These Villains are the Cause of Skin Damage, Part 3

If we want to look at our anti-aging practices from an informed and discerning perspective, it’s good to know what’s going on in there that causes wrinkles (and other not-so-fun manifestations of skin aging). So far, we know about three main things that happen in the skin when damage is caused. Click HERE for the 1st Villain I wrote about, Click HERE for the 2nd in the series. Read on for the 3rd biochemical phenomenon in my series:

Advanced Glycation End-products (AGEs)
AGE is a a conveniently-coincidental acronym for Advanced Glycation End-products, which are the evil little products of a reaction between glucose (sugar) and proteins... Specifically collagen and elastin in this case (glycation).
Yes, it tastes good, but excess sugar in your diet screws up more than just your waistline.
How does it cause aging? 
Glucose is good, of course, in the way of providing energy. But when there's extra glucose, it rumbles with our collagen and elastin. This process produces AGEs, which make these fibers crispy and easily breakable. This reaction contributes to inflammation, slowed/inhibited growth of cells, and wrinkles (oh my!).
To simplify, think of it as turning your normal, elastic rubber band-like fibers into an old, dried out and crumbly rubber band. When AGE's wreak havoc, your rubber bands are in an accelerated aging state, causing that loss of elasticity, sagging, and wrinkles.
You know all those old, crumbly rubber bands in the back of your desk drawer? That's your elastin after AGE's.
In an article for Prevention, dermatologist Dr Frederic Brandt (well-known for his research in AGE's) breaks it down further: "Besides damaging collagen, a high-sugar diet also affects what type of collagen you have—another factor in how resistant skin is to wrinkling... The most abundant collagens in the skin are types I, II, and III, with type III being the most stable and longest lasting. Glycation transforms type III collagen into type I, which is more fragile.
The article goes on to describe that "AGEs deactivate your body's natural antioxidant enzymes, leaving you more vulnerable to sun damage—still the main cause of skin aging."
yikes! What Now?
1) It's time to build some new Collagen. If you're not already, start using a Retinol or Retinoid.
My favorites for sensitive or dry types:
My favorites for resistant or oily skin types:
Rx Tretinoin .05 or Tretinoin .1 creams
2) Diet:
Cut down on simple sugars in your diet. From a dietary perspective, refined sugar seems to impact glycation about 10 times more than glucose.
Yup, just another reason... Sorry.
Judgmental cat seems judgmental, but he really just cares about your complexion.
3) Use topical antioxidants.
These guys are ONCE AGAIN a great way to cut down on all the domino effects of damage. . Click HERE to read more about them. 
4) Try a Targeted Treatment Cream: One of my fave go-to's is Skinceuticals AGE Interrupter. Give it a Go if you're in the market for a rich, cosmetically-elegant treatment cream.
And Until Next time, Stay Fabulous My Friends!

Things that make you go HMMMM: Spaghetti Sauce Skin Care?

Recently spotted on my home television: a Pasta Gravy commercial that begins with a woman spooning sauce onto her arm:skin care at theproductpro.wordpress.com  Creative Sauce campaign of the year: Silver Palate is positioning eating (no, not actually wearing) their tomato sauces as Lycopene-rich, protective skin care.

 So, what's the scoop with Lycopene?  

From mayoclinic.com: "Many studies suggest that eating lycopene-rich foods or having high lycopene levels in the body may be linked to reduced risk of cancer, heart disease, and age-related eye disorders."

Lycopene, n antioxidant phytonutrient, is also known for boosting your skin's defenses against the sun. Lycopene can be found in papayas, watermelon, carrots, and of course, tomatoes. So, open up a jar of tomato sauce tonight and 'anti-age' right there at the dinner table! 

Until next time, they fabulous my friends!

Acne: 6 ways to Troubleshoot when you're breaking out

Trouble-shooting causes of acne and breakouts is one of my favorite things to do. It's a fun challenge, like trying to solve a mystery. I'll always start by asking LOTS of questions, and keep it up until we get an ah-ha moment. Below is a list of some of the things I ask patients about. If you're having trouble with acne, try troubleshooting your routines and products.

1) Liquid Makeup It's a mean cycle: you break out, so you need to cover up. But liquids and creamy formulas can contribute to congestion, causing another breakout. Remember that oil is sticky, and in an acne scenario, dead skin cells and debris are already getting glued down with oil. Frequently, more coating on the surface can cause more congestion and breakouts.

Contrary to popular belief, there are mineral powder foundations that deliver high coverage. My faves for great coverage without contributing to acne:

Tip: Try a liquid foundation brush with these powders to lay down more opacity/ coverage where you need it. 

2) Over-Extraction

Not every blackhead or follicular deposit is going to cause issues. And that little tiny blemish won't actually ruin your day. If you tend to break out, Hands Off!

