Jun
5
Are Your Hands Giving Your Age Away?
Filed Under Aesthetic Procedures, Aesthetic medicine, Beauty Tips, Ingredients, Skincare, plastic surgery | Leave a Comment
As obsessed as we are about taking anti-aging measures on our face and neck, we often neglect our hands. In truth, our hands are also an important point to remember in our anti-aging regime, because our work and daily activites do take toll on our hands and make them appear older than they actually are! In fact, 68% of women claim their hands make them look at least 10 years older! Take a look at your on hands- are they giving your age away?
The skin on the hands are susceptible to the aging process. It’s thin, and there’s little fat under the dermis. So the bones, veins, wrinkles and callouses all show up pretty early in life. It doesn’t help that we use it extensively in our day to day activities. Try not using your hands for an hour, it’s tough. Not using your hands the whole day? Impossible! They are constantly moving and working. They come into contact with everything- office equipment, household items, chemicals, sun exposure… In fact, they may even look older than they actually are due to all the pressure its going through! Unfortunately, too often we concentrate on facial care and neglect our hands in the process.
Your hands are also the most viewed part of your body (after your face). Its hard to hide them, and even if you’ve done a terrific anti-aging job on your face, your hands can still give the game away. Here’s some steps to take to minimise letting the cat out of the bag:
HOME REMEDIES
- Hand Cream
- Sunscreen with a high SPF
- Weekly “mini-facials”. The skin on your hand is thinner than the skin on your face! Hand-facials are just as good for nourishment and rejevenation as well!
- Wear gloves. Especially in the bitter cold winter season. You can wear thin gloves in warm weather as well to protect from the sun, and when you’re driving your car or gardening. Another time to put on your gloves is when you’re dealing with chemicals- detergent, dishwashing, etc…
- Moisturize!!!!!
- Ingredients to look for
- Retinol- increases cell turnover, reduces appearance of fine lines and reduces pigmentation (sun spots)
- Shea butter- is a rich moisturizer
WHAT YOUR DOCTOR CAN DO
- Chemical Peels. Besides rejuvanation, this procedure can also help with decreasing pigmentation.
- Microdermabrasion
- IPL (Intense Pulse Light Therapy)
- Thermage
- Veins sclerotherapy
- Injection of fillers
- Surgery- Fat transplant. This surgery will help ‘plump’ up your hands, making it look younger!
Regardless of your age, start looking after your hands now! Make it part of your skin care routine to pamper your precious hands!
Jun
3
Product Review: The ROC Renewex Microdermabrasion System
Filed Under Beauty Products, Review, Skincare | 5 Comments
After seeing and hearing about Neutrogena’s newest Skin Rejuvenator and the Clarisonic, I went to the drugstore intending to buy it to test it out. On my way down the aisle, I passed by RoC and happened to see that it too had a similar RoC Microdermabrasion System. I was intrigued. I had not read any recent reviews on the product, so I asked the sales assistant about it.
She recommended this RoC system over the Neutrogena one. Basically, she said, “the RoC sponge is softer, which is better for the skin. And its the cream that you put on the sponge head that’s doing the work, not the sponge head itself.” That sold me. If the cream which contains microcrystals work, why should I get the other brand when it only functions to rub my skin rubbed off!
Using it was simple. Dab the sponge of the hand held machine into the pot of cream, and smear that cream onto your face over the forehead, cheeks and nose. Then switch on the battery operated handle, and it vibrates at either one of 2 speeds that you choose.
After 2 months, I have noticed an improvement in my skin texture. In fact, even after the first attempt I already noticed my skin was more radiant and smoother! It was also a great tool in winter to exfoliate off the increased dead skin cells and skin flaking caused by the winter dryness. I used to use it 3times a week, but now that spring is here and the weather not as dry, I have gradually cut it down to 2times a week, once a week and now fortnightly as my skin doesn’t require such frequent sessions now.
The product itself was easy to apply. It became gritty as it dried on my face after use, but was still easy to wash off. The sponge head is also removable from the handle for easy washing after each use.
You have to buy the components separately- the cream and sponge comes together (for maximal hygiene as you change the sponge regularly) and the handle in another packaging (which you do not have to change). I find the quality of the sponge rather good, it remains soft and smooth, and retains its original shape even after more than a month of use. There is also quite a lot of product in the pot, and it can last you much longer than the estimated 28days written on the box.
I would continue using it, and definitely recommend it to anyone thinking of getting a home microdermabrasion system.
Mar
26
Beating Crows Feet
Filed Under Aesthetic Procedures, Aesthetic medicine, Beauty, Beauty Products, Skincare | 4 Comments
Crow’s feet are one of the earliest signs of facial aging to appear. Crows feet, also called laugh lines, are actually a natural phenomenon of aging. Anyone over their mid-twenties can expect to show tell tale signs of these little lines appearing at the corner of their eyes. The upper third of the face comprising of the eyes, forehead and eye brows, is the first area in which the earliest signs of aging become apparent. The most expressive area of our face- our eyes- no doubt give tons of justice to the phrase ‘the eyes are the windows to our souls’. Yet it is this expressiveness which also makes the crow’s feet so apparent. These little lines are not something many people laugh about- it’s one of the first wrinkles on the face to appear, and every facial expression just makes them more obvious and cosmetically unacceptable!
Crows feet, like other wrinkles on our face, appear as we age as the skin’s collagen production naturally declines over time, and the elastin breaks down as well. Environmental factors such as ultraviolet sun exposure, squinting and smoking hasten this decline. The skin around the eye is the thinnest and most fragile in the face, so lines in this area are the first to appear.
