ZO Skin Health
What’s Life, without a Wrinkle or Two??
Hands with age spots and wrinkles… are you concerned about them, or proud of them? Here’s something to think about–it was sent to us by one of our friends. We hope you’ll enjoy:
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Grandma, 90+ years old, sat on the patio bench. She didn’t move… just sat with her head down and stared at her hands.
Finally, I asked her if she was OK. She raised her head and looked at me and smiled. ”I’m fine,” she said. ”Have you ever really looked at your hands–I mean, really looked at them?”
No, I guess that I never had.
Grandma then smiled and told this story:
“My hands, though wrinkled and shriveled, have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out and embrace life. They caught my fall when, as a toddler, I crashed to the floor. They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. My mother told me to fold them when I prayed. They tied my shoes. They held my husband, and wiped the tears from my face when he went off to fight in World War II.
“When I was engaged, they wore a diamond–and I thought that it was the most beautiful ring in the world. When I first held my baby, they were clumsy and awkward. Soon they learned to hold all of my children, and eventually, my grandchildren. They shook when I buried my parents, and they trembled when I buried my husband.
“They have covered my face, combed my hair, wiped babies’ bottoms–more times than I can count. And to this day, when not much of me works the way that it used to–my hands still know how to dry a tear and fold in prayer. These hands tell the story of my life. And someday, God will reach out to these hands when he takes me away.”
Now, when I look at my own aging hands, I remember my grandmother. And I hope that my hands will someday will have lines and wrinkles that tell the story of a rich and wonderful life.
ZO Skin Health
TIP: A 10-second trick to make your skin look younger
Putting on an eye cream? Tap, tap, tap is for the birds, birds, birds! Your skin is meant to be strong and tolerant, and babying your skin is like spoiling your kids—they grow up to be weak and lazy.
Instead of tapping your skin with your pinkie, Dr. Obagi recommeds that you pat your skin firmly. You’ll be stimulating your skin cells—keeping them awake and vibrant. Don’t overdue it, though—stretching and pulling and tugging will over-stress the elastin fibers.
ZO Skin Health
Preposterous Anti-Aging Skincare Claims–They’re Getting Kind of Old!
When it comes to anti-aging skincare claims, who can you trust? Good question, and the FDA wants you to know. So they have published a list of companies that are making false and misleading claims. In our opinion, it’s long overdue. While the industry was not regulated, companies began making more and more unproven claims and publishing misleading photos.
And the companies that they’re naming–well, it’s a who’s-who list of skincare–Helena Rubinstein, Guerlain, L’Oreal, Lancome, Coty, Lancaster, Avon, Chanel, Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden, Shiseido–the list goes on and on!
Dr. Obagi is in favor of increased regulation–he has always been a great proponent of ensuring that skincare claims are fair and honest.
For more information, check out the following link:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_188.html
ZO Skin Health
Stay Cool!
If you live in an area where the temperature is soaring, your skin is under stress and duress. Dry skin, eczema, acne-prone and sensitive skin are all especially problematic. Here’s what Dr. Obagi recommends to get through the summer heat:
- Sweating is your body’s way of regulating temperature. Wear fabrics that allow your skin to breathe properly—like linen and cotton. Spandex, lycra, etc. are comfortable, but they may trap sweat, congest pores and cause breakouts on your back or neck.
- Hold off on facial waxing, glycolic peels, microdermabrasion, etc. Avoid or reduce the use of products that contain high concentrations of glycolic acid, salicylic acid, retinoic acid or retinol. They all work to expose new, younger, healthier skin cells, but in so doing, shed the dull, dry skin cells that have been blanketing your skin.
- Drink plenty of water or a sports drink. When your skin is not properly hydrated, it will appear more wrinkled, dry and damaged.
- Apply a good sunscreen (like ZO Skin Health’s Oclipse SPF30) about 30 minutes before going outside—it can take that long for it to be fully absorbed by your skin, and reapply it throughout the day. Sunscreens with physical blocks (like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide) are better than chemical sunscreens.
- Avoid the use of products that are fragranced.
- Wear a broad-brimmed hat. Not only will it shelter you from the UV rays, it will provide some welcome shade (and protect your hair color!)
