Jurlique's Age Defying Night Lotion contains licorice to fade discoloration

Manly Man Husband emailed me a link to a website that sent me into a rage. It was selling Obagi C-Clarifying Serum, and a quick google search showed that loads of internet retailers were doing the same.

What’s the big deal, right, it’s just a serum. The big deal is that it contains 4% hydroquinone, which is a prescription strength cosmetic ingredient. Seriously, my friends, you don’t want to play around with this stuff without consulting an MD.

The Skinny: What Is Hydroquinone?

Hydroquinone is a highly effective skin lightener. For those with the tell-tale signs of sun damage (dark spots), hydroquinone is certainly a miracle in a bottle. However, most OTC formulations with hydroquinone use 2%. To obtain a topical with 4% or above, you need to see a doctor.

What’s So Bad About It?

In scientific circles, there’s the usual argument about the safety of the ingredient. Some say it’s a proven carcinogen, others say that it’s never been proven to cause cancer. However, it does appear that long term use of hydroquinone causes cytotoxicity. Hydroquinone is banned in several countries, including the EU and Japan.

An Appeal to Vanity…

Health matters aside, let’s appeal to vanity. Misuse of hydroquinone can cause dermal pigmentation, and you so don’t want that.

Wait, let’s go back for a second and talk sun damage…

The usual, run-of-the-mill sun spot damage is generally epidermal hyperpigmentation, which is on the surface (dead) layer of the skin. Regular topical treatment with natural products (or yes even hydroquinone) inhibits the melanin production in that area.

Dermal pigmentation, on the other hand, is discoloration at the dermal level, the area of live skin. In addition to the discoloration, dermal pigmentation eats away at the collagen and elastin fibers. Dermal pigmentation is spectacularly difficult to treat. And studies have shown that extensive use of hydroquinone creates exactly this sort of damage.

Other options.

Personally, hydroquinone makes me very uncomfortable, particularly when there are other fantastic, completely safe yet effective ingredients to use, although the results may take longer to achieve. I have had fantastic results lightening sun spots with just regular AHA-based peels. For your everyday skin care products, look for ingredients like azelaic acid, kojic acid or licorice extract (found in Jurlique’s Purely Age-Defying Night Lotion). (Amazon Affiliate Link)

It’s important to note, once you stop using either any of the natural lighteners, or hydroquinone for that matter, the hyperpigmentation will return.

Why it doesn’t last forever…

These ingredients (hydroquinone included) are known as tyrosinase inhibitors. Tyrosinase is an enzyme that causes an oxidation reaction that, for example, turns fruits brown when exposed to air. In the skin, tyrosinase has the same effect. So these inhibitors block the oxidation process that leads your skin to create pigment. Once you remove them from your regime, the tyrosinase is free to oxidize it’s heart out, and generate pigment again.

Where would we be without a little SPF wrap up?

And sunblock? Very important when treating hyperpigmentation, particularly if you are using hydroquinone. But I don’t really need to remind you because I know you are wearing your it religiously, right? Right? Just in case, please wear your SPF. You can’t beat the hyperpigmentation without it.

What I do know, however, is that groovy natural body care company Plum Hill took part in the famous Celebrity Gifting Suite. According to Plum Hill owner Jeanne Kissman, celebs sampled from Plum Hill’s tantalizing Sugar Scrubs and their hyper-moisturizing Body Butter (loaded with super hydrators like shea butter, olive oil, almond oil and coco butter). Like the terrific Cactus & Ivy line of products, Plum Hill’s product line is paraben free and cruelty free. Check out their website for the different fragrances available. The Coconut and Lime Sugar Scrub sounds perfect for the upcoming summer months!

Inclusion in the Celebrity Gifting Suite is a competition like no other. Congrats to Plum Hill for being chosen to keep our celeb’s skin glowing!

Luckily, it was not me. But a fellow esthetician tried out a fairly low percentage glycolic that left her scabbed. In trying to deduce why the peel did that (and she is the peel queen so it had nothing to do with lack of experience), it came up that her skin was probably sensitized to the acid, which created the reaction. She peels every other week or so, and uses AHAs in her basic skin care routine, so the glycolic was just too much for her skin.

