Recently in Skin Care Tips Category

Yes, that innocuous and popular crimping tool, the eyelash curler, can be dangerous to your lashes.

As a New York State Licensed Aesthetician, I have been applying lash extensions for women in Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa and the surrounding towns for about five years.  As such, I have seen many sets of eyelashes.  One thing has become quite apparent -  women who have used traditional eyelash curlers are unknowingly harming their own, natural lashes.

What I see are lashes that have been broken and no longer have their tips.  The natural shape of an eyelash tapers to a point, whereas these lashes are blunt.  I liken it to folding paper over and over again, which results in a weakened fold in the paper where it will eventually tear.  I believe this is the same with lash curlers and eyelashes, where the user inadvertently folds the natural lash in approximately the same place over and over again on a daily basis.

Fortunately, there are other options.  There is a new type of eyelash curler on the market; one that has coils, which are gently heated by a battery.  You press the curler against the lashes, lifting and warming them upwards.  It may not be as dramatic a curl as that which is produced by the traditional eyelash curler, but it is much gentler and does not promote lash breakage.

Eyelash extensions are another way to enhance your own lashes with curl, thickness and length and can be applied in a way that is natural or dramatic, depending upon your personal likes.  With extensions, you do not need to wear mascara at all.

I ask clients to be gentle when removing eye liner, shadow and mascara as rough handling of our lashes can cause breakage too.  It is also important to remove eye makeup thoroughly as bacteria can proliferate and cause infections between lashes where makeup is lodged.

Lashes frame the eyes and make a tremendous difference in our appearance.  Women are consistently amazed at the effect that having thick, lovely eyelashes creates. 

Please feel free to contact me with questions about lashes, eyelash curlers or eyelash extensions!

It's no secret that most of us want to remain youthful. In order to do so, we make changes to our lifestyle to accommodate health and vigor with exercise, healthful diet, proper rest and maintaining the health and beauty of our facial skin.

As a busy aesthetician who sees clients from Ballston Spa, Saratoga Springs, Glens Falls, Malta and surrounding towns, I see a lot of skin, and one of the main concerns of those clients is stemming the flow of time.

So, here are a few of my suggestions:

Good home care amounts to about 40% of your skin care needs. I recommend using product that is natural or organic to minimize the amount of inflammation and harmful ingredients. Good home care will exfoliate, stimulate new cell, collagen and elastin growth, and add much needed moisture. And serums, like vitamin C, are excellent. Retinols work well to slough off that dead skin too! But remember, for everything there is a season... and over exfoliation can be harmful during times when your skin is exposed to a lot of sun.

And speaking of our good 'ol sol, remember to use sunscreen as sun damage is responsible for about 85% of the signs of skin's aging!

Good eating and drinking habits will also help your skin to look its best. That means leafy green and colorful fruits and veggies along with plenty of water. These days, I rarely drink soda and have substituted bubbly waters with a touch of juice for flavor.

Professional skin care, like having facials, comprises 60% of excellent healthy skin care. How often? Well, for those who are conscientious, every 4 - 8 weeks. One great benefit is that by having professional care, your skin care specialist can recommend products designed for your skin type saving you time, money and the problems associated with using improper, inefficient and possibly harmful products. Deeper solutions to problems associated with aging, like wrinkling, sun damage, skin discoloration, loss of elasticity and plumpness, can be achieved with peels, microdermabrasion and laser treatments.

Eyelash extensions can add lift and oomph, framing the eye and creating abundance and length to the natural lash. They are safe to wear and clients say that they look and feel years younger. An added benefit is that they save time since you will most likely not need to apply mascara.

Adding or updating your makeup can help as well. Mineral makeup foundation, which usually contains some sun screening properties, helps to correct and even out skin tone and comes in liquid, pressed and loose powder. I like to use a cream blush for a dewy, youthful appearance. Concealer, used carefully, works wonders under the eyes and to reduce redness or patchiness in skin tone - again, creating a more youthful look.

Overall, there are a lot of tools we can use to achieve a healthy, lasting glow!

Finding the right product for your skin can be boiled down to one word:  ingredients.

Drugstores, supermarkets, department stores, specialty stores or spas:  one thing they have in common is that they all sell skin care products.  So, what's your best bet and why?

With so many treatment and product choices available today, how do you know what you really need?  Here's some sound, professional advice from the heart of an aesthetician.

Don't be fooled by low price tags for services; they can be disguising a lack of experience, proper sanitation procedures or low quality products.  Many times, when something appears too good to be true, that's because it is!  Choosing an experienced practitioner who uses high quality product can make the difference between a wonderful or terrible experience.

Picking an appropriate time of year to work on your skin care goals can be crucial to your overall success.

Recently, a client confided to me that she wanted to work on her fine lines, wrinkling and sun damage.  I suggested that she have a Jessner peel.  She explained to me that she'd gone to another spa and had a $300 glycolic peel that produced no peeling whatsoever, and so, she was justifiably curious as to what constitutes a peel.

So, what exactly is a peel and how do they work?

There are a lot of misconceptions about peels and understandably so, since what we refer to as a "peel" is actually part of a variety of products with results that offer a great range of effects from barely visible changes to those which require time to heal.

So, let's start with a few, common types of peels used by skincare professionals like me ranging from least to more agressive:

Lactic Acid:  One of the gentlest exfoliants derived from milk, which generally does not produce actual peeling of the skin.

Enzymes:  Oftentimes enzyme peels are derived from fruits like pineapple or pumpkin, and they are also a gentle peel/exfoliant that do not normally produce visible peeling.

