Skin S.O.S

Posted: Monday 1 November 2010 11:14am

Your home-care guide to fighting seven signs of skin ageing: products to help beat pigmentation, lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and radiance, dryness, redness and breakouts.

1. PIGMENTATION

Pigmentation is the term broadly given to the uneven distribution of melanin within the skin. It covers a variety of concerns, from freckles, to sunspots, age spots, melasma and uneven, dull skin tone. “The most common causes are sun exposure, and melasma, which is a condition that primarily affects pregnant women and women taking birth control pills,” says Clinique Guiding Dermatologist, Dr David Orentreich.

At Home Solutions: If you believe your problem to be hormonal, see your GP, who may be able to recommend a change, or cessation, of the contraceptive pill you are taking. If pigmentation is related to pregnancy, it should generally subside soon after the birth of your child. Remember though, that all pigmentation is heightened by sun exposure, so it’s important to cover up on a daily basis, to prevent it worsening. If your pigmentation is related to sun exposure, reach for big gun protective and reversal products.

Your first port of call is a quality sunscreen that will help to prevent more pigmentation from appearing. Look for one with broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection, such as Neutrogena Healthy Defense SPF 30+, $16.49* (*all prices quoted in this article are recommended retail ony).

Apply it daily to your face, neck and décolletage, and any other exposed areas of skin. Incorporate lightening and spot-reducing products into your daily skin care regime. Look for products that are specifically targeted towards whitening and smoothing of skin discolouration. Key ingredients to search for include licorice extract, Kojic acid, Idebenone, AHAs and BHAs.

Try:

- Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector, $89. When used daily on cleansed skin, under your regular moisturiser, this helps to create a more even skin tone and a visible reduction in the appearance of dark spots, age spots and other pigmentation, within four to twelve weeks. The secret is a new plant-derived technology, CL-302 Complex, which comprises five brightening ingredients that’s work synergistically to smooth and clarify the skin.

- Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus and UV Damage Corrector, $98. Helps to reverse the damage caused by UV assault, including “solar scars”, thanks to a blend of three patented repair enzymes. The enzymes work within the skin’s surface to repair the appearance of sun damage, promote natural cellular repair and to protect skin from further oxidative stress.

- Priori Idebenone Even Tones Serum, $240. Harnesses the antioxidant power of Idebenone, combined with a potent lightening botanical, to help reduce the appearance of uneven skin tones. Use under your day and night creams.

- SK-II Whitening Source Clear Lotion, $100. Can be used as a daily toner, to slough away the built up dead cells on the skin’s surface, which contain accumulated melanin and can cause a discoloured complexion. It helps boost cellular renewal and leave skin smooth and radiant.

- SK-II Facial Whitening Source Clear Spots, $188. This pack contains single dose gel-sheets that use nanotechnology to specifically target individual spots of discolouration. Expect to see results within 14 days of continued use.

In terms of make up, it’s often tricky to find a foundation  that will even your skin tone and provide a natural-looking, flawless face. Enter mineral formulas. Mineral make up not only buffs beautifully into skin to give a smooth, even finish, it will provide natural sun protection, thanks to the zinc oxide in its formula, and so help prevent further UV-induced pigmentation.

Try:

- bareMinerals Original Foundation, $79

- Elizabeth Arden Pure Finish Mineral Powder Foundation SPF20, $68

2. LINES AND WRINKLES

Lines and wrinkles occur for two reasons. Firstly, fine lines will appear, usually during our mid to late 20s, as a result of facial movements. These lines, also known as dynamic lines, appear in the guise of crow’s feet, smile lines or frown lines. They appear with facial expressions and tend to relax as the expression relaxes.

Over time though, they develop into a second type of furrow, known as static lines, which means they are still visible, even when the face is motionless. Static lines, or wrinkles, also appear a little later in life, due to the effect of gravity teamed with degradation of collagen and elastin within the skin’s support structure. UV damage, or photo-ageing, is also a major contributor. Such furrows will appear within the cheeks, as well as around the eyes, mouth and across the brow and forehead.

