Can a skin cream really make me look younger?
So... If I spend all this money on skin creams, does it make a difference?
The answer is yes and no.. I have found that the people that respond amazingly well to my anti aging products are those who have let their skin be at the mercy of the environment. Those who worship the sun, who smoke, who haven't used a moisturizer in years... These people respond dramatically to my anti aging creams and a difference is noticable in a matter of days to weeks. For the skin care junkie who uses sunscreen daily, doesn't smoke, gets plenty of sleep, uses a good moisturizer daily, results are more subtle although present.
Skin looks old and wrinkled because of environmental stress, such as sun, oxidants and pollutants, dehydration and just breakdown of collagen over time. What is most likely to respond to a skin cream are the fine lines at the corners of your eyes, the lack of lustre of the skin, age spots, puffiness, dehydration, and lack of overall "youthfull glow". The deeper lines drawn by age such as the ones around the edges of our mouths (frown lines) or deeper lines in our forehead will not respond to a cream, since these are due to collagen breakdown at a deeper level. These do respond best to botox, but beware, since botox will often give an artificial look with lack of expression. Injectable fillers can also help these.
If your skin is dry, dehydrated, lacklustre, with crinkly fine lines you will see a dramatic difference immediately with a good skin cream. Over several weeks a significant long term effect will be present as all the antioxidants and peptides kick in. If you already take great care of your skin in make take several weeks but you will notice a change, since the peptides and anti aging ingredients work over several weeks to renew collagen and improve the skin.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Will getting enough sleep make me look younger?
How does sleep affect the skin?
What can I do to look less tired?
As an emergency physician working night shifts and crazy hours sleep is often a rare commodity. How to keep looking good? Here are some tips I have learned over the years:
Sleep when you can: Every moment makes a difference, whether its a 5 minute nap or 20 minutes here or there, it can make a huge difference!
Avoid salty foods: Believe it or not that puffy eyed look is not from lack of sleep but from excess salt in processed foods, it causes free water to accumulate where you want it least. Drink lots of water and snack healthily on fruits and yes carbohydrates.
Exercise!: Just ten minutes a day of getting your heart rate elevated will do amazing things to your body. So even when your feet are dragging and your eyes are heavy lidded, take the stairs instead of the elevator or go for that quick jog. Exercise is also a HUGE stress reliever.
Undereye Concealer: When all else fails this is my lifesaver. I can come off a night shift, sleep 3 hours and throw a bit of concealer on and complain "Oh I am so tired" and have people comment, "but you don't look tired!" My personal favorite is Cle de Peau in the winter or Laura Mercier secret camaflouge.
How does sleep effect the skin? It has a tremendous effect on skin, skin can look fatigued, saggy and puffy without enough sleep in the long run. It truly is beauty sleep..
What can I do to look less tired?
As an emergency physician working night shifts and crazy hours sleep is often a rare commodity. How to keep looking good? Here are some tips I have learned over the years:
Sleep when you can: Every moment makes a difference, whether its a 5 minute nap or 20 minutes here or there, it can make a huge difference!
Avoid salty foods: Believe it or not that puffy eyed look is not from lack of sleep but from excess salt in processed foods, it causes free water to accumulate where you want it least. Drink lots of water and snack healthily on fruits and yes carbohydrates.
Exercise!: Just ten minutes a day of getting your heart rate elevated will do amazing things to your body. So even when your feet are dragging and your eyes are heavy lidded, take the stairs instead of the elevator or go for that quick jog. Exercise is also a HUGE stress reliever.
Undereye Concealer: When all else fails this is my lifesaver. I can come off a night shift, sleep 3 hours and throw a bit of concealer on and complain "Oh I am so tired" and have people comment, "but you don't look tired!" My personal favorite is Cle de Peau in the winter or Laura Mercier secret camaflouge.
How does sleep effect the skin? It has a tremendous effect on skin, skin can look fatigued, saggy and puffy without enough sleep in the long run. It truly is beauty sleep..
What is Rosacea and how do I treat it?
Just what is Rosacea? How is it treated? Is there anything non-prescription that helps?
Rosacea effects many people and is a lifelong chronic problem, causing inflammation and redness in the facial skin. There are several prescription treatments approved by the FDA and other promising treatments that are over the counter. Prescription treatments are sodium sulfacetamide, metronidazole and azelaic acid. Oral isotretinoin (retin-A) is a last resort. Dr Rachel is developing a safe herbal topical cream to treat Rosacea. Some of the ingredients shown to be helpfull are Chrysanthellum indicum, green tea, Niacinamide or vitamin B3, and licorice.
Rosacea effects many people and is a lifelong chronic problem, causing inflammation and redness in the facial skin. There are several prescription treatments approved by the FDA and other promising treatments that are over the counter. Prescription treatments are sodium sulfacetamide, metronidazole and azelaic acid. Oral isotretinoin (retin-A) is a last resort. Dr Rachel is developing a safe herbal topical cream to treat Rosacea. Some of the ingredients shown to be helpfull are Chrysanthellum indicum, green tea, Niacinamide or vitamin B3, and licorice.
What are "Sun Spots" or Solar lentigo?
Sun exposure not only causes wrinkles but also causes those brown spots on the face and hands. Usually these are seen in older individuals but can be seen in the fairskinned as early as childhood. These are light brown smooth spots.
They can be treated by liquid nitrogen cryotherapy or lasers that target melanin such as the Q-switch ruby laser or intense pulsed broadband light. This is usually available in a dermatologists office. Topical treatments such as Retin A and other lightning agents can be helpfull.
These are just another reason to use sunscreen! They do indicate signs of major sun damage so if you have these its a good idea to get checked out by a dermatologist yearly to look for anything more serious.
They can be treated by liquid nitrogen cryotherapy or lasers that target melanin such as the Q-switch ruby laser or intense pulsed broadband light. This is usually available in a dermatologists office. Topical treatments such as Retin A and other lightning agents can be helpfull.
These are just another reason to use sunscreen! They do indicate signs of major sun damage so if you have these its a good idea to get checked out by a dermatologist yearly to look for anything more serious.
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