So take action now! Although it is not possible to eliminate them completely, if you don’t smoke, squint or tan, you can reduce the number of crows feet forming. And the sooner you take steps to prevent it, the fewer the volume of lines. But read on for tips to minimize the appearance of crows feet.
HOME TREATMENTS
- Reduce sun exposure, wear hats and sunglasses, and include sunscreen around the eye. Remember to reapply every few hours!
- Stop smoking
- Avoid squinting
- Adequate hydration to moisten the skin is important. Parched skin assists wrinkle formation!
- Massage your eye area to reduce puffiness.
- Flaxseed oil supplements
- Eye treatments:
- Papaya. Rub a slice of fresh papaya along the wrinkles and allow the juice to penetrate for 15 to 20minutes, then rinse off and pat dry. Interesting fact: papaya contains a substance called papain which stimulates skin collagen production and gently exfoliates dead skin cells as well.
- Egg white. Use a cotton ball to swab egg white over your face and eyes as a facial mask. Leave on for about 15 minutes while the egg dries. Then wash your face and pat dry.
- Vitamin E oils. You can buy capsules of Vitamin E from the local pharmacy. Use a sharp needle to poke a hole into the capsule and squeeze out the contents and dab it onto the wrinkles around the eye. Use one capsule per eye. (I read this somewhere, but have not tried it myself. But it sure sounds interesting!) Vitamin E is a great anti-oxidant and used in many eye creams and rejuvenating treatments!
MAKEUP AND SKINCARE TIPS
- Use a gentle cleanser. Massage it in and avoid pulling the skin around the eye.
- Apply eye creams and moisturizers twice a day- after you get up from bed and at night before bed again. Moisturizing eye creams help add moisture and hydrate the skin. Note that night creams are much thicker, and are inappropriate for daytime wear.
- Choose eye creams containing glycolic acid. Glycolic acid is a group of alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) that encourage old skin cells to drop off and newer ones to replace them. However, not many cosmetic eye creams contain glycolic acid. Try Murad Intensive Wrinkle Reducer For Eyes ($90), or Neostrata’s Ultra Daytime Smoothing Cream. DO NOT use high strength skin lotions with glycolic acid (more than 10% strength formulated for use on the face and neck) around your eyes without dermatologist supervision as glycolic acid products can sting and burn the skin, especially so for the delicate skin around the eye. 5% strength or less is usually safe for personal home use.
- A list of most effective eye creams is also ranked by Consumer Health Digest which “scrutinized the most currently marketed eye treatments and distilled the most current scientific research in order to assess which eye cream treatments were most effective.” At the top of the list were Eyevive by Dermestetics, Restoration Eye Return by Z. Bigatti, and Peter Thomas Roth’s Power K Eye Rescue.
- Include SPF in your eye cream to reduce the effect of sun exposure on your skin.
- Be careful with application of foundation and concealer. Too heavy applications actually accentuate fine lines and deepen them.
WHAT YOUR DOCTOR CAN DO FOR YOU
- Botox. This little injection will paralyze the muscles around the eyes, and reduce the wrinkling around the eyes. Be forewarned though, the effects are only temporary and repeated injections will be required in a few months.
- Collagen Injections. These are injections using purified bovine (derived from cows) collagen. As with botox, these are also temporary measures. Also, the face may become puffy for the next couple of days as the collagen gets absorbed under the skin.
- Chemical Peels. Peels ‘burn’ away the surface layer of the dead and dull skin and encourages the underlying newer younger skin to replace it. The chemicals used are usually alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) and trichloracetic acids (TCAs). Glycolic acid (a type of AHA) peels are a popular dermatologist office peel. In severe cases, it can be applied under medical supervision weekly initially. The advantage of such peels is that there is no need for injections into the skin. However, AHA peels can sting and burn the skin.
- Microdermabrasion. This method removes the surface layer of dead skin cells as well. Unlike peels, this uses mechanical methods to remove the top layer of skin. Microdermabrasion has aluminium oxide crystals blown onto and off the skin by a steady stream of air. Dermabrasion is a little rougher, using a brush to resurface.
- Laser Resurfacing.
- Thermage. Non-invasive method of skin rejuvenation.
Ultimately, prevention is the best cure. So the most important factors to prevent are sun exposure, smoking and squinting. Once present, they’re determined to stay. All creams and the best medical treatments cannot erase all lines that have formed.
Feb
26
Working Women And Cosmetic Surgery Equals Success?
Filed Under Aesthetic Procedures, Beauty, plastic surgery | Leave a Comment
It’s not new news that looking good will make you feel good and more confident of yourself, and according to a study by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, many working females are willing to consider cosmetic surgery to get a head start in their careers.
They did telephone interviews with 756 women between the ages of 18 and 64, and many respondants revealed that cosmetic plastic surgery procedures appear to be an important rung on the success ladder
- 13 percent (more than 1 out of 10 of the 115-million working-age women) say they would consider having a cosmetic medical procedure specifically to make them more confident and more competitive in the job market.
- An astounding 3 percent (nearly 3.5-million working women) say they’ve already had a cosmetic procedure to increase their perceived value in the workplace.
- 73 percent (almost three out of four or, 84-million working women) believe, particularly in these challenging economic times, appearance and youthful looks play a part in getting hired, getting a promotion, or getting new clients.
- 80 percent (four out of five or 92-million working women) think having cosmetic medical procedures can boost a person’s confidence.
John Canady, MD, president of ASPS, says, “Consumers need to remember that while cosmetic procedures might help them in the job market, they’re still medical procedures.” Canady says women still need to proceed with caution. “Patient safety is ASPS’ number one concern. Women need to do their homework. Go to the ASPS website at www.plasticsurgery.org to find an ASPS Member Surgeon in your area.”
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