Help Reduce Facial Redness

Whether your skin is irritated or simply flushed, redness can be a symptom of many skin conditions. Exposure to the sun and wind are common causes of skin redness. However, skin may also become red due to contact with an allergen or irritating substance. Facial redness can often be uncomfortable or even embarrassing. Mild skin redness over a prolonged period of time can even damage the skin by promoting wrinkles and discoloration.

Reducing facial redness may take a combination of avoidance techniques and soothing skin care products.

Things to Avoid:

1. Hot or Spicy Foods
Hot drinks or hot and spicy foods can trigger a red face and a heavy sweat for a huge number of people.

2. Caffeine
Caffeine is a terrible cause of facial flushing and redness in general around the face. Try to cut it out as much as possible as it literally dehydrates your body and the tiredness as a result can cause redness, flushing and hot flashes.

3. Smoking
Similar to caffeine, cigarettes dehydrate the body and have the very same side effects. Drink more water if giving up smoking. It is difficult, but obviously do make an effort to give up smoking whenever you can.

4. Sun

Protection from the sun reduces existing inflammation and prevents further damage. Going back out in the sun with a sunburn or skin irritation can worsen redness.

5. Irritating Cosmetic Ingredients

These include alcohol, witch hazel, menthol, peppermint, eucalyptus oil, clove, cinnamon, geranium, fragrance, and perfume. Discontinue using skin care products that cause burning or stinging. This is important for acute inflammation and may cure instances of chronic redness. To avoid buying similar products in the future, check the ingredients before you toss the bottle.

Things to Do:

1. Protect Against Environmental Factors

An SPF of at least 15 applied to bare skin or under makeup will significantly reduce sun damage. In winter months, switching to a richer moisturizer and covering exposed skin will limit skin redness.

2. Learn What Allergens and Irritants You Are Sensitive To

By knowing what affects your skin, you can limit exposure or avoid them altogether. The longer skin is subjected to irritants, the more susceptible it is to irritation, with the reaction often getting worse each time.

3. Use Calming and Soothing Cosmetic Ingredients

These include sea whip, chamomile, and azulene. If you have dry skin, apply moisturizers immediately after showering to retain moisture. If your skin tends to be oily, use a cleanser that cleans thoroughly but does not dry out your skin.

4. Apply Cool Compresses

Soft washcloths dipped in cool water make effective skin care compresses for sensitive facial areas.

Professional Product Spotlight

PCA SKIN Anti–Redness Serum
Product Overview

This unique serum has proven benefits for patients with sensitive skin, rosacea, barrier dysfunction and sunburn. Clinical studies have shown that twice-daily use of PCA SKIN® anti-redness serum results in a 14% decrease in transepidermal water loss (TEWL) over a four- week period and a 50% reduction in redness over an eight-week period.

Key Ingredients

Aldavine
Capparenols and Bisabolol
Directions

After cleansing and toning, apply one to two pumps of anti-redness serum over entire face, focusing on areas of persistent redness. Follow with the appropriate PCA SKIN® moisturizer with SPF in the daytime and moisturizer in the evening.


Get your anti-redness serum today, only at Fresh Faced Skin Care!



 

Glycolic Acid Does What?!

What is it?

Glycolic acid is a natural fruit acid or alpha-hydroxy acid (AHA) derived from sugar cane. It is water soluble, making it versatile for dermatologic and cosmetic formulations. Because it is the shortest-chain AHA molecule, glycolic acid has been shown to be effective in penetrating dermal layers.

How does it work?

With time and sun exposure, there is a gradual decrease in the rate at which old cells leave the surface of the skin and are replaced by newer cells. This results in a surface layer of dead skin cells that are responsible for the appearance of aged skin.

Glycolic Acid works by penetrating the skin and breaking up the bonds that hold dead cells to the surface of the skin. It exfoliates and revitalizes skin by allowing fresh, new skin cells to come to the surface and, over time, helps spur the growth of new skin and the formulation of collagen. The cumulative effects of exfoliation, along with the moisturizing and penetrating properties of glycolic acid, produce changes in skin surface texture and tone, smoothing fine lines and wrinkles.

