Month: June 2009

Is a chemical skin peel right for me? or you?

chemical skin peelSince I started this blog, people have been asking me questions about keeping skin young, and one of the most popular questions is about the chemical skin peel.

Chemical skin peels are not new, in fact they’ve been available for a few years. There are different types of peel and it can be confusing to sort them all out. But as far as I’m concerned, the most important thing is that if you’re going to have a chemical skin peel, you need a professional to do it. Don’t try any of these do-it-yourself-at-home products. Why not?

First, because very often they don’t have enough of the active ingredient in them to do what you expect a chemical skin peel to do. That’s true of many drugstore cosmetics and skin care creams, and it’s true of chemical skin peels too. So you might think you are saving money, but if it doesn’t work you may think peels in general don’t work and give up, whereas having a proper skin peel treatment in a spa could well work for you.

The other reason not to do chemical skin peels at home is that you can damage your skin. Skin is a delicate organ, after all, and it doesn’t like rough treatment — especially for those of us who are over fifty. We need to treat it carefully, and that means putting it in the hands of professionals for complex treatments like chemical skin peels.

I had a glycolic skin peel a few months ago, and I must say I did see a difference in how my skin looked and felt. But the spa professional who did the treatment did tell me I would need to do it again in a couple of months, and I think it’s time. Chemical skin peels are not permanent solutions, but a series of them can be a definite bonus to your skin care system.

The best way to start might be to ask an esthetician about the various types of chemical skin peel to help you decide which is best for you. If you learn anything you think would be valuable to other readers, please do leave a comment.

I Want to Get Rid of These Skin Tags!

What are skin tags? They’re ugly, that’s what! They are little pieces of skin that somehow get folded over, sometimes hanging on by a kind of “neck” and they end up looking kind of like warts but not exactly the same.

I started getting skin tags after I turned 50, and I have them on my neck, under my breasts, and even around my hairline on my face. I first thought the facial ones were crumbs on my face, but when the didn’t brush off I looked more closely and realized what they were — skin tags! Ugh!

I asked my doctor what to do about them, and do you know what he said? Oh I wouldn’t bother, they’re not a problem, just ugly. Well yeah, that’s why I want rid of them.

Anyway, I don’t want to have them surgically removed, but I do want rid of them. Someone recently told me there’s a home remedy for skin tags, so I’m going to give it a try. Here’s the link in case you’d like to try it too.

It’s supposed to work quickly, so I’ll try it for a week and then let you know whether removing skin tags is as easy as they say. Wish me luck because finding out how to remove skin tags has become an obsession with me!

Age Spot Looks Much the Same

Well it’s a week since I started the castor oil treatment for my age spot. I think it’s only fair to report to you that it looks exactly the same so far. Now of course, natural remedies do tend to take longer to work than pharmaceuticals or cosmeceuticals, so I must be patient.

If you want to try this, be warned that castor oil can be messy stuff, so apply it sparingly. If that makes it take longer to work, so be it — as long as it works eventually that’s fine with me. I think any natural treatment for age spots is worth waiting for, don’t you?

I’ll keep you posted.

Younger Looking Hands Are Just a Few Steps Away

When we are working so hard to keep the skin on our faces looking younger, we sometimes forget about our hands. They can give away age if not given the same care.
I had a conversation the other day with an esthetician about younger looking skin, particularly younger looking hands. Here’s what she told me.
1. First, moisturize your hands continually throughout the day, including the cuticles and nails. Since we wash our hands so often, they need more moisturizing than our faces.
2. When driving, the backs of your hands are often exposed to a lot of sun, so it’s a good idea to use a good sunblock on the backs. I would never have thought of this, but it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
3. Finally, although she said she had little faith in drugstore skincare products for the face, there is no need to buy expensive specialty products for your hands. Buy hand creams easily found in drugstores, but look for those that contain glycerin or retinol. Glycerin is apparently very kind to aging hands.
I plan to tap into this woman’s expertise more, and I’ll pass along her tips in the blog. So come back often so you won’t miss them.

I’m Going to Get Rid of this Age Spot

I really want to get rid of this age spot, and also to know how to get rid of any other age spots that turn up — as I’m sure they will!

