Fight Wrinkles With Dermabrasion

So there you are going along, enjoying your life, pursuing your dreams, then one day it happens.  You look in the mirror and hardly recognize the face staring back at you.  The shadows under your eyes have morphed into dark circles.  Your eyebrows have disappeared along with your lips.  The number 11's between your eyes are a permanent fixture, as well as the rings on your neck.  Let's not even talk about the jowls that have taken over your jawline or those nose to mouth lines.  It's a shock, and a bit depressing.  What's a girl (or guy) to do.

I recently ran across an excerpt from “The Grown-up Girl’s Guide to Style” by Christine Schwab, and I am happy to see that many women share the same feelings that I do. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/16634574/ns/today-books/t/how-look-gorgeous-over/#

Even if you are the most secure person in the world seeing these unwelcome changes gives one pause.  Surgery seems too drastic or vain.  After all it's dangerous, expensive and the results are unknown.  Guess what?  There actually is help.  The anti aging creams and products that are now available are a far cry from the products that your mother had available to her.  Some of them actually do work!

I am a woman well into middle age.  Boy, does that sound old.  I am recently divorced.  I had a bit of a panic attack when I looked in the mirror several years ago.  Yikes!  What happened?  I was starting to look....well um....OLD.  I still have the joy and lust for life that I had in my 20's, if not more.  I didn't want to look like an old fart.  I also didn't want to look like some pathetic aging person that is desperately trying to look like a teenager. By virtue of my own  rapidly bagging and sagging issues,  I  found some answers to help maturing people look their best.  Let me just say that since I have recently started dating, the majority of men I go out with are substantially younger than me,  I mean SUBSTANTIALLY.  These are men that are attracted to me not men that I pursue. So I must be doing something right.

Image By Amy Messer

There are many components to embracing a youthful air without looking like an idiot.  Some are:

Well fitting, style aware clothing

Flattering, contemporary hairstyle
Physical fitness, body awareness
Knowledge of contemporary trends and events
A positive outlook on life
Minimal bags, sags, spots, and wrinkles on your face

I owe my parents a debit of gratitude for my high cheek bones and well placed eyes,  but I am no super model.  How is it then that these younger men, (as well as a few nearer my own age), have all asked me out in the last 9 months?  Apart from my scintillating personality, I have kept the dark circles, nasal labial folds, crows feet, mottled skin tone, thin eyelashes and disappearing lips to a minimum.  Through the use of contemporary anti aging products, I have managed to keep myself looking relatively presentable.

I have shared my "secrets' with my family and friends, people I meet when I go out and even women that I have met in department stores.  They have encouraged me to post something online to share with more people.  Something that isn't bogged down with pages and pages of technical mumbo jumbo, but with simple, direct advice for looking your best.

First of all let me say that I don't believe in tons of makeup.  My approach is to keep your natural beauty intact as much as possible.  Once that is accomplished adding a touch of concealer or color highlights your beauty.  Too much makeup actually ages you.

Secondly, these are not going to be overnight miracles for the most part.  Just like exercise and a good diet, these products and routines need to be implemented on a fairly regular basis to get the bast results.

This post I am going to start with skin exfoliation.

see what the pros have to say 
http://www.plasticsurgery.org/Cosmetic-Procedures/Dermabrasion.html

http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/dermabrasion-21085

Skin exfoliation is the removal of the outer most layer of skin.  Removal of the upper layer benefits the skin in several ways.  The exfoliation stimulates the turn over of skin cells and the production of collagen.  It also removes the "callus' of plaque type material that accumulates on your skin from makeup, pollution, the sun and many other environmental factors.  This exfoliation also helps with the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, lessens scars, reduces sun damage, stimulates blood flow to the skins surface and makes the skin more able to utilize any serums or creams that you may use.   

There are two basic types of exfoliation one can do at home; mechanical and chemical. There are also medical procedures such as laser and skin scraping that are much more invasive.  For the sake of this post I will only cover exfoliation that one can do by oneself.

