• Use Sun Protection: It is estimated that up to 90% of facial aging is due to the damaging effects of ultra-violet radiation. Even if you don't plan to be in the sun, use a sunblock every day that blocks both UVA and UVB rays (also know as "broad-spectrum" sunblock) because surprisingly, harmful sunrays penetrate through fog, clouds, and even window glass.
  • Don't Smoke: Nicotine use (in any form) contributes significantly to facial lines, aging, and changes in skin texture and elasticity. In addition, smoking creates lines around the mouth from pursing your lips around the cigarette. If you want to look your best, you must not smoke.
  • Drink Enough Water: Drink at least 32 ounces of caffeine-free, alcohol-free liquids every day (preferably water). Water is necessary for healthy cell formation as well as the removal of waste products. If you exercise, are in warm weather, ingest a lot of salt, or take diuretics, you will need to drink more than 32 ounces.
  • Balance Your Nutrition: A diet that is well- rounded and emphasizes fruits and vegetables, lean meats and fish, and moderate amounts of starches or carbohydrates will keep you fit and looking your best.
  • Take Anti-Oxidant Supplements: Anti-oxidant supplements such as zinc and vitamins A, C, and E contribute to the body's ability to fight free-radical damage. Free-radical damage, caused by smoking, pollution, and inflammation lead to aging as well as cancer. Recent research suggests that certain forms of anti-oxidants can also be applied directly to the skin for targeted absorption.
  • Manage Your Weight: Fluctuations in weight or being overweight for long periods of time stress the elasticity of the skin. Being significantly underweight may contribute to aging by malnutrition.
  • Use a Correctly Prescribed Home Regimen: Proper home maintenance of the skin is essential to overall skin health. Have a professional esthetician analyze your skin and recommend a treatment plan that you can do at home. Also, have regular facials for a deep cleansing to make sure your products are giving you the results you need. Just like routine dentist visits to ensure the health of your teeth, skin care maintenance is just as important.
  • Sleep and Position: A simple way to prevent line formation and excessive tension on the skin is to sleep on your back. Stomach-sleepers especially develop creases on the forehead and cheeks. They often wake up with swelling around the eyes, which over time may stretch the delicate eyelid skin. It is also important to get plenty of sleep as this is the body's time to refresh and regenerate.
  • Take Advantage of Botox: Botox can prevent the formation of lines and wrinkles caused by facial muscle contractions. It is especially useful between the eyebrows, around the eyes, and on the forehead.
  • Consider Hormone Replacement: Hormone levels have a direct effect on the quality and appearance of the skin of both men and women. Recent studies show that cream or oral supplementation can dramatically enhance the appearance of your skin. Talk to your doctor if you think you may be a candidate for hormone replacement.
  • Use Dermal Fillers: Fillers can be used to fill in large creases on the face and take years off your appearance.
  • Try Skin Metamorphosis: Skin Metamorphosis can remove unwanted facial veins, remove unwanted freckles, age spots, mottled pigmentation or other excessive skin discolorations from sun damage, smooth and tighten your skin and lessen fine lines and shrink unsightly pores.

Remember, in terms of avoiding wrinkles, what clients don’t do is almost as important as what they do. A spa-goer’s beauty regimen can have dramatic effects on existing wrinkles. Below are personal care steps clientele can adopt to get the results women used to only dream about.

  • Cleanse — Before using any cream or serum, a 100-percent clean facial surface is needed. Start with purified water and a non-greasy, non-soap cleanser. To avoid skin sensitivity, make sure the cleanser is pH-balanced. Cosmetics, pollution, smoke, food and acids all contribute to the residue that clogs pores, causes acne and, most importantly, damages skin cells.

    The ideal cleanser will penetrate, lift and remove 100 percent of these impurities. Unfortunately, many cleansers actually contribute to the residue by containing wax, soap, oil or harsh chemicals that remove too much sebum. Sebum is an oily substance that lies between the cells to hold in moisture.  

