Acne Magazine : Skin Care, Tips, Treatment Reviews

I’m really trying to eliminate coffee from my diet lately. Not only because I load it with creamer, sugar and stevia as an artificial sweetener (I use both real sugar and fake since it helps it taste a little more authentically sweet), but I also, for whatever reason, break out from drinking coffee and not from drinking green tea.  They are both caffeinated, I guess it’s just that coffee is a little more intense perhaps on the caffeine content.

Another reason I prefer drinking green tea is because it is such a subtle, light flavor, and you don’t need to put cream in it, which makes it a healthier option, unless of course you drink your coffee black. If you can drink organic green tea, that’s even better for you, so I’d always try for the organic option because there are less toxins (ie pesticides) when you go organic, and often a better, smoother flavor. This goes for coffee too, if you’re a coffee drinker.

I’ve found that I can drink an entire mug of green tea with stevia sweetener, and my face does not break out. I’m not sure exactly why, but it’s true, at least for my skin, so it’s one of the few caffeinated beverages I can enjoy without my skin paying for it in spades.

Another huge health benefit to green tea is the fact that it is loaded chock full of antioxidants. It is one of the better known antioxidant teas, in addition to white and black tea, and many people drink it for that reason alone. It has also been linked to lower risks of breast cancer as well as other cancers commonly found in both men and women.

It gives you a nice, gentle energy boost, and some even think that it has thermogenic (calorie burning and weight loss) properties, so you often see it as an additive in diet supplements.  So, if you’ve never tried green tea, I’d highly recommend you try it. The health benefits are great, and organic types do not break my skin out. If you are worried about this, don’t let it steep as long, that way less of the caffeine is diffused into the water.

It’s almost summer time, and you know what that means, especially if you’ve had oily skin your whole life (at least after puberty, like I have). It means that your skin will shine like the dickens by midday if you don’t have something handy to blot out the shine and mop up that excess sebum production that shows itself in the form of a shine-arific face.

I know this all too well. I can’t tell you how many pictures I’ve looked at of myself, especially outdoors when it’s humid and sticky, in the summer, where I have an extremely shiny face.

I do carry around facial oil blotters all the time, it just seems that some pictures are so spontaneous that there is no way I can say, ooh, hold on, let me blot my face first. First of all, everyone would think I was uber vain (ok, sometimes I can be, but not all the time!), and second of all, I like fun, impromptu pics!

My latest brand I’ve been using are oil blotter sheets that I found at Target. I’d like to say I recommend one over another, but the truth is, pretty much all oil blotting sheets were created equal. It’s very hard for anyone to screw them up. They are, after all, essentially just pieces of tissue paper that are cut into small, purse size squares.

The brand I have now I bought because it had a handy little plastic floppy carrying case that fits in the side pocket of my purse perfectly, and it came with 100 sheets, so it will last me a while.

It’s the Target Sonia Kashuk brand. I think 100 sheets ran me like 5 or 6 bucks or something like that.  I have to admit, I do get a thrill of some sort whenever I blot my face. It’s almost like that weird, purging feeling you get when you use one of those Biore pore strips, that sense of accomplishment, when I see all the oil that I’ve gotten off my face. I find it oddly fascinating – yes, I’m very weird!

But seriously, by blotting your face a couple times a day when your oil production if aggravated further by soring temperatures, and dust and dirt particles and bacteria are more likely to flourish and stick into your pores if you have lots of surface oil, you are helping to prevent a lot of oil from pooling on your face, and you also are making yourself look good – a win/win situation!

I got this press release info in my email, so I thought I would share it with all my readers. It’s about a new aesthetic laser treatment for scarring, and you guessed it – acne scarring, so I thought it perfect for you to peruse.

Here’s the letter along with the actual press release and product info :

My name is Christina with The Jenn Lee Group.   I am writing to you
regarding a topic of interest that I would like you to consider for Acne
Magazine online.

Dr. Frankel of Rejuvaderm MediSpa in Cranston, Rhode Island has recently
incorporated an improved aesthetic laser technology for the treatment of
various forms of skin damage.