At Home Solutions: Again, sun protection is paramount. Team a quality UVA and UVB broad-spectrum sunscreen with a hat and sunglasses whenever you are out and about. As soon as the first signs of lines and wrinkles appear, reach for more active, anti-ageing skin care solutions, which work within the dermis to trigger collagen and elastin production and help rebuild your skin’s support structure.

As the years pass, and lines and wrinkles inevitably become deeper, swap your skin care to age-appropriate formulas. Look for formulas containing age-specific ingredients too, such as calcium, vitamin A, and idebenone.

“These ingredients will supports cellular turnover and work to soften fine lines and wrinkles,” says Dee Davies from the Clear Skin Clinic in Sydney.

“Vitamin A is a powerful cell regulator,” adds Will Fennell from Will and Peta salon in Sydney. “As cells renew, vitamin A encourages them to grow through in a more rounded, uniformed and plump condition, making skin appear smoother and less lined.”

Try:

- Lancôme Genefique Youth Activator, $135. This rich elixir works to repair the skin’s damaged DNA and boost gene activity and the production of youth proteins, so as the skin cells regenerate they appear plumper, more refined and altogether smoother. It is recommended for use on any age of skin, but the Lancôme skin experts suggest using it from an early age to help prevent the onset of lines. It can be used all over the face, neck and décolletage, to not only improve and prevent lines, but to enhance the entire quality of the skin. Apply daily to cleansed skin before your regular hydrating cream, or part of a skin care regime using the entire Genefique range.

- Environ AVST 1, $75. With low concentrations of vitamins A and C, this is intended for people new to topical vitamin A and sensitive skin types. As skin becomes more accustomed the user can gradually move up in strengths to AVST 4, which is $92. While the vitamin A helps to regulate the cellular formation and smooth out wrinkles, vitamin C provides strengthening of the support network and protection from free radical damage.

- L’Oreal Paris Youth Code Anti-Wrinkle Day Cream, $35.95. This cream, and indeed the entire Youth Code range, is designed to specifically target existing lines and wrinkles, as well as help halt the formation of new ones. Perfect for anyone aged in their thirties who is beginning to experience some lines, it has an immediate light-diffusing effect, so any furrows appear softened. With consistent daily use, it works to help plump the skin from within, thereby lessening the look of lines.

- Priori Idebenone Smooth Lines, $240. This potent serum is rich in the powerful antioxidant, Idebenone, and is ideal for use on skin aged mid-to late thirties and beyond. Daily application of this, and other products within the Priori Idebenone range, is said to both soften the appearance of existing lines and wrinkles, and halt the onset of new ones.

- Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Gold Ultra Restorative Capsules, $160. Single dose capsules deliver a targeted blend of collagen-boosting ingredients, including ceramides and essential fatty acids, to minimise the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and clarify and firm ageing skin in women who are in their late forties through to late fifties. Use daily under a regular anti-ageing cream, or in conjunction with the Elizabeth Arden Ceramide skin care range.

- L’Oreal Paris Age Re-Perfect Pro-Calcium Day Cream, $34.95. With age, skin loses the calcium it requires to enjoy continued support and a smooth, line-free surface. This cream, and the entire Re-Perfect Pro-Calcium range from L’Oreal Paris, helps to infuse lost calcium with the aim to minimise the appearance of lines and wrinkles.

- Dr Spiller Vitamin A Day Cream, $152. Designed specifically for mature skin tending towards fine lines, this helps to normalize the skin’s texture, plump it with moisture and minimize wrinkles as it lends support to the dermis. All ages experiencing the onset of lines and wrinkles, or indeed the deepening of them, should turn to anti-ageing foundation formulas, which work to diffuse the light as it bounces off the skin, making the furrows instantly seem less obvious. These formulas also help to infuse the skin with anti-ageing ingredients, and so offer time-stopping skin care benefits too.

