Hydrating Ingredient: Hyaluronic Acid

Winter time can wreak havoc on everyone's skin. Dry and dehydrated skin can lead to irritation, redness and flaking. Try adding a product with Hyaluronic Acid into your skincare regimen. Don't let the word acid throw you off, Hyaluronic Acid does not strip the skin or dry it out. 

Skin Scripts products that contain Hyaluronic Acid are : Pomegranate Cleanser, Ageless Serum, Cucumber Toner, Light Aloe Moisturizer, Ageless Moisturizer and Acai Berry Moisturizer.

What does Hyaluronic Acid do? 

-binds moisture to the skin

-naturally occurring in the dermis of human skin

-assists in distribution of nutrients

-increases skin suppleness and strength

-strengthens the intercellular matrix

-smoothes 

-keeps skin plump and hydrated

Skin Scripts Ageless Hydrating Serum: ($30)

This is my favorite way to get extra hydration, it's like giving my skin a big sip of water. Use this product AM & PM after cleansing & toning. Follow with a moisturizer to seal into skin. 

Benefits of this product: 

-Contains 60% Hyualronic Acid

-suitable for all skin types

-improves milia

-improves hydration

-balances surface lipids

-reduces visible wrinkle

-improves cellular respiration

-plumps skin

Add Hyaluronic Acid to your regimen to ensure good hydration this winter. Not sure the best product to benefit your skin with HA? Contact Licensed Esthetician, Megan Johnson at skinstudiobymegan@gmail.com for a complementary consultation. 

Happy Monday to all. 

Xoxo, 

Megan Johnson, Licensed Esthetician

Spot Treating Breakouts

Breakouts...most people have experience with them (if you don't lucky you), but do you know the proper way to handle those pesky pimples? Today we are talking about how to handle breakouts & the best way to treat them. 

-ICE ICE BABY: Ice is a great way to bring down the inflammation of a pimple. Wrap a piece of ice in a paper towel and rub over breakouts or all over the face. This will help reduce the size of your breakout.

-Don't pick: Picking at pimples will only leave you with scabs & scars. Picking can be a habit for some but please kick this habit to the curb. 

-If you have a scab over your pimple: If you picked and now have an ugly scab over your pimple, you need to heal it not treat it. Treat it as an open wound (because it is). Do not use any acne products, instead use skin healing products.

-Don't Pop: Especially do not pop cystic acne. Cystic acne is the deep underground breakouts that are usually hormonal and come around once a month. Cystic acne never comes to a head, so it can not be popped. When you try to pop cystic acne, the bacteria can explode under the skin leading to more breakouts. It is always best to leave your pimple popping to a licensed professional. We are trained in how to extract and you will not be left with scarring. 

-Leave it to the professionals: As I just stated it is always best to have a professional esthetician extract any breakouts. 

-High Frequency: A high frequency machine creates a gas that kills bacteria under the skin. Aka a zit zapped. I LOVE high frequency machines and have had much better luck with this than any laser I have had for acne. 

-Professional Skincare: Try a spot treatment from a professional skincare line. My favorite is Skin Scripts Blemish Spot Treatment. I will talk about it more below. 

-Hormonal Breakouts: If you only breakout once a month when Mother Nature comes, try scheduling a microdermabrasion or chemical peel right before or during your monthly cycle. This will help combat any breakouts. Also you can have a professional extract your breakouts.

Skin Scripts Blemish Spot Treatment: AKA the holy grail. What I love about this over any other spot treatment products I have tried is it clears up your blemish without drying out your skin. It also helps heal the skin & reduce post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. 

How to use: Use daily up to three times per day to rapidly heal blemishes. Will penetrate through makeup. 

Benefits:

-soothes skin irritation

-reduces inflammation and redness

-clarifies & heals breakouts

-assists in boosting hydration levels

-limits pigmentation and scarring 

Active ingredients: 5% Glycolic Acid, Salicylic Acid, Witch Hazel & Spin Trap.

This spot treatment by Skin Scripts is only $17. 

5 Skincare Mistakes You Might Be Making

We all make mistakes...but skincare should not be one of them. Today I am talking about 5 mistakes you might be making in your skincare regimen. 

1) Leaving the house without sunscreen. 

This is a big NO NO. You should apply sunscreen everyday and every season. UV rays actually reflect off of snow, so yes winter time you need SPF. I recommend at least SPF 30. 

2) Over cleansing, over exfoliating, over medicating.

Even as an esthetician I can be guilty of this sometimes. Especially when a pesky pimple appears, I always want to apply a million products to clear it up. When we over cleanse & exfoliate, we actually can over-strip the skin. When our skin is over-stripped, it produces more oil to compensate. More oil means more breakouts. Cleanse your skin only twice a day AM & PM. Discuss with your esthetician on how many times a week you should be exfoliating. 

3) Not getting an annual mole check. 

It is very important to make your annual checkup at your dermatologist. It could save your life. 

4) Buying products because your friend uses them or sells them. 

Chances are your friend who sells Rodan & Fields or another MLM skincare line is not a licensed Esthetician and is just trying to make extra money on the side. They have no clue what skincare products you should be using. Don't let them pressure you.

Another line I hate is "my friend uses this product and her skin looks amazing so I started using it". Your friends skin type is probably a lot different then yours and you should not use the same product as her. Unfortunately most of the time they just have good genes and that is why their skin looks so good. Always ask your esthetician what products they recommend. I will recommend products I don't retail. I want your skin to look good,  and products to be beneficial for your skin type. 

5) Not using Vitamin C or a Retinol. 

Everyone should be using a Vitamin C serum. It lightens, tightens and brightens the skin. It is "coffee" for your skin, waking it up in the AM & giving your that beautiful glow for the day. My favorite Vitamin C serums are Skin Ceuticals (high budget) or Skin Scripts Vitamin C ($36). Vitamin C is full of antioxidants to fight off those damaging free radicals. 

Retinol or Retin A is a topical vitamin A product. What this does is speed up our cellular turnover rate. Every 28 days our cells turnover, this slows down as we age. Topical Vitamin A will help keep up our cellular turnover rate. You can have your dermatologist prescribe you a retin A or you can get a Retinol (lighter version) from your esthetician. Skin Scripts Glycolic/Retinol pads ($22.50) are my clients favorite. I can't keep them in stock. Use these 3x/week or as directed by your esthetician. 

Start today fixing these skincare mistakes you might be making. Today is the first day of February & that means Valentines Day is right around the corner. Ask your loved one or treat yourself to good skincare products. Your skin is the largest organ of your body, treat it right.