Posts Tagged ‘wrinkles’

GM Collin’s Newest Addition

Being that GM Collin is so well-known for their innovations in anti-aging skincare, it’s no surprise that they’ve come out with a brand new technology and a brand new product! It’s called GF Advanced Repair Serum and is made for use on mature skin with obvious signs of cellular damage (lines, wrinkles, loss of elasticity etc.).

Two Types of Skin Aging
Skin aging can be classified as being biological (genetically determined by our biological clock) or environmental (determined by extrinsic factors such as UV damage). According to GM Collin, the breakthrough in epigenetic and gene science combined with growth factor technology allow a direct ‘time reverse’ action on both genetic and extrinsic factors to help delay the visible signs of aging.

What does all of this mean?
Growth factors are naturally occurring substances (that are depleted as we age) which can stimulate cellular growth, regulate cellular processes, repair damaged cells, rejuvenate aging tissues, and help to maintain optimum functions of the skin – all of which are vital for maintaining a youthful appearance. The GF Advanced Repair Serum contians 4 different growth factors.

Clock Genes
Clock genes are responsible for regulating the cycle in which the cells turn on and off their repair function. This function coordinates with UV exposure to repair at night and protect during the day. Over time these genes become de-synchronized dramatically increasing the skin’s aging process (repair capacity drops by 50% by the age of 50!). GF Advanced Repair Serum uses a peptide called ‘tetrapeptide 26′ to re-synchronize the internal clock of skin cells. This will greatly boost the skin’s natural repair process and defense mechanisms.

Last but not Least
GM Collin has one more trick up its sleeve: a peptide and protein complex. This complex provides an integral treatment to improve the overall collagen quality in our skin. To make a long story short, GF Advanced Repair Serum is formulated to boost the skin’s natural repair and protection processes which will prevent and delay the visible signs of aging.

Results
In GM Collin’s 35 day clinical trial users reported up to a 94% reduction in forehead wrinkles and a 69% reduction in nasolabial fold lines. In 14 days pore size was reduced by up to 35% and skin firmness was increased by up to 61%.

GF Advanced Repair Serum is applied 1-2 times per day on cleansed face, neck, and decolette. A small amount is all you need and this light fluid absorbs into the skin very quickly. Remember that this is not a moisturizer so you will want to apply your moisturizer right after your serum.

We’d love for you to share your thoughts with us about the topic of this blog! Also, as a special offer for just being a follower of our blog enter coupon code BLOG10 for 10% off your next purchase! Also, remember to follow us @spaboutique on Twitter and “Like” our Facebook page! You could be the lucky winner of our many contests!

Wake up your Skin with a Yonka Mini Facial

It doesn’t get much better than skin care with the amazing aroma and power of natural essential oils! Yonka is a pioneer in phytoaromatic skin care and has been researching and developing amazing products since the 1950s. At the heart of Yonka’s skin care range is their exclusive blend of 5 essential oils which includes lavender, cypress, rosemary, thyme, and geranium. Yonka also uses plant, fruit, and marine extracts which act to balance, soothe, revive, and regenerate the skin.

One of the (many) things we love about this line is the immediate result you get from using these products. Many of our clients complain about lack of vitality, dullness, and de-hydration around this time of year. Our answer? A mini at-home Yonkaa facial to get your skin ready for holiday celebrations! Here’s how:

1. Cleanse with Lait Nettoyant if you have normal-dry skin
This milky cleanser will remove makeup and impurities, smooth, and soften the skin.

1. Cleanse with Gel Nettoyant if you have normal-oily skin
This foamy gel will remove makeup and impurities, refreshes, and purifies the skin

2. Tone with Yonka Lotion (either normal to dry & sensitive or normal to oily)
An alcohol-free mist with natural, invigorating aromas

3. Exfoliate with Gommage 305 if you have normal-dry skin and Gommage 303 if you have normal-oily skin
These non-abrasive, gel exfoliators reveal smooth, supple, radiant skin by gently removing dead skin cells.

