The Colors of Epoch Glamour

It's true that we all have a bit of a comfort zone when it comes to colors, and to some extent it's because those colors do harmonize with our skin tone, or or hair color, or our wardrobe, or that festive new hat we happened to grab! But there its a place to think out side the ordinary and it's just that sort of thing that a colorist can help you with! In fact colorists have been doing that for, literally millennium! The 'original' color was reported to be red ocher, it was used to advertise fertility. In the far east, the ocher stayed the color of choice, but for the Mehndi pain of hands and feet it was more for luck, and protection in one's marriage and fertility while enhancing beauty. Although we think it was only for beauty that the Egyptian women 5000 years ago used the inert mineral kohl thickened into a paste with animal fat to paint eye liner on their eyes, the modern studies of the scientists behind mineral make up have discovered it prevented eye diseases as well, and is the basic concept behind the minerals still used in the main eye definers today. The crystal white of QE I's skin was achieved with actual white lead paint, we cherish sun protected skin, no matter what our natural color, in a nod to the classic look. So, some looks, are just classic, and likely here to stay! 

Sun Screen and Sun Exposure

In 1855 the original "Sun Doctor" Arnold Rikli began offering light therapy to treat a variety of disorders, but he didn't really know it wasn't strictly beneficial! But sun worshiping has never actually been far out of style! We do now have studies that say sun exposure, and other UV light exposure ,causes various forms of skin damage from solar keratoses to melanoma and squameous cell carcinoma. It was once thought that as long as you didn't burn the skin, it was a safe way to tan. Ambre Solaire was thus invented so you could use to 'bronze but not burn,' in 1935. Thus the orginal  tanning lotion  brain child of Eugene Schueller who went on to found the parent company  of L'Oreal. But ever since that has led us to get more sun exposure, not less, and been under the mistaken idea that there is a safe way to tan. Medical studies have tried to increase specific knowledge about what the true risks are, and how to best avoid. So instead of enhance your tan, fashionable or not, we encourage covering up, and to that end sunscreen has been the most effective.  The data presented in the media has been confusing when we've shown that sun screen use has actually increased melanomas, but quickly clarified to determine that people who use sun screen actually go out in the sun more, so they are much more exposed to sunlight. Some of this may be due to better UVA than UVB protection, and in general, if you are getting tan, the sun's effect is on your skin, whether you didn't burn or whether you did. More details can be found in this article in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.And if you managed to have skin sun damage you would like to reverse, that that is something that is very possible, call for an appointment!

Lip Enhancement Treatment Gets FDA Panel Approval

On April 27th, the  US Food and Drug Administration's General and Plastic Surgery Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee recommended the injectable wrinkle-filler Restylane (Medicis Aesthetics Inc) for use as a lip enhancer. Restylane, one of the top three commonly used injectable gel composed of hyaluronic acid, is currently  indicated for mid- to deep-dermal implantation to correct moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds. The company is seeking to amend the product's indication to include submucosal implantation for lip augmentation.
The panel voted 6 to 0 (1 abstaining) that Restylane for lip augmentation is generally safe and effective for this purpose and that the benefits outweigh the risks, but the FDA still has to make a final decision on Restylane injectable gel for lip augmentation, but the agency usually follows the advice of its advisory panels, which consist of outside experts. The side effects of the lip injection treatments in the study were mild and resolved quickly. Depending upon the area treated, and the effects wanted, there is variation in the amount of volume injected and that has to be decided with your individual provider who is doing your injections. So the FDA panel is not going to set a maximum dose. Men and women of color have been under represented in these studies, but it is felt that the injection of filler in these patients would be safe. In the recent study only a very few patients were in the 18-22 age range, but it has been tested safely in these few patients. Restylane is commonly used off-label to augment and contour the lips, so the ruling really just enhances current practices.

More Anti-Talc Advice For Your Skin

There are at least three good reasons to steer away from body powder use near the private parts for gals: 1 If  your powder contains talc  it can lead to ovarian cancer (here's the latest link on this), 2. It is drying to your skin, and  3. Actually the fine grains can cause micro tears in sensitive tissues, so for the vaginal regions this makes STDs easier to catch.

The Eyes Have It

We have been discussing make up and skin health and the potential dangers of some make up that is contaminated by bacteria. At the University of Illinois  at Chicago they have written about the ingredients in makeup that can be irritating to your eyes. It's important to understand your allergies and risks. If your eyes are dry, itching, red, or if the eyelid skin has developed pigment changes or skin conditions, consider an evaluation. Your health care provider or your aesthetician can be good places to start if you have a question. If you have actual vision changes or headaches, an ophthalmology evaluation may be indicated.

Sleep On Your Back To Avoid Wrinkles?

