Products containing lactic acid are a wonderful addition to your skin care arsenal. Photo by lisegagne/istockphoto.com

I admit it, up until about 45 minutes ago, my skin looked like crap.

An erratic schedule, a pile of commitments (including an overhaul of this blog) and a few new product trials meant that my skin was either getting the barest minimum attention or getting slathered with stuff that wasn’t really agreeing with it.

I was sick of looking at my craptastic skin in the mirror so today I forced myself to schedule my own appointment. I finally broke out a lactic acid peel that I have been meaning to try for a while. And while it’s Day 3 of summer, and I generally have a no-peel policy for the hotter months, I will be extra vigilant over the next few weeks on keeping my skin protected.

So, onto the lactic acid! Lactic acid is found naturally in the body, and it is found in the acid mantle of our skin (acid mantle is easiest thought of as our skin’s oil). Because it is a naturally occurring acid in the body, our skin accepts it much easier than any “foreign” acid (like, for example, salicylic or glycolic). It’s also very mild, and good for sensitive skin.

Lactic acid (derived from the sugars in milk) is a wonderful exfoliator and ultra moisturizing, and combined (as my peel was) with kojic acid, it helps with hyperpigmentation. It’s a tyronese inhibitor, which means it suppresses the tyronese enzyme that causes skin discoloration. In combination with the kojic acid (often sourced from mushrooms, soy or rice bran), which is a natural skin lightener, it helps to lighten hyperpigmentation from sun damage or from skin inflammation (such as acne) that leaves spots behind.

Result: My skin tone has evened out, and it looks and feels smoother and much more hydrated.

While you will get more pronounced results from a lactic peel, home care products with lactic acid can offer wonderful results. However, products containing lactic acid can be a bit hard to find because, for whatever reason, lactic acid just isn’t a terribly sexy AHA for the marketing types. It may not be sexy, but it’s damn effective.

Sign up for Product Junkie, our free weekly newsletter to get exclusive product reviews (including two lactic acid products I use in my treatment room), tips and giveaways. As a bonus for signing up, we’ll also send you our e-series 7 Skin Care Myths (that are keeping you from the skin you want)! Best of all? It’s absolutely free.

Beautiful Lemongrass and Sage Olive Oil Soap from Batty's Bath

I recently made the mistake of taking a quick saunter down the beauty aisle of the grocery store. I have been pretty tight on time lately, and the soap situation in the shower was becoming situation critical. I was down to my last sliver.

Since both my skin and nose are super sensitive to artificial “natural” fragrance, soap and body wash purchases are a little tricky and I generally use all natural or handcrafted products. So to purchase via Stop & Shop meant that things were getting desperate.

I settled on something that I felt would be the least noxious, Ivory. 99 and 1/100ths or whatever pure! I used it when I was a baby! When Manly Man Husband saw it in the bag, he groaned and refused to use it.

About a week after using it, the skin on my upper arms started getting dry and flaky, and Manly Man Husband taunted me with a chorus of “I told you sos.”

Yup, Ivory was completely drying me out (and itchy too). Commercial soap is not soap. It’s detergent. And detergent and skin just aren’t friends.

Yesterday, I came across this excellent post by Jamie, who runs Batty’s Bath, a lovely handmade soap company that you can find on Etsy. Want to know how commercial soap is different from hand-crafted? Check out her post.

You will never look at Ivory the same again! 99 and whatever percent pure my ass.

This Gary Harvey-designed piece of eco couture is made from 350 Skin Food packages, and was unveiled at the opening night party of Eco Fashion Week in February 2010.

Summer sandal wearing does considerable damage to my heels, leaving them parched and cracked. Usually a winter spent in cozy socks clears up the aggravation. Last year the skin on my right heel was particularly bad, including a fairly deep fissure, so even a full season spent covered up did nothing to alleviate the problem. Any foot salve I tried did little to help. And at this point, my heels simply laugh when I whip out the pumice.

When Weleda sent me a bottle of their cult-classic product Skin Food, I knew I wanted to try it on my heels. As an experiment, I used it only on my right heel, the one that’s much worse for wear, and leave my left foot untreated.

Given the state of my right heel, my Weleda Skin Food test seemed almost unfair.

