SKIP THE SCALPEL
Whether you’re a candidate for prejuvenation, rejuvenation, or maintenance… follow our Skip the Scalpel blog and soon you’ll be an expert on the most advanced skin care routines, devices and techniques that will you keep you looking fresh, not fake.
First things first: the weather is changing and it’s time to ditch the denial…Fall is here! If you’re like most people, you spent the summer enjoying the outdoors, care free. We’re all guilty of getting a little more sun than we should during the summer months, and no reasonable dermatologist would tell you not to enjoy the beach, tennis, golf, sailing, running outdoors and all of the other joys that summer offers! What we will tell you is that Fall is time to get serious about reversing the damage that your skin incurred during those carefree summer days.
How to renew your skin after too much time in the sun and sand? Read on…
Products/ingredients to rescue and refresh skin that is dry, peeling and tired-looking after summer:
Sente Dermal Repair Cream which features a patented blend of ingredients designed to help restore skin tone, elasticity and hydration. The key ingredient, heparan sulfate, is a molecule associated with skin renewal and repair. Sente cream is non-greasy, fragrance free, and works well applied under sunscreen or makeup.
The West Institute’s Hydraplump contains shea butter, hyaluronic acid and proprietary acetyl hexapeptide-37 which improves skin hydration at the cellular level; as well as squalene and ceramides to strengthen skin’s barrier against environmental damage and water evaporation.
Products to even out blotchy pigmentation:
Lytera Skin Brightening Complex is the most advanced non-retinoid cream to event out blotchy pigmentation and is good for your skin, unlike the harsh bleaching agent hydroquinone which was commonly used in the past. Lytera is great for all skin types and is not irritating, making it perfect for reversing tired looking, dull post-summer skin and lightening brown spots.
And don’t forget to continue to wear sunscreen on a daily basis throughout the fall and winter:
My favorite daily sunscreen, which makes morning skin prep a breeze because it combines sun protection with light foundation coverage:
Elta MD UV Daily Broad-Spectrum SPF 40 tinted moisturizing facial sunscreen. Last week, one of our patients commented that she loves this products even when she won’t be in the sun at all, comparing it to a BB cream in evening out skin’s imperfections. This product contains 9% zinc oxide, but you would never know it because of the light tint, so it’s not white or chalky. (I recommend that my patients always look for sunscreen that contains at least 6% zinc, which provides a physical barrier to the sun, as opposed to going by the SPF number.)
In-office treatments to reverse summer sun damage:
Clear + Brilliant® no-downtime laser skin resurfacing –
Great for improving skin’s texture after blotchy pigmentation has been addressed. Clear + Brilliant® is a gentle laser which is a step above microdermabrasion but not as strong as Fraxel®; perfect for improving skin’s texture and making pores less visible, but with no downtime. C+B® is the very first laser that can improve skin’s texture without any downtime.
Intense Pulsed Light Treatment
IPL photorejuvenation is a light treatment that specifically targets red and brown blotchiness and “age spots” that come from sun exposure. Light is delivered through a clear crystal handpiece and penetrates the skin’s surface, damaging fine superficial blood vessels that cause redness and melanin that causes brown spots. The body’s natural process remove the injured cells, resulting is a more even skin tone. Treatment takes about 20 minutes in the office. At the West Institute, we use the Lumenis M-22® IPL, which is the newest and most efficient device (minimizing the number of treatment sessions
required.)
WestSkinFitness MelaBright™ Mini-Peel
Superficial chemical peel which uses a combination of retinaol, azelaic, lactic and phytic acids to improve hyperpigmentation, texture and uneven skin tone. The MelaBright™ Mini-Peel is our go-to to target resistant pigmentation such as melasma, the blotchy brown skin that occurs on the upper lip in some women.
Schedule a consultation to find out what treatments are best for YOU, and stay tuned for all the scoop on how to keep looking fresh, not fake.