ZO Skin Health
Stay out of Hot Water!
You already know that it’s good to stay out of proverbial “hot water”. But it’s good to stay out of the real stuff too.
Long showers—especially during the cold winter months, dehydrate the skin—causing not only a loss of water, but electrolytes. When your skin is dehydrated, it becomes scaly, taut, irritated, and makes you look older. So let’s face the facts and see how best to protect your skin:
- Wash with tepid water, and shower only once a day. Hot water will dehydrate and damage your skin.
- Keep your showers as short as possible. A 5-minute shower is generally recommended (no woman in my house has ever gotten out of the shower in 5 minutes—especially if cleansing, shampooing and conditioning their hair, and shaving), but you should try to keep showers as short as possible. The chlorine in tap water can cause skin damage, so less exposure is preferred.
- Look for cleansers that have moisture boosting ingredients like sodium hyaluronate, panthenol, and allantoin. I like the ZO Skin Health Hydrating Cleanser for this reason.
- Immediately after towel drying, apply a good body lotion (like ZO Skin Health Body Emulsion). It has a high concentration of lactic acid (almost prescription strength), so does an excellent job of hydrating the skin. Keep a tube in the shower, because it’s good to apply it while your skin is slightly damp and your pores are open, and also because it’s easier to make it part of your morning shower routine.
There’s little we can do about chilly fall and winter weather, but we can work to protect and strengthen our skin.
ZO Skin Health
The Difference Between the Sexes: Men’s Skin Care vs. Women’s Skin Care
Men’s shirts have buttons on the right; women’s blouses have buttons on the left. So there’s a difference, but the significance escapes me.
And the difference between men’s skincare products and women’s?? There’s a difference, I suppose, but the significance escapes me.
Skin doesn’t recognize differences in gender. So men’s skincare products and women’s skincare products are basically the same. The only differences between a men’s line and a women’s line are:
(1) Packaging. Packaging that appeals to men is generally more virile—with bold type and dark colors. It assures men of their masculinity.
(2) Fragrances. Men like outdoorsy scents (like wood and leather), and women like floral notes and fruity fragrances. Both men and women like citrus and spicey (cinnamon, vanilla, lavender, frankincense) scents.
(3) Simplicity. Men like just a few items—no complicated regimens. Until a few years ago, they stuck to just a cleanser/facewash, shampoo and aftershave. Now they’ve become more sensitive to lines and wrinkles and have added anti-aging products and sunscreen to their daily regimen.
Now, more than ever, men are looking at skincare products that prevent and repair lines and wrinkles. So for the holidays, you may want to give your man some anti-aging skincare products. (note, I’m not suggesting that women become cougars—and go after younger men. But if your man can at least look a few years younger, you’ll feel younger too.)
Here are some recommendations that he may enjoy:
- ZO Skin Health Offects™ Hydrating Cleanser hydrates, rejuvenates and includes panthenol (which soothes, repairs and restores skin) and allantoin (which cleans away dead skin cells and supports cellular renewal). Cleansing never felt so good
- ZO Skin Health Exfoliating Polish sloughs off dead skin cells, smooths pores, evens skin tone, and promotes the growth of healthy new skin. Vitamin A, C, C-Esters and E provide anti-oxidant protection and help boost collagen production.
- ZO Skin Health Ossential Daily Power Defense uses DNA repair enzymes to enhance skin’s recovery capabilities. These special enzymes attach directly to DNA molecules and repair oxidative damage caused by UV exposure. It works all day with time-release retinol, enzymes and anti-oxidants to repair damaged cells and protect against future damage.
Will ZO products appeal to the testosterone-inclined? Absolutely. Since the cartons are cobalt blue, many men think that ZO Skin Health is a men’s line. And as for the fragrance, ZO Skin Health products are lightly scented with citrus or grapefruit—so they appeal to both men and women.
Go ahead, enjoy the holidays and new year with a younger-looking man!
