Monday, March 10, 2008
The Nervous Girl's guide to Nip & Tuck - Dr Patrick Bowler
Psychologists tell us that when we meet someone for the first time we zone in on the 'triangle' formed by their eyes and mouth to decide how attractive they are. It's all to do with the mating instinct. Our eyes form two corners of this triangle, so the more obvious they are, the more we are deemed to be. It's a cruel irony then, isn't it, that the area around our eyes is one of the first to give the game away when it comes to ageing.
The skin around our eyes is much thinner than the skin on other parts of our face, therefore it is the first part of our face to lose its stretchiness, and when it does those smiling/squinting lines stop pinging back and become permanent fixtures.
There is another facial triangle of attraction, apart from the one made by your mouth and eyes. The temples of the forehead are the upper corners and the cheeks guide the onlooker's eye down towards the third corner, which is the chin.
Things that affect how fast we age:
Skin type (parents)
Amount of sun (weather)
Smoke (stress levels)
Stress Levels (relationships/work)
Skin care routin (blame self)
What we eat/drink
EYES
Wrinkle around the eyes
Severity depends on your lifestyle. Also suspect heavy handedly applying eye makeup or removing contact lenses can contribute to these wrinkles- if you are repeatedly rough with this area you can overstretch the skin, making it lose its elasticity sooner.
Tips:
- Good skincare habits make a big difference. Wear shades whenever possible, put sunscreen!
- Dont rub too much when you remove makeup and be gentle when putting it on
- Moisturize the area with creams that contain glycolic acid, vitamin A & C and Idebenone. They help skin regenerate itself.
- Don't buy a separate product for eyes- 'eye creams' just a marketing gimmick. They are just milder strength versions of face cream, apart from those that contain abit of starch which stops the cream from spreading onto the eye rim.
UVA and UVB
Remember 'A' is for ageing, UVA rays are mostly responsible for your lines and wrinkles.
'B' for burning, they give sunburn. Can also cause skin cancer and age skin prematurely.
Dark circles
2 things make the skin here look darker. First, blood vessels and pigment gather in the groove beneath the eye, gets more obvious over the years as skin covering it gets thinner. Secondly, loose skin or fat moves downwards and gathers in a semicircular ridge, which casts a shadow, making the circles look worse.
Tip:
- Don't buy face creams that claim to treat dark circles- waste of money.
- Camouflage with concealer containing minerals titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. They are light-reflecting
Acne
More people are getting it and adult acne is increasingly common in women in their thirties and forties. We know hormones play a part but we don't know exactly how. The worst sufferers usually have thicker, greasier skin and the grease itself is of a heavy consistency. In a mind case of acne, the cell lining each skin pore tend to be bigger, forming narrower exits, so the pores are more easily blocked. When a few dead skin cells get stuck in the exit, causing a blockage, you get a blackhead or a whitehead. The only difference between those two is the blackhead has a bit of pigment in it- it is not dirt.
When a pore gets blocked and the warm, sealed, stagnant environment inside the pore makes these bacteria breed like wildfire, as they multiply you get a build-up of pus that swells the skin.
To squeeze or not?
If your spot is sore or red, don't pick it. What you see on the surface is the tip of the iceberg. Some may come out, but some may also go deeper in, causing a cyst which is worse.
If you have a non-infected blackhead or whitehead you can give it a bit of steam and use a blackhead extractor to squeeze out the blockage.
Treating a mild case of acne
- Exfoliate regularly to help prevent grease glands clogging.
- Avoid heavy creams as they can clog up glands more.
- Eat healthy balanced diet. Immune system will be more efficient.
- Benzoyl peroxide Kills bacteria by blasting it with oxygen. May make your skin abit dry and red and it doesn't penetrate deeply, but it can help to control the zits.
- Glycolic acid is anti-inflammatory so it will reduce redness and less noticeable.
Cellulite
Cellulite develops on thighs and buttocks. The present theory is that it is a circulatory problem. Slow blood flow leads to a build-up of toxins, water and retention of fat. This makes the fat cells bulge, which is what causes the dimpling in the skin.
Tips:
- Anything that increases the circulation might help: diet, exercise, mechanical treatments
- Liposuction does not treat cellulite. The cellulite is fat that is attached to the skin. Liposuction can only remove fat that is underneath the skin.
Moles, lumps, bumps & warts
Ways or removing things: shaving off (with a scalpel), cutting out, lasering off, freezing or cauterizing, depending on the position and size of bump. Cauterizing works best on smaller things like warts and skin tags and it is efficient cos its fast, sterile and heals quickly. Shaving is better than cutting of the bumps is in a place where the skin is very tight, making it difficult to bring the edges together for stitching. Stitches involve a bit more maintenance because they have to come out on day five, but if it is a bigger lump that needs fixing, stitches can achieve a neat hairline scar. All these require a small anaesthetic.