Try:

- Maybelline Instant Age Rewind The Eraser Foundation, $24.95

- Covergirl and Olay Simply Ageless Concealer, $17.95

3. DRYNESS AND DEHYDRATION

While dryness and dehydration can indeed affect skin at any age, as we grow older, we become more prone to the conditions, quite simply because our skin’s natural stores of moisturising agent Hyaluronic Acid, become depleted. This means that skin’s internal hydration reservoirs are not as efficient at keeping the surface of the skin plump and moisturized, and the complexion can quickly take on a crepey, dry appearance. Left untreated, this can quickly escalate to lines, wrinkles and loss of firmness.

At Home Solutions: Drink plenty of water to hydrate skin from within. Eliminate moisture-zapping drinks such as alcohol, caffeinated drinks and sugary soft drinks (or at least cut back on them). Swap to a hydrating, creamy cleanser that will nurture skin as it removes make up and debris. Ensure you exfoliate regularly to allow treatment products to optimally absorb and to work effectively, and look for deeply hydrating skin care that will replenish skin’s moisture and leave it looking plump and supple. A moisturising mask, applied up to three times a week, will also help nurture and hydrate the skin.

Try:

- Clinique Comforting Cream Cleanser, $38. A creamy-rich formula that melts away make-up as it gently cleanses and comforts delicate, dry skin.

- Decleor Aroma Cleanse Micro-Smoothing Cream, $80. Hydrates skin with sweet almond oil as micro-particles and papaya enzymes loosen dead cells and pave the way for better absorption of moisturizers and treatment products.

- Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief, $75. This quickly-absorbed cream-gel addresses the cause and effects of dehydration, while delivering hydration deep into the dermis. It contains specific sugar-derived ingredients that aim to maximise the skin’s natural ability to attract moisture from the environment and allow it to remain hydrated for longer.

- Skin O2 Hyaluronic Acid Serum, $59. Medical grade Hyaluronic Acid combines with vitamins to rehydrate the skin. Apply daily after cleansing and before moisturising.

- Estee Lauder Hydrationist Crème for Dry Skin, $75. With continued use, this works to help skin rebuild and maintain a strong moisture barrier, as well as preserve its own internal moisture, and maintain a healthy hydration balance both inside and outside of cells.

- Estee Lauder Hydra Complete Multi-Level Moisture Mask, $55. This comforting mask immediately quenches parched skin, while working to optimise the way it utilises water. It gives skin the ability to maintain constant and intense moisturisation by creating a perfectly controlled environment and insulating the skin from environmental changes.

Check your make up, too. Be sure to use a hydrating foundation that will deliver moisture to the skin while providing a soft, luminous coverage. Invest in a moisturising primer and apply it just prior to your make up, to deliver an even more supple, hydrated finish.

Try:

- Covergirl Simply Ageless Serum Primer, $24.95

- Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich Foundation, $75

4. LOSS OF FIRMNESS

When we are younger, the face has a youthful “inverted triangle” where the cheeks are high and well defined, narrowing to a defined, yet soft jaw line. As time goes by, the face ages by losing fat and along with this loss of fat comes loss of firmness, and facial sagging. Cheeks become hollow, the under eye area sunken. The face becomes more oblong, and the triangle shape is lost or turned upside down, due to this fat loss and the flattening of the cheeks. The jaw line becomes less defined and jowls appear.

At Home Solutions: Look for products that claim to firm, sculpt and lift the face. They work by restoring hydration and fullness to the cells, thereby aiming to recreate volume to the face and restore its defined appearance.

Try:

- Olay Regenerist Microsculpting Serum, $49.99. A high concentration of amino-peptides and vitamin B3, together with intense moisture concentration, works to rehydrate moisture-depleted skin with the aim to recreate lost volume. Use morning and night, underneath Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream, $49.99, which works to further enrich the skin’s elasticity and volume and help to create a more sculpted, less sagging, visage.