- Opt for a treadmill instead of your favorite jogging path. Now is the time to enjoy an air-conditioned fitness center.
ZO Skin Health
Guide for Identifying Beachgoers
Headed to the beach this weekend? Check out this cartoon by Dave Granlund first. Only the novices (and the dummies) go the beach without UV protection. Remember, wear SPF 30 (like Oclipse SPF 30 on your face) and a good body sunscreen (Dr. Obagi likes Neutrogena sunscreens); reapply it every 2-3 hours and after swimming or perspiring. Better yet, wear a broad-brimmed hat and long sleeves–like a Year-Round-Resident! If you’ve been using retinoic acid or Radical Night Repair Plus, be extra careful about sun exposure. Stay cool, and have fun!
ZO Skin Health
Fight and Protect
Boxing trainer Frankie (Clint Eastwood) had two messages for boxer Maggie (Hilary Swank) in Million Dollar Baby: fight and protect. And as the movie reveals, “protect” is as important, if not more important, than just fighting hard.
It’s the same message that Dr. Obagi (and every other dermatologist) preaches every day: to defeat the signs of skin aging, you have to fight hard, and protect your skin.
And that’s the reason that we have paired our two very popular products–Radical Night Repair Plus and Oclipse sunscreen–this month. When you get RNR Plus, we’ll give you a .5 oz Oclipse sunscreen. You have to protect your skin against UV rays all year long, but especially during summer! To take advantage of our current offer and get a free Oclipse, go to: http://www.zoskinhealth.com/shop.html
When you think of the movie, get out the Kleenex, and remember: fight and protect.
ZO Skin Health
Under a Lot of Stress? It Shows!
Stress. There’s just no getting away from it. Women have more stress than men at least partially because they’re so hard on themselves and try so hard to please others. All that stress shows–in fact, it’s written all over your face!
Problem: Chronic stress triggers a hormone called cortisol, which reduces the ability of the skin to retain water. The result: a dull, dry complexion.
Solutions:
1. Although it seems counter-intuitive, reduce the amount or frequency of moisturizer. It causes your skin to stop collecting water from the food and water that you consume.
2. Avoid the use of hot water and highly fragranced skincare products.
3. Don’t use cleansers that strip your skin of its natural oils.
Problems: A furrowed brow, fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes. All of this may be caused by a decrease in the amount of collagen and elastin fibers, as well as increased dryness (which exacerbates the appearance of wrinkles)
Solutions:
1. Stimulate the production of collagen and elastic with active Vitamin A (ZO Skin Health’s Radical Night Repair Plus) or Rx Retin-A.
2. Drink more water.
Problem: Chronic stress causes or complicates other skin problems, including rosacea, acne, eczema and psoriasis. There’s a new term for this–psychodermatology–skin disorders that are related to your thoughts or feelings.
Solutions:
1. For acne–use products specifically for oily or acne-prone skin. Dr. Obagi’s favorite cleanser is ZO Skin Health’s Exfoliating Cleanser. Cleanse twice a day, but avoid the use of hot water. Slough off the surface skin cells that trap debris–try the ZO Skin Health Exfoliating Polish. Apply a product that has salicylic acid–like Dr. Obagi’s TE pads, which help to break down the sebum. Once a day is sufficient for maintenance; twice a day if you have active or persistent flare ups.
2. For rosacea, or if your skin appears red in the nose, cheeks, forehead–there are lots of OTC that claim to reduce redness, not as many that really work. Dr. Obagi is a fan of Growth Factor Serum to reduce redness. If a prescription is required, he frequently recommends baby-doses of Accutane.
For advanced medical conditions or persistent problems, see a dermatologist.
This is a stressful time. You can’t take care of all of the problems, but you can take care of yourself. Physicians are now saying that strict dieting is very stressful–so take it easy; don’t be too hard on yourself. Take a walk, put a slice of cucumber over your eyes and close your eyes for a few minutes, have a glass of wine, enjoy some me-time.
ZO Skin Health
Skincare Products at the Academy Awards. And the Winner is…
In case you ever had any doubt, celebrities sell skincare products.