Tips:
- Use silicone gel patches for 2-3 months after surgery to reduce scarring, can be bought in a chemist
- Don't let anyone cut a mole on an area where the skin is tight, like the bridge of your nose, because the scar will definitely stretch.
TREATMENTS
Botox
Botox temporarily weakens the muscles that gather your skin into folds, making it crease-proof enough to prevent wrinkles becoming established. When injected, botox attaches itself into a target muscle. Once it wears off, usually after 4 months, the muscles regenerate and regain enough to start creasing up your skin again.
You should not have botox if you:
- are taking muscle relaxants
- have a muscle-weakening disorder
- pregnant
- breastfeeding
- have alcohol in your system; the injections are more likely to give you bruises
Side effects:
- about 10% say they get a headache within 24hr of injection
- Do not apply makeup for a few hours, avoid poking around the area you had the jab
- Maybe a teeny bruise around the prick, which take a week to disappear but easy to conceal
Tips:
If its the first time, ask your practitioner to give you the minimum they think you'll need. It is a good way to avoid giving you too much. It's better to have too little as it is easy to add more, but once it is in you can't take it out.
Women are more pain-sensitive when they have their period. Avoid this time.
Where on the body?
- Best for frown area, crow's feet, wrinkles at the top of the nose
- Neck; useful for vertical bands that go from jaw line to collarbone
- On the mouth to lessen nose-to-lip lines
- Irregular chin
- Excessive hand and underarm sweating
- Headaches
Facial chemical Peels
Peels are chemical potions that are painted on the skin in order to exfoliate it.
Glycolic acid, a naturally occurring acid from sugar cane, is a good example of gentle chemical peel. It 'unglues' the dead skin cells so they wipe off, revealing newer skin underneath that has a more even tone and texture because it has not been exposed to the elements.
Expect sun spots to fade and your skin to look more radiant. For a month the skin feels nice and moist to touch, and if you have them monthly for 6 months, the skin gets firmer because it is producing more collagen.
Tips:
- Before and after peels, use only products your doc recommends.
- Using Retin-A too soon after a peel can make your skin red.
- Mustn't sun yourself for at least 2 months after a peel.
- Toners are a waste of money- they don't do anything and those that contain alcohol can dry your skin or send it into oil-producing overdrive.
How they work?
The scrubs you buy in shops remove dead and flaky skin, making your complexion smoother and brighter. Peels work the same way but they go deeper, so you see more noticeable and longer-term improvement in complexion. The deeper you go the more layer of skin you remove and the bigger the improvement, however, the longer it takes for your skin to recover.
Endermology
Non-invasive method of treating diffused, localize or flabby cellulite. It has a hand-piece with two rollers on it that you roll up and down on the skin, while a sucker in between the rollers draws the skin up. It kneads the skin much more vigorously than a therapist would with his bare hands.
Works best on surface cellulite in younger people, not much on established cellulite in mature women where the cellulite is fixed; ie. lumpy and visible when all muscles are relaxed.
Need dedication to get results: involves twice weekly sessions for 6 weeks then maintenance every three months. A session of 45 min to massage the whole body, and need regular exercise and appropriate diet.
Where on the body?
All over, but more work done on buttock and thighs
Fillers
Act like a padding you place under the skin in small amounts using a needle.
Where on the body?
- lips and smoker's lines
- nose-to-lip lines
- secondary smile lines on cheek
- corners of mouth where they droop down
- frown lines and forehead
- crow's feet
- depressed scars
- hollow cheeks
Intense Pulsed Light(IPL)
They remove hair, particularly well on fairer skin and darker hairs. Can remove broken veins from the face, calm the redness of acne rosacea, fade sun spots and pigmentation brought about by sun damage, rejuvenate skin, making it firmer and stimulating the growth of new collagen.
Lotions & Potions
Top 6:
Glycolic acid: exfoliator and skin-smoother
Vitamin A: skin vitamin that rejuvenates
Vitamin C: antioxidant and skin lightener
Vitamin E: antioxidant- works well with other vitamins
Cozenyme Q10: moisturizer
Idebenone: very powerful antioxidant- improves wrinkles
Jargon and Ad-speak
Scientifically proven
Vague description designed to impress
Laboratory tested/Test done in vitro
Means on petri dishes or animals, definitely not on humans. Its not possible to say positive results in the lab = good results in humans!
Guaranteed results
Specific term not to be trusted
Look for:
Double-blind crossover trial
Indicates extremely thorough testing. usually Reliable
Radiofrequency Remodelling
Radiofrequency waves are long, so they can travel quite far into the skin, where they can heat things without damaging the surface.
It is a deep-heat sensation, but some have a cooler.
Where on the body?
