Skin Care by Jennifer » Learn

What are peels?

jennifer — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 03:38:36 +0000

WHAT ARE PEELS?

Do peels make your skin actually peel? Typically during a chemical peel nothing actually “peels” off. A chemical solution is applied to the skin, and works by dissolving the upper layers of the skin. As the tissue is dissolved, a wound is created on the skin, which stimulates the body’s healing response, causing new tissue to emerge. The depth and strength of the ‘peel’ varies based upon the strength of the chemicals used and the length of time the solution is applied.

What are the different types of peels? There are a variety of different types of chemical skin peels, as there are a variety of chemicals used, each with their own properties.

Glycolic acid: Formulated from sugar cane, this acid creates a mild exfoliating action. Glycolic acid peels work by loosening up and exfoliating the superficial top layer. This peel also stimulates collagen growth. High strength peels are good in terms of efficacy but they irritate more.

Lactic acid: This acid is derived from either sour milk or bilberries. This peel will remove dead skin cells, and promote healthier skin.

Malic acid: This peel is the same type of mildly invasive peel derived from the extracts of apples. It can open up the pores, allow the pores to expel their sebum and reduce acne.

Tartaric acid: This is derived from grape extract and is capable of delivering the same benefits as the above peels.

Citric acid: Usually derived from lemons, oranges, limes and pineapples. These peels are simple and effective, although not incredibly invasive or capable of significant improvement with one treatment.

What results would I see from a peel? With a chemical peel you get some tightening of the skin, improvements of pre-cancerous and brown spots, and a general resurfacing of the skin.

Others benefits include:

Fine Lines – smoothes and softens lines and wrinkles. This includes laughter lines, crow’s feet, brow lines, and crepey skin.

Acne Scar – a proven acne scar treatment that reduces and fades reddened acne scars, dark acne scars, and blemishes.

Sun Damage – reverses & removes photo-aged and sun-damaged outer skin layers.

Age Spots – lightens and removes dark spots, and blotches from your skin.

Blackheads – opens blocked pores eliminating blackheads & whiteheads, and smoothes rough skin.

Uneven Skin Tone – lightens and brightens your skin revealing a more even colored skin tone.

Large Pores – reduces the size, look, and appearance of large pores.

Hyper-pigmentation – reduces and improves the look of darkened skin patches and blemishes.

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Raw Foods and the Enzyme Factor

jennifer — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:48:11 +0000

This is a great bit from an article on Raw/Living Foods. If there is more interest I will send more on this topic. Have a wonderful week!

Raw Foods and the Enzyme Factor

One theory behind the health benefits of a raw-food diet is the role that readily available enzymes in living foods play, as they are crucial to healthy digestion. Eating an enzyme-rich diet is thought to increase vitality and slow the aging process. According to current raw wisdom, foods that are heated to no more than 116 degrees Fahrenheit maintain their most complete nutritional value. When fruits and vegetables are heated beyond this temperature, important digestion-supporting enzymes are destroyed. Author, wellness-center founder, and raw-food proponent Gabriel Cousens, MD, maintains that “enzymes can even help repair our DNA and RNA.”

Nobel prize-winning chemist Artturi Virtanen devoted much of his research to the processes of fermentation, and was able to demonstrate how food proteins catalyze the chemical reactions necessary for digestion and assimilation. What he discovered is that consuming food without enzymes makes the digestion process more taxing on the body, which can lead to internal toxicity. Proper digestion, nutrient assimilation, and waste elimination create a foundation for health. When food isn’t fully digested, it becomes stuck in the digestive track, slowing down the process of assimilation and leading to toxic build-up in both the bowel and the bloodstream. Living fruits and vegetables are nutrient dense, enzyme-and fiber-rich–all of which enhance efficient digestion and elimination.

According to the World Health Report, major risk factors for chronic disease include an unhealthy diet, being overweight, and having high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol levels. While there are raw foodists who are not vegan or vegetarian, adopting a raw-food diet immediately eliminates most dairy products and all baked goods from the diet. These two food groups are notoriously hard on the digestive system and can contribute to weight gain. Dairy is mucus-forming for many people and is loaded with both saturated fats and cholesterol, while meat, eggs, alcohol, preservatives, complex carbohydrates, and barbecued foods are acid-forming, and people suffering from chronic health ailments are often overly acidic. Baked goods and bread products require fermentation to digest and contribute to yeast-overgrowth, whereas eating a living-food diet alkalizes the system and balance the body’s internal pH.