  • Exfoliate — It is important to exfoliate using antioxidant-rich and only mildly abrasive ingredients. Exfoliating removes the dead cells that accumulate and thicken the skin. These piled up cells can smother the underlying epidermis, giving wrinkles a more pronounced look. Recommend to your clients that they exfoliate no more than one to two times per week to minimize over-stimulation, which can contribute to skin sensitivity.
    The epidermis layers are between 35 micrometers to 50 micrometers thick (one micrometer = one thousandth of a millimeter), except on feet and palms, where accumulated dead skin creates calluses, which are much thicker. By removing the outer layers or callused part of the skin, new skin cells are allowed to form undamaged, breathe out toxins, absorb moisture and radiate the skin’s natural beauty. Exfoliation unclogs pores, refining the skin’s texture, tone and color. Utilizing a mask or peel is another non-abrasive method of removing dead skin cells.  

  • Masks And Peels — Masks and peels are non-abrasive and employ either acids or enzymes, which separate and remove the outer layer of the skin. This guarantees that an even layer of skin is removed. These treatments create a more oxygenated surface by increasing circulation, which brightens the complexion. They also cleanse deeply into the pores, removing embedded grime, dirt and residue from makeup, pollution, cleansers and lotions. These mask and peel processes also allow cutting-edge creams and serums to work more effectively.  

  • Creams And Serums — Hyaluronic acid (HA) quickly is becoming recognized as the most-effective moisturizer ever. HA is a chemical the body produces to draw moisture into its cells. It helps lubricate joints and ligaments and, more importantly, it helps skin cells remain plump, supple and hydrated. When skin cells are damaged, HA easily leaches out of the skin and the cells quickly become dehydrated. These dehydrated cells look depressed or deflated, like a balloon with too little air.

    The HA used in skincare products comes in two forms: injectable, like Restylane®, and topical creams. There also are two sources of HA—animal and vegetable. Studies show these work equally well to hydrate and restore skin cells to their normal size. HA also is unique because it only affects the cells that are HA-deficient and need to be hydrated; this is how it lifts and repairs the depressed regions, effectively smoothing out the appearance of lines and wrinkles.

    HA was first used in eye surgery to keep the delicate optical nerves and corneal tissue moist and supple. When used on the skin—in combination with penetrating compounds like liposomes, DMAE and/or minerals—HA can have a dramatic effect on even the most severely damaged skin. Antioxidant serums, particularly vitamin C serum, have been proven to tighten, tone and repair damaged skin cells, especially when combined with a powerful rehydrating compound like HA.

    For best results, choose a high-potency serum that contains a wide variety of vitamin C esters, both water- and fat-soluble. Each type of vitamin C performs a slightly different function, so using only ascorbic acid or ascorbyl palmitate creams will not have the same effect.  

  • Herbs and Foods — A wide variety of herbs are purported to contribute to skin health. Cherries, blueberries, pomegranate and dark-pigmented fruits contain bioflavonoids and antioxidants important to skin health. Aloe vera juice has been shown to increase basal carotenocyte (skin cell reproduction) activity by up to 400 percent and also contains polysaccharides that are beneficial to the skin.

    Green foods such as wheatgrass and spirulina detoxify, oxygenate and renew skin cells. Bamboo shoots and the herb horsetail contain abundant silica that helps build hair, skin and nails. Ho Shou Wu, a Chinese herb, has been used for centuries to restore youthful skin. Also try chamomile, valerian and melatonin to help relax nerves and contribute to healthy sleep patterns, as stress and lack of sleep contribute to dull and unhealthy-looking skin.

Skin Care

Healthy skin reflects a healthy body. Research continues to underline the necessity for a healthy diet aided by the addition of nutritional supplements. When the demands of the body outweigh the supply of nutrients, the skin is the first organ to show the signs. This may be expressed as damage, disease or deterioration.

Skin Facts

The skin is in direct contact with the environment - heat, cold, wind, UV light, bacteria, fungi, viruses, water, chemicals, dust etc.

The outer layers of the skin do not receive nutrients directly from the blood supply, they rely on the movement of oxygen and essential nutrients such as vitamins, amino-acids and oils through the layers of skin beneath. Thus in order to be healthy the skin requires a healthy blood supply rich in essential nutrients and oxygen.

In women, blood supply to the skin decreases gradually from the age of 35 and precipitously at the menopause. In men the process is more gradual, which is why they tend to age more gracefully. Once the needs of the skin cannot be satisfied by the blood supply, damage, disease or deterioration will occur.

The demands of the skin are linked mostly to the external environment - damaging factors that we will set out below. Internal factors such as illness, acne, allergy and infections can place an extra burden on the skin.

Skin is programmed to repair itself and has the capability of repairing at any age - so it is never too late.

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