ZO Skin Health
For Valentine’s Day–Go Straight for the Wine and Chocolate
For Valentine’s Day this year, skip the hearts and flowers; go straight for the wine and chocolate–they’re rich in anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants help prevent the damage caused by free radicals, and also help skin tolerate UV exposure and environmental pollutants.
But not all wine and not all chocolate are equally good, so make sure that you get the right stuff.
Chocolate—it’s good for you! Indulge a little.
- Dark chocolate is much richer in anti-oxidants; it has more chocolate liquor and has less sugar. Eat dark chocolate whenever possible–it’s the milk, cream and daily products in milk chocolate that reduce its anti-oxidant value.
- Go for the good stuff. High quality chocolates are generally made from natural ingredients, and contain higher percentages of cacao and less sugar.
- Eat while you enjoy it. It will help reduce stress.
In my clinic, we have a dish of dark chocolates in the front lobby—it’s an ounce of prevention!
Wine—propose a toast to your health!
- Red wine—it doesn’t make any difference if it’s merlot, cabernet or pinot noir—all red wine is rich in anti-oxidants, because the skin and the seeds ferment in the grapes’ juice during the fermentation process.
- Stick to one glass per day—120 calories is plenty. If you have two glasses, you’re getting more calories, not more anti-oxidants.
- Moderate amounts of red wine may help protect against estrogen depletion.
- Sit down and enjoy your wine—especially with a good friend. Reducing stress is good for your heart and for your skin!
Happy Valentine’s Day—it’s a perfect excuse to enjoy some dark chocolate and red wine. Remember, it’s Doctor’s orders! For the other 364 days–be sure to also use skincare products that are rich in anti-oxidants!
ZO Skin Health
Vdara Spa–Check it out
The current issue of Harper’s Bazaar (with Tiger Woods on the cover) has a story on Vdara Hotel and Spa. It’s a beautiful 18,000 sq. ft. spa. But that’s not what I think makes the property extraordinary–in fact, there’s nothing ordinary about Vdara.
- It’s a non-gaming (no casino!), non-smoking hotel and spa—which is highly unusual in Sin City.
- The hotel is entirely “green”–and the spa is the one and only certified green spa in Vegas.
- It’s a part of new City Center complex—the largest privately funded real estate development in the US.
- It was conceived—put on the drawing boards—while Las Vegas was flourishing. Now the whole city is in economic crisis, the real estate market has tanked and tourism is in decline. But the owners didn’t pull back, and try to hide during the recession. They took a gutsy move and opened the resort in November 2009—and by all accounts, it has been met with great reviews.
I’m happy that ZO Skin Health is the #1 brand of skincare sold at the Vdara Spa. My Stimulation Peel is the #1 facial treatment performed at the spa. I was happy to be there on opening day, along with Orlando Bloom and lots of other dignitaries. If you’re in Vegas, check it out—I think you’ll like it.
ZO Skin Health
Tattoos (and Tattoo Removal)
One of the leading online news-magazines (www.msnbc.com, to be exact), had a story yesterday about Hollywood celebrities who have tattoos. What’s especially interesting though, is that that story got more hits than any other story on the homepage—generating more visitors than stories about Iran nuclear weapons, Haitian refuges, and gubernatorial primaries. I guess we all need a break from reality now and then.
So why do people like Penelope Cruz (she has the number 883 tattooed on her leg), Angelina Jolie (she had her Billy Bob tattoo lasered off, and later replaced with a map of the birthplaces of her adopted children) and Pink (too many tattoos to enumerate!) get tattoos?
I live and work in Beverly Hills, but I have no idea.
Some people have tattoos for cosmetic reasons (aka permanent cosmetics), for eyebrows, eyeliner, lips, lipliners. Also, some women have tattoos as part of post-surgical breast reconstruction.
Then again, there are Elvis tattoos, dragons, butterflies, leopards and lizards. For all of those crazy varmints and witchcraft tattoos, 50% of the people who get them later regret it. Luckily, there are several ways of removing them, and which technique a dermatologist uses will depend on the size, position and age of the tattoo.
In my practice I use a QS laser, which breaks up the pigmentation. The body’s scavenger cells then remove the pigmentation, over a period of about 30 days. The lasers cause bleeding, oozing and then crusting, so healing takes about 7 days. Generally, multiple treatments are required—but there’s no way of telling in advance.
After treatments are completed, there will be no residual pigmentation, but a flesh-toned outline of the tattoo will remain. Just a little tint—like in ZO Skin Health’s Oclipse sunscreen—will help even the tone and conceal the outline.
Whereas tattoo parlors are sometimes suspect and of questionable quality, it’s important to work with skilled and trained medical specialists for tattoo removal. Before you get a tattoo, just think about Halle Berry. She had the name of her first husband, David Justice, tattooed on her derriere. After she divorced, she had his name lasered off, and a sunflower tattooed in its place. As she said, “I wish I never had the tattoo in the first place. Clean, clear skin is always better.”
Good point, Halle.
ZO Skin Health
When You Lie About your Age…
There’s a new book called “When You Lie About your Age, the Terrorists Win” (Carol Leifer). It has some funny essays about aging, and one line that I especially appreciated was “at age 45, you’re only called ‘young’ if you drop dead”.While age 50 is “the new 40”, there’s no doubt about the fact that our culture values youth—if not the reality of youth (would you really want to make the same mistakes?), at least the appearance of youth.
But I would go even one step further than that book. Fact is, that at age 30 your skin cells go dormant, become lazy, and slow down cellular turnover and activity. So your skin ages considerably earlier than the rest of your body.
If you want to fight aging, fight hard! Beginning at age 30, be sure to use a skincare product that activates and stimulates your skin cells so that your skin cells regenerate, produce collagen and maintain a youthful appearance. During the daytime, consider a product like ZO Skin Health’s Daily Power Defense. In March, we’ll be introducing ZO Skin Health’s cult-favorite, Radical Night Repair-Plus. Now, it’s better than ever—and very effective at anti-aging. Can’t wait til then? In the nighttime, try ZO Skin Health’s Ossential Growth Factor Serum. Keep those skin cells active and vital!
