Solutions for the biggest summer skin problems that I see in my dermatology practice:

Thick, rough and cracked feet: Walking barefoot or in sandals leaves feet thick, rough and cracked. Keep them soft with exfoliation. My ’step by step’ instructions to keep your feet soft and attractive this summer: Dermatologist’s 3 Simple Steps For Sandal Ready Feet By Spring

Athlete’s foot: sweaty athletic shoes and public showers breed fungus. If your feet are scaly, itchy and cracked you may well have picked up this highly contagious problem. Get rid of the fungus before it gets worse by following my instructions: Dermatologist’s Tips For Athlete’s Foot Fungus Treatment.

Chapped and sunburned lips: Sun and wind chap and burn lips fast. You need good sun protection when you’re outdoors, and mineral sunscreen products designed specifically for the lips, such as Lip Cotz, are the best. Some colored lipsticks can also give your lips good sun protection.

For moist, healthy lips you also need constant applications of a really good lip balm like Ceralip or pure shea butter. I recommend avoiding lip balms with a lot of medicated or herbal ingredients because I see so many people whose severely chapped lips are actually due to allergic reactions to these ingredients. I recommend using just the hydrating ointment base in lip balms and skipping all the dicey ‘extras.’

Gardener’s Hands: chapped, rough and cracked hands are a part of summer for you if you’re a gardener (like me). Good hand care is essential to keeping your hands looking even remotely presentable outside of the garden. The same hand care that I outlined in the winter for all the folks with chapped hands from hand sanitizers will fix your gardener-worn hands too.

“Embarrassing” arms and legs!: I can’t tell you how many people are embarrassed to show off their arms and legs; like it or not, summer fashions show more skin. After about our mid-twenties, just about everybody has to put a little work into keeping their arm and leg skin looking good. My recommendations:

At a minimum, moisturizing will help control the dry, flaky scale and give your skin an attractive, dewy look.

Adding sun protection plus alpha hydroxy acid hydration combined with physical exfoliation keeps the age spots from darkening. I give you instructions in my post: Stop The Summer Darkening of Your Age Spots.

On top of that, if you add a sunless tanner, you’ll have evenly bronzed, dewy hydrated skin with a buffed and polished glow! I tell you how in: Use Self Tanners Like A Pro.

Stressed facial skin: In the summer, facial skin care is all about survival; summer sun and environmental exposure will cause permanent damage to your facial skin unless you protect it every day. Sunscreen and antioxidant skin care products are essential for anyone seriously concerned about facial wrinkles and age spots (not to mention skin cancer). The best sunscreens are the mineral-based products. The best antioxidant protection comes from products with high concentrations of vitamin C and products that combine green tea and caffeine. Every day there are new ‘miracle’ antioxidants and sunscreens hitting the skin care market, but in my opinion, the mineral sunscreens and vitamin C and green tea/caffeine antioxidant products have the best scientific evidence proving their benefits; they’re what I personally use and recommend for my patients.

With good skin care you can have soft, healthy and fabulous-looking skin all summer long.

If you found this information helpful, you may also want to read:

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Anti Aging Skin Care

5 Steps For Smart Sun Protection

Photo: Thanks and gratitude to Dystopian

Summer Skin Care…. and Repair is a post from: OTB Skin Care Blog

3 Easy Steps You Can Take to Help Prevent Darkening of Age Spots:

1. Keep the sun off of your skin
2. Exfoliate regularly
   
3. Use skin lightening products to ‘turn down’ your skin’s ability to tan

1. How to best keep the sun off your skin to prevent age spot darkening:

The best way to keep the sun off of your age spots is by covering them with clothing. For areas of your skin that you can’t cover (eg. your face), wear a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher that contains 5% or more micro zinc oxide. I give extensive recommendations on sun protection in some of my recent posts:

Are Your Summer Clothes Good Enough To Be Sun Protective Clothing

How To Apply Sunscreen & Have Healthy, Fabulous Skin Forever

2. Exfoliation to lighten age spots:

Exfoliating lightens your age spots because the dead skin cell layers above them are extra thick and the brown color is carried up through every layer. Because of this, age spots are sort of like little speed bumps and regular exfoliation of the dead skin really lightens up the dark color because they sit slightly higher than the rest of the skin. The best way to do this is with my Anti Aging Body Skin Care Kit that includes both physical exfoliation and strong AHA glycolic acid exfoliation. Over the years, I’ve had many thousands of my patients using this kit and it works beautifully to lighten age spots. I’ve used it myself for at least 10 years and have watched my age spots actually go away just because I’m using these products; I created the kit for my 40th birthday when I got my first age spot on my arm — it went away in a few months after using my new kit, which was a great ‘happy birthday to me’ !