- Estee Lauder Re-Nutrive Ultimate Lifting Serum, $365. This employs exclusive enzyme technology and skin refiners to help support and firm sagging, ageing skin. Special “Life Re-Newing Molecules” combine rare and precious extracts and advanced skincare technology to help repair, recharge, and restore skin.

- Danne Montague King Nite Firming Crème, $82. Enriched with vitamin C and calcium ions, this firming cream works by triggering collagen production and restoring elasticity. Essential fatty acids, vitamins and antioxidants work synergistically to restore volume and contour to sagging skin.

- CPRx SAG Extreme Facial Lifting, $79. Directly targets loss of laxity and sagging skin, with a dual effect formula that provides an immediate lifting effect and long term firming. Upon application, an invisible film tightens and lifts superficially, while peptides work within the epidermis to stimulate elastin fibres and trigger long-term firming and recontouring.

- Nivea Visage Expert Lift Day Cream, $29.99. Uses an anti-sagging system comprised of Bioxilift (derived from the anise plant) and hyaluronic acid, to tighten and firm the skin. Continued use promises a smoothed, plumped and nourished effect, with renewed definition.

Look for make up with firming benefits too, like Revlon Age Defying Makeup with Botafirm, $38.95. It contains hydrolised soy-protein, which has an instant firming action on the skin, and nourishing antioxidants and moisturiser to help prevent further slackening.

5. LOSS OF RADIANCE

Fatigued skin appears in many guises as the years pass: a dull, grey pallour, blotchiness and a general lacklustre complexion.

At Home Solutions: Combat the condition with plenty of sleep (at least eight hours a night, every night), by swapping tea, coffee and soft drinks for plenty of water and cleansing herbal teas and by eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Increase your exercise – aim for three+ 45 minute cardio vascular workouts each week, and very importantly, employ brightening skin care.

“Brightening skin is about restoring its health and giving it a youthful glow,” explains Marionne De Candia from Rae’s on Watego’s Day Spa, Watego’s Beach, in Northern NSW. “It has to do with regular cleansing and exfoliation and infusing radiance-enhancing vitamins, like vitamins A and C and various antioxidants into your skin.”

Try:

- M.D Formulations Vit A Plus Illuminating Serum, $180. Has multi-action, anti-ageing benefits, thanks to AHA, Retinol-pure Vitamin A, Vitamin C and natural plant extracts, all of which work synergistically to illuminate and refresh the complexion.

- Alpha H Liquid Gold Revita and Firming Solution, $54.95. Contains glycolic acid to dissolve dead skin cells which contribute to dull, lacklustre skin. Licorice extract works to illuminate and brighten the cells as they renew. Skin is left toned, with more vitality and energy.

- La Prairie White Caviar illuminating Serum, $610. Part of a three-step system that helps to address reduced clarity and ageing skin, this contains oligopeptide-34, dioic acid, licorice and swiss garden cress sprout extracts and vitamin C to help brighten. It also has firming benefits, thanks to caviar extracts, anti-wrinkle peptides and a molecular relining factor.

- Decleor Excellence De L’Age Sublime Regenerating Cream, $170. Brightens and tones the skin with natural ingredients, including immortal, chamomile and iris essentials oils, while rich hydrating ingredients keep skin plump and well-moisturised.

Use radiance-enhancing make up too, like Lancôme La Base Hydra Glow Perfecting Make-up Base Radiance and Comfort, $62.

6. REDNESS

Even when we are as young as our late 20s, skin can become prone to a red, ruddy appearance. This is likely to be due to sensitive conditions, like rosacea, or small superficial broken capillaries on the surface of the skin. Triggers include heat, certain foods such as citrus fruits, dates, nuts and figs, and alcohol, hot weather and humid conditions. Spicy foods and hot drinks are culprits too.

