ZO Skin Health
TIP: Get “Smiling” Eyes!
Want to save some money? Get your skincare products to multi-task. A good eye cream can work very well for the fine lines around your lips. That’s a good reason to smile! And when your lips smile, your eyes will too!
Here’s what to look for:
For anti-aging, nothing beats retinol. It stimulates cellular turnover and revs up collagen, reducing age spots and fine lines. Just be sure to wear a sunscreen, because retinol does make your skin more photo-sensitive.
Ingredients that hydrate your skin (ceramides, hyaluronic acid) will plump the fine lines quickly. No eye cream–even the most expensive one–is smart enough to know the difference between the lines around your mouth, and the lines around your eyes. If it works for your eyes, it will work for your lips!
Then smile–you don’t need to tell anyone your secret.
ZO Skin Health
TIP: Get Better Results with this 10-Second Tip
Skincare products that sit on the surface of your skin have little to no benefit. Massage the creams/lotions into your skin until they have vanished. Here are the added benefits:
1. Dr. Obagi recommends applying products vigorously in a circular motion. You’re giving your skin added exercise to stimulate dormant cells.
2. You’ll enhance the activity of the functional ingredients, because you’re increasing penetration and absorption.
It only takes a few seconds. Give your skin a little extra exercise today!
Dr. Zein Obagi
Water, Water Everywhere (but not in Radical Night Repair Plus)
The number one ingredient in most skincare products (even the high-priced ones!) is — you guessed it, water!
Water, of course, is excellent for your skin — especially if it is supplied from the food and water that you consume. Water that is applied to the surface has much less value.
Water is a principal ingredient in most moisturizers, and does in fact help to plump the skin (thereby helping to smooth and hydrate the skin). But, of course, it won’t affect a real change in your skin.
And, there are several other problems with water.
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Most creams and lotions take up to 30 minutes to be fully absorbed by your skin, and during that time, much of the cream evaporates. So, before your skin can derive any benefit from the active ingredients in the products, the cream has evaporated. (Sorry to tell you this, but it’s the truth!)
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Water, of course, dilutes. So the more water you put in a cream or lotion, the less effective the product will be.
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The addition of water to a skincare formula requires adding a micro/bio preservative system. That’s why parabens are frequently used, in very low concentrations. Are parabens OK? Yes, I believe they are. But we can live without them.
Those three reasons are why I’m partial to developing anhydrous (water-free) formulas — like in Oclipse sunscreen and my new Radical Night Repair Plus. Water-free formulas deliver a much greater punch.
Should all skincare products be made without water so they’re extra-potent?? No. Over-stimulating your skin will cause irritation. Give your skin cells time to rest and recover.
**Remember to be careful applying Radical Night Repair Plus — it is much more potent that other products that you have tried. Please follow label instructions, and begin gradually.
ZO Skin Health
Make Your Skincare Wishes Come True Part II
We recently asked our Facebook fans to share with us their ONE skincare wish. The “wishes” were as diverse as the women themselves. What many of them didn’t realize is that they can easily make their own skincare wish come true.
ZO Skin Health’s founder, Dr. Zein Obagi, thinks of skin like algebra. Every problem has a solution. Here, we follow-up where we left off Friday, and show the ladies who replied to our Facebook post the cause and solution to their skincare wishes. Take a look. And, to participate in our future Facebook conversations, follow us here.
ARLENE’S WISH: To find one moisturizer for combination skin (super oily and super dry).
Cause: Other than the weather, this can be caused by aging and hormonal changes. Some people start out with dry skin and then develop combination skin when puberty hits. Others start with oily skin and develop combination skin when hitting their 30’s.
Solution: We want to create a balance, to dry out the oily parts and hydrate the dry ones. Ommerse Daily Renewal Crème might just be your answer. It provides the excellent hydration your dry areas need, but the Hyaluronic Acid controls the oiliness, too.
KATHLEEN’S WISH: To get rid of dark spots.
Cause: You can usually blame sun exposure for age spots that aren’t brought on by a medical condition, like melasma.
Solution: SPF will help ward off new ones (the beauty experts never stop raving about Oclipse), but to work on existing age spots, our Daily Power Defense helps to fade their appearance. Its two forms of Vitamin-C make it work overtime, even lightening up unwanted freckles.
KATHLEEN’S SECOND WISH: To get rid of wrinkles.
Cause: The older we get, the more inactive our skin cells become. When they go dormant, the signs of aging emerge.
Solution: Wake up those skin cells! The best weapon you’ve got against dormant skin cells is Retinol, the only ingredient the FDA recognizes for stimulating collagen and elastin. It’s a hero ingredient, which is why Radical Night Repair Plus is a superhero product. It contains 10 times more Retinol than the competition.
**A special shout-out to Teresa, who had a wish, but has found what looks to be the solution in the ZO products. Glad your dark spots are improving, Teresa!