Alpha Hydroxy Acid.  This is also what's known as a "glycolic" peel, and generally speaking, glycolic peels are a form of exfoliation, and, when used in strengths of 5 - 30 percent may not produce any visible peeling or changes to the skin.  They do enhance overall skin quality and brightness and over time will help with fine lines and wrinkling.  This is sort of a maintenance type peel, again, used for better exfoliation.

Beta Hydroxy Acid.  This is also called a "salicylic" peel and is often used to help refine skin and pores by allowing better cleaning.  Like the glycolic, it has similar effects in that it doesn't normally produce visible peeling but can improve overall skin health and quality.

Jessner Peel.  The "Jessner" Peel, named after it's creator, Dr. Jessner, is a combination of chemicals that can and often does produce peeling of the skin for several days.  It works very well for congested, sluggish, oxygen-deprived skin and often produces lovely results for fine lines, sun damage and wrinkling.  This is a more aggressive peel than the lactic, enzyme, glycolic or salicylic peels, however there are peels that are even more aggressive, which can be done by medical doctors.

Now that I have given a basic definition of a few popular peels, I would like to take a moment to discuss peeling and protection.  It is my opinion that we consider our lifestyles when undertaking skin care.  This being said, I recommend exercising caution in undertaking peeling under certain conditions -- most importantly seasonal changes.  If you are planning on spending a good amount of time in the sun during summer season for swimming, hiking, gardening, boating, golfing, etc., you need to take this into consideration if you are contemplating a deep exfoliation. 

This could translate to vigilance with sunscreen (I recommend SPF 30 or higher of a physical sunblock), or for those of us who live in the north, perhaps even planning your peeling during fall or winter, when the sun isn't as strong.  If you're going to be outdoors a lot, you may need those dead skin cells for protection -- and my recommendation is to keep this in mind. 

This reminds me of another note that I'd like to make:  it's important to take breaks from using products that contain exfoliants like retinol, vitamin A or glycolic acid as these products should not be used on an all-the-time basis -- unless you have been specifically instructed to do so.  As with all things, it's good to maintain balance and consult professionals who care for you.

Oh, and about that client?  She went on to have a Jessner Peel and is loving the results!  Her exact words were: "Now, *this* is a peel!" 

What do I need?

Today, the amount of skin products available is overwhelming.  Even as an aesthetician, when I go into the drugstore and happen to walk through that aisle, I'm astounded.  So, how do you make the right choices and what's really necessary?

The Choices:

More and more, I'm choosing natural over chemical.  Check the label.  A good rule of thumb is this:  if the ingredient list is more than an inch long and contains words you can't even pronounce, you probably don't need it.  Especially if your skin is sensitive or you have allergies. 

In general, the types of skincare available fall into these categories:

Traditional products contain fragrance, dye, chemical additives, and preservatives. 

Botanical lines that are plant based.

Treatment lines, which are specifically geared towards skin issues like acne, aging or rosacea.

Natural lines, which contain no "chemical" preservatives or additives, chemical fragrances, added dyes or fillers.  (And please check the label, since just saying something is natural doesn't guarantee it.)

And, lastly, organic product which takes natural a step further by only using ingredients that have been grown without the use of pesticides, fungicides, etc.  (Again, please make sure all ingredients are organic as labeling can be confusing.)

Now, there are two other distinctions in product:  over the counter and professional. 

Over the counter is product you can buy at the drugstore, supermarket, department or specialty store; whereas professional product is purchased through an aesthetician, spa, or doctor's office.

The benefit of using a professional product is that you are choosing something that has already been chosen by someone who knows their stuff, has the knowledge to check out the ingredients and their efficacy.  In my case, I take it a step further and actually use products first before selling them.  That way, I know what they feel like and how they work.  This way, I'm the guinea pig -- not you..

Now, I'd like to point out that just because product is professional doesn't mean that it's going to be more expensive than what you find at the supermarket or the drugstore.  This is a total misconception.  There are professional products that are inexpensive and ones that are very expensive, just the same as over the counter products.  Sometimes, clients are surprised at the affordability of products that I offer -- even those that are organic.

Okay, so now you know what kinds of products are out there in the general sense, so we'll move on! 

The Parameters: 

It's important to know your skin type -- which is best assessed by a professional aesthetician.  I say this from experience, since I find that many of us are not really familiar with or educated about the definition of a skin type nor what that skin type requires.  You see, when an aesthetician tells you your skin type, she'll also recommend what will work best for your skin type. 

For example:  clients often tell me that they have unusually large pores (when they don't) and they don't know what to do about it.  Or, people who have oily skin will want to use a scrub, which could tend to excite their oil glands to produce more oil.  I cannot emphasize more how important it is to use the right product for your skin.  When you do, it's amazing how well your skin will respond.  Afterall, your skin is as smart as you are!

With the knowledge of your correct skin type in hand, now we can talk about basic necessities. 

The Basics -- Cleanse, Tone, Nourish, Moisturize:

A good cleanser:  Skin type appropriate.  If you're sensitive, then the less ingredients, the better.

An effective serum:  This goes under the moisturizer and works as an ongoing treatment adding vitamins, hydration, oil control; specifically targetting those areas you want to work on. 

A day moisturizer:  Something that works well with your foundation -- if you wear it.  This may or may not contain sunscreen.

Sunscreen.

Night moisturizer:  For those of us who have mature or dry skin, a night time moisturizer may be heavier and more moisturizing than a day cream.

Viola!  And that's it!  The basics!