I am not saying that your product is going to scab you–that’s really extreme–but sometimes when you have been using the same product with the same ingredients over time, your skin rebels.

The moisturizer you once loved to pieces may just not work as effectively anymore. That’s your skin saying ho hum.

Or you suddenly experience a lot of redness and sensitivity to a serum you have used faithfully for years. This happens a lot with AHA products. That’s your skin saying, no no more, I can’t take it anymore!

So you need to move on. Give your skin a break. Try a new line, try new active ingredients–don’t go from one Vitamin C product to another, try one with Pomegranate power instead.

I recommend switching up your products at least twice a year, late spring and late fall, to protect it from different weather extremes. How often do switch it up?

Beautiful With Brains has a great breakdown of antioxidants–what they are, how they work and why you need them.

Girl Gloss test drives the new MAC lip shades Viva Glam Cyndi and Viva Glam Gaga. I just love that MAC chose Cyndi Lauper is one of the spokesmodels! Some 20 plus years after Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, she still looks amazing.

My neighborhood is completely snowed under and everyone has a snow day. Snowball fights commence this afternoon! Have a great weekend!

Lisa Rodgers is an inspiration. She left the financial security of a Fortune 500 job to make soap. Nine years later, her company Cactus & Ivy bubbles up the best organic bath and spa products in the indie beauty market. Her hand-blended (yes, hand blended!) goodies are cruelty free, Vegan and are tested on humans, not animals. Cactus & Ivy also formulates exclusive products for upscale spas, using indigenous ingredients based on their location, which is really cool.

BeautyOlogy recently did an email Q&A with Lisa about the inspiration behind Cactus & Ivy, her products and being a stand-out leader in the indie beauty brand community.

Want to recreate a spa experience at home with her incredible creations?  She’s offering BeautyOlogy readers an exclusive 15% discount, on top of her already insanely reasonable prices. Visit Cactus & Ivy online and use code BEAUTY10 at checkout. Speed on over there–the offer expires on March 31.

• What sparked you to create Cactus and Ivy?

I got started in natural spa products after I left a micro manged job to persue something on my own but what that was, I didn’t have a clue.  I was interested in natural products and curious as to how they were made.  I started selling/making natural soaps for a company in Seattle that was in need of independent reps. Later, the owner was no longer interested in the business so I decided to create Cactus & Ivy.  Now, here I am, 9 years later. I am still learning and taking it all in.  Going into business for myself was the best move I’ve ever made.  Well, second to my marriage.  I wouldn’t be in this business had it not been for the love and support of my husband.

• I have this fantastic mental image of you in a kitchen elbow deep in ingredients! Did you formulate on your own? How did you learn about the process?

After I was given the formulation and instructions on how to make soap for the Seattle company, I began researching other products online and in bath and body books. Trial and error of ‘this’ ingredient mixed with ‘that’ ingredient yielded a lot of fabulous products and some that needed to go back to the drawing board.

• Do you personally hand blend your products?

I personally make all of our products by hand, with the exception of our lotions and body wash.  I have not mastered the art of either product and until I do, I will not offer my customers an inferior product.  Our lotions and body wash products are some of the best on the market and we have received great reviews! Creating the other products in our line is a way for me to remain close to my creations.  A lot of love, care and pride go into every product created and nothing makes me happier than to receive feedback from a customer saying they love Cactus & Ivy!

• Were organic beauty products important to you before you created Cactus & Ivy, or did you begin to pay attention to it during your research?

I’ve always been conscious of what I put on my skin, however, I wasn’t as knowledgeable then about ingredients as I am now.  From the beginning, I knew I wanted to offer products free from harsh chemicals, artificial flavors, colors and fragrance.  I’m a lover of feedback and when customers last year indicated they would like to see products scented with fragrance oils, I obliged.  After all, the customer is your market and there are those who use products scented with fragrance oils.  We only use phalathate free fragrance oils.