Case in point: about 8 years ago People magazine reported that Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt ”slathered Kinerase all over their beautiful bodies.” Sales of Kinerase soared.
Now, no one knows whether Jennifer and Brad actually used Kinerase (and they are not talking to each other, let alone the media!). But after packages of Kinerase were given away at a big celebrity event, Jenn and Brad took them home. A good PR firm did the rest!
(one thing to note about Jennifer Aniston–she’s one of the few celebrities in Hollywood that refuses to endorse any product–no matter how much $$ is offered!)
Hey, even though they make $$$ millions, celebs are like the rest of us; they like free stuff. They just get a lot more free stuff than the rest of us do. And at these award shows, the give-aways are pretty lavish–expensive watches, trips, and jewelry, all valued at about $30,000 per gift bag.
The give-aways at celebrity events (like the Academy Awards, the CMA Awards) aren’t as lavish as they used to be though. That’s because the IRS sent out letters saying that the recipients would be responsible for paying income taxes on the freebies. So many of the celebrities graciously said, “uh, thanks, but no thanks”.
So is it wrong or unethical to give away free products to celebrities? In our opinion, no. We just thought you might like to know that that’s the way the game is played. What brought all of this to mind was an infomercial that said that “many of the celebrities who went to the Academy Awards already have it”.
The next time you see that a celebrity has a particular skincare product, you have to wonder–did they get it for free?
Dr. Zein Obagi
What Does SPF Stand For? Your Sunscreen Probably Flunked!
SPF = Sun Protection Factor. Or SPF = Your Sunscreen Probably Flunked. That’s right. Even though physicians have been preaching for years the importance of wearing sunscreen, one bunch of treehuggers now claims otherwise.
Two years ago, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) challenged the safety and efficacy of sunscreens, claiming that the chemicals used in it can cause or accelerate cancer. In fact, they claim that 80-some percent of sunscreens flunked–claiming that they are not safe and/or effective That’s worrisome.
So let’s face the facts:
* EWG’s studies were done only on laboratory mice, and mice are much more susceptible to cancer than people.
* One of the ingredients that they claim is responsible is retinyl palmitate, which is a form of Vitamin A–which in fact is used in the treatment of cancer.
* the EWG generally prefers titanium dioxide and zinc oxide–two physical sunblocks. On that particular point, dermatologists generally agree that physical sunblocks (which block the sun’s rays) are preferable to chemical ones (which absorb the skin’s rays). So we agree. But what should you do about it?
Remember the column that was first published in the Chicago Tribune, with advice for new grads?
“Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.”
Sunscreen is still your best protection again skin cancer and skin aging. Just reapply it frequently, use a minimum of SPF30 and use it every day.
Dr. Zein Obagi
Sunscreen and Vitamin D: The Controversy
Eggs are bad for you; no, eggs are good for you.
Carbs are bad for you; no, carbs are an important part of a healthy diet.
Coffee is bad for you; no, frappuccinos with double whip are bad for you, coffee is actually good for you; it reduces the risk of diabetes and Parkinson’s.
You need to apply sunscreen every day. No, sunscreen limits your body’s exposure to Vitamin D, which is important for strong bones and auto-immune functions.
Wait a second. Which way is the wind blowing today?
Here’s my opinion. UV rays are an important—and very efficient—source of Vitamin D which helps prevent osteoporosis, high blood pressure and cancer. But you can still apply sunscreen every day, and get all of the Vitamin D that you need.
- You only need about 10-15 minutes of exposure per day, and that can come through any part of your body—your hands, your arms, etc. If you’re going to be outdoors, you still need sunscreen on your face!
- That UV exposure doesn’t have to be between the hours of 10-2. Go outside during off-peak hours.
- You can get vitamin D from a variety of sources—including salmon and eggs. Milk, OJ, yogurts and cheese are also frequently fortified with Vitamin D. You can get Vitamin D from vitamin supplements.
- Looking for a good facial sunscreen? I like ZO Skin Health’s Oclipse SPF 30. For body, dermatologists like Neutrogena sunscreens.
There are things that we all need to be concerned about. Getting sufficient amounts of Vitamin D doesn’t need to be one of them.
Stick with the sunscreen!