3. Using skin pigment lighteners to fade age spots:

I also have my patients ‘turn down’ pigment production with prescription bleaching creams that contain 4% hydroquinone, and prescription Retin A (tretinoin). There are tricks to using these products and they have side effects so ask your doctor if these treatments would be appropriate for you. One of my favorite skin lightening programs is The Obagi Nu Derm System and I discussed it during a post that I wrote this winter:

Winter: Now Is The Time To Fix Your Unwanted Age Spots and Skin Pigmentation

The good news about age spots is that it really is possible to get through the summer without getting spottier and spottier. Using any one of these steps to prevent age spot darkening will help, and doing all three is even more effective. You might even see them get lighter than they are in the winter!

A final note on age spots:

Remember that not every brown spot is an age spot. Melanoma, a deadly cancer, can often start looking like one of your age spots. If you have age spots, you’ve probably also had a lot of sun exposure in your life and would be well served by getting an annual skin exam by your dermatologist. Early detection of skin cancer really does save lives, I see it every day.

If You Found This Information Helpful, You May Also Want To Read:

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Anti Aging Skin Care

Choosing The Right Make Up For Post Menopausal Skin

Use Self Tanners Like A Pro

Skip The Tan And Eat Your Veggies For Beautiful Skin Color

Photo Mik Hartwell Flickr

Stop The Summer Darkening Of Your Age Spots is a post from: OTB Skin Care Blog

My wonderful vacation included touring ancient ruins on treeless hillsides, with the sun beating down from a cloudless sky and reflecting up off marble walls.  It was humid and there was often only a slight breeze to dry the sweat.   I was also on a cruise ship where the ‘culture’ is all about sun bathing. This meant that I had to improvise.  Happily,  I was able to totally enjoy myself, and I’ve returned with no tan line and only a faint darkening in my freckles (age spots).   Here’s the tricks I used:

1. I always applied sunscreen with 5% micro zinc oxide to of my skin that was not covered by a hat or clothing. I reapplied it for swimming and at mid day.
2. I wore a hat almost all the time when outdoors. I have crush-able hats which pack easily and they took good care of me on this trip.
3. I covered as much of my skin as possible with clothing. I kept cool by using light colored, long sleeved linen shirts.  I washed Sun Guard into them for sun protection since light colored linen would normally not provide great sun protection.  (I explain how to do this in a previous post on making your own sun protective clothing).  I wore thicker, but loose and breezy linen or cotton pants and below-the-knee skirts.
4. I wore a rashguard shirt and swim tights over my swim suit if I was going to swim for more than a few minutes.
5. I used a light weight travel umbrella in cities like Rome where there is often enough shade from tall buildings. I’d pop open the umbrella when I couldn’t avoid the sun.  This allowed me to skip the long sleeves and hat, and just rely on sunscreen, the umbrella and shade from buildings.
6. I’d always aim to be in the shade. I’d stand under trees, in the shade of buildings, use deck chairs that were in the shade, ride ferries on shaded areas of their outer decks-anything to be out of the direct sun.

Boy it was hot in the Southern Mediterranean! But, in spite of my hats and clothing, I don’t think I was any hotter than the other tourists who were wearing sleeveless shirts, shorts and bathing suits in the direct sun.  A lot of people were bringing sun damaged skin home as a vacation souvenir, and they could have avoided it with just a little creative sun protection.  Sun screen’s not enough. You have to physically keep the sun rays from hitting your skin by using shade, clothing, hats, and umbrellas.  Mix and match these tricks to suit your activities and the climate-and don’t bring sun damage home as your vacation souvenir.

What sun protection tricks have you found helpful?  I’d love to add your experiences to my own, please send me your stories.

If you found this information helpful, you may also want to read:

5 Steps For Smart Sun Protection

Tanning Addiction; Dermatologist’s Personal Story

How To Apply Sunscreen And Have Healthy, Fabulous Skin Forever

If You Want A Nice Sunburn, Use Last Year’s Sunscreen

6 Tricks For Sun Protecting Your Skin In Really Hot Weather is a post from: OTB Skin Care Blog

Your nails don’t always stand up to the use you put them to, and when they don’t, they crack!

Just yesterday, an 80 year old patient asked me why his fingernails were dry, brittle and splitting on the ends.  He’d always had strong nails.  He wanted to know if I thought Knox Gelatin Capsules would work for him; it’s what his mother used when she had nail problem. They didn’t work for her, but he didn’t know what else to do.

Almost every day I’m asked by someone for advice to fix their brittle, splitting fingernails because the problem is so common. It can happen at any age, but it’s definitely one of those “as we age” stories. If your nails are splitting, there are things you can do to improve them, but there are also common ‘remedies’ that actually make the problem worse.