Fraxel re:store is a FDA cleared aesthetic laser used to treat pigmented
lesions, acne scars, melasma, mild to moderate periorbital rhytids, surgical
scars and actinic keratosis.

Physicians are able to give their patients the skin that they seek with a
decreased recuperation time of only one to two days after the procedure.
Fraxel re:store also is the first skin resurfacing system to feature dual
fiber laser technology that addresses both deep and superficial resurfacing
issues.   Physicians are also able to soothe patient’s skin during the
procedure with a built-in cooling agent.

Attached please find a press release that I have put together for you to
peruse.

Choose going under a laser instead of going under the knife.

Cranston, Rhode Island (February 22, 2010) — Women everywhere pluck, tweeze, wax, shave, bleach, rub, brush, polish, rinse, purify, cut, trim, clean, cleanse, moisturize, tone, lotion, exfoliate, and scrub their skin to reach their aesthetic goal.     Some women with acne scars, surgical scars, sun damage, lines, wrinkles and other forms of skin imperfections take more extreme measures such as undergoing painful and sometimes traumatic cosmetic surgery.

But wait!  There is another option for skin treatment that doesn’t involve anesthesia, knives, scary surgical rooms, and countless days trying to recuperate.    It’s called Fraxel re:store® Dual system from Solta Medical.  Don’t worry, Fraxel re:store is cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Your pocket-book will also thank you since, Fraxel is a much lower cost option that will make you look in the mirror and say Wow!  No really, you will!  Patients will also feel comfort during the procedure due to a focal cooling agent which is built directly into the hand piece.

Don’t believe me yet?  Well then just ask Dr. Ellen H. Frankel of Rejuvaderm MediSpa in Cranston, Rhode Island.   She chose to incorporate Fraxel re:store into her line of skin services for her patients.   Rejuvaderm MediSpa is the first facility in the New England area to offer this innovative procedure exclusively.

“The results of the treatment are immediate and progressive.  Soon after the treatment your skin will feel softer, look brighter and have a more even tone” Dr. Frankel continued “the next 3 to 6 months you will notice more improvement as the deeper layers of the skin continue to heal.”

Deana DeGeorge, 38 of North Providence, R.I. said “I recently had a Fraxel Laser Treatment done on my face. My pigmentation is gone, my skin looks fresher, and my acne scars have lightened. I am very excited to have a second treatment done and see my skin improve even more. This has been a very positive experience for me and has given me more self confidence when I look in the mirror.”

Call Dr. Frankel at (401) 944-SKIN or visit online at www.rejuvadermmedispa.com.

About Rejuvaderm MediSpa

Dr. Ellen Frankel has owned and operated Rhode Island Skin Doc, a private medical practice since 1987, and has been Chief of Dermatology at St. Joseph’s Hospital since 1995.  Patients were always asking for referrals of where to go for Laser, massage, and other esthetic services. Dr. Frankel had always wanted to open a Medispa because she felt there was a need to have quality medical based treatments in a state of the art, medical facility.   There are medical personnel on the premises at all times. Rejuvaderm MediSpa are constantly receiving the latest medical training and recertification, and upgrading the lasers and other medical equipment when the technology improves.

I just read an interesting article about Alanis Morisette, written by her, about her struggles with two eating disorders when she was younger – bulimia and anorexia.  While eating right and exercising was the main focus of her article, she also brought up a fact that I remember hearing and even bandying about in my mind when I was younger.

The theory (I shouldn’t have said fact, I don’t believe it’s been medically proven, although it may be true for some people), is that milk and dairy products actually are bad for your skin and can cause and aggravate breakouts.

I remember seriously considering giving up milk, cheese, eggs, ice cream, yogurt, all these foods that I really loved (and thought I needed for the calcium) just so I could see if it gave me pristine skin.  But alas, I never did follow through with it because I guess that my love of double cheese pizzas, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and cheese enchiladas ultimately won out.

And the poor substitutes for the real thing when it came to dairy subs? Well, they were ok for when you were dieting, but c’mon when you wanna be bad, it’s so fun to pig out on dairy. Even if it does result in a little painful stomach distention.