After a little over a month of frequent application, the deep fissure is about half way closed. And while my skin is still pretty rough (and I suspect nothing short of a serious peel or a dermaplane will fix it completely at this point), the Weleda tested heel is noticeably softer and slowly getting healthier.

Essential fatty acids in the Sunflower Seed Oil is the key to Skin Food’s hyper moisturizing properties. Dry skin is, clearly, fatty acid deficient and Sunflower Seed Oil replaces it. Skin Food also contains Sweet Almond Oil, which is not only an excellent hydrator but also absorbs into the skin nicely without leaving an oil slick behind (hence why I was not slipping and sliding all over the floor after application).

There’s a ton of other soothing and antibacterial ingredients in this little tube, including rosemary, calendula and chamomile. But I think the oils are the key to Skin Food’s proven success.

This is definitely one of my new go-to products for dry, irritated and damaged skin.

Weleda Skin Food is $17.50 for 2.5 ounces and is available at Target, Whole Foods and online at Weleda.com.

Disclosure: I was sent a tube of Skin Food to test by Weleda’s PR representatives.

I so get the desire to de-goop. That little blackhead burrowed into your nose looks like it has taken over your entire face (but trust me, you are the only one who can really see it). That huge pimple on your chin is begging to be popped. Keeping your hands off your face? It’s. So. Hard.

The self-proclaimed Cosmetic’s Cop Paula Begoun has extraction advice for her readers posted over at her blog The Beauty Bunch. Paula doesn’t have much use for estheticians, and she believes that we all can DIY our pimple popping and blackhead squeezing.

And, hey, maybe we can! But her advice is wrong.

First, don’t use a comedone extractor. This is a tricky tool to master, and I have had extensive damage done to my skin by a trained esthetician using one of those suckers. You are way better off using the sides of your fingers (no nails, and fingers clean and wrapped in cotton or gauze pads, please!) or two Q-Tips.

With sufficient skin prep, blackheads often slip right out with the fingers and some light pressure. But skin prep is not, as Paula suggests, a little bit of a water based cleanser scrubbed with a washcloth around the area.

You need to soften the oil, which is done by using a highly alkaline solution left on the area for several minutes with steam applied. A face wash in tepid water means you will have to exert more pressure to pop those suckers out. That can lead to damage.

You need good magnification to see what you are doing and to follow the pore’s direction.

If you pop a pimple, make sure it is fully drained. If not, it will come back with a vengeance.

Never, ever EVER try to pop a pimple without a head on it. Period. Do not try to lance it to get the goop out. Leave it alone. You can scar (and I have the ice pick scars to prove it from my wandering teenage fingers).

When you are done, swab the area with witch hazel or tea tree oil. That stuff you just took out is bacteria, and without this step, it can spread all over your face.

Self-extracting is not something I recommend, but I am also realistic and know everyone gives it a go at least once in their lives.

Do you see an esthetician faithfully? For clients who see me regularly, I am happy to extract a pimple and give a quick high frequency between appointments if a pimple is making them crazy. Yours may very well have the same policy. It’s worth finding out.

Would you wash your face with a Brillo pad?

That’s exactly what I thought when I finally pulled out the March issue from the unread stack of Allure magazines sitting next to my bed. The article that caught my attention, called “Tried and True,” was a piece on what beauty editors use on their own skin.

One of Allure’s editors uses the prescription strength retinoid Renova nightly. And every other night, she uses a 10% glycolic at-home peel. Plus, she puts the Renova on 30 minutes after the peel. It makes my skin burn just thinking about this.

She must have skin like leather, because Kids, there is way too much irritation and exfoliation going on. I don’t like the idea of a 10% at home glycolic mixed with an Rx strength retinoid. It just goes way against my better judgment.

Both Renova and glycolic are super irritating to skin. And glycolic is a “degreasing” agent, which means it eats away your skin’s oil. Prescription Vitamin A formulations are super exfoliating, and you can experience redness and flaking when you use them. To put both of them together, and it could over strip your skin of its natural barrier function, leaving skin dry, damaged and chronically inflamed.