THE PROBLEM:

Your nails dry out as you age, losing their natural oils which act as a glue to hold the nail layers together. If you have thin fingernails and dry skin to begin with you can expect this to happen to you ‘sooner rather than later’.  Exposing your hands to harsh soaps, cleaning products, solvents and rough work makes things worse. At first your nails begin to ‘fray’ on the edges, becoming brittle. Eventually the layers split.  Nail hardeners make this worse because the alcohols, formaldehyde and other chemicals in the nail hardeners really dry out your natural oils. (Crazy fact: Nail hardeners actually contain more of these chemicals than nail polishes!  It’s these chemicals that make the nails feel harder at first, but- whammo- after a few weeks the splitting is worse than ever.)

THE FIX:

Dermatologist’s 3 Simple Tricks To Treat Cracked And Splitting Fingernails:

1. Hydrate and add oils.  Use creams, oils and ointments on your nails everyday after they’ve been wet. My favorite is good old Bag Balm with it’s wool alcohol (aka lanolin).  Some of my other favorite hydrating ingredients for nails are Shea Butter, Jojoba oil, avocado oil, or other rich natural oils.  The thicker the cream the better, and oils or ointments are best. The trick is to use something that stays put for awhile and doesn’t just rub off right away.  Plus, you always moisturize skin and nails immediately after water exposure; applying moisturizers to dry nails is a waste of time.  Put your moisturizer on within minutes after your bath or shower, or after washing your hands.  Do it as often as possible.  You can use a hand cream during the day (I love my Intensive Hand Cream, which is non-greasy), but use a thicker product like Bag Balm at bed time. If your nails are really bad, apply Bag Balm to them numerous times a day after washing your hands.
2. Clip and file your nails when they’re wet. Clipping and filing dry nails makes the splits worse so always do it after water exposure.  Towel off the water and then use sharp nail clippers to trim your nails, followed by gently filing the edges.  You can also very gently buff the nail edges to keep the splitting layers from catching on things and progressing down the nail.
3. Wear gloves when you do rough work or get your hands into harsh chemicals. Obviously you want to protect your brittle and splitting nails from the things that make them worse.

Gelatin capsules don’t work but vitamin supplements formulated specifically for nail growth may help. I’ve had patients who feel that their nails grew a lot faster and stronger once they started taking supplements. Nail supplement formulations appear to vary, though most contain biotin.  I tell patients to go to their favorite high quality natural food store and ask the vitamin specialist for their best nail formula.  It’s important to know that many of the ingredients in these supplements are lavishly present in whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, natural oils, beans and fish.  Eating a richly nutritious diet is key to supporting healthy nails and vitamin supplements should be used in addition to, not in place of a healthy diet.

Your fingernails grow slowly, about 1mm per month.  As you age, the growth slows down even more.  This means it will take several months for the dry and split portion of your nails to grow out.  Depending on the condition of the rest of your existing nails, it could take as long as a year for proper nail care, good diet and your vitamin supplements to stop the nail splitting, so hang in there and don’t give up.

Lastly, there are internal diseases that can affect your nails, the most common being thyroid problems and anemia.  Some skin diseases affect the nails as well and cause splitting.  If your nails don’t improve, see your doctor.

I’d love to hear any tricks or products you’ve found to improve your brittle and splitting fingernails.

If you found this information helpful you may also want to read:

Pandemic Of Dry Hands; Hand Sanitizers, The Swine Flu And Tips To Save Your Hands

Natural Skin Health; Dermatologist’s Diet Recommendations For Healthy Skin

Dermatologist’s 3 Simple Steps For Sandal Ready Feet By Spring

Photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonythemisfit/2432720887/ Tony The Misfit

Cracked, Dry, Brittle and Splitting Fingernails; Dermatologist’s Tips is a post from: OTB Skin Care Blog

It’s just been scientifically proven: A veggie and fruit diet gives you a better looking skin color that a sun tan. As a dermatologist and nutrition advocate, I’m thrilled!

You actually do look more beautiful to other people when your skin has the golden glow that comes from eating fruits and veggies. People find that color more appealing than the brown color that comes from a sun tan.

I’ve thought this for years and now it’s fact; in a scientific study, volunteers rated the golden skin of veggie eaters as more beautiful than the brown skin of sun tanners — and you can get your own ‘golden glow’ in as little as a month.

The take home message: If you want to look great, skip the sun tan and instead tank up on fruits and veggies!

Here’s the details:

Dr. Ian Stephen, an experimental psychologist at the University of Bristol in England, did a study where he showed volunteers a series of photographs of both men and women. Some were sun-tanned and others were on a prescribed fruit and veggie diet that was high in beta carotene. He asked the volunteers to rate the attractiveness of the people’s skin tone. The volunteers consistently preferred the skin tone of those people who were eating the fruit and veggie diet over the tone from people who were sun tanned.

To understand this, you need to know that skin color is produced by one of two skin pigments: melanin or beta carotene. Your skin’s melanin content is partly determined by your genes, but it also increases with sun exposure. Beta carotene is a yellow/orange pigment that you only get if you eat it. Foods with lots of beta carotene include certain fruits and veggies like carrots, winter squash, cantaloupe, and some green leafy veggies.