ZO Skin Health
Make Your Skincare Wishes Come True
We asked our Facebook fans a question recently that garnered great feedback. “If you had one wish, what would you change about your skin?”
We got the impression most women make this wish every morning. The replies rolled in quickly and were clearly defined. And, each was different from the previous one.
Why did we ask? To help grant the wishes, of course. So, Facebook fans, here you have both the cause and solution to your skincare concerns. Check back Monday for part two.
Katie’s wish: More even skin tone
Cause: Aside from genetics and hormonal changes, diet (excessive sugar causes inflammation), irregular sleep, sun exposure and fragranced cosmetics are the culprit here. Alcohol ingredients, combined with sun exposure, will create uneven skin tone in no time. That’s why many women have red blotches on their necks, where they spritz their perfume.
Solution: Our DNA Kit and Exfoliating Polish can improve the entire unevenness in three weeks. Together, these products will turnover old skin cells and prevent future photodamage. We repeat, three weeks.
Xochitl’s wish: Get rid of dry patches during winter months
Cause: Less humidity in the air during colder months and dry, heated air indoors dry out your skin. Washing with hot water only exacerbates the dryness. Skin cells go dormant and accumulate at the surface of the skin, causing dry, flaky skin.
Solution: DO NOT over-moisturize. The answer here is exfoliation. You want to get rid of the old, inactive skin cells and generate new, healthy ones. Don’t wash with hot water and use Exfoliating Polish. You’ll notice an instant difference.
Lauren’s wish: Get rid of dark circles under her eyes
Cause: Besides genetics, particularly if you descend from India or the gulf countries, causes are usually sleep-related. Don’t overdo or underdo it. Sleeping on your stomach and excessive salt intake can add puffiness to your problems.
Solution: Sufficient sleep and Intense Eye Repair will do the trick. Optical diffusers reduce the dark circles and peptides make the skin stronger. Dr. Obagi called it Intense Eye Repair for a reason.
ZO Skin Health
One More Reason to Love Body Emulsion (Hint: Giveaway)
What do you like best about your body lotion? If your answer has anything to do with the smell of vanilla, brown sugar, lilacs, roses, tangerine or watermelon then you’re using the wrong lotion.
Dr. Zein Obagi wants you to have a long list of things you like best about your body lotion and he wants them all to do with the way they make your skin LOOK and FEEL.
That’s why he formulated Body Emulsion. It hydrates, firms, fades dark spots, smooths the rough patches and improves fine lines and wrinkles. Yes, all that.
Like all the products he’s known for, this one finds a way to bend the rules in your favor. For instance, Lactic Acid is an essential body lotion ingredient because it exfoliates and moisturizes. Prescription strength products use a 12 percent concentration of Lactic Acid. So, take a stab at the concentration Dr. Obagi uses in his over-the-counter Body Emulsion? The absolute most he can get away with: 11.5 percent.
He’s like the boss who hires you at the company’s salary cap-off or the coach who won’t stop until he gets that grand slam out of you. Dr. Obagi gives you his best because he wants the best for your skin.
Even his dry-skin patients — for whom he used to write AmLactin and LacHydrin prescriptions — now prefer Body Emulsion.
Here’s the low-down: You can use it regularly, but two times a week will suffice. If you apply it just after shaving, expect to feel a sting. It’s that 11.5 percent Lactic Acid doing its thing.
Use it for a couple weeks and then get back to us on what you love most about your lotion. Here’s something you can add to the list right now: With every Body Emulsion purchase you get a free mini Daily Hand Repair! Click here to find out the fabulous effects of this one.
ZO Skin Health
Ingredients: Know What to Look For
When you get serious about skincare, ingredients become priority number one. As a formulator, that is the way I develop my products. I don’t have time to waste on the ineffective stuff and neither do you. But I often hear women express that they just don’t know which ingredients are the real deal.
Is it pure caviar, shavings of 14 karat gold or particles from an exotic fruit everyone seems to pronounce differently?
None of the above. It’s much more simple than that — and nowhere near as sexy. Take a look:
Let’s start with the anti-oxidants. They protect your skin cells from UV damage, pollution and free radicals. The most common ones (and the most important !) are Vitamins A, C and E.
Retinol (aka Active Vitamin A): This ingredient’s main function is skin cell turnover, which produces collagen — the stuff your skin had a lot of in its prime. If you’re familiar with my skincare philosophy then you know the key to younger looking skin lies in keeping skin cells active. When they go to sleep — a result of aging —fine lines, dull skin and wrinkles form. Retinol is like a bucket of cold water to sleepy skin cells. Continued use of it in high concentrations wakes cells right up and puts them straight to work.
Active Vitamin C: This is another antioxidant, but it works differently — it helps synthesize collagen. This property lends a very valuable feature to your skin in that it stabilizes free radicals and in doing so protects healthy cells from getting damaged. In English? It’s an excellent preventative measure against wrinkles as well as the photoaging sun exposure can cause.