Careful estheticians require peel candidates to stay off their Rx Vitamin A topicals for a certain amount of time before they will peel a client. And peeling more than once a week is incredibly excessive. When we do a peel series for clients, they are generally spaced out anywhere between two and four weeks, depending on what we are treating. Even a weekly peel doesn’t give your skin time to repair.

The cover tag for the Allure article was “Get Great Skin.” Based on this Allure editor’s personal regime, the only thing you’d get is damaged skin.

Based on recent conversations with other skin pros, the trend of DIY pro-peels is starting to take off, and dangerously so.

If you use a AHA cream, let’s say a glycolic since that’s one of the strongest AHAs out there, do not assume that your skin can tolerate a pro-peel strength glycolic.

The marketing department may have slapped a ‘made with 20% glycolic acid” label on your cream, which would lead you to assume that a 20% glycolic peel is no big deal for your skin. What you don’t realize is that included in that cream are all sorts of buffers to bring that acid’s pH to a level where you can’t do any harm. So while it may have 20% glycolic in it, the acid has been neutralized so it is not at all what you would experience in a pro strength 20% glycolic peel.

But, DIYers often do not realize this. So they purchase pro-peels over the internet thinking that they can’t possibly do any damage. And then they use the peel and end up burning their skin.

There is a reason why pro-peels are for professional use only. If they were safe for anyone to use, the major cosmetic companies would most certainly attempt to make a buck off of them. But the liability from potential damage is high, so you are not going to see pro strength peels on drugstore shelves. And for very good reason.

I love peels and I swear by them. Done properly in a controlled environment, peels do amazing things for the skin. But please don’t try to save a buck and DIY with the pro products. Visit a professional and get it done safely.

Last week, the intrepid marketers at Spa Week announced the participating spas taking part in Spring 2010 Spa Week in NYC, taking place from April 12 – April 18.

For those who don’t know, Spa Week is a huge promotion where participating spas in several major metropolitan areas offer certain treatments for $50. I think it’s a marketing tactic gone awry, but loads of people seem to dig it.

Now is a great time to revisit last year’s post on getting the most out of Spa Week.  Since I have worked my share of insanity inducing Spa Week promos, you will find some knowledgeable tips on getting through the madness, including best time to book a treatment, questions to ask at booking about therapist change over, etc.

What struck me this year is that some of the usual suspects are missing. My old spa is not participating this year (probably still reeling from the Groupon offer, poor things) and there are a few other notable absences. And some return spas are not offering anything with much of a wow factor. A mani-pedi is nice, but not as nice as full body massage or proper facial.

It costs participating spas a few thousand bucks to be a part of this, and with services at such a steep discount, I don’t think it pays for itself. And I am sure that spas need to watch their expenses right now. And, frankly, there are very few repeat clients from Spa Week. There are web sites and forums dedicated to those who only get their spa fixes during Spa Week’s two discount weeks a year.

So, from the list of spas and their services offered in NYC, here are my recommendations for your  best beauty bang for 50 bucks:

• Exhale, at both their Central Park South and Upper East Side locations, is offering a choice of two 60 minute treatments–their Fusion Massage or their True Facial. I have always wanted to try Exhale. They have a great holistic philosophy and the treatments are supposed to be tremendous. Since their prices are usually pretty steep, an offer on these signature services is a fantastic way to check them out.

• Caudalie Vinotherapie Spa at the Plaza is offering a choice of two 45 minute treatments, but the Vinotherapy Spa Facial has my attention (the other is a pedicure, but you can go to Dashing Diva for a lot less). I generally like Caudalie products, and have been curious about their spa. While I am turned off by the 45 minute time limit, I still think it could be money well spent.

• Great Jones Spa is a Spa Week perennial. I am not terribly impressed with their $50 offerings this time around (blow out, mani-pedi or Brazilian bikini wax) but all services include access to their Water Room, and I am a  sucker for plunge pools and steam rooms. Since access usually costs $50 (if you don’t spend $100 or more on services), you can look at the treatments as a fun perk and spend a relaxing few hours chilling out in the thermal hot tub.*

Hope you have a great Spa Week experience. Let me know where you decide to book!

*Note, I do not recommend getting a Brazilian and then diving into the Water Room. With a service as invasive as Brazilian, where there is a good chance that you are bleeding and your skin is open, I don’t recommend communal bathing immediately after. Plus you may irritate your skin from super hot water. I am not questioning Great Jones’ sanitation, I am sure they are compliant, but I think it’s way too risky. Unless the water is chlorinated, but that could also irritate freshly waxed skin.

