerals. But, all in moderation, of course. Too high dosage of some vitamins and minerals may be detrimental to the body.

Resources For Wrinkle Reduction Advice

So you've noticed a few (more) wrinkles appearing on your face and neck. What resources are available for obtaining wrinkle reduction advice or information regarding anti wrinkle products? There are several places where you can find the type of information you need to achieve younger looking skin.

Your local dermatologist is a good source for advice. A dermatologist is a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of skin conditions and disorders.

There are also many online resources for wrinkle reduction guidance. Online forums can provide you with advice from people who have found solutions to wrinkle problems, who have tried anti wrinkle products or an anti aging treatment. Alternatively, websites can provide you with a wealth of information ranging from laser wrinkle removal to wrinkle cream reviews to treatment for under eye wrinkles, and any other skin and wrinkle problem that you may have. These sites will have recommendations for products and treatments that can get you on your way to having younger looking skin.

You can quiz your friends and colleagues as to what anti wrinkle products they have tried and would recommend. You may quickly discover an excellent product by just asking!

There are a lot of natural products that benefit your skin. So you could scour the bookshelves for homemade skin rejuvenation treatments. Some home-based treatments have been around for decades - these might be a great anti aging treatment for your skin.

When searching for advice, you need to be mindful that everybody's skin is different. Some people's skin is more sensitive than others. Therefore, some treatments and anti wrinkle products will work better for some than for others. You should be aware of the ingredients and products that might react badly with your skin.

Whatever you discover, make sure you take care of your skin every day. Get plenty of rest, drink lots of water, eat healthy food and don't get too much sun. It's the best thing you can do for keeping wrinkles at bay.

Marketing - Don't Get Suckered In!

The skin care market is a mega-billion dollar industry. There is so much demand for effective anti wrinkle products, cosmetic companies are continually introducing new anti wrinkle creams to take advantage of this fact.

People are hungry for products that promise skin rejuvenation, and will pay a lot of money in the belief that it will give them younger looking skin.

More often than not, however, it is the pricier skin care products that are ineffective. And it really annoys me when the products don't even come close to achieving the promises that the advertising leads you to believe.

Many of these products are generated and pushed onto the market without testing or proof that they will do anything beneficial for your skin. Instead of spending time and investing money to produce superior, proven anti wrinkle products, most manufacturers will spend their money on marketing and product staging.

And if you haven't realised it yet, marketing is very expensive! But even so, a good marketing campaign can turn a not-so-spectacular small bottle of goo into a huge earner for a cosmetics company.

But don't get me wrong. There are some excellent products that will give you younger looking skin. The complication is in knowing which skin care ingredients and products actually work. Without good information, it can be very hard to find a product that works for you.

Unfortunately, there will never be a lack of people willing to spend good money for the latest anti wrinkle creams, irrespective of whether they help or not. The reality is that most people will not make the effort to investigate cosmetic products and ingredients.

So do yourself a favour, start reading a few wrinkle cream reviews and GET INFORMED before you commit to purchasing that next product. As an informed buyer, you won't fall for the marketing hype. Find out which ingredients are effective and those that can actually damage your skin.

Bad Ingredients - Part 2

Along the same theme as "Bad Ingredients - Part 1", here are a few more components that you may find in anti wrinkle products and various skin care creams. You should be aware of these ingredients and avoid them (especially those associated with being potentially carcinogenic).

Dioxane

Dioxane was originally produced from coconut. Like many other ingredients, it is now created artificially and used in a number of anti wrinkle creams. Unfortunately, the synthetic product now used often contains high concentrations of 1,4-dioxane, which quickly penetrates the skin and blood stream.

It is unregulated in most states and countries, but the state of California lists it as a known carcinogen.

Fragrance

Everyone likes nice smelling creams. However, of the hundreds of different chemicals that fall into the category of "fragrance", many of them contain poisons or known cancer-producing agents.

In reality, there is no reason to include perfumes in skin rejuvenation products. If you want to smell nice, stick with a daub of perfume or body spray. I believe that it's better to use a small amount of fragrance here and there than to apply it onto a large area of skin while applying anti wrinkle products.