Products containing glycolic acid include but are not limited to peels, facial washes, and moisturizers. Those seeking a more complete exfoliation may opt for a chemical peel. In general, a chemical peel involves a careful degreasing of the skin followed by an application of a powerful AHA, such as glycolic acid. Glycolic acid peels provide a gradual effect, so for best effect they need to be used over a period of a few weeks. Most skin types are able to tolerate these peels, which are available in various concentrations and in a wide array of applications. This allows you to find the right combination that best suits your individual skin. A typical course would be once a week for four to six weeks, with a few weeks off between courses.

Who should use Glycolic Acid?

Glycolic acid peel preparations are recommended for those whose skin is showing signs of aging. Fine lines, brown marks and dry spots can improve with regular applications or peels. Glycolic acid may also prove helpful for those prone to acne. Pregnant women and women who are nursing should avoid glycolic acid treatments.

Glycolic Acid Approved Uses

·         Acne Scarring

·         Facial Rejuvenation

·         Wrinkles

·         Hyperpigmentation

·         Melasma

·         Keratosis Pilaris (KP)

Professional Treatment Spotlight      

Fresh Faced Skin Care offers a series of 3 Glycolic Peels for $120 (regularly $150, save 20%). The peels are spaced 1 week apart and are about 15 minutes in duration. What a quick way to achieve smooth, rejuvenated skin! Call 302-689-3223 to schedule your series.

How To: Apply Skincare

Cleansers, moisturizers, and serums….oh my! How much of each product do I apply and in what order do I apply them? Arranging your skin care products seems relatively easy, but can be difficult to understand which products follow which. To receive the maximum benefits of an effective skin care routine and quality skin care products, it is important you know how to apply them correctly. The way a skin care product is applied has a great influence on its efficacy.

As a general rule, apply products with a thinner consistency before the thicker products. This is because products with heavier consistencies can block the lighter-weight products from penetrating the skin and doing their job. The only exception to this rule is prescription topical medication. Anything medicated or with a clinical purpose (including acne creams) should go onto a clean face first so that it can penetrate the skin most effectively.

Here are some tips to apply skin care products correctly:

Step 1: Cleanse

Before applying any skin care product on your face, make sure it is clean of all dirt and debris. Apply a pea-sized amount of a mild cleanser to clean your face and flush out all dirt, dead skin cells and toxins from within the skin pores. Don’t forget about your neck!

After washing your face with a cleanser, don't wipe it dry completely. Rather, gently pat with a soft towel so that it is still a bit damp (not dripping wet.) The active ingredients of skin care products penetrate better when the skin is moist. Please note:  prescription products should only be applied on completely dry skin.

Step 2: Tone

You can spray toner directly onto the skin or apply the toner to a cotton pad and pat (don’t rub) your face and neck gently. The purpose of toner is to restore your skin’s pH and remove any leftover residue from your cleanser.

Step 3: Treat

Apply serums, gels, and any topical spot treatments to clean skin and let them soak in (about 2-3 minutes). Remember, treatment products are highly concentrated. Therefore, you only need to use a small amount. One or two drops/pumps are all that is needed. Gently apply with your fingertips in an upward, circular motion. More than one product may be used and they can be applied together.

Step 4: Nourish and Moisturize

Using the tip of your ring finger, gently dab eye cream or serum around the orbital socket of the eyes. The size of a grain of rice is all you need for each eye.

Apply moisturizer (if needed). A nickel-sized amount is sufficient.

Step 5: Protect

Slather on a quarter-sized dollop of sunscreen all over your face and neck (don’t forget your ears) and let it set for a few minutes. Apply your makeup after.

Additional Steps: Exfoliants and Masks

Exfoliate your skin at least once or twice every week on clean skin to remove the layer of dead skin cells from the skin surface. Do not exfoliate more than 4 times a week. This could lead to skin irritation, breakouts, or itchiness.

A purifying or hydrating mask may be used on clean skin once a week.

 

Professional Product Spotlight:

Skin Script™ Retinol 2% Exfoliating Scrub, with Kojic

This scrub is a powerful cellular turnover scrub with Retinol (Vitamin A) and jojoba beads to clean, soothe and polish the skin. The retinol encourages the breakup of blackheads and clogged pores, jojoba beads gently exfoliate dead skin cells, while kojic lightens age spots and blemishes left from scars.