4. Tone with appropriate Yonka Lotion

5. Mask with Hydratant 60
This is a refreshing gel mask which deeply hydrates, softens, firms, and helps to reduce fine lines and wrinkles.

6. Tone with appropriate Yonka Lotion

7. Apply either Dermol 1 (normal-oily skin), Dermol 2 (dry skin), or Dermol 3 (sensitive skin)
These highly concentrated formulations hydrate, smooth, and brighten skin while providing an excellent make-up base.

8. Moisturize with Pamplemousse (normal-dry or normal-oily skin)
This lightweight cream energizes, brightens, and alleviates skin dullness with grapefruit extract and essential oils.

9. Apply Phyto-Contour to eye contour
This eye treatment cream reduces dark circles and puffiness, firms, refreshes and relaxes the eye area.

Now that your skin has been made-over with this beautiful skin care line all that you have to worry about is your hair (and that’s another blog post altogether!). And please, use pure mineral makeup so that you don’t clog your newly de-toxified skin with a gross, mystery ingredient-filled, conventional makeup. As always, our favorite mineral makeup lines are Jane Iredale Mineral Makeup and Youngblood Mineral Makeup.

We’d love for you to share your thoughts with us about the topic of this blog! Also, as a special offer for just being a follower of our blog enter coupon code BLOG10 for 10% off your next purchase! Also, remember to follow us @spaboutique on Twitter and “Like” our Facebook page! You could be the lucky winner of our many contests!

Smoking and The Effects on Your Skin

We all know that smoking is bad for our health and causes all sorts of diseases including lung cancer and emphysema, but are you aware of what does it do to the largest organ of the body – the skin? Smoking greatly accelerates the aging process and leads to ’smoker’s face’ which is characterized by wrinkles, discoloration, dryness, sagging, thin skin, and sunken cheeks. Smokers tend to look 10 to 20 years older than their natural age.

The physical act of contracting certain muscles during smoking causes some of this skin aging. The puckering of the lips to draw in smoke causes deep vertical lines to form around the mouth. Also, squinting to avoid smoke getting in the eyes causes pronounced wrinkles and ‘crows feet’ to develop. The skin and nails become stained, discolored, and take on a stale tobacco odor.

On a deeper level, the carbon monoxide levels in the blood dramatically increase which in turn cause life-giving oxygen levels to deplete. Blood vessels constrict and skin takes on a dull, yellow-grey complexion with no glow or vitality. The hightened carbon monoxide levels also increase the formation of damaging free radicals again affecting how your skin looks. The skin’s healing time is also lengthened, so if you have acne prone skin, you are more likely to develop a scar. Another skin care problem contributed to smoking is that it depletes Vitamin C from the body. Since Vitamin C is a powerful anti-oxidant involved with collagen production and skin hydration, it is essential in preventing the signs of aging.

If you are someone you know has recently quit smoking, it is essential to begin a skin care regimen that will exfoliate away dull skin cells, detoxify your skin, and add essential nutrients & vitamins. A series of microdermabrasion or glycolic/lactic acid peels will remove dead, dull skin cells to reveal a brighter, smoother complexion. Your skin care products will also penetrate and work quicker and better. You may alternatively use an intensive exfoliation system at home such as Dermalogica Chromawhite TRx Powerfoliant or B.Kamins Glycolic-10. Also adding a masque such as the Guinot Newlight Masque and a vitamin C serum like the Jan Marini C-Esta Face Serum on a regular basis will boost your results since masques and serums carry the highest concentration of active ingredients.

It’s easy to ignore the negative effects that smoking can have on your health as you don’t physically see it happening on the inside of your body. But to now know what it could be doing to your skin and physical appearance, might be good motivation for a lot of you.

We’d love for you to share your thoughts at the end of this blog! Use the coupon code BLOG10 for 10% off towards your purchase! Go ahead and get something special for yourself! And remember to follow us @spaboutique on Twitter and “Like” our Facebook page! You could be the lucky winner of our next contest!

Until next time,

The Spa Boutique Girls

Skin Conditions: Sun Damage, Wrinkles, Acne, Hyper-Pigmentation

Now that you’ve determined your skin type, it’s time to take a look possible skin conditions you may have.

