Facial Serums - Do you need one?

Serums – Do You Need One?

Collagen Serum from Exuviance - Lifting, Firming and Building Volume with Matrixyl 3000 peptides and Gardenia Cell Culture plus Polyhydroxy acids

Yes!

I’m a huge advocate of serums. I call them the “Green Juice” of skincare since they have so many active ingredients and in a liquid form they give your skin vital nutrients and a high quantity of actives in one little drop – penetrating deeply! It’s the equivalent of a giant platter of veggies being reduced to a glass of juice – if you have ever made your own green juice you will know exactly what I mean – You can never eat that many veggies in one sitting but you can drink that juice and you feel so good when you do and not to mention your skin will glow with health.

Serums should be applied under your moisturizers day and night. For daytime use look for antioxidant serums – such as ECGC – the active ingredient in Vitamin C that comes from green tea. Serums will protect and hydrate and give you that wonderful glow of hydrated healthy skin. For evening you can use serums that contain ingredients that exfoliate and treat such as alpha hydroxy acids as well an antioxidants. I also look for peptides like oligopeptide and Matrixyl 3000, plant stem cells, Grapeseed extract, Lilac phyto stem cell, Geranium phyto stem cell, etc. There are many wonderful skin-loving ingredients. Hylauronic acid is one of - if not my most favorite ingredient ever to look for in a serum. It holds 1000 times its’ weight in water and will really lock in your skins own moisture and attract more moisture to your skin.

There are water based serums and oil based serums. Every skin type can benefit from water based serums and if you are normal to dry you may prefer an oil based serums especially for evening. While we are sleeping our bodies dehydrate and of course our skin being our largest excretory organ is going to be dehydrated when we wake up but not if you use a hydrating serum.

Serums go deep into the skin and if you exfoliate regularly you will find your serums penetrate really well – correct exfoliation is key as well! You don’t want your wonderful and pricey serums just sitting on top of dry dead skin cells so please exfoliate properly and get yourself a serum. Your skin will love you for it.

There are many skincare companies that make excellent serums. I love NeoStrata, Exuviance, PCA Skincare, YonKa, Jan Marini, Skin Ceuticals, SkinMedica among many others. I recommend going to your Esthetician and getting recommendations and /or visiting Sephora and Ulta and checking out what they have and talking to the associates that work there as they usually try everything in the store and may have some recommendations and maybe even a sample for you to try!

What's your favorite serum?

What's the deal on facial peels.....

 

As we get older it becomes more and more important to exfoliate. As we age our cellular turnover rate slows down and peels "trick" our skin into thinking it's younger by removing the bonds that hold the dead skin cells to the surface and stimulating the collagen underneath the surface which gives us a smoother surface but a more plump dermis underneath which will make our skin look healthy, glowing and tighter. If you want the look of smaller pores then peels are a must. Scrubs can make them looks bigger since you are massaging a granular object into the pore - over time this can stretch your pores. Dead skin cells do not reflect light the way the new ones do so exfoliating will also give you that healthy glow. It will also allow the expensive serums and moisturizers you use to penetrate better thus allowing them to be more effective. When the serums are sitting on top of dry dead skin cells they can't work very well.

Peels also because they remove the intercellular glue make our pores more compact. There are lots of acids and enzymes also can be used. It's important to use the right type of acid/enzyme for your skin type.

I generally will recommend light gentle peels instead of scrubs since scrubs can cause tiny tears in the pores which can lead to larger pores over time, slackened skin and dehydrated skin which can get "cracks" in it where bacteria can hide and cause more breakouts. A gentle polish with a very fine scrub is definitely okay once in a while. We just never want to over-exfoliate.

10 Quick Facts about Peels:

1. It's best to do peels at night and then apply your serums, moisturizers - while you sleep your amazing body is hard at work and  naturally repairs. You wake up with smooth glowing skin!

2. Mandelic Acid is a Beta Hydroxy Acid which comes from the Bitter Almond is an ideal acid for oily and/or acneic skin because of it's lipophilic properties.

3. Our dead skin cells do offer protection from the sun so if you are doing peels make sure you are using a broad spectrum SPF 30 every day and being careful about the sun.

4. Glycolic Acid is derived from the Sugar Cane and was discovered in the late 1960's  by Dr's. Van Scott and Yu-  and still considered to be the "gold standard" in the skincare world.

5. Lactic Acid is a very gentle AHA that is also very hydrating.

6. Citric Acid is a powerful brightening AHA - makes it a great treatment for sun damage (brown spots) and/or PIH - Post-inflammatory pigmentation and acne scars

7. Salicylic is a BHA (it's lipophilic like Mandelic) and is good for acne and is anti-inflammatory

8. PolyHydroxy acids "PHA's" are very hydrating and are my personal favorite way to exfoliate since they bind moisture, exfoliate well and cause no irritation even in the most sensitive of skin.

9. Glycolic Acid is the smallest AHA and penetrates skin the quickest which can feel like stinging from mild to severe. If you are sensitive start with a lotion with Glycolic in it and use a couple nights a week and apply your moisturizer over it. I don't recommend applying AHA's during the day. Protect during the day - exfoliate and correct at night.

10. Too much exfoliation can lead to sensitized skin so we want to only exfoliate when we need to. A licensed Esthetician  or a Dermatologist can help you navigate the stronger peels. There are home peels that are super gentle and can be done daily and the peels in an Estheticians's office are usually 30% plus AHA's. Some peels are self neutralizing while others are washed off.

A lot of us saw the Sex and the City Episode where Samantha had a chemical peel and are afraid of peels and rightly so after seeing that episode...It stayed in our minds as a blister-ridden visual reminder that peels can be dangerous. More is definitely not better when it comes to exfoliation.  I always tell my clients to think of peels as "passive" exfoliants while scrubs are of course physical exfoliants and start with very gentle, yet safe and effective peels and talk to your Esthetican if you want the strong stuff! I like to use very gentle peels that don't cause inflammation. There is a new field of study called "inflammaging" and it's all about how inflammation leads to aging and the gentle treatments will get you to the same goal without any downtime so I would give them a try. You have nothing to lose but dead skin.

 

I use a very gentle peel whenever my skin starts to look a little dull or if I'm getting a break-out and  peels always refresh my skin, heal the blemishes quickly and bring it back to life.

 

 

 

Have you ever done a peel? If so what did you think?

 

Thanks!!

Happy Peeling!

EstyPearl