Retinol 2% Exfoliating Scrub Benefits:

• Lessens Visible Aging
• Lightens Discolorations
• Provides Chemical and Physical Exfoliation
• Promotes Collagen Synthesis
• Assists in Healing and Rejuvenating

Available only at Fresh Faced Skin Care! Call 302-689-3223.

Focus On: Broken Capillaries

What are they?
It's easy to spot broken capillaries, particularly on someone's face. They are commonly found around the nose or mouth area and look like small red or pink threads under the skin’s surface.

How do you get them?

It turns out that there are a number of factors that could lead to broken capillaries. The tiny veins just under the surface of the skin are delicate. Damaging these veins may cause them to dilate and break. Once broken, the veins remain that way and will not constrict back to their normal thickness or repair themselves.

It's not difficult to damage these veins, since they are just beneath the skin. Scrubbing your face too vigorously or washing with water that's too hot can do it. Excessive exposure to the sun, drinking too much alcohol or caffeine, or facial injuries can also lead to broken capillaries.

Can you get rid of them?

If you do develop broken capillaries, you can seek treatment from a dermatologist. Depending on how deep and long the capillaries are, you may need to undergo laser treatments that will stop the capillary from leaking blood and shrink the blood vessels to prevent future breaks. If you don't want to undergo laser treatments, your dermatologist may be able to prescribe medication that can shrink blood vessels.

Skin care products are also available that aim to strengthen the capillary walls, reducing the redness. Look for products containing one or more of the following ingredients:

·         Chamomile

·         Rose oil

·         Vitamin K

·         Vitamin C

Can you prevent them?

You can take some steps to prevent broken capillaries. Be gentle when you wash your face and use warm water (not hot water). Apply sunscreen to your face, particularly around your nose and mouth, when going outside. Don't abuse alcohol. Drink chamomile tea to help improve your body circulation. While these measures won't prevent broken capillaries in every case, they can help minimize the chance that you'll develop them.

Professional Product Spotlight:

Skin Script™ Ageless Skin Hydrating Serum

This serum can be used to firm and plump fine lines. Hyaluronic attracts and binds moisture around cells for extra hydration.

Hydrating Serum Benefits:

• Improves Hydration
• Reduces Visible Wrinkles
• Tones Capillaries
• Improves Cellular Respiration
• Plumps the Skin
• Assists in Healing and Rejuvenating

Pick up Ageless Skin Hydrating Serum today, only at Fresh Faced Skin Care.

Topical Vitamin C Value

We know that Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic acid) is a strong antioxidant, especially in regard to protecting our skin from sun damage. But, what else does it do? It strengthens the skin barrier and thickens the dermis. It can encourage wound healing and reduce inflammation. In high concentrations (>10%), it can reduce the appearance of skin discoloration. Most importantly, Vitamin C helps to form and maintain collagen, which plumps the skin and provides radiance and smoothness.

How does Vitamin C help form collagen? The role of Vitamin C in the production of collagen is to interact with amino acids within collagen cells. It adds hydrogen and oxygen to those amino acids, so that they may do their part in collagen production. If you don’t get the proper amount of Vitamin C, collagen production will slow. A decline in collagen production will not only make skin more susceptible to wrinkles, but it might also make it more susceptible to bruising.

It is important to note that only topical Vitamin C that is stable, active and able to be absorbed, and remain stable throughout the life of the product once it is opened, is effective. All vitamins are subject to oxidation when used topically, meaning that the vitamins lose their potency when exposed to the air. Some skin care companies offer stabilized Vitamin C products, which oxidize less rapidly. However, these products are usually more expensive (especially the ones concentrated enough to be effective).

The Benefits of Topical Vitamin C:

• Rapidly absorbed so it won’t rub or wash off
• Greater penetration to the epidermis and dermis = greater benefit
• Neutralizes free radical damage caused by UV light, smoke, and air pollution
• Enhances the protective barrier function of the skin
• Helps moisturize and increase skin hydration
• Stimulates collagen production
• Restores elasticity
• Prevents premature skin aging
• Protects against damaging UVA and UVB rays
• Reverses the appearance of photoaging
• Decreases fine lines and wrinkles
• Lightens and brightens the skin for more even tone
• Fades brown spots
• Helps reduce oiliness and restore sebum balance
• Helps to normalize problem skin (pimples, blackheads, and other problems associated with oily skin)
• Anti-inflammatory

A facial serum with Vitamin C provides the most benefit in the vitamin's topical application.