I just read of a shocking new development out of Johnson & Johnson’s research and development team. J&J claims that a topical application of their new Cytomimic Technology delivers “biological levels of electric signals similar to the skin’s natural bioelectricity.”

Hmmm. Color me dubious.

J&J’s R&D team created this Cytomimic Technology using micronized particles of copper and zinc. The claim is that as we age, our bioelectricity signaling diminishes, slowing down the cell-to-cell communication. This slows down the production of collagen and elastin. It also  slows down the skin’s ability to repair and heal.

Bioelectricity is complex, and from what I know about it, it’s primarily a function of the nervous system–blinking your eye or pointing a finger are all part of this bioelectric chain.  How this reduces signs of aging in the skin, when applied topically no less, is a mystery to me. J&J claims that “On the skin’s surface, the microparticles mimic the body’s electrical signal restore youthful looking skin.” Except that if you are talking about the surface of the skin, those cells are already dead, so there is no bioelectric chain to tap in to. Unless this penetrates into the dermis (the live layer).

They claim that in-vitro testing has shown anti-inflammatory activity, which is great for the skin. Except that copper and zinc are both anti-inflammatory ingredients–they both are spectacular wound healers. So I suspect those ingredients could be the cause for the in-vitro improvement, not necessarily the results of a juiced up bioelectric impulse.

I need to crack the books for this one, but my initial response is that Cytomimic Technology is a short circuit.

Truth In Aging called out a very small cosmetics company for overcharging for a serum. They found the exact same ingredients from another small brand for half the price. And they let out the industry’s “dirty little secret,” Private Label.

Since sarcasm can’t be detected in print, I need to point out that the “dirty little secret” part is dripping with it.

I think that Truth In Aging should have done a little more research before slapping down this tiny company. And they need a better understanding of Private Label as well as the costs associated with product formulation.

Private Label? Is that like Members Only (heh remember those jackets)?

Private Label is essentially when a cosmetic company purchases and fulfills their products from an outside lab. The products are branded with cosmetic company’s logo and information, and to consumers it does not appear to come from any source other than the company they are purchasing from.

Because the costs for R&D are astronomical and many companies–from well known brands to tiny start ups–need the Private Label manufacturers to curb the outsized costs of product development and fulfillment.

Private Label can mean many things depending on your budget. You can work with the manufacturer to create a custom blend, which is pretty expensive but guarantees that the product is uniquely yours. Or you can purchase whatever stock blends they carry, clearly a much cheaper option.

Back to the bruhaha

I don’t know either company involved in this little bruhaha, or this particular product. That they use Private Label, or that they use the same Private Label source, is purely speculative. However, I found a Private Label source offering the formulation  found in both the products. And I found other brands that are using the formulation. And if TIA found the 100% markup shocking between the two brands they cite, they should have done a bit more sleuthing. I found the same formulation retailing for $80.

So, what’s the deal?

My best guess: packaging.

Most Private Label companies offer their own consumables for bottling. Or you can send them your own containers to fill, which is subject to additional charges for all sorts of testing. They need to ensure compatibility between the product and the packaging.

Repackage and your liability goes up

This particular Private Label company apparently also sells their product in wholesale containers. Companies buying from them could repackage on their own. By not having the original manufacturer bottle the product for them, this opens up the cosmetic company to law suits should something go horribly wrong. Companies that do their own packaging must carry their own insurance as a safeguard. And liability insurance on cosmetics products is damn expensive. When the Private Label company packages the product, the liability is remains with the Private Label company doing the packaging.

Was the $25 price outrageous?

The median price for this formulation appears to be in the $20 – 25 range, so I don’t think the “overpriced” company was trying to screw over their customer. Often Private Label companies give a “suggested retail price” based on whatever costs the cosmetic company is incurring.  Since the norm was in that range, my guess is the company went with the price suggested to them. All of the bottling with the products that fell in that range were rather unique, and did not look like standard “Private Label” issued packaging, which would bring the cost down.