Beta carotene imparts warmth to skin color. Of course this shows up more in really fair-skinned people (Fitzpatrick skin types 1 to 3), but in my experience, even people with darker skin (Fitzpatrick 4 to 6) can warm up their skin color with a healthy diet. I’m a fair Fitz type 2 and I’ve always preferred my skin with the warmth of beta carotene instead of my natural color (a pasty and transparent blueish white). I eat a ton of veggies, which I’ve talked about in past blog posts. Now I’m going to make sure to always include the fruits and veggies with lots of beta carotene; heart attack, stroke, cancer, arthritis and weight control were motivating, but skin tone and beauty are real kickers! It’s undeniable, we are what we eat and everybody can see it in our skin.

Foods High In Beta Carotene

Good food sources of beta-carotene include:

• Yellow/orange vegetables: carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, winter squash
• Dark green and/or leafy vegetables: kale, broccoli, spinach, collard greens, turnips and their green leaves, beet leaves, mustard and dandelion greens, watercress, cilantro, chicory, endive, escarole
• Yellow/orange fruits: apricots, cantaloupes, papayas, mangoes, nectarines, peaches
• Other good vegetable and fruit sources – summer squash, asparagus, peas, sour cherries, prune plums.

My advice to help you get get the most beta carotene out of your foods:

• Eat them with a little fat or oil because you’ll absorb beta carotene better with a little fat in your digestive tract.
• Chopped or juiced foods release more beta carotene than large chunks of food (carrot juice is a great source of beta carotene)
• Eating your fruits and veggies really fresh is key, because beta carotene is fragile and gets lost when the fruits or veggies are processed or stored

To Sum It Up: You can get a great skin color without the wrinkles, liver spots and premature skin aging that comes from sun tanning. Instead, eat fruits and veggies that are high in beta carotene for the best skin color of all…..

Skip the sun, have a salad, and look fabulous forever!

References:

Timesonline, May 23, 2010

Facial Skin Coloration Affects Perceived Health of Human Faces, Stephen ID, et. al., Int J Primatol, 2009 Dec;30(6):845-857.

If You Found This Post Interesting, You May Want To Look At:

The Alkaline Mediterranean Diet-A Dietary Magic Wand For Overall Health And Beauty

Are You Really Getting Vitamin D From The Sun Or Just Nuking Your DNA?

Use Self Tanners Like A Pro

Photo: Pink Sherbet

Skip The Tan & Eat Your Veggies For Beautiful Skin Color is a post from: OTB Skin Care Blog

And, do you know that if you apply it to moist skin, it’s more likely to cause peeling and skin irritation?

Lastly, do you know that some of the common and really good ingredients in other skin care products aren’t compatible with tretinoin?

Used correctly, tretinoin does amazing things for skin. I love tretinoin and have personally used it for over 25 years. My skin looks better now than it did then. I’ve also written thousands of prescriptions for it in that same period of time and I’ve helped the same number of patients integrate it into their skin care treatments.

Just this last month I had interesting conversations with two of these patients, both of whom expressed gratitude for my recommending tretinoin and attributed the healthy condition of their skin to their years of tretinoin skin therapy:

The first patient is a woman in her early 60s with rosacea and a history of skin cancer who said that she had more wrinkles 15 years ago when she started using tretinoin than she does today. Her pores appear smaller and her skin texture is better, and she feels it’s the tretinoin that’s helped.

The second patient just turned 39 and looks like she is in her mid-twenties. She started using tretinoin at 27 and says she, too, looks better now than she did then. While getting a pedicure to celebrate her birthday, the woman giving her the pedicure was astonished when she found out that my patient was over 30.

Tretinoin therapy is well worth the effort in my opinion, but there are tricks to doing it right.

The three key tricks I tell my patients for using Retin A (tretinoin) correctly

1. Always apply it to your skin at bedtime, never use it during the day.
2. Never apply it at the same time you also have products on your skin that contain glycolic acid or benzoyl peroxide .
3. Always wait at least 15 to 30 minutes after washing your skin and applying any other skin care products before you apply tretinoin. I personally keep my tube of tretinoin on my bedside table and read a little to pass the time before I apply it.

My tube of tretinoin sitting on my bedside table

Additional treatment tips to help skin tolerate tretinoin therapy

• Start tretinoin therapy by using the product twice a week (every third night) and slowly increase to every night over a month or two as your skin adjusts. A little scaliness and irritation is normal at first, but if the treated skin becomes really sensitive, back off and wait. Let the skin return to normal then begin treatment again. Slowly try to increase to every night as your skin adjusts.
• Apply a ‘pearl-sized’ portion to the face. Use the same amount for the neck and/or chest.
• If your skin continues to become irritated and just won’t adjust to tretinoin treatment, then switch to entirely non-irritating cleansers like Toleriane Cleanser or Nobel Zinc Soap. Many cleansers are too irritating for tretinoin treated skin.
• If your skin becomes red and irritated for any reason (eg. wind burn, sun burned, harsh skin care products, surgical or cosmetic procedures etc.), don’t apply tretinoin until your skin has entirely returned to normal. This is because tretinoin irritates irritated skin!