Parabens

These may be either propyl, butyl, methyl or ethyl paraben. In many countries they are banned, but many skin products and moisturizers still contain them.

Parabens are preservatives that extend the active life of creams and products. They have been linked to a variety of cancer. They are shown to interfere with the endocrine system (ie the body's gland system), causing allergies, irritation and rashes. One study reported that parabens were discovered in human breast tumors.

If you see parabens listed when you read the product label, don't buy it!

Alcohols

Alcohols can come as either ethyl alcohol (ethanol), methyl alcohol (methanol), SD alcohol, benzyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol. Each type of alcohol has slightly different properties, but an alcohol used in anti wrinkle products will cause dryness and irritation since it removes the skin's protective oils.


So are the cosmetics manufacturers going to alert the public about these deleterious products? Not likely! These companies are too driven with making money, and any admission - especially any association with cancer - would cost them dearly. It's frightening to know that people spend a lot of money to unwittingly apply these poisons to their skin!

Ineffective Ingredients

Have you ever wondered why anti wrinkle products don't work when they are meant to be chock full of active ingredients, each with a "proven track record" of providing wonderous benefits to your skin?

Well, one reason is that the ingredients just can't penetrate the epidermis. Creams containing collagen and elastin are good examples. They never reach the dermis layer of the skin because their molecules are too large to be absorded into the skin. Therefore, no matter what the advertisements say, these anti wrinkle creams will do little for skin rejuvenation.

The cosmetic manufactures know about this - they're not fools. They also know that if they use words like 'collagen' and 'elastin', then people will be very tempted to purchase their product.

Another reason as to why creams are ineffective is that most of them have a large water component and only minimal active ingredient. So when you apply the products to your skin, your body heat drives off the moisture. It appears that the creams are penetrating the skin, but this is not the case.

And yet another reason for creams not working as you would expect is due to them not containing natural ingredients. Nature ingredients are more active, but also more expensive, to include in anti wrinkle products than their artificial equivalents. The downside to this, however, is that the synthetic constituents do very little to help you get younger looking skin.

The New Buzzword - Cosmeceuticals

Derived from a cross between cosmetics anf pharmeceuticals, the term "cosmeceuticals" implies that these anti aging creams are better than ever. Unfortunately, these anti wrinkle products aren't the wonder creams that the cosmetic companies would like you to believe.

In a recent test (2009), French and US organisations jointly tested popular anti wrinkle creams and lotions. On average, each cream was tested on 20 women, aged between 30 and 70 years old, for 3 months.

The results showed that all creams had some benefits on all women, but none of the creams had an effect on all participants. And there seemed to be no correlation between the type of active ingredient and performance, nor did cost relate to performance.

Are We Surprised?

If you've already spent a pile of money on anti wrinkle creams that haven't come up to your expectations, this conclusion won't come as any surprise. But there are several reasons why you may also find cosmeceutical creams don't work for your wrinkles...

Firstly, the science of skin aging isn't simple. There are numerous aspects involved, including varied cell regeneration rates, loss of subcutaneous fat, attack from free radicals, varying hormonal levels and breakdown of skin cell components. Therefore, trying an anti wrinkle cream that targets just one or two of these factors won't benefit other skin ailments that you may have.

Secondly, everybody has different skin types. So, it's logical that different anti wrinkle products will generate different results for different people.

Thirdly, while the results from "scientific studies" may indicate that specific components will work in a laboratory situation, it doesn't guarantee that the product will work when you use it on your skin. More often than not, the active ingredients can't even penetrate your skin. Or the active ingredient may be unstable and deteriorate, thereby not having sufficient concentration to affect your skin. Additionally, other ingredients may hinder the activity and benefits of the prime ingredient.

