9 Summer Skin Tips

Summer is my favorite season...I spend almost every weekend at my parents lake house. As an esthetician my job is to inform clients on sun protection. I am not denying that I get some sun, I am just smart about staying protected! Sun spots, melanoma & freckles everywhere aren't a good look. Here are some tips for staying protected & summertime skin care. 

1- SPF: This is probably in every post I have..but who cares. It is the most important thing you can do to for your skin. Elta MD is the best sunscreen ever. Applying once a day isn't going to cut it people. I apply every 2 hours. 

2- HATS: Keep your face protected from the sun with a fabulous big floppy hat or your favorite team's baseball cap. Not to mention after taking a boat ride it helps conceal my crazy hair...WIN WIN. 

3-HYDRATE: I cannot stress the importance of staying hydrated from the inside out. I know it can be tough to drink 8 bottles of water a day, so try switching it up with this Aloe Gloe drink (organic section of Kroger). It is amazing for your skin. 

Or try this yummy cucumber, mint & lemon water detox drink I blogged about HERE 

4- GET THE GLOW: My favorite self-tanner is St. Tropez bronzing mousse. It is so simple to use & gives the skin a great color. 

5- Moisturizers: Now that it's summertime switch from an oil based moisturizer to water based. I also recommend Skin Scripts Ageless Hydrating Serum. Hyaluronic Acid binds moisture to the skin & this product is FULL of it. I am obsessed with this stuff! 

6- Foundations: Try switching up your foundations to a tinted SPF or water based foundation. Skin tends to lean towards oily in the summertime so look for matte foundations. 

7- Spritz Spring Water: La roche-posay thermal spring water is like magic. Minerals calm the skin while making the skin look dewy. This is also great to spray after applying mineral makeup to set. I always have a bottle around me in the summer months to spritz my face & body to cool me down. 

Contains a high concentration of Selenium, a powerful natural antioxidant.

Mineral-rich micro-droplets provide immediate, intense soothing.

8- Vitamin C: Vitamin C is SO important especially in the summer months. Vitamin C helps protect against sun damage as well as pigmentation on the skin from previous exposure. Check out my post all about Vitamin C serum HERE! 

I still love my Clinical Care Vitamin C Serum, however my new favorite is Skin Scripts Vitamin C with Green Tea Serum. It is the BEST. I apply Vitamin C morning & night along with my favorite Vitamin C gummies. Call me a child but they are delicious, I have to make myself not eat the whole jar.

9-Sunglasses: Not only fashionable but great to keep you from squinting aka causing crows feet & 11 lines. 

I hope everyone has a fabulous summer filled with lots of travel & time spent with family. Hopefully these tips will help you maintain healthy summertime skin. Thanks for reading. 

SHRINK THE APPEARANCE OF LARGE PORES

MYTH: Products that claim they shrink the size of the pore....that is IMPOSSIBLE. Pore size does not shrink or grow. However you can shrink the appearance of the pore. Pores seem large when they are filled with dead skin cells & sebum (oil). Pore size is genetically determined (thanks mom & dad for the big oily pores).Here are a few ways to help reduce the appearance of your pore size. 

1- Salicylic Acid Peels-
My 20% Salycilic Acid peel from Skin Scripts is amazing for oily skin. This peel is oil based and will dissolve the oil therefor making the pore size appear smaller. You can expect mild flaking with this peel for about 3-4 days. Some clients have no peeling at all. I LOVE this peel. Recommended for oily & acneic skin. 

2- Microdermabrasion
Microdermabrasion is polishing the top layers of the skin. The diamond wand tip gently sloughs off the top dead layers of the skin, while the vacuum suction pulls out debris inside the pores (dead skin cells, oil, dirt). By doing this, our pores appear much smaller instantly. Check out more information on microdermabrasion on my previous blog post HERE

3- Deep Cleansing
Facials are a great deep pore cleansing treatment. For at home, I recommend Clarisonic brushes for a good deep cleanse. I have had my Clarisonic for years (I change out the brush head) and have never had issues with it. It might be an investment for some...but it is worth every penny! Make sure not to over use your Clarisonic. 

4- Glycolic Peels
Glycolic Acid dissolves the desmosomes between cells to keep skin cells exfoliated. Also opens up acne impactions. By dissolving the desmosomes we are helping to shrink the appearance of the pore. 

5-Wear Sunscreen
UVA & UVB creates free radical damage which slows down cell production. Basically it makes your skin & pores look rough & flaky. My favorite sunscreen is ELTA MD.

6-Moisturize
Most people with large pores and/or oily skin are often afraid of using moisturizer. I always hear from clients well moisturizers break me out...WRONG. If your skin is dried out it will go into overdrive creating more oil leading to more breakouts. Talk to your esthetician and see if you are using the right moisturizer. Most clients are NOT because they hear about a great moisturizer from a friend or AD. About 99.9% of the time your friend who recommended a product has completely different skin then you. Just because products work well for them does not mean the product will benefit your skin.

7- Ice Cube Facials
I love doing ice cube facials, however I don't do them as often as I should. Take an ice cube, wrap in a paper towel & rub them over your face. It reduces inflammation (great for acne), reduces redness & shrinks the appearance of the pores. It has a nice tightening effect instantly on the skin. It gives the skin a fantastic glow. 