Important things to know about tretinoin treatment

• Tretinoin-treated skin is very exfoliated and should not be waxed for hair removal.
• Any doctor or skin care specialist performing a procedure such as a chemical peel, microdermabrasion, laser or light treatments etc. needs to know you are on tretinoin. They may ask you to stop it for a period of time before and after your treatment.
• Anyone who is or may be pregnant should not use tretinoin.
• Anyone using tretinoin must sun protect their skin or they will have more skin sun damage than if they never used tretinoin, again because tretinoin skin is very exfoliated.

Lastly, why bother with this tricky and sometimes inconvenient skin care treatment?

Scientific studies and my medical experience give me so many reasons to be a big fan of tretinoin:

• It has proven itself to reduce, reverse, and prevent wrinkles. The younger a person starts (teens and twenties), the more benefit they receive, but it’s never too late!
• It helps lighten and prevent age spots.
• It builds collagen to thicken and increase the structural strength of treated skin.
• It helps to decrease a person’s risk of developing skin cancer.
• Skin just looks better and younger when they use tretinoin.

I’ve used tretinoin for over 20 years and will continue to do so. I see the benefits every day in the mirror and for me these benefits outweigh the inconveniences. How about you? What are your stories?

If you found this information helpful, you may want to read:

5 Steps For Smart Sun Protection

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Anti Aging Skin Care

How To Unclog Your Clogged Pores

How To Correctly Use Retin A (Tretinoin) For Acne & Anti-Aging Skin Care is a post from: OTB Skin Care Blog

When you use a self tanner, do you have soft, moist, evenly bronzed skin?

Or does your skin look like a cross between an alligator and a leopard with the smell of mayonnaise overlaid by cheap perfume?

There are a few tricks to looking (and smelling) good in self-tanners! I’ve learned them over the years from my patients who do it well. The problem is that self-tanners naturally get stuck in the thicker areas of your skin like your freckles and over your knees. They also dry out your skin and the active ingredient has a funny mayonnaise-like smell. I still love self-tanners and will take them any day over sun damaged skin, but… there are some tricks to getting the look you want with self-tanners.

3 Steps For Applying Self-Tanning Products So You Look (And Smell) Great

The general concept: Self-tanners stain the outer, dead skin cell layer of your skin, showing off how thick and how dry this layer is. Understanding this is key. Your skin needs to be exfoliated and moisturized BEFORE you apply self-tanners. Plus, you’ve got to be careful that you put much less product on the thicker areas of your skin like your knees, elbows and feet.

Step by step instructions for applying self-tanners like a pro:

1. Prepare Your Skin First!

Keep your skin exfoliated and hydrated in preparation for self-tanners. This means physically exfoliating your skin in the bath or shower and moisturizing immediately after toweling dry. Physical exfoliation is where you scrub off the extra dead cells using something rough. I’ve found the most effective products for this are the Body Buf Puf or the Salux Cloth. Other options include a luffa sponge or an exfoliating body polish. Of course scrub gently, but use more pressure and scrub longer over the thicker skin areas of your knees, elbows, the back of your hands and tops of your feet. Immediately after toweling dry (within three minutes — no more) apply a rich moisturizer. Ideally your moisturizer should contain an alpha hydroxy acid for additional exfoliation. I’ve found the best exfoliating moisturizer for this is Glytone Body Lotion (which is in my Anti Aging Body Skin Care Kit along with the Salux Cloth). Less strong, but still effective are the drug store products AmLactin Cream or Lacticare Cream. I’ve used them all and Glytone is by far the most effective and it’s what I’ve used for years for my own skin.

2. Know When And How To Apply Self-Tanners

Apply self-tanner immediately after toweling off from your bath or shower. You can apply it before, or in place of, your moisturizer. Don’t put the tanner on your skin if you haven’t just bathed because you’ll get the alligator look. You can apply moisturizer like Glytone Body Lotion on top of the tanner if you’re using a product that isn’t too heavy. This will give you the best results.

Apply very little product over areas of your body with thicker skin. Using your leg as an example, put some product in one palm, rub your hands together and then smooth the product over the thinner skin on your lower leg and thigh, but avoid touching your knee or foot until you have almost no product left on your palms, at which point you can very briefly rub your palms over the back of your foot and the front of your knee. Because the thick skin in these areas picks up more product, they can look much darker than the thinner areas of your skin, giving them a dirty look.