There are a lot of expensive products on the market that don't do a lot in the way of skin rejuvenation. But, coming out of the wrinkle cream reviews, here are three anti wrinkle products that hold some promise:

• tretinoin (also known as retinoic acid), found in perscription-only creams.
• AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids), but only in concentrations of greater that 10%.
• sunscreen. Try wearing sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat to minimize the amount of skin damage from the sun's UV rays (and it's likely to be the least expensive, too!).

Forms Of Aging And Possible Treatments

There are three main types of skin aging. And each one needs to be treated in a different way from the others.

Firstly, we have the effects from gravity. With any loss of skin elastin or collagen or disappearance of subcutaneous fat, gravity sees an opportunity to step in and take away our younger looking skin. This results in droopy wrinkles and skin folds about the eyes and neck. Surgical procedures for facelifts (essentially, skin tightening) and cosmetic fillers such as collagen and hyaluronic acid are used to undo the effects and provide some degree of skin rejuvenation.

Secondly, with time, facial expressions from frowning, squinting and smiling leave everlasting wrinkles and furrows. Cosmetic fillers such as botox and collagen can be injected to help decrease these type of wrinkles.

Finally, there is damage caused by UV rays, or photoaging. Gradually, this affects the skin, causing fine lines and wrinkles and skin roughness. We also experience pigment changes resulting in age spots and freckles. Some anti wrinkle products can help, and include creams that contain tretinoin, AHA (alpha hydroxy acids), antioxidants and peptides.

Alternatively, skin resurfacing by using acid or laser wrinkle removal techniques are available.

Tretinoin - A Skin Rejuvenation Product

There are hundreds of anti wrinkle products on the market, from facial wrinkle cream to gels that fix under eye wrinkles. But, alas, not many of them work. If they did, we would all have younger looking skin and a lot of extra money in our pockets.

Retin A and Renova are the best known brands of tretinoin. It is derived from vitamin A and is only available by perscription. Tretinoin is one of the few anti wrinkle products whose skin rejuvenation effects have been tested and proven in skin studies. It is found to reduce fine wrinkles and roughness of skin, increase thickness of the epidermis and promote growth of collagen.

Tretinoin works by setting off processes in the skin that includes cell growth, production of collagen, elastin and sebum. It also slows down certain enzymes that damage collagen and elastin. These enzymes become increasingly active as we get older.

But Beware!

Side effects can be common and include irritation of the skin, dryness, peeling and sensitivity to the sun. It is recommended that tretinoin is used sparingly. If the side effects don't go away with continued use, it may lead to skin damage - certainly NOT the aim of the treatment!!

It’s So Versatile!

Skin is so multi-talented! I think that it's just fascinating stuff. It is our natural protective body covering. It keeps our muscles, bones and other organs inside our body while keeping infections out. Skin helps maintain our bodies at just the right temperature and it provides us with our sense of touch.

So when we take care of our skin, we're assisting it to do all the work that it's designed to do. And taking care of our skin NOW will help prevent problems in the future, such as (more!) wrinkles and age spots.

A sound understanding of the various parts that make up our skin and their role can be valuable in understanding the aging process. And once the basics are known, it can help us work out which anti aging treatment and skin rejuvenation products make good sense and which are just a waste of time and money.

In the next post, I'll provide a very quick overview of "The Basics of Skin" so that we can understand the basics behind what causes wrinkles and how to achieve wrinkle reduction - sort of like Skin Biology 101.

Instant Wrinkle Reduction - Is There Such A Thing?

By the time you realise that you have wrinkles that weren't there last year (OMG!), it's probably too late to achieve "instant wrinkle reduction" using any number of the techniques, lotions, anti wrinkle creams or potions around. But fear not! Over the next days, weeks and months to come, there is going to be a wealth of terrific information available here. So stay tuned to this blog. It's going to be HUGE!

We're going to discuss topics like what makes up our skin, how to look after it, defending our skin against the elements, what's good and bad for skin rejuvenation and lots of wrinkle reduction advice. And we may even be bold enough to review some products and wrinkle reduction techniques currently on the market.

Before you know it, you'll have younger looking skin and be on the receiving end of more than a few compliments! Catch ya in the next post...