Vitamin E: It helps protect the skin from UV rays and, as an added bonus, softens and smoothes, too.
Be advised: Retinol is a pure and active derivative of Vitamin A. If you use a synthetic form of Vitamin A, or take oral supplements of these vitamins, you simply will not achieve the same results. It just doesn’t work that way.
Be advised: Vitamins A and C have to be properly stabilized, packaged and stored. They can’t be exposed to light or UV rays or the formula could turn colors, or just go inactive. If isn’t stabilized then it oxidizes and turns yellowish or dark when exposed to air or water, essentially spoiling it.
ZO Skin Health
Stop Letting Skincare Companies Fool You
I often wonder if women’s skin is anywhere as clean as their brains. I only wonder because I know so many cosmetic companies are in the business of brainwashing.
As a dermatologist who never lost his passion for skin, I see the brainwashing effects on a daily basis. Seven out of 10 women who visit my clinic are only too happy to declare their “skin type” when they see me. My children patients never utter those words during their appointments and the only type my male patients have are of the blonde or brunette persuasion.
It’s time women stopped making themselves such an easy target. Deceitful skincare companies go after you harder than your children or male counterparts because you’re the ones willing to take the bait time and time again. Why? Because you’re desperate.
I don’t blame you, either. You’re desperate because you want — and deserve — to look your best, but short of going under the knife, can’t find the solution. You’re desperate because you spend your hard-earned money on product after product only to get broken promise after broken promise. You’re desperate because the cosmetic industry made you that way and wants to keep you that way.
The time has come to finally take the targets off your backs, ladies. Take the time to educate yourselves on what works and what doesn’t work in the fight against aging. Read the fine print in the advertisements. Ask yourself if the claims these companies are making have any scientific merit. Decide if you’re putting your money into pretty packaging or high-grade ingredients.
I couldn’t think of a better day than April Fool’s Day to ask women to stop playing the fool and, in effect, finally make a fool of deceptive cosmetic companies.
WHO’S WITH ME?
deborah
Know Where Your Money is Going
Have you ever wondered what’s worth paying for and what’s just a waste of time and money?
We realize high-quality skincare comes at a price, but some of the stuff now on the market is patently ridiculous. Here are just a few examples of items currently being marketed.
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A Swarovski crystal-studded cream pot: You have to wonder how many pageant dresses were harmed in the making of it and what function it serves the application process or your skin directly.
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Creams that come with little spoons or spatulas: Does the miniature utensil help you better apply the cream or better eat up the tomfoolery?
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A liquid serum bottle made of actual gold: Why do we suspect you’d have better luck taking it to the pawn shop than you would putting its contents on your face?
So is all impressive packaging a giant rip-off? No. Sometimes it’s not a luxury at all; sometimes it’s a necessity.
Case in point, some of the new pumps and jars. There might be a bit of a wow factor to them, but most of these airless pumps and jars were designed strictly with function in mind. According to Dr. Obagi, “pop up pumps promote cleanliness (keeping fingers out of the jar means that bacteria can’t be introduced) and keep the key ingredients safe from degrading.” Retinol, retinoic acid, Vitamin C and many natural/organic products spoil quickly when exposed to air or UV rays.
And there’s another big plus. Measured doses (like with Ommerse Cremes, Radical Night Repair Plus, Growth Factor Serum and Oclipse sunscreen) help ensure you’re not using an excessive amount of product, which can backfire on you. (Yes, too much of a good thing really does exist.)
The next time you buy a skincare product, ask yourself if the bells and whistles serve a function or a distraction.
ZO Skin Health
Pushing the Envelope–with 1% Retinol
It’s true; I do like to “push the envelope”. For me, “pretty good” is not good enough. That’s why in my new Radical Night Repair Plus, I amp’ed up the formula to put in 1% retinol. That may not sound like much, but to your skin–it’s a whole lot! Here’s why:
Retinol is the most effective topical ingredient for anti-aging—and the only one that is clinically proven. But for it to be effective, it has to reach a concentration in the skin of at least .60-.70%.
Typical drug-store retinol products (even the best selling one!) only contain about .15%—not enough to make a meaningful difference. No matter how much you put on—you can put it on all night—you’ll never reach .60%.
With a 1% concentration—like Ossential® Radical Night Repair Plus, you can activate and stimulate your skin cells so that they begin producing collagen and accelerate cellular turnover.
Scientists agree that an even higher concentration (for ex., 2% or 3% or 4%) would be even more effective, however the product would be unacceptably irritating. 1% is the ideal “cap rate”—the greatest concentration of retinol, with little or no irritation.
Please use Radical Night Repair gradually and apply according to label directions. Do not use in combination with other nighttime skincare products that may compete with it or induce irritation.