Always wash the product off your palms entirely when you are done. If you don’t, your hands will look dirty. Your palms qualify as areas of thick skin and will stain darker than the rest of your skin if you don’t wash them well and immediately after applying self-tanner.

Lighten overly dark areas by physically exfoliating them. If, for some reason, you still find that some areas of your skin are darker, giving you a spotty or dirty look, you can lighten the color in the shower with a light physical exfoliation using the Salux Cloth, Buf Puf or a body polish.

3. Be An Artist

Refine your technique to get a natural look. Apply more product over the parts of your skin that would naturally be darker if you had a sun tan to give them slightly more bronzed color. (Meaning the tops of the arms should be darker than the under surface of the arms!) This can be done by applying more product the first time, or doing a second application. Also, if you don’t intend to apply the tanner to your entire skin surface, then feather it in to those areas by gradually applying a thinner layer as you approach them, don’t stop abruptly leaving a big color difference. Self tanner application is a lot like painting and you can dial in the color you want by putting more or less product on your skin.

Products:

There are tons of options available. I prefer a thinner product that allows you to put your moisturizer on top without feeling heavy or greasy. My favorites:

Avene Moisturizing Self-Tanning Lotion My new favorite! It has a light feel, no heavy fragrance and a relatively hypoallergenic base that’s perfect under Glytone Body Lotion. I like it so much I’ve decided to carry it at OTB Skin Care!

Clarins Gelee Auto Bronzante Express. Clarins consistently gets high ratings for its self-tanners. I used this product for years and it, too, works well under moisturizer. The fragrance is subtle and the color good.

L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Spray. This is a great way to apply tanner to your back! I’m not fond of the fragrance, but the spray is brilliant.

Jergens Natural Glow and Neutrogena Summer Glow (this may no longer be available). These good products are a little too heavy to use under a moisturizer. This means you’ll get the best results if you use them every other day alternating with an AHA moisturizer on alternate days to avoid the dry alligator look.

Self-tanners work beautifully to give you great looking bronzed skin….without the wrinkles and age spots you’d get from the sun. By knowing how to apply them, you can rely on self-tanners to give you a tan look whenever you want it.

Remember, self-tanner color does not give you any sun protection so follow my recommendations for sun protecting your skin.

If you found this information helpful, you may also want to read:

Back And Chest Acne: Will They Ruin Your Summer?

The New Celebrity Beauty Trend-Going Natural

Dermatologist’s 3 Simple Steps For Sandal-Ready Feet By Spring

Photo Attribution:

Use Self-Tanners Like A Pro is a post from: OTB Skin Care Blog

Bonnie Fuller, Editor in Chief of Hollywoodlife.com made my day on the Today Show this week when she said that the new big celebrity fashion trend is celebrities flaunting their natural beauty; going ‘au naturale’ in the media with untouched photos,minimal makeup and pride in being naturally beautiful.

Jessica Simpson, Demi Moore, Britney Spears – they’re all doing it publicly and Bonnie Fuller says we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg with this trend!

I’m in nirvana; naturally beautiful is IN. Good skin care and healthy living are golden. Sedate me! I’m apoplectic. I’ve been about this for years.

Except for a rare few, being naturally beautiful, without a lot of makeup and tricks, only happens with a healthy lifestyle and smart skin care. I tell patients this all day, and I work at it myself. Now it’s in!

A patient of mine who’s a living example of this came in for an appointment just a few days before Bonnie Fuller’s Today Show interview. This patient just turned 38 and she’s followed my skin care advice since she was 27-and-eleven years later her skin looks better than it did eleven years ago. She gave herself a birthday pedicure and the woman doing her nails couldn’t believe she was over 30. She looks years younger than her age because she’s been using my rejuvenating skin care recommendations every day for the last 11 years and she stopped the clock! She’s also a health-conscious, California girl living a healthy lifestyle which has a huge impact too.

So, how do we claim our natural beauty?

The 4 Essential Steps For Being Beautiful Naturally – that I’ve learned from my patients, my medical practice and life as a healthy living Californian.

Starting from the outside and working in, and with links to more in-depth information on my blog and web site:

1. Rejuvenating skin care is a must. Your skin is the wrapping paper you show to the world and it makes or breaks your look. We now have super effective products that tune-up skin without surgery. The most effective combos for my patients:

• Antioxidant Facial Skin Care with Glycolic Acid: This improves age spots and rough, wrinkled skin texture giving all skin types a more luminous and healthy look. Some antioxidants in particular are almost like ‘magic’ in how they protect, heal, and boost the skin’s collagen-forming function. I’ve put the most effective products together in a kit and it’s my absolute favorite skin care regimen available without a prescription.
• Glycolic Acid Facial Skin Care: This improves age spots and rough, wrinkled texture for that luminous healthy glow.
• Sunscreen! You can’t have meaningful skin rejuvenation without it.
• Anti Aging Body skin Rejuvenation: Exfoliation and strong glycolic acid really make body skin soft, dewy and ready for revealing fashions or fake tanning lotions.