• Do you find a difference in consumer’s knowledge about and interest in organic, chemical free products from when you started until now?

Customers are definitely more savvy in their ingredient knowledge than they were 10 years ago.  Natural and Organic are becoming the mainstream in the beauty industry.  As a manufacturer, I believe in complete transparency.  I can’t assume that every customer can read an ingredient label and understand it.  All of our products include a complete, easy to read, ingredient listing on the labels and website, as required by the labeling guidelines of the FDA.  We have also registered our products with the VCRP (Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program) with the FDA.  Cactus & Ivy has absolutely nothing to hide.

• As an indie manufacturer, what makes Cactus & Ivy stand out from the large scale cosmetics companies who are all going “natural”? Why is it  important to support independent product makers? What do they bring to  the table that the large company’s do not?

Since 60% of what is applied to skin is absorbed, we want our products to be as natural as we can make them while offering a longer shelf life.  When creating a product, we look at the benefits of each ingredient used and how it will compliment the products application/use.  I take pride in providing products with a purpose!

Supporting the indie manufacturer is very important not only to our economy but I firmly believe we know and understand the beauty/cosmetic customer.  We care how our products will be received and don’t see the customer as just a number.  If Cactus & Ivy became the #1 small business in the beauty industry tomorrow, I would not change my interaction with my customers.  My door is open to all forms of feedback – good, bad or indifferent.  It’s the only way I know if I am hitting the nail on the head or I need to go back to the drawing board.

Indie manufacturers bring real life to the table.  We listen to our customers and create products with a purpose and not just because it may be a fad.  Every product we create is created with the customer in mind.

• What are you most proud of in building Cactus and Ivy?

I am most proud of creating a company that is completely transparent in every aspect.  I believe good customer service is the backbone of any company and we stand tall.  I stand behind our products 100% and I would not offer a product to the consumer that I wouldn’t offer to my mother!

• Where can people find the Cactus and Ivy brand?

Cactus & Ivy products can be purchase from our website (http://www.cactusandivy.com).  We are in several specialty shops and spas.  I am working hard at gaining more shops, resort/destination/day spas as well as a distributorship in the Czech Republic.

• Do you have a particularly favorite ingredient?

Oooo, that’s a hard one.  I would have to say sweet almond oil.  I have Fibromyalgia and weekly massages are a must to keep my knots at bay.  Sweet almond oil is a great emollient for softening and conditioning the skin and hair.  It is rich in essential fatty acids, vitamins, has fabulous slip, a non-greasy feel, is highly moisturizing and penetrates the skin extremely well.  You can find sweet almond oil in many of Cactus & Ivy creations!

• What’s your all time favorite product in the Cactus & Ivy line?

My all time favorite product is our Peppermint Tree Foot Balm. The tingling and cooling sensations coupled with the moisturizing ingredients is a must have to keep your feet in tip top shape and feeling refreshed.  Peppermint Tree Foot Balm can be used daily to revive tired, dry feet or as an intense overnight treatment for really worn out tootsies. The oils of apricot kernel and sweet almond penetrate the skin easily, emollient and great for dry, inflamed or irritated skin. Menthol gives it the fantastic tingling and cooling kick! Antifungal properties of tea tree oil and the pick me up relief from peppermint oil, round out this fabulous product.

Follow Cactus & Ivy on Twitter or visit them on Facebook. And remember, shop at the website and use code BEAUTY10 for 15% your order, exclusive to BeautyOlogy readers! The discount is good until March 31!

I am so getting the Peppermint Tree Foot Balm. What are you going to try?

Here’s a snippet from a recent conversation with her about embarking on my new yoga journey.

NYCEsthy: OK, so I bought some DVDs and am going to try yoga. Again.

Nancy: You really should get into a class to make sure you are doing it right.

NYCEsthy: Yeah, but I am not sure I am ready to look like an ass in front of people. I can barely do the beginner videos. Besides, I am looking for a more transcendent experience. I need to try something that takes me out of my own head and allows me to release some stress. And I can’t get into a meditative state if I look like an ass in front of a lot of people.