Professional Product Spotlight:

C-Quench^® Antioxidant Serum

This exceptional antioxidant serum combines lilac leaf stem cell extract, resveratrol, glutathione, L-ascorbic acid and ergothioneine. Its powerful blend of ingredients effectively prevents and corrects cellular oxidation. It also enlists a host of powerful anti-inflammatory agents to soothe the skin while increasing hydration and adding support to the extracellular matrix. C-Quench® Antioxidant Serum promotes healthy skin function for all skin types.

Key Ingredients:
L-Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)
Hyaluronic Acid
Ergothioneine Orange Oil, Black Current Seed Oil and Resveratrol
Lilac Leaf Stem Cell Extract
Glutathione

Pick up your C-Quench Antioxidant Serum today, only at Fresh Faced Skin Care.

The Power of Peptides

Peptides are naturally occurring chemical messengers in the body. Like proteins, peptides are composed of amino acids. When a chain of amino acids is over 50 acids long, it is usually called a protein. When there are less than 50 amino acids in the chain, it is a peptide. Essentially, a peptide is a portion, or a building block, of a protein.

What is a Peptide used for in skin care? The peptides used in skin care direct skin cells to behave in a certain way. Some peptides may tell the skin to relax and the result is wrinkle reduction. Others may stimulate collagen production, which will firm up the skin. The peptides used in skin care are synthetic. All fixed sequence peptides commercially available are patented. Manufacturers will typically combine synthetic peptides with a fatty acid to help it access the deeper layers of skin. For example, the fatty acid palmitoyl helps to improve solubility in the skin, allowing better penetration and function of the peptide. 

Synthetic peptides are very expensive and some manufacturers of skin care products may use very little in their formulas. Consult your skin care professional to ensure your products contain therapeutic levels so the product may show optimal results.

Examples of Peptides:

Acetyl Hexapeptide: Also known as Argireline. This product is marketed as “an alternative to Botox,” due to relaxing certain types of facial wrinkles by inhibiting the release of neurotransmitters.

Palmitoyl Pentapeptide: Also known as Matrixyl. It is the main ingredient in anti-aging products. It was originally developed for use on stretch marks. It works by stimulating the deeper matrix layers of the skin to increase the production and synthesis of collagen and hyaluronic acid.

Professional Product Spotlight:

ExLinea^® Peptide Smoothing Serum

This technically advanced treatment formulation synergistically hydrates, smoothes and firms aging skin. It contains ingredients that relax the facial tension that leads to wrinkling; increase intracellular moisture; fight free radical damage and provide the skin with an immediate tightening and lifting effect.
Key Ingredients:

Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 (Argireline)
Sodium Hyaluronate
Squalene
Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax

Pick up your ExLinea Peptide Smoothing Serum today, only at Fresh Faced Skin Care.

COOL AS A CUCUMBER

Cucumber is rich in various vitamins and minerals, including vitamin E, magnesium, and silica. Vitamin E promotes healing and fortifies capillary walls. Silica helps to strengthen the body’s connective tissue, benefiting not only your skin, but also your hair, nails, and bones.  In fact, drinking cucumber juice on a regular basis hydrates your skin and supports your liver in cleansing.

Cucumber works well with all skin types, from oily to mature skin. Here are just some of the positive effects that cucumber has on your skin:

1. Hydrating: Since cucumbers mainly consist of water, they act as very good hydrating agents. After all, keeping your body hydrated is one of the most basic requirements for keeping your skin healthy.
2. Soothing: Cools and soothes inflammation associated with skin irritations, such as   sunburns and rashes.
3. Anti-Aging: Potassium and Vitamin E present in cucumber seeds aids in the reduction of wrinkles, fine lines, and dark spots.
4. Cleansing: Cucumber is also a great cleanser, especially for oily and problem skin types.

Try at Home Recipe:

 

Cucumber Mask

Ingredients:

3oz cucumber, very finely diced

3 tsp olive oil

2 tsp plain yogurt

Directions:
Mix ingredients into a fine paste. Spread a thin layer onto face. Allow to dry for about 15 minutes. Wash off with cool water. Skin feels soft, conditioned and clean.

Professional Product Spotlight:

Try the Cucumber Hydration Toner from Skin Script™, only at Fresh Faced Skin Care.