ZO Skin Health
New and/or Improved Skincare
The fashion industry and auto manufacturers come out with new collections every year, so they have conditioned consumers to expect something new and different every fall. That has conditioned buyers in department stores to want everything “new and improved” even though “new” isn’t necessarily synonymous with “improved”! A good case in point: foam overlays for mattresses, which add some extra cushioning to the bed, were first produced in the 1970s. Soon some company developed egg-crate foam overlays. Other companies copied it, so they came up with another new idea–the three-zone mattress overlay– the design of the egg-crate was square for the feet, rounded for the torso and rippled for the head. The theory that your feet define comfort any different from your head was, well, shakey at best. But consumers bought it. The three-zone mattress became a marketing home-run. So what did retailers want the next year? A five-zone mattress overlay—so that your calf could define comfort different than your thigh, which was different from your rear end, different from your torso, and different from your head. Of course, the concept was ridiculous, and I’m happy to report that consumers didn’t “buy” it either.
In skincare, it’s hard to know what is new and improved—or if “new” and “improved” are mutually exclusive. So let’s face the facts.
A lot of innovations are done for the sake of marketing, and are not based on solid research. Some are voodoo science, some are marketing gimmicks, some are outright misrepresentation. Unfortunately, the skincare industry is so huge, that it’s difficult for Federal Trade Commission (or any other industry or government watchdog) to monitor. So how do you know what you can believe?
- Understand the tricks that are played in “before and after” photos. For example, in some photos, they crop out the mouth, so that you focus on the wrinkles around the eyes. But the real difference is that in the “before” picture she was smiling (which caused all of the crow’s feet). In the after, she had a straight face, so she didn’t induce wrinkling around the eyes. Remember, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
- Ask your dermatologist and/or aesthetician. They read journals and attend trade shows, so should be informed about the latest advances.
- If you’re shopping in a department store, ask to speak with the Cosmetics Department Manager, and get her opinion. She sees a lot of brands (and returns!), so is better informed and more objective than the counter person. It’s also likely that she has worked in the store for a longer period of time, and has had better training.
- Before you buy a product, ask the retailer or website what their return policy is. Do they offer a satisfaction guarantee? If they don’t, that may be a serious red-flag!
ZO Skin Health
When Looking in the Mirror “ain’t that great”.
In City Slickers, Mitch (Billy Crystal) thought about his 39th birthday, and told his boss—”did you ever reach a point in your life when you say to yourself, this is the best I’m ever going to look; this is the best that I’m ever going to feel, this is the best that I’m ever going to do, and it ain’t that great?” Mid-life crisis happens to the best of us. I see many people who confront the same realities. But while they may be looking in the mirror, they’re not looking hard enough. So let’s face the facts.
Wrinkles happen. Gray hair happens. Age spots happen. It’s all treatable. My wife is 46; she has never looked more beautiful. Now that our three kids are teenagers, she has more time to care of herself. Her inner beauty comes through.
Look in the mirror. You already know that what’s really important and vital isn’t visible on the surface. Your mother already told you that. But here’s something that maybe you don’t know.
The same is true with your skin. The cells that are visible on the surface of your skin are all dead—they’re has been’s. Yesterday’s news. They’ve served their purpose; they’re useless now. The cells that are really important reside deep in the epidermis and the dermis, way beneath the surface. It’s there that the skin cells renew themselves and produce collagen and elastin, which give your skin its elasticity, firmness and vitality. Keep those skin cells active, and functioning, and your wrinkles will diminish. But if you use products that treat only the surface of the skin, your skin cells will go dormant, and fail to produce the youth-sustaining proteins that it needs to restore a smooth, firm, even-toned complexion. That’s why I’m an advocate of high concentrations of active Vitamin A, also known as retinol and retinoic acid. It works beneath the surface of the skin to activate and stimulate your skin cells. With ZO Skin Health, the best way to stimulate your skin cells is with products like Ossential™ Growth Factor Serum and Ossential™ Daily Power Defense.
Just remember, with your emotional health, and with your skin health, treat what is on the inside, and the outside will take care of itself.