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When to Buy Organic

jennifer — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:39:10 +0000

WHEN TO BUY ORGANIC

Print and keep this list with you when you go food shopping.

The Dirty Dozen

(starting with the worst)

celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries (domestic), nectarines, sweet bell peppers, spinach, kale/collard greens, cherries, potatoes and grapes (imported).

The Clean Fifteen

The following 15 conventionally grown fruits and vegetables that the EWG dubbed “The Clean Fifteen,” because they were shown to have little pesticide residue.

onions, avocado, sweet corn (frozen), pineapples, mango, sweet peas (frozen), asparagus, kiwi fruit, cabbage, eggplant, cantaloupe (domestic), watermelon, grapefruit, sweet potatoes and honeydew melon.

Buying organic everything, if the budget allows, is always better for the environment and helps promote local and organic farmers.

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Hummus Dressing

jennifer — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:10:05 +0000

Great For Your Summer Salads!

Hummus Dressing:

5 Tablespoons raw tahini

juice of 1/2 a large lemon

1 clove finely minced garlic

1 cup fresh, chopped parsley

1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh, chopped cilantro (depending on your taste)

1 large red bell pepper, seeds removed

a pinch of cumin and sea salt, (optional)

Blend ingredients in a high powered blender, other blender or food processor

until smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste. Transfer to a small pitcher,

and pour over the salad as desired.

Serves 2

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Lemons

jennifer — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:44:27 +0000

This is from Dr. Oz at RealAge.com:

Be it to summer drinks, crisp salads, or sandwich spreads, adding a few shaves of this could be good news for your skin: lemon zest.

A compound in lemon peels appears to help ward off a common skin cancer — squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) — by up to 34 percent. And it’s all thanks to a citrus compound called d-Limonene.

Look to Lemons

D-Limonene seems to help keep skin cancer cells from growing and multiplying. And you can find plenty of the stuff in citrus peels; d-Limonene makes up more than 90 percent of citrus-peel oil. In a study of people who lived in sunny Arizona, those who consumed the most citrus zest had the lowest rates of SCC. And the more lemon, orange, and grapefruit zest the people consumed, the more they were protected from SCC

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Eyes

jennifer — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:53:08 +0000

One of my best clients reminded me of this very important and useful tip:

She asked her eye doctor what she can do to protect her eyes from the effects of working on the computer. He said it’s a good idea to stop every half hour and look at something far away for 30 seconds. The best thing is if you can look out a window at something in the distance. This helps the eyes relax.

Another great point she made was that it not only keeps the vision in check but also stops the squinting and straining at regular intervals, reducing the risk of getting lines and wrinkles!

Hope this info is helpful. We all need the reminders!

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Valentine’s Love Tea

jennifer — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:41:45 +0000

Exotic Love Tea

1 cups water

1/4 cup honey

1 cup apple juice

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

6 Cranberry Tea Bags

Bring water and juice to a boil. Stir in honey and cinnamon. Add the tea bags. Remove from heat. Let stand for one hour. Add 6 cups cold water Pour into glasses with ice. Sit back, sip and fall in love.

Can be stored in the refrigerator for three days .

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Dairy Allergy?

jennifer — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:54:36 +0000

Many people find that they are sensitive to dairy products, experiencing a host of symptoms including gas, diarrhea, skin rash and fatigue when they consume milk and other dairy products. Yet, because adverse reactions to foods don’t necessarily occur right after consumption, sometimes occurring hours or even days after the food has been eaten, many people are uncertain as to which specific food may have triggered the unforeseen and unwanted symptoms. Additionally, there are so many “hidden” sources of dairy-derived ingredients that it takes a concerted effort to figure out whether you may be sensitive to dairy.

Lactose (one of the primary sugars in cow’s milk) and casein (one of the primary proteins in cow’s milk) are found in many processed foods. Lactose is added for flavor and casein for emulsification, texture and protein supplementation. The only way to tell for sure whether they are added to a food product is to read the food label.

