When I was working in the spa and talked to clients post-facial about home care, a number would inevitably say “you’re just trying to sell me something.”

Unfortunately, the “upsell” in the salon and spa setting has pretty much eclipsed the fact that I really, honestly don’t believe that Oil of Olay is good for your skin.

Of course, there will always be technicians trying to make an extra buck and pushing useless product on unsuspecting clients. So I get why people are wary.

But if you are on my facial table getting a treatment from me, I am going to suggest alternatives. And sometimes those alternatives are at the drug store, sometimes they are on my shelves.

In fact, the company that supplies my peels, PCA Skin, recommends that, for best results, their products are used pre-and-post peel. “Is that really necessary,” you groan, firing up your mental calculator to add up product costs.

Over the past five months, I conducted an experiment to see if using their product really was necessary. Over the course of three peels, I alternated between using their products prior to the peel and using non-PCA products prior.

Peel One
I used PCA’s products for 10 days prior to the peel. By the 2nd day post-peel, I was peeling. A lot. The peeling lasted almost two weeks. My the time it was done, my skin looked spectacular. I was impressed.

Peel Two
I did not use PCA’s products prior to applying the peel and just went for it. By the 2nd day, I could barely make out flaking. By the third, there was minimal peeling. It was all over in five days. And then I broke out. Interesting…

Peel Three
Once again, PCA products were used 10 days prior to the peel. Day two saw very light peeling, and by day three, my skin began to shed. And while it didn’t go for a full two weeks like the first peel, it did peel for about 10 days.

On the day the peeling started to wane, Manly Man Husband asked me if I was wearing makeup, because my skin looked particularly radiant (or maybe he was just kissing my ass).

The Verdict
In the case of PCA and their peels, using their home care products prior to peeling made a significant difference in the peel result. The mix of active ingredients does prep the skin significantly so that the skin achieves fantastic results, without over-doing it.

I should also note that I used their recommended post-peel products each and every time. You should always follow the home care product advice you receive after a peel treatment; that’s imperative.

The home care product kits (pre and post) are automatically given out to my clients who book a PCA peel.  I don’t want clients worried that I am only trying to upsell them product. To ensure the best result, compliance is key.

Here in the northeast, the weather is changing. The hot and humid days of summer are officially behind us, and we are experiencing drier, cooler air. And while I love the change of seasons, I hate what this time of year does to my lips.

My lips have always chapped easily, and even as a kid, Chapstick just didn’t cut it. A layer of wax sitting on top of the thin skin of the lips may help prevent chapping, but doesn’t do much to sooth and hydrate if you are chapped to begin with. Plus, I’m a lot older now. I want my products to do double or triple duty.

Image Skincare’s Ormedic Balancing Lip Enhancement Complex does exactly that. Not only is it ultra hydrating, it is infused with peptides to help diminish the appearance of fine lines.

Those peptides also give lips that “bee stung” look, bringing blood to the service to plump them and give lips a bit of color. So you don’t need to layer a lip color over it. Perfect for giving your face a polished look without the extra application time for traditional lip color.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?Want to find out for yourself?

Get a chance to win a full size tube of Balancing Lip Enhancement by by signing up for  Product Junkie, BeautyOlogy’s exclusive newsletter. Only newsletter subscribers can win!

Be sure to sign up by Wednesday, October 13 for your chance to win! PLUS, get the free e-series 7 Skin Care Myths (That Keep You From the Skin You Want)! That goes away on October 13th as well!

Disclosure: I use Image Skincare in my professional practice and retail the line.

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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.

Ever notice how so much is all about the tweaking? Little shifts that end up making a really big impact? Same goes for your beauty routine. So I am sharing five low or no-cost, easy to follow tweaks to fine-tune your beauty routine.

• Cool down the H2O.

While hot steamy water is a serious temptation during the frigid winter months, you don’t need blazing hot water to wash the dirt and makeup off your face and body. Hot water dries out your skin, which is the last thing it needs when it’s fighting bitter cold winds and negative humidity. Turn the faucet to tepid.

• Mini-massage your skin.
  

Take an extra minute to massage your serum and moisturizer into your skin. Warm the product up in your hands and massage in an upward motion. This will help boost circulation and help plump up fine lines.

• Wash your face. No, REALLY wash your face!

It’s late, you’re exhausted and making it to the bathroom feels nothing short of the New York Marathon. So your face wash is a quick slap of product and a splash of water to rinse. Just one extra minute massaging the cleanser into the skin (using upward circular motions), and then really rinsing away the residue (more than a splash or two please), will work wonders on the complexion.

• Wash your makeup brushes.

It’s one of those things that we never seem to have time to do, but giving your makeup brushes a good scrub will not only increase the longevity of the brush, it will keep acne bacteria at bay. Use a gentle baby shampoo and swirl the brush bristles around in the palm of your hand, rinse until the water runs clear, blot out the excess water, reshape, and then air dry.

• Invest in those ugly-ass bug eye sunglasses. And wear them!

I think those huge sunglasses that the Olsen Twins regularly sport are crazy ugly, but I own a super cheap pair. And while I endure relentless teasing from the Manly Man Husband, those ugly-ass glasses keep the sun off the sensitive orbital area, where sunscreen is usually not applied. This not only helps shield this area from sun damage, but keeps your squinting to a minimum, staving off the crows-feet a little while longer.