See an esthetician for a pro extraction and ask for a conservative session. Hard truth to swallow: If you break out after a facial, (or home extraction) it might be because of over-stimulation... NOT because the skin is "purging" - an idea you'll hear suggested from time to time. Bring post-facial-breakout feedback to your skin care pro and they can adjust appropriately for your next treatment.IMG_9357

Tip: The use of Tretinoin, retinol, or another treatment product recommended by your doctor or esthetician can act as a pre-treatment and make extractions easier on you... and your facialist.

3) Benzoyl Peroxide and Spot Treating:

Benzoyl Peroxide is a great acne treatment. However, it works as a preventative by killing off pimples in the early stage. (Zits can take up to 90 days to form). Sometimes we feel like it helps as a spot treatment because it can be drying to an acne lesion, but you're doing yourself a disservice if you're not applying it all over. My favorite BPO is in the Obagi Clenziderm System because it's a solubilized BPO, not a micro-crystal (like other BPO). It's 1/10,000th the size of a standard BPO crystal - this means it penetrates most effectively into the follicle. Give it a try!

4) Bar Soap:

I've never met a bar of soap that I liked. Picture a bar of soap: waxy and skin-coating, dry-looking, or simply sitting in a little pool of water getting mushy: whatever it is, we just don't get along- and neither should you.

Two things about bar soap:

1) Just to physically get it into bar-form, the pH here has to be higher than other formulations like creams, gels, or liquids. This means that they can be more drying. Lets not freak out your skin any more than we need to.

2) Bacteria likes to live on bars of soap. Doctors don't seem too concerned with this from a disease-proliferating perspective (washing your hands with bar soap seems to be fine), but if we're trouble-shooting, we're trouble-shooting. I say, use a liquid, non-soap cleanser instead.

5) Use of Topical Vitamin C:

Topical Vitamin C's are great as a brightening product and anti-aging measure, but you should avoid this one when troubleshooting breakouts. In my experience, vitamin C's are not always acne-friendly and are not often recommended for those who break out easily.

That being said, Vitamin C's are great to lighten acne marks (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation or PIH) from old breakouts.  If you currently have active acne, get your breakouts under control first, and then consider choosing a formula meant for all or oily skin types. I prefer Phloretin CF for oily types. 

6) Makeup Sponges

If you're breaking out, ditch the sponges - they harbor bacteria. If you are currently in the sponge club, really, try brushes! You can get much better coverage and get much more mileage out of your makeup. Just be sure to clean them regularly.

My favorite brush cleaners are:

IMG_9322Tip:  If you HAVE to use a sponge, grab a bag of disposable wedges, snip them in half (so you get double the use) and throw them out EACH TIME you use them.

If you've exhausted these possibilities and you're still having trouble, see your dermatologist. They will troubleshoot further and might look at additional factors like hormones.  They might also prescribe a topical or oral medication as well.

Until next time, stay fabulous my friends!

These Villains are the cause of skin damage, Part 2

If we want to look at our anti-aging practices from an informed and discerning perspective, it's good to know what's going on in there that causes wrinkles (and other not-so-fun manifestations of skin aging). So far, we know about three main things that happen in the skin when damage is caused. Click HERE for the 1st Villain I wrote about. Here's the 2nd biochemical phenomenon in my series: •    The Villains: MMP's

MMPs: Don't let them get your collagen!! At theProductPro.com

Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs) are enzymes -envision Pac-Man!- activated by inflammation.  Inflammation can be caused by elements like UV exposure and infrared radiation. MMPs are not cool because they contribute to the breakdown of collagen. And as if that wasn't bad enough... they also work to inhibit new collagen formation.

For a scholarly article type of resource, check out this white paper on The National Center for Biotechnology Information website. They say Matrix-degrading metalloproteinases are key mediators of collagen degradation that is observed in photoaged skin. Key mediators? Oh man!! Screen Shot 2015-08-17 at 6.51.42 PM

Yikes! What to do now???

Don't freak out, its just one of the biochemical phenomena that results from CHRONIC damage and UV exposure. Let's be proactive about this...  Since we know MMPs are expressed as a result of UV and IR, we have a shot at preventing by using great SPF and using antioxidants. Click here to read more about some of my fave go-to antioxidants. And stay tuned for another edition of Skin Damage Villains, coming soon!

Antioxidant products at Theproductpro.com

Until Next Time, Stay Fabulous (and Informed!) my friends!

Why I did miraDry

Have you heard of miraDry? It's a device that microwaves your underarm sweat glands. Yes- literally microwaves them.Cool, right?

Using heat to selectively seek and destroy is not a new concept. That's how laser resurfacing works, among many other things. In this case, it's seeking and destroying the sweat glands.

Here's an interesting fact: there are two different types of glands in your underarms. One kind produces sweat (the wetness) and the other one produces the odor and whatever makes the underarm area of an old white t shirt yellow.

Miradry zaps both, and as a special bonus, the underarm hair too. I'm sold.