There are quite a few people, and of course many vegans (vegetarians who do not eat meat, fish, or any type of dairy product), of course, who advocate not eating dairy for health purposes and who also claim that it’s good for your skin. And there may be some truth to that, because Alanis Morisette isn’t the only one that I’ve heard say she gave up dairy and her skin has never looked better.

Has anyone out there gone on a dairy free diet regimen, and found that it has also cleared up their skin? We’d love to hear from you. I do think there may be something to it, at least for certain people. And it does make sense because dairy products are such a source of allergens for a lot of people – maybe it’s some sort of allergic reaction some people get to it?

Annnyway….would love to hear from anyone on this subject.

Sometimes you just have to laugh at the irony of life.  You know, the events that tend to happen exactly when you don’t want them to, like getting sick on the one day you really didn’t want to at school, when there was the cool field trip that you were looking forward to in grade school?  Or maybe when you get a huge pay raise right before you were going to tell your bosses that you were moving out of state.

You know, that kind of stuff, or along that vain of thinking. The Cyclops Zit, as I like to call it, is sort of one of those types of things. It’s a slap in the face – a sort of “aha, fate has control over your life, not you” kind of things where you realize that you don’t always have 100% control over what happens in your life, including how your skin tends to behave, especially before big events.

What is the Cyclops Zit?  It is a nasty, bug, red bulging zit that happens to appear (usually at the most inopportune times also) RIGHT SMACK DAB in the middle of your forehead, so you look like one of those mythical creatures that have one single eye, right in the middle of their head. You know what I mean, I’m sure you’ve seen their likeness in cheap horror and sci fi movies growing up as a kid.

One thing I’ve noticed about these types of zits is that they tend to pop up over night, and they may even pop up when you don’t have a trace of acne anywhere on your face, what’s up with that? I remember the last time I had one, I suddenly wanted to itch the middle of my forehead really badly, and so I did. Well, after I itched it, I noticed a tiny little bump had appeared within minutes.

I also noticed that the whole area was red and inflamed. The very next morning I woke up to find a jumbo sized Cyclops Zit on my forehead – right in the middle.

The worst part about these prominent zits that pop up on your forehead is that they are so conspicuous. It’s not like you can easily camouflage them out of being. You can put a ton of cover up on them, and they still manage to come through and be noticed, because of where they’re located. You also feel extra self conscious because of where they are, as if you have a bright flashing light on your forehead, saying “look at me!”

I am soon going to be getting a sample of the new scarring treatment product that was created in part by a plastic reconstructive surgeon called InviCible Scar to try out. I was told by a rep for the company, who offered to send me a free sample in exchange for an honest review of their product, that the product works well on scars that are not as old, but it can still also lighten older scars that may be pigmented deeper than the rest of your skin.

I thought it might be useful for this blog, as well as another blog I run on beauty advice, so I am going to post my review on the product after I have used it for long enough of a time to gauge it’s effects on the couple of scars, including a surgery scar I have where some skin was removed from my upper thigh to help remove a birthmark and skin graft it on my leg, but I thought you guys might also be interested to see if it works on acne scars that are still hyperpigmented. I have one that I plan on trying that out with, so I’ll let you guys know how it works.

As you know, there are some great naturally derived products for acne scarring today that I recommend, and who knows, this may be one to add to the list!  I’ll keep you posted, but it likely will be a few weeks until you see anything further on this discussion.

I noticed an interesting short article – well actually a Q&A where a reader asks a qualified doctor a question, on one of the news sites I frequent the other day. This one of course caught my eye because it was about acne, more specifically it was about acne in a woman who was probably in her forties or late thirties, somewhere thereabout. You’ll see why I came to that conclusion when you read what it was about.

Many women have experienced the improvement that being on certain birth control pills can provide in their acne problems. A lot of the birth control pills on the market are estrogen-dominant, which means that they naturally lower the testosterone (male hormones, or androgens) in the body. This means that the likelihood of acne decreases, since androgens are actually the base cause behind most cases of acne vulgaris. Acne is, after all, a hormone-based skin care problem.

The more balanced your hormones are, which can happen many times on women who have unbalanced hormones, then go on the pill, because they are imbalanced to begin with, the less likely it is that acne will form on your face. Excess androgens, or testosterone, will force the body to create more sebum (oil), which collects and traps dirt and bacteria, which creates whiteheads, blackheads – well, you know the drill.

