Real Before-and-After Photos - E Experiments: SkinMedica's HA5 Rejuvenating Hydrator

It's no secret around the office that I am totally obsessed with SkinMedica's blend of five different forms of HA. Why The obsession, you ask? 1. While other hyaluronic acid serums will deliver a superficial plumping effect by binding water in the skin, they are short lived. Typical HA's only have a lifespan of 2 to 4 hours. SkinMedica's R+D geniuses took care to stabilize these HA's, which means all-day and long-term hydration for you.

2. Key Words: "Rejuvenating Hydrator": yes, applying this magical photoshop-in-a-bottle will create a visible, instant gratification perfection-increase. But aside from the right-now smoothing/plumping effect, this powerhouse serum features a brand new antioxidant, peptides, and polysaccharides which will actually stimulate your skin to produce its own HA after continued use.

3. These photos: the below photos are the result of simply tapping HA5 on top of existing makeup, in the office.

Elapsed time: 40 minutes for one set, 4 hours for the other (whoops, we had a pretty crazy clinic day). Anyway, I'll think you'll agree that these results are remarkable!

*no retouching was performed and no filters were used in any way.

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Here's what happens almost instantly when we restore the hydration with HA5 Rejuvenating Hydrator: 

Here's the background on HA: Hyaluronic Acid (HA) is our skin's natural moisture. We started out making tons of it, but as damage accumulates with age and our cellular turnover process slows down, we make less and less of it. In fact, it's said that between the ages of 40-50, your skin has lost 50% of the HA it had at age 20!

Known as a "Fountain Of Youth" molecule, HA is super important in the skin to bind water, holding moisture in. HA is also naturally present in our joints for lubrication, and found in many injectable fillers, too. Thanks to the awesome new antioxidants and 5 different kinds of HA in HA5, short-lived temporary gratification from basic/other Hydrating serums is becoming obsolete. ...WELCOME TO THIS!

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If you add my fave HA5 to your regimen, you'll get awesome instant gratification with the added benefit of long-term improvement... and I think you'll be obsessed with it, too!

Click here for more on the long-and-short of the results from HA5 and the technology that sets this product-hero apart from other HA serums.

And until next time, stay fabulous my friends!

The Skincare Ingredient You Didn't Know You Were Missing

Neocutis has long been known as a skin care leader for their innovations in growth factor technology. (Read more about that here)  The newest NEOCUTIS skin care line, MICRO•ESSENTIALS, is now available - and after weeks of experimentation, I can confidently say: I'm nuts about it. This brand new class of anti-aging brings a new addition ingredient to skin care - So what IS the newest thing, you ask?

The short answer: A brand new blend of peptides.

The short answer, explained: Inspired by matrikine technology, MPC™ (Micro Protein Complex) uses a new blend of peptides to help defend against and correct the visible signs of skin aging.

What will these fancy peptides actually do for me, you ask?

• They stimulate Collagen 1, 3, and 7 (7 is the kind way deep down there, helping with "foundational" support of the skin. Think firm!)
•  They stimulate your own production of Hylauronic Acid (HA). HA might sound familiar, it's a popular ingredient in moisturizers, hydrating serums, and fillers like Juvederm and Restylane. It'll keep your skin plump and hydrated.
• They stimulate elastin synthesis. This is exciting, there's not many products/ingredients out there that'll do this.

The NEOCUTIS MICRO•ESSENTIALS line includes five products to help you kick butt in the anti-aging department:

MICRO•DAY™ Rejuvenating Cream:

• Broad-spectrum Sunscreen with SPF 30
• An all-in-one for the girl on the go, this moisturizing product also delivers anti-oxidant protection
• Tinted and creamy, yet sheer and satiny consistency is lovely to apply and great for most all skin types

MICRO•NIGHT™ Rejuvenating Cream 

• Finally... A great anti-aging product that isn't too heavy, but still restores moisture. It's about time we had a new product in this category.
• Smooths skin and improves firmness while you sleep.