Incidentally, I do feel like the $80 bottle was overpriced, but that’s not the company that was called out publicly.

The $25 product that Truth In Aging cited did not have product images available, so I could not see the packaging. But based on TIA’s original (and favorable) review of the product, it would appear that this company offered something unique–they put the serum in two smaller bottles rather than one large.

Why would they package this in two bottles? Oxidation.

The main active ingredient in the formulation is Vitamin C, which is highly unstable and oxidizes quickly. Vitamin C, even in ester form (and this formulation uses both), will turn a brownish color when exposed to air. By packaging in two separate bottles, this company is at least attempting to minimize the oxidation process. Oxidation does not necessarily impact efficacy, but it certainly would lead consumers to toss out the product when it discolors. My best guess is that they is trying to curtail that, as well as the costumer complaints and bad word of mouth that accompany tossing a product into the bin.

Back to the price gouging question

It does not appear that TIA tried to contact this company to get to the bottom of the situation. There are endless of factors that go into product pricing beyond the cost of the product itself.

And while TIA may be doing a service to their readers by finding the same product at a cheaper price, I don’t think it was terribly fair to call a company out as a price gouger. In my opinion, just about every company that sells any product is guilty of that. I would have loved to see a response from any of the companies TIA called out for “duping” consumers with Private Label.

Private Label is done by many well known brands

TIA treats Private Label companies like a big old cystic zit on the face of the cosmetics industry. However, several of the top niche brands in the market come out of Private Label labs. (And I am not talking about the celebrity lines either–the famous industry faces behind these companies aren’t cooking up formulations in their kitchens!) One of the largest personal care manufacturers in the US offers a Private Label service.

How do I know?

I have been researching Private Label companies off and on for the past two years. For smaller spas and estheticians, Private Label is becoming an important and viable option for cost effective retail products. Cosmetic companies that once sold exclusively to spas and salons are expanding into the mass market. These companies often sell their products at a discount to large retailers, which allows the large retailers to discount to the consumer with no effect on their bottom line. Smaller companies cannot financially compete with what is essentially the WalMart-ization of the beauty industry.

Competition is healthy, and important

Private Label is not the scourge of the beauty industry. Are there shoddy labs out there? Sure there are. But there are some seriously kick ass labs out there as well. With the right lab, Private Label can yield some spectacular products.

Plus it keeps competition going with the big brands by offering aspiring brands a cost effective opportunity to bring products to the market– and this competition is healthy and it matters. Over the past 10 years, these large brands went on a buying spree and snatched up a lot of the boutique products that were gaining market share. Without competition in place, your choices on products would be limited. And less competition means more opportunity for the biggest players to raise their prices.

I decided to withhold the brand names cited in TIA’s original post. If you are curious, you can find the names on their site. I don’t feel comfortable calling any company out in a public forum without knowing beyond a reasonable doubt what they are or are not doing in terms of their formulation and pricing. And, frankly, price is ultimately based on what the customer is willing to pay. There are clearly consumers out there willing to pay $350 for Cream de la Mer, and more power to them.

And with that, I leave you with this Dirty Little Secret. Enjoy!

It’s Friday! Let’s do this!

The ladies at The Gloss tried out skin enhancing beverage additive Glowelle. In their words, “beautiful skin tastes awful.”

Fitness pro Lisa Johnson blogs about Oscar fashion in an entirely unique way. She spots the trends that bare certain body parts and matches it with  exercises to buff up the area. Fun!

Another great post on Lisa’s blog. She rants about Biggest Loser Jillian Michaels’ lack of fitness credentials. Like every other industry, celebrity sells, even if the “guru” has no education or experience. The problem with the marketing tactics of the fitness industry (and to a certain degree, the beauty industry) is that bad advice can be downright dangerous.

This time of year I am always so excited about the prospect of warm weather that I start dressing like it’s 70 degrees. Of course, I spend the day like a shivering fool. So hold off on your warm weather skin care regimen for a few more weeks. (You do have one of those, right? Right?) While we may not see below freezing temps for another 6 months, the weather is still just cold enough to dry out your skin.  Candy Dye has an extensive post about winter dry skin. She breaks down the causes and offers some solutions.

Have a fantastic weekend! Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead on Saturday night. Longer days are finally coming!