- forehead lift
- around the eyes, top and bottom
- cheeks (good results)
- jowls, neck
- cellulite, loose skin
- batwings
- tummy
Psychologists tell us that when we meet someone for the first time we zone in on the 'triangle' formed by their eyes and mouth to decide how attractive they are. It's all to do with the mating instinct. Our eyes form two corners of this triangle, so the more obvious they are, the more we are deemed to be. It's a cruel irony then, isn't it, that the area around our eyes is one of the first to give the game away when it comes to ageing.
The skin around our eyes is much thinner than the skin on other parts of our face, therefore it is the first part of our face to lose its stretchiness, and when it does those smiling/squinting lines stop pinging back and become permanent fixtures.
There is another facial triangle of attraction, apart from the one made by your mouth and eyes. The temples of the forehead are the upper corners and the cheeks guide the onlooker's eye down towards the third corner, which is the chin.
Things that affect how fast we age:
Skin type (parents)
Amount of sun (weather)
Smoke (stress levels)
Stress Levels (relationships/work)
Skin care routin (blame self)
What we eat/drink
EYES
Wrinkle around the eyes
Severity depends on your lifestyle. Also suspect heavy handedly applying eye makeup or removing contact lenses can contribute to these wrinkles- if you are repeatedly rough with this area you can overstretch the skin, making it lose its elasticity sooner.
Tips:
- Good skincare habits make a big difference. Wear shades whenever possible, put sunscreen!
- Dont rub too much when you remove makeup and be gentle when putting it on
- Moisturize the area with creams that contain glycolic acid, vitamin A & C and Idebenone. They help skin regenerate itself.
- Don't buy a separate product for eyes- 'eye creams' just a marketing gimmick. They are just milder strength versions of face cream, apart from those that contain abit of starch which stops the cream from spreading onto the eye rim.
UVA and UVB
Remember 'A' is for ageing, UVA rays are mostly responsible for your lines and wrinkles.
'B' for burning, they give sunburn. Can also cause skin cancer and age skin prematurely.
Dark circles
2 things make the skin here look darker. First, blood vessels and pigment gather in the groove beneath the eye, gets more obvious over the years as skin covering it gets thinner. Secondly, loose skin or fat moves downwards and gathers in a semicircular ridge, which casts a shadow, making the circles look worse.
Tip:
- Don't buy face creams that claim to treat dark circles- waste of money.
- Camouflage with concealer containing minerals titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. They are light-reflecting
Acne
More people are getting it and adult acne is increasingly common in women in their thirties and forties. We know hormones play a part but we don't know exactly how. The worst sufferers usually have thicker, greasier skin and the grease itself is of a heavy consistency. In a mind case of acne, the cell lining each skin pore tend to be bigger, forming narrower exits, so the pores are more easily blocked. When a few dead skin cells get stuck in the exit, causing a blockage, you get a blackhead or a whitehead. The only difference between those two is the blackhead has a bit of pigment in it- it is not dirt.
When a pore gets blocked and the warm, sealed, stagnant environment inside the pore makes these bacteria breed like wildfire, as they multiply you get a build-up of pus that swells the skin.
To squeeze or not?
If your spot is sore or red, don't pick it. What you see on the surface is the tip of the iceberg. Some may come out, but some may also go deeper in, causing a cyst which is worse.
If you have a non-infected blackhead or whitehead you can give it a bit of steam and use a blackhead extractor to squeeze out the blockage.
Treating a mild case of acne
- Exfoliate regularly to help prevent grease glands clogging.
- Avoid heavy creams as they can clog up glands more.
- Eat healthy balanced diet. Immune system will be more efficient.
- Benzoyl peroxide Kills bacteria by blasting it with oxygen. May make your skin abit dry and red and it doesn't penetrate deeply, but it can help to control the zits.
- Glycolic acid is anti-inflammatory so it will reduce redness and less noticeable.
Cellulite
Cellulite develops on thighs and buttocks. The present theory is that it is a circulatory problem. Slow blood flow leads to a build-up of toxins, water and retention of fat. This makes the fat cells bulge, which is what causes the dimpling in the skin.
Tips:
- Anything that increases the circulation might help: diet, exercise, mechanical treatments
- Liposuction does not treat cellulite. The cellulite is fat that is attached to the skin. Liposuction can only remove fat that is underneath the skin.
Moles, lumps, bumps & warts
Ways or removing things: shaving off (with a scalpel), cutting out, lasering off, freezing or cauterizing, depending on the position and size of bump. Cauterizing works best on smaller things like warts and skin tags and it is efficient cos its fast, sterile and heals quickly. Shaving is better than cutting of the bumps is in a place where the skin is very tight, making it difficult to bring the edges together for stitching. Stitches involve a bit more maintenance because they have to come out on day five, but if it is a bigger lump that needs fixing, stitches can achieve a neat hairline scar. All these require a small anaesthetic.