MICRO•EYES™ Rejuvenating Cream 

• If you like Lumiere, you'll LOVE this
• alleviates the signs of fatigue
• Light consistency, noticeable results
• helps make the delicate skin around the eyes resistant to the signs of aging.
• Safe to use on upper lids too! Woot!

MICRO•SERUM Intensive Treatment 

• The Cadillac of the line, this glorious serum is the highest concentration of our new found peptide friends.
• Absolutely lovely upon application, not sticky or goopy... Just elegant and enjoyable as it smoothed over skin.
• goes beyond fine lines and wrinkles to address additional signs of aging, including elasticity, tone and texture.

MICRO•FIRM: Check out my post about this 5-star product here. I am head-over-heels for this awesome serum-meets-cream rejuvenating and firming intensive treatment!!

If you're interested in adding this new cutting-edge peptide to your regimen, find it at a doctors office near you! And in the meantime, stay fabulous, my friends!

Food for Thought: Veggie-Based AntiAging Skin Care!

I will not pretend to be an expert in the realm of hormones. Not at all. In fact, I am perplexed by how intensely women are affected by hormones: hormonal changes, hormonal aging, and hormonal imbalances. Seriously, hormones affect just about everything... from hair growth and loss, kidney function, reproductive organs (obv), skin aging, and uhhh... basically everything. I thought this was a neat line to look into because of how little awareness there is on this topic (myself included, but perhaps a universal issue?) The VENeffect Line was founded by Chicago locals (and sisters!) Rebecca and Cecil Booth. Rebecca Booth, MD is a gynecologist and hormonal expert, who aims to balance the decline of estrogen influence on the skin as we age. She and Cecil designed this line to provide women with a solution to the hormonal aging issue by utilizing their proprietary blend of phytoestrogens in topical products.

Here's what the Booth girls say about PhytoEstrogens and what they do for the skin when applied topically: (click below to go to their site)

"They increase skin's production of collagen as well as boost hyaluronic acid production, the dewy substance that gives healthy skin its glow. Phytoestrogens also increase the activity of fibroblasts: collagen-making cells that also pump out elastin, the substance that gives skin elasticity.  Phytoestrogens are also potent anti-oxidants that neutralize toxic free radicals as well as promote healing in order to slow premature aging. VENeffect has developed a proprietary phytoestrogen system that is safe and highly effective at restoring and preserving skin's collagen and youthful glow."

Here they are talking about the science behind VENeffect (click below to watch a vid):

http://video.neimanmarcus.com/media/veneffect0212.mp4 

From my perspective:

As far as the efficacy of topical phytoestrogen's direct effect on the elasticity/tone of the skin: Hey, it's food for thought!  I will leave the hormonal science up to them, and physicians or experts on this topic. What I CAN comment on is my personal experience while experimenting with this line. Here are my top three favorites:

#1 Favorite: I LOVED LOVED LOVED the Anti-Aging Lip Treatment ($85) .  This award-winning lip treatment harnesses that  'phytoestrogen technology' to deeply hydrate. I applied twice a day, and really enjoyed the light green-tea-ish fragrance and delicate consistency. It really felt like the skin on and around my lips absorbed the product. While using it, I had no issues with color-bleeding  from lipstick, nor did I have any issues with flaky, dry, peely, or cracked lips. LOVED this.

2nd Place: The anti-Aging Eye Treatment ($125) was a nice product, too. I was told by Melissa Moore, (the Product Specialist that educated me here in Chicago) that the founders designed it to work well when applied OVER makeup in case you need a mid-day refresh. I tried it for myself and it did not roll up, ball off, or make my makeup muddy. This was a nice rescue product when my allergies caused me to wake up with puffiness, and when I got too little sleep a few times during the week.

3rd: The Firming Neck and Decollate ($155) product is  another winner in my book for it's rich, yet not-greasy consistency.

I look forward to continuing to learn more about phytoestrogens and their impact on hormonally aging skin. But in the meantime, at least I found my current favorite lip product!  (So at least I can look good, even if I'm not totally sure why!)

Until Next time, stay Fabulous My friends!