2. Exercise is a must. My formula is 150 min of cardio per week in three 50-minute segments, resistance weight work and balance/stretching exercise like with yoga.  A good workout takes years off your looks and is the instant fountain of youth.  Just tonight, when I came home from spinning class, my husband said, “wow, you look great and your skin looks amazing!” (Cardio gets him every time.)

3. Healthy diet is a must. This means a mostly plant-based diet of fresh, well-sourced food, almost no processed foods, moderate alcohol and no junk food. Pretty strict, but just look at your appearance after a junk food binge-it shows with a puffy sallow complexion, etc. Probiotic rich foods are also important because healthy digestion helps you absorb the good stuff from your food.

4. Managing stress is a must. OK, here I’m no pro. This is my growing edge. When you’re stressed, you look ‘stressed out’ and it’s not pretty. Find whatever it takes to help you gain inner tranquility; it may be yoga, meditation, prayer, walks in nature, full deep breaths throughout the day, time with friends-whatever it is, just do it on a regular basis. You’ll glow.

Going natural is a great trend. It gives us reasons to take really good care of ourselves because -

you can’t fake natural beauty and it’s the style trend for 2010!

Photo Attribution:

The New Celebrity Fashion & Beauty Trend – Going Natural is a post from: OTB Skin Care Blog

Another question I have is about the Buf-Puf. Can this be used every day? I am using the Replenix Scrub twice a week which is quite the work horse! I have somewhat sensitive skin so I have to be careful not to overdo.

I love your site and your blog! The information has been incredibly helpful.

Thanks!
Robin

Dear Robin,

This is a great practical question.  You’re using the best and most powerful anti aging skin care products made.  The dryness you describe sounds like what I see when these products push up against the limits of what a person’s skin can currently handle. By taking little breaks in how often these products are applied, the skin can gently adjust.  When the skin is ready, it will probably be able to handle more regular use.

Occasional dryness and irritation happens to almost everyone using strong anti aging products.  That’s because both vitamin C and glycolic acid have an acid ph which means they’re sort of like lemon juice.  Add to this the fact that tretinoin (Retin A and Renova) and glycolic acid both powerfully exfoliate dead skin cells to uncover the underlying soft new cells and you can see why an acid ph can occasionally cause chapping and dryness.

Here’s what I tell my patients who are experiencing dryness or irritation from their professional anti aging skin care products:

• If the dryness occurred after adding a new product, or increasing the strength of a product they’ve been using successfully, then stop just that one product until the skin goes back to normal.  This may be a few days or as long as a week or two.  When the skin is ready, resume using the product just once or twice a week.  Slowly increase to everyday use as the skin adjusts.  If the skin again becomes dry and chapped then take another break until the skin settles down, then restart.  The trick is to find that application frequency and product strength for your particular skin.
• When a person’s skin is really chapped, sunburned or broken out with a rash for any reason, they need to entirely stop most of their anti aging products until the skin has entirely returned to normal.  In this case, I recommend washing with a gentle cleanser like Noble Zinc Soap or Toleriane Cleanser applying Replenix CF Cream, a gentle moisturizer like Glycolix Elite (without glycolic acid) and sunscreen during the day.  When their skin is totally back to normal they can very slowly resume their other anti aging products-as tolerated.  It’s important not to apply vitamin C, tretinoin or glycolic acid to irritated skin because it makes the irritation worse.

Your second question about whether you’ll benefit from vitamin C if you don’t use it everyday is a question many people ask me.  Interestingly, vitamin C anti aging products like C/R/S don’t need to be used every day because tests have shown that 50% of the high skin concentrations obtained from applying professional vitamin C products are still present in the skin after 4 days.  I tell my patients to apply C/R/S at least three times a week, and especially when they’ll be in the sun; vitamin C is a great second defense against free radical sun damage- and we want that.

Your last question is about the additive benefits (or problems) from multiple exfoliation products.  Yes, you can overdo it.  You have to figure where that perfect amount of exfoliation is for your skin.  Exfoliated skin is soft and luminous, but it’s more sensitive and requires special care. For most people I find that using Replenix Scrub twice a week OR gently washing with a Facial Buf Puf every day is usually just about right.

I hope this information is helpful.  Thanks for sending me a great question that brings to light something many people experience with professional anti aging skin care products.

Warm Regards,

Cynthia Bailey MD, Dermatologist

Disclaimer: Please realize that availing yourself of the opportunity to submit and receive answers to your questions from Dr. Bailey does not confer a doctor/patient relationship with Dr. Bailey. The information provided by Dr. Bailey is general health information inspired by your question. It should not be a substitute for obtaining medical advice from your physician and is not intended to diagnose or treat any specific medical problem (and is not an extension of the care Dr. Bailey has provided in her office for existing patients of her practice). Never ignore your own doctor’s advice because of something you read here; this information is for general informational purpose only.