Women who have been on the pill for years and years, which is the woman’s situation that wrote in, may actually experience a surge in their acne, even if they are in their forties when they come off the pill. Why? Because sometimes the effects and benefits of the pill aren’t even realized until one takes themselves off the pill. They may not even know they had a pre existing overload of testosterone before because they’d been on the pill for so long, but once they come off, here comes the acne.

Being on the pill for years and years is not supposed to be good for you, so I’ve heard. Then I’ve also heard there may be some protective benefits of the pill, no matter what you believe, there are some natural hormonal acne solutions that you can try as well that will try to sync up your hormones to healthy, non acne conducive levels.

Boy oh boy, was the point of dry frigid air not being good for your skin hammered home for me today. My husband and I decided to go to our alma mater where we both went to college, Kent State University, to the ice arena and go ice skating. Yes, neither of us is very good at it, and haven’t been in a while, so we though it would be fun to see if we could still do it.

Well, to make a long story short to that end, he ended up falling on his bum several times, and I had to struggle to hold back the snickers that I inevitably felt looming, that all aside, we both had a great time, and some solid, quality spousal bonding time!

One of the things I noticed on the rink was how dry the air was. Of course, they probably have to keep the humidity dramatically pared back on the ice rink since the ice has to stay as firmly frozen as possible, and the mere fact that it’s basically man made ice makes the surrounding environment very dry and very cold.

We weren’t cold though, because we were getting so much exercising skating and er, falling I guess, but nonetheless, I noticed that after the two hours on the open skate out on the ice, we had chapped hands, chapped lips, and my skin looked like I had aged a couple years because it was so dried out from not only the dry environment but the lack of water I had taken in to my body over the last two hours, that my crows feet looked more noticeable, and my skin just looked more sunken.

That goes to show you how important moisture is to your skin, inside and out, no matter if you have acne or not, especially if, like me, you have maturing skin that has seen some days on it. We were both really parched, probably from a combination of being nervous about falling and the zillions of tiny kids that seemed to be weaving in and out of everyone, causing people to crash, wobble and flail in attempts not to fall into a pile on top of the poor little kids, and the dry environment.

We literally couldn’t stop drinking water for like three hours after our adventure. And guess what? As soon as I rehydrated and also put some of my trusty moisturizer on my face, my face was back to looking “plumped out” and more firm, with less noticeable flaws – much more healthy! Moisturization and internal hydration are SO important to your skin, I can’t drive that point home enough!

Oh, lucky us who have had acne for years and years, at least we know we are in abundant company, since acne has won (again) the top spot for the most common of all skin disorders. I supposed the silver lining to that fact is that it is also the least hazardous skin condition, it’s just one of the most embarrassing and pervasive since it usually occurs on the face, our body part that is exposed to the world every day, by which we are judged and scrutinized by some.

Acne, out of the top five skin disorders, is still the most common skin condition that is seen by dermatologists. Although we have some great alternative acne treatments at our disposal, there are also some medical ones that can work, like blue light therapy, certain laser therapies, and other topical treatments, and of course there are medications, which I’m a little more opposed to only because they are mostly either controversial in their safety, or they are antibiotic in nature, and taking antibiotics over a long period of time, I believe, it very detrimental to your health.

So, what are the other skin disorders that hold top court along with acne? They are as the order follows, after acne : eczema, seborrheic dermatitis, skin cancer and psoriasis. You may even have one of these in conjunction with acne, as some of them are also inflammatory in nature, as so many skin conditions are.

Psoriasis is a skin disorder that can appear on the skin or on the scalp, and of course skin cancer has become more prevalent since our sun’s protective ozone layer has worn away with the ravages of environmental pollutants and other conditions, and of course, because of the advent of the tanning bed and young girls going out and getting burnt in them over and over.

The most common type of skin cancer, and luckily the most treatable, is still basal cell carcinoma, which is one that I’ve gotten removed a couple of times out of safety precautions. To avoid basal cell carcinoma, avoid direct, prolonged sunlight, and use sunscreen as often as you can.