There are people out there who have hyperhidrosis, that's when the sweat glands are stuck in overdrive mode. I don't have that, but when I stood up in my best friend's wedding a couple of years ago, the photos revealed that I must of been a little nervous presenting my maid of honor speech- my satin gown gave me away with some classy sweat marks. Nice.

Ok, it's true that I'm not giving speeches in satin dresses all the time. So why did I do it, then?

I hate anti-perspirant. I'm actually allergic to almost every kind on the market. The only one I wasn't allergic to became Discontinued, so I've been ordering it for the last couple of years on Amazon.

Another reason? The aluminum compounds in anti-perspirant have been rumored to add to breast cancer risk and/or contribute to the Alzheimer's. (The evidence is inconclusive that it actually does that, so don't freak out... here's a link): http://www.m.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/features/antiperspirant-facts-safety

Whether or not that ends up being true, I think reducing how much chemical is on my skin on a daily basis is probably a good idea.

Miradry treatment can take 1 or 2 treatments to work. I ended up doing two, just to really nail it. I've been really really happy since then, and so have my underarms (no allergic reactions here)!

Satin dresses are no match for me now!

Here's a link to my office's page on miradry, check it out!

http://www.ericksondermatology.com/miradry/

MiradryEricksonDermatology

More Fun New Tech Toys: Beauty and Brains

LaCie Mirror Hardrive. 1TB of FabulousOk, say what you want about the $280 price tag on this gorilla glass-covered, French-designed, narcissist-fave hard drive but I think it's fab! The Lacie 1TB Seagate scratch-proof hard drive puts the fun in ...um, backing up your computer. No... it puts the fab in ... techy desktop accessories. No... Hmmm.

Well, I'd like to know what's wrong with double-checking your lip gloss placement at your desk with a single glance before greeting a client? Or (more importantly) quickly verifying there is no spinach in your smile after a veg-friendly lunch? I think this is a fun and fabulous find.

Watch a quick vid of this pretty piece here:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U06KicKXg4Until

 

If that price tag causes you to frown, it's time to touch up your BOTOX. ...And/OR, you can experiment with a budget-friendly and creative mirror alternative: The Glam Screen. I gave this one a try after doing the above ^ double-checks on my actual phone for a while.

It's tiring:

Unlock phone> Camera> Change the camera view to face yourself> Notice how weird and alien-like you look on the self-facing screen-side camera> check for spinach.

This is just too many steps for a girl on the go. Grab a glam screen and call it a day! 

Get Glam (and simultaneously check for stuff in your teeth) with Glam Screen!

Check out my other new and fun tech suggestion here: The Pearl Mirror Compact

And Until Next time: stay fabulous, my friends!

Neocutis to the Skin: 'I'm gonna need you to start the healing process, ok?'

I wanted to share a bit about my recent look into Neocutis Skin Care products, their technology,  and how their growth factor 'PSP' works. Here's the scoop.

Neocutis offers a number of products that feature technology that was developed by leading Swiss researchers out of the University Hospital of Lausanne, a leading international research facility. Their claim-to-fame/ proprietary ingredient is called PSP, which they have termed the "Cadillac of Peptides".

Here are some interesting facts about PSP and how it works:

The Healing Power of Peptides

Inspired by the phenomenon of the scarless healing of fetal skin, medical researchers in Switzerland created a biotechnology process to obtain the super power proteins involved in wound healing from cultured fibroblasts.  A dedicated cell bank was established for developing new wound healing and burn treatments with these amazing proteins.  That same cell bank is the source of the fibroblasts that produce PSP, which is Neocutis' secret weapon. By the way, fibroblasts are the collagen producing cell found in skin.

PSP

PSP stands for Processed Skin Proteins. PSP is a mixture of Human Growth Factors, interleukins, and the other cytokines that were discovered by those Swiss scientist smarty-pants.

Ok, so it heals wounds (that's pretty cool). But what does it do for the skin's appearance?

Let's face it: aging skin is damaged.  No matter what you want to primarily blame for the inflammation, damaged/aged skin is basically wounded skin.  The free-radical damage (reactive oxidative species) that causes the wound (aging/ skin damage) is caused by stuff like

  • glycation
  • injuries to the skin
  • pollution
  • chronic skin conditions
  • sun damage: the tanning bed you hit in high school, the baby oil/iodine days of the past, or even just daily daylight-exposure

The scientists found that even though the skin does not actually absorb the growth factors, they are proven to play what I like to think of as a game of 'telephone' with the skin when applied topically.  They are able to stimulate the healing process, actually acting to 'heal' the 'wound' of the aging/damaged skin.

Hey Skin, it's me, PSP. I'm gonna need you to start the healing process, STAT.The result is smoothed, brightened and firmed skin, all with no color or fragrance additives. Give it a try and see what you think! Check it out here: www.neocutis.com 

Until next time, stay fabulous, my friends!