Nancy: Which DVD series are you trying?

NYCEsthy: Rodney Yee’s.

Nancy: He’s HOT! No wonder you can’t concentrate!

NYCEsthy: I don’t really think it’s his hotness (but yes he is indeed hot). A few years ago, I tried to follow Gurmukh’s method and failed miserably. (Note: she’s an LA based fancy-pants yogi to the stars that was introduced to me by, natch, entertainment industry people.)

Nancy: How do you fail at yoga?

NYCEsthy: Well, the first 10 minutes or so of her DVD was crazy easy and I was all like really, this is how Hollywood actresses keep themselves in shape, ’cause I don’t feel a damn thing. And then she started doing some weird wave-your-hands-in-the-air move that kept going for like 20 minutes. And at first I couldn’t do it because I was laughing so hard, and then after a while, my arms really hurt, so at least I was getting a workout. But I didn’t find my meditative state.

Nancy: That’s because you’re judging it!

NYCEsthy: No I’m not.

Nancy: Um, yes you totally are. Stop judging it and just do it!

I love Nancy–and this is why she is such a sensational trainer. I am still trying to find my meditative state, but some days I am still totally judging it. So at least I know why, and I’m working on it.

PS: If you are in the NYC area and are interested in Pilates, leave a comment below and I will put you in touch with Nancy. She’s seriously awesome and once my finances get back on track we will be training together again. She completely returned core strength to my body after having a kid, and fixed a lot of my postural problems. I also credit her for helping with my migraines–when I was training several times a week, I barely had any headaches. She is a body work rock star.

Vintage Beauty Blog is uber sexy. She has retro beauty tutorials! And she has video of Jane Russell. Visit immediately.

Confessions of a Lingerie Addict knows her nighties. I am hoping she joins us here at BeautyOlogy for a guest post, ’cause I sleep in sweatpants and old t-shirts and could desperately use her advice.

Fitarella has a beautiful story. After conquering an eating disorder she went on to train for body building competitions. Celebrating your strength? Totally sexy.

Another non-stop crazy busy week. I have been working non stop for the past few weeks and it’s starting to show. I have to kick myself into gear this weekend and force myself to find the time to work out. And I definitely need to get some more sleep.

Curious–do you make time to take care of yourself? What’s your favorite way to recharge? Share in the comments!

With the right formulation, marine based ingredients–seaweed, kelp and the like–are highly moisturizing. Seaweed interacts with protein to form a protective layer, which keeps water from evaporating from the skin. It is rich in trace minerals and has a high vitamin content, which means it’s packed full of great antioxidants. Because it’s high in iodine and sulfur amino acid content, which are antibacterial and anti-inflammatories, it’s great for acne prone complexions.

The formulation I came up with made my face feel unprotected. Not dry, but I prefer a thicker, richer cream on my skin during the winter. Maybe someone who likes a lighter formulation would be thrilled–maybe I would love it for the summer. It certainly softened my skin’s texture. But for a winter moisturizer, or  for someone with really dry skin, it didn’t cut it.

For the next attempt, I will use even less of the active. And I am also experimenting on creating a richer, more emollient cream than the one I am currently using for this experiment. Or, I was, until I over-heated my emulsifier mixer.

I also tried the active in my hair, and was very disappointed that it dried it out. This one has me kind of stumped and I am trying to figure out a way to counteract this. This active is supposed to a terrific nourishing agent for hair and the amount it dried it out is kind of astounding. I am considering either using less of the active, or adding an oil. I am still mulling this one over.

So the moisturizer, while not a complete fail, is still not where I want it. But the hair care formulation has a long way to go before it’s even ready to be sampled by anyone other than me. (Well, me or Manly Man Husband. But he declined this morning’s offer to try the hair formulation in the shower. I was hoping to see if it had the same effect on him, or if my effect was from my color treatments. But since he can see my hair, he refused to take one for the team.)