I hope these tricks & tips help you out. Make sure to consult with your esthetician about your skin type & the best treatment for you. I hope everyone is having a fabulous Sunday & a great weekend. My Sunday will consist of blogging, cleaning my house & watching Skin Scripts webinars, I LOVE that company & their educational webinars. 

Nerium...the FATAL scam

                                                     

      

The pushy, uneducated sales reps: Last week I had a potential new client come in for a skin care consultation. After arriving twenty minutes late we continued into her skin care consultation. She then approaches me asking if I have heard of a line called Nerium.. ARE YOU SERIOUS? She then tells me she is a brand representative and I nicely (as nicely as possible) denied her from contiuing on. Nerium is the WORST most toxic product on the market and today we are going to break down why.

First off their pushy sales representatives DRIVE ME CRAZY. There is nothing worse to me then MLM product lines...except Nerium, its the worst! MLM is a multi-level-marketing pyramid scheme. Basically you buy into a company, get commision for your sales & have people sign up "under your team" and get commision for them joining. Now I am not going to knock all MLM lines because there are a select few that actually have decent products (nutrition, makeup, etc.) but what kills me are these woman selling skin care products with NO PROFESSIONAL LICENSE. They have no education on the anatomy of the skin at all...so why would anyone in their right mind trust them to educate them on skincare. Sure they have a webinar or some training, but they are NOT licensed skin care professionals...most of them are at home moms trying to make an extra buck and get a new lexus. 

Now lets get into the actual product. MLM product lines are not regulated by the FDA. Another red flag to me is the "automatic reorder". If the product worked you wouldn't need to use this sales tactic. Nerium claims to reverse wrinkles in two weeks. This is impossible. It takes 90 days to build collagen, not 14. Also this product doesn't penetrate deep enough to actually reverse the signs of aging.

Now lets talk ingredients. Nerium consists of Nerium Oleander leaf extract which is TOXIC...so toxic if you ingest it, it is fatal. Who in their right mind would apply a product to their skin that is FATAL. Nerium Oleander is a deadly plant and so deadly one leaf can kill a small child. Not only would I not put this on my face, I wouldn't keep it in my house. Reps claim that they use small amounts in their product and it cannot reach the bloodstream. However the company will not release how much of this toxic deadly plant is actually in their product....RED FLAG. They also will not release any of their scientific research...HELLO why not? I would never use a product which company will not release their research to the public.  There is no evidence that this product has any anti-aging benefits. 

The second ingredient found in this product is aloe barbadenis...just a fancy form of aloe vera. The rest of the ingredients can be found in any basic over the counter terrible skin care products. 

What about all these "wow" before and after pictures? Nerium Oldeander leaf is a skin irritant that causes swelling of the skin. If your skin is swollen & inflammed, your fine lines & wrinkles will appear smoother. However, having your skin in a constant state of inflammation is terrible for your skin. There is also a law suit against Nerium with actor Ray Liotta who has never used or heard of these products till he saw his before & after pictures posted everywhere with Nerium. Clearly lots of photoshop went down since he has never even heard of this product.

Conclusion: So ladies & gentlemen..please throw away this toxic fatal product. If there was such a fabulous miracle all-in-one product that Nerium claims to be estheticians, dermatologist, and doctors would be selling it everywhere. Instead we all strongly dislike this product & everything the company stands for. This product was given me to sample however there is no way I would apply this to my body or face. This product smells terrible. Also, you are given a list of ingredients that you cannot use with Nerium. Salicylic Acid was on the list and as an acne suffer, I could never go without my Sal. Acid. 

This product has no scientific research provided for the public, is toxic & fatal when ingested, causes inflammation of the skin in a negative way and is expensive.

Lastly, there has been lots of feedback on several forums about people using Nerium having cardiac issues. Once they stop using the products their issues stopped. Clearly the cardiac issues are linked to the poisonus fatal plant they are rubbing all over their face daily. 

Why you should toss your St. Ives Scrub

After my post on why you should toss your cetaphil (check it out HERE) I decided to make a series on terrible yet popular over the counter skin care products. Tonight I am breaking down why you should throw away the ever so popular St. Ives Scrub.

This product claims to be "all natural" and hypoallergenic but have you looked at the actual ingredients? If you have a bottle of this terrible scrub I am assuming no....go ahead and toss it in the trash now. I like to think of this product as taking glass putting it in a blender then rubbing it on your face. Lets break down a few of the ingredients.

The walnut shell powder creates microscopic tears in the top layers of the skin. The granules are jagged making the product scratch the skin not exfoliate the skin. This makes it perfect for bacteria to clot. 

This product is full of ingredients that have fragrance....very irritating to the skin.

A lot of the ingredients are highly comedogenic for example ceteareth-20 an emmolient. 

Propylene glycol leaves a film on the skin and is toxic.

Most ingredients are very irritating to the skin.

They claim to be "all-natural" (which means nothing but a marketing ploy) yet fail to mention synthetic surfactants, emulsifiers, preservatives & fragrances. Not so natural is it?

This product is seriously damaging the skin. The redness and tearing is at a microscopic level which cannot always be seen or noticed when using. This product causes premature aging, discoloration, scarring & broken capillaries. It also makes the pores appear larger. So please do your skin a favor and TOSS the St. Ives.