Here is a list of processed foods that may contain casein:

Bakery glazes

Breath mints

Coffee whiteners

Fortified cereals

High-protein beverage powders

Ice cream

Infant formulas

Nutrition bars

Processed meats

Salad dressings

Whipped toppings

Casein’s also tend to pop up in soy based products. Look for words such as caseinates and sodium caseinate as well as casein. Lactose is often added to processed meat for flavor.

If you are trying to figure out if you have a dairy allergy the process is time-consuming, and it takes a lot of patience! But it is still the best way to decide if dairy is a problem for you or not.

If you need guidance with the process please contact me. I have some valuable resources to share with you.

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Winter Skin

jennifer — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:11:39 +0000

Protect Your Skin Against the Cold

Winter Skin

Our face is one of the most exposed against the elements. It gets cold due to heat loss fast and loses more water when it’s cold due to tiny cracks in the surface. Skin also does not metabolize well in the cold, so skin nutrition suffers in the winter. The combination of loss of water and lack of nutrition causes dry skin.

Chapped hands are an example of winter skin. Being constantly exposed to low temperature will age skin quickly.

Here are some tips to protect against winter skin:

Keep warm, avoid wind and protect your ears and nose.

Newborns, women, African Americans, people of advanced age, or anyone who is fatigued, exhausted, has anxiety or stress are more susceptible.

Avoid tight clothing, smoking (you should quite if you do anyway!), chewing tobacco (same!), alcohol, or other intoxicants and any drug associated with or causing vasoconstriction.

In extreme cold weather wear mittens rather than gloves, a scarf and earmuffs or a hood. Layers are better than a single heavy piece of apparel. Limit your stay in the cold.

Ask me about my wonderful moisturizing treatment creams!

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Sun Protection Year Round!

jennifer — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:40:01 +0000

It is just as important to use sun protection in the winter as it is the summer.

UVB, the chief cause of skin reddening and sunburn, tends to damage the skin’s more superficial epidermal layers. It plays a key role in the development of skin cancer and a contributory role in tanning and photoaging. Its intensity varies by season, location, and time of day. The most significant amount of UVB hits the U.S. between 10 AM and 4 PM from April to October. However, UVB rays can burn and damage your skin year-round, especially at high altitudes and on reflective surfaces such as snow or ice, which bounce back up to 80 percent of the rays so that they hit the skin twice. UVB rays do not significantly penetrate glass.

Most of us are exposed to large amounts of UVA throughout our lifetime. UVA rays account for up to 95 percent of the UV radiation reaching the Earth’s surface. Although they are less intense than UVB, UVA rays are 30 to 50 times more prevalent. They are present with relatively equal intensity during all daylight hours throughout the year, and can penetrate clouds and glass.

UVA, which penetrates the skin more deeply than UVB, has long been known to play a major part in skin aging and wrinkling (photoaging), but until recently scientists believed it did not cause significant damage in areas of the epidermis (outermost skin layer) where most skin cancers occur. Studies over the past two decades, however, show that UVA damages skin cells called keratinocytes in the basal layer of the epidermis, where most skin cancers occur. (Basal and squamous cells are types of keratinocytes.) UVA contributes to and may even initiate the development of skin cancers.

UVA is the dominant tanning ray, and we now know that tanning, whether outdoors or in a salon, causes cumulative damage over time. A tan results from injury to the skin’s DNA; the skin darkens in an imperfect attempt to prevent further DNA damage. These imperfections, or mutations, can lead to skin cancer.

Tanning booths primarily emit UVA. The high-pressure sunlamps used in tanning salons emit doses of UVA as much as 12 times that of the sun. Not surprisingly, people who use tanning salons are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma, and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma. According to recent research, first exposure to tanning beds in youth increases melanoma risk by 75 percent.

Prevention Guidelines

Seek the shade, especially between 10 AM and 4 PM.
Do not burn.
Avoid tanning and UV tanning booths.
Cover up with clothing, including a broad-brimmed hat and UV-blocking sunglasses.
Use a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher every day.
Apply 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) of sunscreen to your entire body 30 minutes before going outside. Reapply every two hours, or immediately after swimming or excessive sweating.
Keep newborns out of the sun. Sunscreens should be used on babies over the age of six months.
Examine your skin head-to-toe every month.
See your physician every year for a professional skin exam.

Please talk to me about a broad spectrum sun block that’s right for your skin type.

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