You cannot–I repeat–can not “close your pores.”

Yesterday, I noticed a tweet by a fairly popular skin care blog blasting out a recommendation for some product that “closed” her pores. Because part of the mission of this blog is to be a forum to counter the misinformation, I call bullshit.

Your pores are your pores. They are genetically determined. You cannot close them. You cannot make them smaller. You cannot make them disappear. Nor do you want to close them, make them smaller or make them disappear. They serve an important purpose.

Without our sweat pores, our bodies would have no temperature regulation. Our pores excrete oil, which not only keeps our skin moisturized but also helps protect our skin from environmental pollutants.

If you “closed” your pores, you would cause all sorts of acne eruptions on your face. Closed pores = dead skin and oil build up, with no way for oxygen to enter, giving the bacteria a great environment to thrive. The bacteria that causes acne cannot live in the presence of oxygen.

What you can do to minimize the appearance of your pores is to make sure that they are “clean.” Pores can get stretched by dirt and oil, which makes them appear larger. If you have oily skin, a good clay mask can help pull the dirt out of your pores. Combo skin should use clay only on the T-zone, with a rich moisturizing mask on the other areas. When I was working with a Jurlique spa, I saw great client results with Jurlique’s Purifying Mask (Amazon affiliate link).

Dry skin? You can barely see your pores–this is the curse of the small pores. They may be invisible, but the invisibility comes at a price. You cannot secrete enough oil to keep your skin naturally moisturized. Stay away from the clay, and look for a mask whose base has uber moisturizing ingredients like shea butter, seaweed or a natural oil like grapeseed or jojoba. A good moisturizing mask is Caudalie Moisturizing Cream Mask (Amazon affiliate link). The potent grapeseed oil is fantastic moisturizing antioxident for your skin.

If you are reading a magazine article, a blog post or an advertisement that touts a miracle product that will “shrink” your pores, make them “disappear” or “close” them, know that it’s not only impossible but also not what your skin needs.

Have you tried some sort of “pore minimizing treatment” that caused your skin to freak out? Share it in the comments!

I always considered my community “walkable,” mostly because we have sidewalks. Where I grew up, we didn’t have those newfangled contraptions. Walking the dog, going for a run, simply taking an evening stroll meant playing chicken with traffic. And 30-odd years later, the old ‘hood still doesn’t have ‘em.

But even with those sidewalks, is my current community truly walkable?

I walked up the main drag to UPS to ship a package and then, since I was half way there, I decided to walk another 5 minutes to get a cup of coffee.  The way my day was shaping up, I knew I would not have time for a work out, so I figured this would be a good way to sneak in a quick mile between errands.

In that walk between UPS and the coffee shop, I had five near-misses with cars. That’s a near-miss a minute.

Cars taking a corner fast, rushing a left turn, even impatiently turning into the driveway of the coffee shop made my morning walk an exercise in frustration.

There has been a real push towards “walkable communities” in the past few years. Next Generation Consulting is one of the thought-leaders weighing in on this, and last week posted initiatives cities could take to create healthier communities on their blog:

• Create shops and restaurants within a walkable distance (check)

• Make the walking paths pretty with trees (eh alright)

• Have working streetlights (needs improvement)

Fantastic suggestions, but I would like to add one of my own. Actually police the damn traffic laws–they are there for a reason.

I am a huge supporter of the walkable communities initiative. I think a true walkable community would be a tremendous asset anywhere, especially where I live. Cutting down on traffic congestion, less pollution and the physical benefits of being more active make it such an attractive proposition. (Are what a great job-creating public works project!)

But we need cooperation from the community of drivers so that pedestrians can get into, out of and around the communities safely. If pedestrians are getting squashed, or having near misses, the walkable community could turn into a ghost town.

I know loads of car-lovers think we pesky pedestrians have a lot of gall to walk across the road (even when we have the walk sign). But I am going to be a smug asshole and say that perhaps they need to move around on their own two legs more often, while playing chicken with a road-raged driver who’s yacking on his cell phone.