Tips:
- Use silicone gel patches for 2-3 months after surgery to reduce scarring, can be bought in a chemist
- Don't let anyone cut a mole on an area where the skin is tight, like the bridge of your nose, because the scar will definitely stretch.
Botox
Botox temporarily weakens the muscles that gather your skin into folds, making it crease-proof enough to prevent wrinkles becoming established. When injected, botox attaches itself into a target muscle. Once it wears off, usually after 4 months, the muscles regenerate and regain enough to start creasing up your skin again.
You should not have botox if you:
- are taking muscle relaxants
- have a muscle-weakening disorder
- pregnant
- breastfeeding
- have alcohol in your system; the injections are more likely to give you bruises
Side effects:
- about 10% say they get a headache within 24hr of injection
- Do not apply makeup for a few hours, avoid poking around the area you had the jab
- Maybe a teeny bruise around the prick, which take a week to disappear but easy to conceal
Tips:
If its the first time, ask your practitioner to give you the minimum they think you'll need. It is a good way to avoid giving you too much. It's better to have too little as it is easy to add more, but once it is in you can't take it out.
Women are more pain-sensitive when they have their period. Avoid this time.
Where on the body?
- Best for frown area, crow's feet, wrinkles at the top of the nose
- Neck; useful for vertical bands that go from jaw line to collarbone
- On the mouth to lessen nose-to-lip lines
- Irregular chin
- Excessive hand and underarm sweating
- Headaches
Facial chemical Peels
Peels are chemical potions that are painted on the skin in order to exfoliate it.
Glycolic acid, a naturally occurring acid from sugar cane, is a good example of gentle chemical peel. It 'unglues' the dead skin cells so they wipe off, revealing newer skin underneath that has a more even tone and texture because it has not been exposed to the elements.
Expect sun spots to fade and your skin to look more radiant. For a month the skin feels nice and moist to touch, and if you have them monthly for 6 months, the skin gets firmer because it is producing more collagen.
Tips:
- Before and after peels, use only products your doc recommends.
- Using Retin-A too soon after a peel can make your skin red.
- Mustn't sun yourself for at least 2 months after a peel.
- Toners are a waste of money- they don't do anything and those that contain alcohol can dry your skin or send it into oil-producing overdrive.
How they work?
The scrubs you buy in shops remove dead and flaky skin, making your complexion smoother and brighter. Peels work the same way but they go deeper, so you see more noticeable and longer-term improvement in complexion. The deeper you go the more layer of skin you remove and the bigger the improvement, however, the longer it takes for your skin to recover.
Endermology
Non-invasive method of treating diffused, localize or flabby cellulite. It has a hand-piece with two rollers on it that you roll up and down on the skin, while a sucker in between the rollers draws the skin up. It kneads the skin much more vigorously than a therapist would with his bare hands.
Works best on surface cellulite in younger people, not much on established cellulite in mature women where the cellulite is fixed; ie. lumpy and visible when all muscles are relaxed.
Need dedication to get results: involves twice weekly sessions for 6 weeks then maintenance every three months. A session of 45 min to massage the whole body, and need regular exercise and appropriate diet.
Where on the body?
All over, but more work done on buttock and thighs
Fillers
Act like a padding you place under the skin in small amounts using a needle.
Where on the body?
- lips and smoker's lines
- nose-to-lip lines
- secondary smile lines on cheek
- corners of mouth where they droop down
- frown lines and forehead
- crow's feet
- depressed scars
- hollow cheeks
Intense Pulsed Light(IPL)
They remove hair, particularly well on fairer skin and darker hairs. Can remove broken veins from the face, calm the redness of acne rosacea, fade sun spots and pigmentation brought about by sun damage, rejuvenate skin, making it firmer and stimulating the growth of new collagen.
Lotions & Potions
Top 6:
Glycolic acid: exfoliator and skin-smoother
Vitamin A: skin vitamin that rejuvenates
Vitamin C: antioxidant and skin lightener
Vitamin E: antioxidant- works well with other vitamins
Cozenyme Q10: moisturizer
Idebenone: very powerful antioxidant- improves wrinkles
Jargon and Ad-speak
Scientifically proven
Vague description designed to impress
Laboratory tested/Test done in vitro
Means on petri dishes or animals, definitely not on humans. Its not possible to say positive results in the lab = good results in humans!
Guaranteed results
Specific term not to be trusted
Look for:
Double-blind crossover trial
Indicates extremely thorough testing. usually Reliable
Radiofrequency Remodelling
Radiofrequency waves are long, so they can travel quite far into the skin, where they can heat things without damaging the surface.
It is a deep-heat sensation, but some have a cooler.
Where on the body?
- forehead lift
- around the eyes, top and bottom
- cheeks (good results)
- jowls, neck
- cellulite, loose skin
- batwings
- tummy
Labels: beauty
¶ 7:49 AM