Wrinkles in our faces are creases just like a piece of origami. Wearing sun glasses, sun hats, and having proper windshield tinting now helps prevent squint lines because you just don't squint into the sun as much. So fess up you stomach sleepers, are you just folding those lines in,? All night long are you folding lines in by sleeping in one position? Really? What is the ideal sleeping position? This is not a quiz that's hard, ideal, face it, we need rest, sleep deprivation is not good for anything.So the most comfortable, in rough terms, the one that makes our sleep most restorative is probably the best. And we have to do that in rhythem with our biological clock, if you want to read more about that go to the sleep post at GynoGab. And sleep positions may have health consequences that are more than just our wrinkly skin: in pregnancy when you are in your third trimester you may drop your blood pressure by sleeping too much on your back, and in Japan one study showed less heart attacks in men with sleeping on their abdomens!Good positions to avoid heart burn is the left side, and on the side with knees bent is the best position for your back. Definitely all things to consider, no wonder I toss and turn trying to sort out all the advice out their for you! So skin wrinkling: what we need are facts and few studies have really looked at wrinkling and sleep position: if you have had Botox for instance, no amount of squishing up your eye region with a sleep position will likely effect the wrinkles in that area, and the younger you are the less likely you would have consequences of wrinkling from sleep positions. For those who want to study sleep facts you can log onto The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). And most of us do naturally move around in our sleep, so don't worry too much if you are in that same position in the morning as the night, you didn't likely stay there!

Bacteria In Your Make UP

News stories regarding bacteria in your make up have begun surfacing again. Mineral make-up that is pure minerals cannot accumulate bacteria as the make up is inert rock and not susceptible to contamination the way some of the oils and compounds are in regular make up. Some make-up that is not the pure mineral makeup will contain preservatives to try to fight off the contamination and prolong shelf life. Mineral Makeup such as in the Virtual Facelift by Hada 
is designed with Makeup as Medicine, thus preservative free makeup that contains bacteriostatic mineral properties. So this makeup fights bacteria in two ways: less likely to ever be contaminated and as part of treatment regimen for inflamed skin.

Introduction of Blunt Needle Technique at Hada Cosmetic Medicine

Dermal fillers fill in facial crevices, like in the nasal labial folds. And yet they do more to enhance facial features, such as produce collagen building. Although some strategies preoperatively , like avoiding asprin, with proper adherence to post operative instructions, and strategies during the treatment such as technique, down time from bruising and swelling can be kept to a minimum. Patients now have additional benefit from a technique introduced called blunt needle cannulas. By using these the tissue is gently pushed apart rather than actually cut in parts of the injection and thus the swelling and bruising is less and the patient comfort is enhanced as well. At Hada Cosmetic Medicine, where the technique was introduced first in Central Illinois, injection nurse Jody Randolph, RN was immediately impressed with the difference in comfort level. As with other techniques, it is not used for all locations and all techniques. For best individual results she suggests, "consultation, and to remember, that fillers are enhanced by the other care you give your skin."

Botox to Control the (flood) of Glisten!

Women don't just flash when they're hot, they flush and blush and often perspire copiously. The symptoms persist for up to five years after menopause. The forehead is one place when we get a hot flash that we can experience a flood of perspiration that can steam the glasses, blur the vision, drip the sun screen and overall make us miserable. When a woman hot flashes she does get has a dramatic increase of local skin blood flow. And researchers in London and Texas, in a study supported by the NIH National Institute of Aging have shown that this skin blood flow is in fact sensitive to being controlled by Botox. And the treated patients were less likely to get forehead and forearm sweating in response to heat generated by being exposed to heat (ie an 'experimental hot flash'). We could have predicted some of this response as Botox is already used to control severe facial blushing as well as underarm sweating. Remember that this study didn't confirm that Botox should be used for hot flashes, as they weren't studying hot flashes exactly, but getting hot by being exposed to heat which may produce a physical stress that is completely different. And we know that women who are heavy will have worse hot flashes, so it's important to get the whole picture before you pull out the Botox! But some will say this research paves the way for your gynecologist to treat your flushes in a whole, new, non-hormonal, although not necessarily completely non-invasive, way!

Pretty Your Nails Save Your Skin

You may need to be more aggressive with sunscreen and antioxidant use on your hands than you have been in the past. For women who regularly go to tanning salons and dry their nails with UV light, the look of the polish is flawless, but it's intense UV light exposure and could up the risk of skin cancer on your hands. Solutions: yes, now and then air dry if you have the time, or simple fan use for polish setting that that doesn't involve light activation, and most importantly start thinking of how to reverse sun damage on the hands. This could be done with anti-oxidant use or laser IPL treatments. Most potent anti-oxidants to consider: Vit C, coffee-berry, green tea.