Skin conditions are what we are most concerned with when it comes to product choice. These are things that often can be helped, prevented or controlled by product.

This is not every condition, just some of the more common ones people are concerned with. Remember that any one of these can appear alongside any of the skin types in the other post.

Dehydration: this is often confused with “dry skin”. Dehydration is in fact a lack of water in the skin, not oil. So acne skin can be  dehydrated. It often manifests as a crepe-y look to the skin when viewed up close. Or as fine lines and wrinkles that aren’t always there. The cells lack plumpness and little criss-crossy lines are visible when the skin is lifted or pinched.  A good moisturizer or even just a hydrating serum added into your current routine can turn this around quickly.

Sun Damage: This shows up as wrinkles, sun spots and sagging. Think of how the sun breaks down spandex. It does the same thing to the collagen and elastin in your skin. There’s also an increase of melanin, which is what causes those lovely spots. A huge amount of the sign of aging come down to sun damage, which can also take years to show up. For the most part deep exfoliation is the best thing you can do…next to staying out of the sun.

Enlarged pores: There really is nothing products can do to help this, despite what they claim. You can “refine” pores by exfoliating though. Think of them as inverted cones, the widest part on the top layer of your skin. If you exfoliate deeply, you’re removing the top layers, getting down to a less wide part of the cone/pore. So they appear smaller.

Sagging and wrinkles: These come from loss of elastin and collagen. “Wrinkles” are meant as deep lines. As the muscles in the face weaken with age, everything moves forward creating the loose skin. The main on is the naso-labial lines from the outside of the nose to the corners of the mouth, when we’re young it shows when we smile. As we age the fat pads in the cheeks slide forward and make that line more permanent. It’s all about prevention with this. Use products that promote collagen production to strengthen and support the skin.

Sensitized: Something has happened to make the skin temporarily sensitive or reactive. Perhaps a medication, a product that was too strong, or even a sunburn. Redness, irritation and some inflammation may occur. The difference is that your skin hasn’t ever really been sensitive before, as opposed to sensitive skin that has always struggled with it. Use as few products that you can get away with, and use a soothing cream or mask until the skin re-balances. Make sure it isn’t a current product you’re using that is causing the issue.

Dull Skin: This can happen when skin isn’t exfoliated enough. Skin will look lifeless and have no glow. Changes to diet, sleep patterns or medication can cause this as well. Exfoliate and brighten with vitamin C products.

Hyper-Pigmentation: This is when you see darker spots or patches on the skin. For some it’s on the upper lip, perhaps it shows up across the eyes and cheeks during pregnancy, or it could be an accumulation of sun damage. Either way it’s extremely difficult to deal with. Any routine started needs to be strictly followed, you have to be very patient and pretty much stay completely out of the sun. Glycolics, AHA’s, microdermbrasion and laser can all reduce it to a certain extent.

In their own category are acne and rosacea. This is because their reasons and causes can vary from person to person. For some they may be a type, for others a condition.

I have a few posts on acne: here and here.

I haven’t touched on rosacea because it’s extremely complicated, and I really feel it’s more of something that is dealt with through a doctor or dermatologist.

I hope this helps you to identify what might be happening in your skin. When it comes to treating them, they sometimes need to be dealt with one at a time. Certain ingredients that may help reduce hyper-pigmentation may not mix with the ingredients necessary to reduce acne.

Choose what is most pressing and work towards solving that. Great skin care should change your skin and allow your routine to be flexible and changing.

New Video for B Kamins Glycolic 10

Here’s a quick little video about B Kamins awesome exfoliant Glycolic 10.

Glycolics are fantastic for controlling acne and fine lines and wrinkles. They deeply exfoliate and brighten the skin.

Wear SPF though!

I’ve been using it for about two weeks and am very happy with the results. It’s extremely active when it’s on the skin and is very itchy, so be warned. It only last for about 5 minutes and has dinished everytime I’ve used it. I’ve managed to lessen those pesky little lines that have been starting on my forehead.

Love it!