My daughter inherited my sensitive skin–it nicely welts right up when she comes in contact with something too irritating. And, of course, being an esthetician and skin care freak, I have tried every baby and kid product imaginable since she was an infant. My only criteria was that the product be haz-mat free.

When organic-minded new moms gave a thumbs up to California Baby, I gave that a whirl, but I found the products kind of drying (particularly their hair care). So when I stumbled on Weleda at an organic esthetician’s skin studio while we were on a long beach weekend, I picked up a bottle of their Calendula Cream Bath for my kid.

As a sensitive skinner myself, I have always been partial to Calendula. It’s anti inflammatory and incredibly gentle and healing. The base of Weleda’s Calendula Bath Cream is sweet almond oil, which is easily absorbed and very moisturizing. It protects the skin barrier and keeps the skin super smooth.

Weleda is an organic brand that has almost invincible staying-power. Eighty years ago, they pioneered the concept of Biodynamic farming, which is only now being used as trendy organic buzz words in the beauty biz today. The company was founded on the principle that the products support and enhance the body’s own natural healing tendencies.

Since my kid’s the one using it, I asked her to provide her review of the product during bath time tonight:

I like it. It makes me smell pretty and I love how it feels really soft. My skin feels nice and soft after. If I don’t use it the night before, the next day my skin feels all wrinkley. But when I do use it… Not wrinkley!

And isn’t that what we all want from our skin care products?

I am extremely suspicious of Botox. I suffer from migraines. While I always say that I may be able to get insurance to cover injections for migraine control while smoothing out my worry lines, I probably will never do it. We all age, and I want to age gracefully. My peels and potions will help me do that. I don’t feel the need to inject toxins into my face.

Apparently, a Chicago plastic surgeon is treating acne with Botox injections. This report has been out for a bit, but I just caught on via this post from the really great blog over at Beauty Schools Directory (seriously, the blog is fab and not only for students looking for a cosmo school). He did a study, published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, that showed patients experienced a decrease in sebum production and a reduction in pore size. I do want to point out that this study was conducted on 20 patients, 17 of which said they saw improvement. I don’t know too much about the study, or how controlled it was, because I am too cheap to buy the article on line and can only read the abstract.

Anyway… Personal biases about Botox aside, my initial reaction is why try to inhibit sebum production? I really do think oil really draws the short straw when it comes to the acne conversation.

Acne is not caused by oil alone. In fact, the oil on properly functioning skin actually helps keep skin protected from environmental pollutants and also serves as a natural moisturizer. Further, the bacteria that cause acne is found not only on inflamed areas of the face, but also areas of unaffected skin. So what gives?

When the bacteria and oil get trapped under the surface of the skin (i.e. clogged pore), the bacteria is now deprived of oxygen. Without oxygen, the bacteria thrives, inflaming the surrounding tissue and essentially causing that zit (ok, there’s more too it than this, like rupturing under the dermis, etc, but let’s leave it here for the time being). So, while the bacteria is thriving in this particularly oily, anaerobic environment, it is NOT functioning in another area that is oily and exposed to air. Which is why we always talk about exfoliation.

I am seeing a teen acne client now, who has tried every acne product on the market. She came to me with the tightest, driest skin, riddled with inflamed red bumps. Extractions were so difficult to perform without out potentially damaging her skin, that I kept them to a minimum.  I put her on a new cleansing routine that eliminated all acne topical treatments for the time being.

When she came to see me after several weeks, she still had the acne, but her skin was not dry and tight and the acne had migrated towards the surface. She was not pimple free (nor did I expect her to be) but this time I was actually able to extract more of the existing acne and as well as some blackhead formations.

I know it’s killing her that it didn’t completely disappear, and I believe she will need to add in a BP or SA spot treatment eventually, but what I need to do first is get her skin back into balance before I add back in more aggressive acne treatments. The complete removal of the natural oil from the surface of her skin was causing the dead skin to trap the oil coming up through the pore, which was exacerbating the acne.

Essentially, healthy skin is balanced skin and when you start inhibiting your oil production you are throwing this balance completely out of whack, and quite likely exacerbating the problem.

As for the Botox… Without knowing the subjects involved in the study, I can’t really say. Perhaps they do have super oily skin that’s throwing their balance off, and the removal of the oil is necessary. But at 500 bucks a pop, there are certainly cheaper ways to treat acne. So I am not sold on this method.

Curious, would you Botox your acne away?

I have been hearing forever about the Yes to Carrots brand.  The product line is supposed to be so fabulous that it has the “cult beauty editor” following.  So when I saw it sitting at my local Walgreen’s, I snatched up their C Thru the Night Moisturizing Cream.

The ingredient list was so promising–carrot seed oil, cucumber water, Dead Sea  water, hyaluronic acid and other really sensational ingreds–that I was psyched to try this skin care cocktail. Since I am a bit of a product snob, to find a drugstore brand I could really get behind would be  a Very Big Deal indeed.

Then I opened it…  There is some sort of fragrance in there (listed only as “fragrance” in the ingredient list) that made me begin question applying it to my skin.

It was not completely awful scent exactly, just kind of flowery with a slight undernote of chemical. Since I have a pretty sensitive sniffer, I held my nose and applied every night for two weeks. The result was a very angry chin and jaw line–with several small pustules popping up. Disaster.