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Anti Aging Skin Care is a post from: OTB Skin Care Blog

It’s not an impossible promise.

Sun protection is the single biggest fountain of youth for your skin. Sun causes skin thinning, wrinkles, age spots, and ‘broken capillaries,’ not to mention skin cancers. No matter how old or young you are, sun protection from this day forward will help you ’stop the clock’ on skin aging.

Sunscreen is one of your main tools to sun protect your skin. Starting with the right product is the first step, knowing how to use it is step two. Here’s how I personally use sunscreen and what I tell my patients:

Dermatologist Dr. Cynthia Bailey’s Recommendations For How To Apply Sunscreen

When to apply sunscreen:

Sunscreen should be applied 15 to 30 minutes before sun exposure.

Be sure to let the product sit on your skin for the full 30 minutes if you’ll be swimming or sweating. Use a ‘very water resistant’ sunscreen if you plan to be in water. ‘Very water resistant’ means the product should protect you for up to 80 minutes in the water. If you or the water will be moving around (ie. swimming, being in a Jacuzzi or the ocean) that time will be shorter.

Where you need to apply sunscreen:

Every inch of your skin that isn’t covered by clothing needs sunscreen. That means ears, lips, back of your hands, back ofyour neck, top of your feet, top of your head, etc. You don’t need sunscreen under your hat or under sun protective clothing, but you need it everywhere that isn’t covered.

How much sunscreen you need to apply:

The amount you apply is important but confusing and there isn’t a short answer. The average-sized adult should use 1 ounce (which is equal to 1 shot glass or equal to 2 tablespoons) to cover their entire body – but body sizes vary and you don’t need to apply sunscreen under your clothes. So how much you subtract from this amount depends on your body size and how much of you is covered by clothing.

Facial application amount is also confusing because the 1 teaspoon rule from years ago was meant for the entire head and neck, including the scalp. Again, you need to figure out how big your exposed face, ears and neck is relative to a teaspoon, and whether you’re bald or have hair on your scalp. For me, it takes about 1/3 teaspoon of sunscreen to really protect my face, ears, the front and back of my neck and behind my ears. I’m more careful to apply this generous amount if I’m going to be in the sun all day, even with a hat. If I’m indoors a good part of the day, I may use as little as ¼ teaspoon on my face and neck. I put sunscreen on every morning before I start my day and I recommend that you do the same. Be prepared, not surprised when you’re unexpectedly caught outside.

When to reapply sunscreen:

You always need to reapply sunscreen after being in the water or sweating heavily.

Sunscreen also needs to be reapplied after two hours of sun exposure just to be safe. That’s because you’ll undoubtedly rub some of the product off your skin. Plus, sunlight gradually breaks down the active ingredients when the UV rays hit them on your skin, so you need to add more. At a minimum I recommend you reapply mid-day. When I’m out gardening, I put on sunscreen and wear a broad-brimmed hat. At noon, when I break for lunch, I reapply my sunscreen. I always use a sunscreen that contains at least 5% micro zinc oxide because over the years I’ve found that this ingredient lasts longer in the sun than other sunscreen ingredients.

Other important things to know about sunscreen:

If you use makeup with sunscreen you still need to wear sunscreen!

There are 2 reasons for this:

1. Most makeup doesn’t have 5% or more micro zinc oxide and, in my opinion, this ingredient provides the protection you need.
2. Even if your makeup has 5% or more zinc oxide in it, you’re probably not going to put that ¼ teaspoon that I recommend on your face and neck because the makeup color would look too heavy. Instead put your sunscreen on first and then add the makeup on top for color and appearance. If your makeup provides additional sun protection then that’s terrific and you’ve got really great anti-aging skin care to keep your skin young for years.

Don’t ever rely entirely on sun screen for your skin’s sun protection!

Yes, I mean that. Sunscreen isn’t perfect and you’re not going to be perfect at applying it.

First and foremost, keep the sun’s UV rays off your skin with clothing and a full, broad-brimmed hat. Try to be in the shade and try not to be out in direct sunlight between 10 am and 4pm. This means — seek the shade, wear sun protective clothing and a hat AND apply sunscreen to the parts of your skin not covered by clothing or directly under the hat.

Remember, good sun protection is your skin’s fountain of youth. You can have soft, even-colored skin with hardly any wrinkles all the way through your life. I see it in my office every day.

To Learn More About Sun Protection You May Want To Read

How To Pick The Best Sunscreen

If You Want A Nice Sunburn, Use Last Year’s Sunscreen

Making Sense Of The Vitamin D Dilemma And Sun Exposure

Dermatologist’s Simple Trick To Test Your Sun Exposure

Photo Attribution:

How To Apply Sunscreen & Have Healthy, Fabulous Skin Forever is a post from: OTB Skin Care Blog