At Home Solutions: Clearly, it’s important to avoid these triggers, but using calming, strengthening and healing skin care will work too. “Avoid anything with active ingredients such as acids or vitamin A,” advises Associate Professor Greg Goodman. “Ingredients including Azulaic acid, green tea and other antioxidants are ideal. Always use non-irritating cleansers and moisturisers and a water-based or light liquid sunscreen applied daily is essential.”

Goodman adds that any product used on the skin should be able to be easily removed. “You don’t want to apply anything that is too claggy, or thick, that requires a lot of rubbing when cleansing.”

Try:

- Decleor Harmonie Gentle Soothing Cream, $110. Contains Shea butter and plant squalene, as well as calming essential oils, to protect the skin and neutralise reactions to harsh external conditions.

- Eau Thermal Avene Diorseal Treatment Cream for Localised Redness, $33.95 Helps to calm and heal redness as it strengthens skin. A green tint to this cream temporarily conceals and neutralises redness.

- Clinique Redness Daily Relief Cream, $90. As part of an extensive anti-redness skin care range, this targeted product works to neutralise redness upon application, and calm and soothe the skin whilst strengthening from within, thanks to a combination of non-irritating antioxidant ingredients like caffeine, sucrose, algae extract soothe, green tea, vitamin E, wheat germ, barley extract and linoleic acid.

When making up, look for a green tinted primer to help counteract the redness in the skin. “Apply with caution and choose a quality product,” warns L’Oreal Paris make-up artist Rae Morris. “You don’t want a film of green over your skin, you simply want the primer to counteract and negate any redness.”

Try:

- L’Oreal Paris Studio Secrets Professional Anti-Redness Primer, $37.95

- Dermalogica Sheer Tint Redness Relief, $77 Choosing a gentle-to-the-skin, healing and nurturing make-up is paramount, which is where mineral formulations can step in.

Try:

- Jane Iredale Amazing Base Loose Minerals SPF20, $79

7. BREAKOUTS

Whether it’s adult acne as a result of hormonal flare-ups, congestion from poor cleansing or diet, or even very advanced rosacea breakouts, blemishes are never welcomed.

At Home Solutions: If your problem is rosacea-related, it’s imperative to avoid anything with an active formula, such as vitamin A, or glycolic or lactic acids. Stick to calming, soothing and strengthening creams as outlined in the paragraphs above. Hormonal breakouts can be lessened by looking at the pill you may be taking, or indeed any HRT you may or may not be using to deal with menopause. In both cases, see your GP for advice, and in the meantime, use some trusted anti-acne skin care solutions.

Try:

- Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Stress Control Power-Cream Wash $14.99. With a powerful micro-clear technology, this works within thee pore unclog and rinse away oil and dirt. It has a creamy lather and infuses calming green tea and cucumber extracts to soothe skin and help reduce irritation.

- Dr Lewinn’s Medic Oil Control Foaming Cleanser, $19.95. This soap-free face cleanser removes dirt and excess oil from pores to reduce blemish occurrence. With Canadian willow herb, which has an anti-bacterial effect, green tea and aloe, it calms the skin and soothes redness.

- Cosmedix Pure Enzymes Exfoliating Mask, $133.10. Uses cranberry enzymes to gently slough away debris and dead skin cells that may be clogging skin and causing blemishes. – MD Formulations Vit A Plus Clearing Complex, $180. This is an oil-free, quickly absorbed gel that tackles blemishes and congestion with an active formula of AHA and Retinol-pure vitamin A.

Improper use of make up is a major contributor, starting with dirty make up brushes. “Brushes should be cleaned daily,” says Dee Davies of the Clear Skin Clinic in Sydney. “Never use sponges as they harbour bacteria.”

Foundations with high oil content can make acne worse. “Mineral make-up is best,” explains Davies. “It won’t clog your skin, and because it has high zinc content, it is very healing.”

Try:

- Jane Iredale Liquid Minerals, $86

by Shonagh Walker

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