With mechanical exfoliation some sort of debriding agent is used.  That agent is usually crystals of some sort (pumice, salt, ground apricot pits, or other minerals).  For manual exfoliation the crystals are suspended in a solution which is then rubbed onto the skin (avoiding the eye area).  There are also machines that have a hand held unit that simultaneously vacuums the skin while either pulling the skin across a stable diamond crystal head or blasts the skin with various crystals.  The following are the products that I have used and found to be the best.   I have put direct links to the products I discuss whenever possible through the product name for your convenience. 

PMD Personal Microderm

is a hand held device that offers professional results at a fraction of the price of a visit to a dermatologists office or spa. (I had a series of dermabrasions done at a dermatologists office and the cost was $125.00 each and you had to get a minimum of 4 sessions).  You can get more detailed information on this product by clicking on the name.  Amazon offers these machines at good prices and they have a selection of others to compare features to.   I love this machine because it's small, portable. uses disks that increase in abrasiveness, and does not use loose crystals which end up everywhere (I hate the feeling of grit in my teeth!).  After a few weeks of use my sunspots and crows feet were a thing of the past.

Skinn Cosmetics DermAppeal   I LOVE THIS PRODUCT!!!   This is one product that I am never without.  This scrub is a wonderful combination of abrasives and fruit acids so you get the smoothest skin ever.  Rubbed onto damp skin,  the Skinn Dermappeal starts off cool and then gets deliciously warm.  Intense scrubbing on any problem spots will get them under control fast.  I have used this to lessen my forehead lines, the 11"s between my eyes, the tree rings around my neck, and on sun spots on the left side of my face. (your left side will generally look worse than your right if you drive).  I use it twice a week   It preps you skin nicely for serums and moisturizers.  Click on the name to get more information.

 Serious Skin Care Vitamin C Extream Results Skin Resurfacer is another great product. First you use the abrasive compound on damp, clean skin.  Then you apply the liquid over the scrub and rub some more.  This resurfacer is similar to the Skinn Dermappeal but the bite is not quite as intense.  This Vitamin C Skin Resurfacer does give your skin a nice dose of vitamin C, and leaves your skin wonderfully soft and supple with a nice glow.  Like the others it should be followed by serums or moisturizers.  Click on the name for more information.

St. Ives Apricot Scrub  This is by far the roughest textured scrub on the list.  It does work well on the face and neck, but I prefer using it on my chest, shoulders, torso, legs and arms.  St Ives Apricot scrub  is the most economical, and used in conjunction with a wash cloth it gives your whole body a great exfoliation.  It is good to use anytime, summer or winter.  It gets rid of flaky or dry patches and is perfect to prep your body for the skin toning and lifting solutions that I will be discussing in future blogs.  I try to scrub down with the St. Ives Apricot Scrub at least once and preferably twice or three times a week.   You will love the way it makes your skin feel.  It also gets rid of scaling elbows, knees and heels.

For chemical peels there are hundreds of types of peels available.  I have probably tried a third to a half of them.  Most aren't worth the time it takes to use them.

There is one product that I really do like.  PeterThomasRoth Unwrinkle Peel Pads  these babies really do seem to work.  The solution comes on presoaked pads that you wipe over cleansed skin.  I wouldn't use a mechanical exfoliator before using these it might give you a good burn.  Just wipe the pad over your face and let it stay on for 5-10 minutes, and rinse off with cool water. PeterThomasRoth Unwrinkle Peel Pads have a great combination of alpha, beta, gamma exfoliators and amino acids.  The promo material claims that these Peel Pads clarifies, resurfaces, firms, minimizes pores, improves the appearance of fine lines and uneven skin tone.  They also contain vitamins A, C, D, E F, chamomile and green tea extract.  I see a difference after one use.  These are worth the price. They come in a variety of sizes, I believe there are 20, 60 and 90 count packs.  Click on the name to find out pricing and get a complete ingredient list.

I hope that these suggestions are helpful.  Keep checking back for postings on eyes, sagging skin, droopy jowls, deep wrinkles, and what ever else I find that actually works.

Eat well, get exercise and enough sleep, be thankful and forgiving and listen to my tips.....you will stay looking youthful and vibrant for years to coming.4UFXFKV2WPY