Before I investigate creams to get rid of age spots, I’m going to try some home remedies that are supposed to work. A couple of friends have recommended these, and I also came on some of them in my research. I know natural remedies usually take longer to work than cosmeceuticals, so I’m willing to be patient.

age spot on neck
Here's the spot on my neck as it looks today

Here are the home remedies for age spots that I’ve found:

Buttermilk. This is a very old skin care method, and today we understand how it works. It’s the lactic acid and other ingredients in the milk that make it a great beauty aid. Apparently you just dab it on the age spot several times a day.

Chick peas mixed with water. Huh? Apparently you mash them with a little water and spread it on the age spots and wait till it dries. I think the most practical way of doing this is at bedtime — bit messy on the pillow maybe though.

Lemon juice — the old standby for everything it seems. Dab on the spots twice daily, and the acid in the juice is supposed to fade the age spots. The problem with this one is it takes several months, and I don’t know if I want to wait that long.

Aloe gel. I have found that the gel from the leaves of an actual aloe plant is effective for burns and other things, but I haven’t had much success with the bottled stuff. I have a plant so it would be easy to try this, but it’s another one that takes several months, so probably not my first choice.

Castor oil. Never heard of this one before, but apparently if you dab castor oil on the spots morning and night and rub well into the skin the age spots should be gone within a month. This sounds promising.

The white stuff inside dandelion stems. Just break the stem and rub the stuff on the age spot several times a day. I guess this is the same idea as the aloe gel.

I found some more, but they either had ingredients that might be harder to find, or the “recipe” seemed like a lot of work. I know myself well enough to know I wouldn’t persist with something that was too much trouble, even though I do want to get rid of the age spot.

I’ve decided to try the castor oil, first because I have some on hand and second because it’s supposed to work in a month. I’ll keep you posted on the results, if any.

I Have an Age Spot on My Neck!

Age spots! Yikes! Interesting how you look in the mirror one morning and there’s yet another change in your skin to remind you of your age! To be honest, this one is not new because I’ve had it for a couple of months, but I just didn’t know what it was until yesterday. I was so concerned about wrinkles and dull skin that I never even thought about age spots — until I realized I had one.

OK, now I’m on yet another quest: finding an age spots treatment. I think there are some natural treatments to get rid of age spots, which I’ll check out first. But I’m sure there are probably creams for removing age spots too, and since these often work faster I’ll be looking into those too. I’ll let you know what I find out, what I try and what works — if anything!

Reducing Dark Circles Under Eyes

Although dark circles under the eyes are not a huge problem for me, there are days when I do have them. I also have a couple of friends who complain about dark circles and eye puffiness a lot, so I decided to see what I could find out about the problem.

My research first told me that there can be different causes for dark circles under the eyes, which makes sense. It can be hereditary, so if your mother had the dark circles, you’re more likely to have them too. As we get older, the skin under our eyes gets thinner, which can also make it look darker in comparison to the rest of the face. Apparently too much salt can also contribute and — no surprise here — smoking adds to the problem.

Anyway, I was interested in taking away the dark circles, so I’ve been looking into some remedies and testing them out with some friends. Here’s what we found.

A couple of “no cost” remedies are cold used teabags (black tea, not herbal) and cucumber slices. You simply lie back and place them on your closed eyelids and relax for at least fifteen minute — more is better. Now I don’t know why these work, because in fact you are not even placing them on the dark circles but on your eyelids. But for whatever reason, we found they did help. It’s not a permanent solution, but if your problem (like mine) is only occasional you might try this before you spend money on creams or potions.

The antioxidants in grape seed extract and pycnogenol can help to strengthen blood vessels, which can also reduce dark circles under the eyes. You can find supplements, but these substances are also found naturally in cranberries, blueberries, bilberries, black and green tea, black currants, onions, some legumes, and parsley. One word of caution, especially if you go the supplement route: if you are on any kind of blood thinning drugs or remedies, check with your doctor before you try these substances as you don’t want to reduce the effectiveness of your medication.

There was a lot of excitement for a while about the ability of the hemorrhoid treatment Preparation H to reduce undereye puffiness. However, if you live in the U.S. this will no longer work (if it ever did), because the ingredient that was supposed to help is no longer included. Anyway, call me fussy but I don’t fancy using hemorrhoid cream on my face!

Finally, one friend who has particularly noticeable dark circles and puffiness under her eyes is trying out a new regime to beat the problem. She is quite interested in the early results, but I’ll let her try it for a couple of weeks longer before I decide what I think. Stay tuned for an update!