January 17, 2020 at 03:00PM by CWC In an era where we can order everything from a luxury SUV to $17 avocado toast with the tap of a button, it’s no wonder millennials have garnered a reputation as the “instant gratification” generation. We want what we want when we want it, and have come to expect immediate results from everything in our lives—including our skin care. But… that’s actually not a great way to approach caring for our largest organ in the long run. Plenty of skin-care products claim to deliver an “instant glow,” and in certain scenarios—a la before a first date or major event—these quick-fixes are great. In the long run, however, they need to be coupled with solutions that are working below the surface to promote healthy skin down the line. Take retinol. The ingredient is unmatched in delivering anti-aging results, because it plumps skin and promotes cell turnover with repeated use. However, when you first add it to your routine, it can sometimes cause dryness or flakiness until your skin adjusts. That’s why you should start thinking of your skin-care actives in two camps: those that work from the top down (short-term products), and those that work from the bottom up (longterm products). The first keeps the outer layer of your skin clear and bright, while the second helps build a foundation to keep it healthy over time. “The skin is very dynamic, and the cells are constantly turning over. So you get rid of one layer
Tag: Facials
If your hair is dry, make sure you’re not missing this super-important step
January 17, 2020 at 01:00AM by CWC Though there are a lot of different hair types and textures out there, I think we can all agree on one thing right now: Our hair is dry. Thanks to the dry AF weather and even more drying indoor heat, our strands are currently feeling frazzled, parched, and begging for moisture. And hair pros say that the first way to help prevent hair dryness is by using a heat protectant. As a refresher, your hair contains keratin proteins and hydrogen bonds, which are broken down every time you use heat on them says Andrew Fitzsimons, celebrity hairstylist. “While we love heat tools for their ability to manipulate the hair into different styles, they do strip your hair of its natural oils and proteins,” he says. “To put it simply: Heat tools compromise the quality of your hair, so repeated use of them will completely dehydrate your strands and lead to breakage.” That said, we are smack in the middle of winter, so we’re not exactly trying to run out of the house with damp hair—our blow dryers are key. So Fitzimons says it’s really, really important to protect your hair and keep it healthy by spritzing on a heat protectant. “I never use a heat tool without heat protection,” he says. “Heat protection will keep your hair shinier, healthier, and less prone to breakage.” This way, you can use the hot tools you love without having to completely dry out your hair (which will then
How to pick a product if your skin is oily *and* dry, according to a derm
January 16, 2020 at 11:00PM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXLjprqwVGs] Whether you’re dry or oily, the cardinal rule when choosing any skin-care product is to make sure it works for your skin type. But what the heck are you supposed to do if you’re… both? According to board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD, that’s actually the case for most people, and finding the right product isn’t as complicated as you might think. The way we talk about skin care makes it seem like you should fall seamlessly into only one skin category, but that’s not actually the case. “We don’t all fit perfectly into one skin-care bucket, which is why ‘combination skin’ is the perfect skin-care descriptor for most of us,” she says. “Some people skew more toward the oily side, while others are more dry, but in general we all have patches of oily skin in some places and dry skin in others.” All of this begs the question: If you’re dealing two skin types at the same time, how the heck are you supposed to find ingredients that work for both? In the latest episode of Dear Derm, Dr. Gohara lays out the info on exactly that. The trick? Understanding which areas are which, and targeting your products appropriately. Take moisturizer, for example: “You use lipstick on your lips and eye shadow on your eyes, so why can’t you use a heavier cream on the dryer parts of your skin, and a lighter lotion on the parts that produce more moisturizer?” says Dr.
I’m a dermatologist, and these are the mistakes I see people make when treating eczema
January 15, 2020 at 04:00PM by CWC Having dehydrated skin is one thing, but dealing with eczema takes dry skin woes to another level. Since we’re smack in the middle of winter, a lot of people are experiencing eczema flareups, and there are a few key things to keep in mind when combatting this type of irritation that go above and beyond your usual dry skin treatments. As in: You’re going to need more than your trusty hyaluronic acid serum. “Eczema is a skin disease that’s characterized by dry skin that becomes inflamed,” says Loretta Ciraldo, MD, a Miami-based dermatologist and founder of Dr. Loretta skin care. You’ll typically see the skin condition, also known as atopic dermatitis, show up as extra-dry patches of inflammation, which she says tend to be really itchy. “Drier, colder weather can worsen it, as can using certain skin-care ingredients like alcohol and coloring,” says Dr. Ciraldo. While there are definitely things you can do to dry skin that also help with eczema, eczema is more about giving extra attention to your skin’s barrier. “People with eczema have skin that doesn’t function well as a barrier,” says Shirley Chi, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Los Angeles. So it takes an extra level of TLC, and that includes avoiding certain lifestyle habits (one, for example, happens in the shower). Keep scrolling for the most common mistakes that dermatologists see people make when treating eczema. 1. Using heat Basking in hot water in your shower can feel good, but
When you buy a super-expensive beauty product, this is what you’re paying for
January 15, 2020 at 02:00PM by CWC Call me a beauty snob (or just very gullible), but I’ve always assumed that luxury skin-care products are superior to their budget friendly counterparts—the higher price point must mean they’re more effective and less likely to trigger my highly sensitive skin, right? But the more I witness the Well+Good beauty team raving over their favorite drugstore finds, the more I’ve started to question that logic. According to my extremely discerning colleagues, it’s totally possible to find hard-working serums, moisturizers, and sunscreen for less than $20, and the quality of mass-market beauty products just keeps getting better. So what’s really the difference between, say, a $30 retinol cream and a boutique version that costs $100? According to cosmetic formulator Stephen Alain Ko, ingredients all play a role in the cost of a beauty product—things like sourcing, purity, and the difficulty of manufacturing a given add-in. Take green tea extract, for example. “Green tea extract is a relatively common ingredient, but the purity of the ingredient can change the cost of the raw material by many magnitudes,” he says. This could be one reason why a 2010 investigation found that making a $320 jar of Crème de la Mer with standard ingredients would only cost around $20—the brand responded by saying that the sea kelp it uses is rare and sustainably sourced, rather than the more commonplace sea kelp found in lower-priced products. (Of course, in this extreme case, branding probably also has something to
Cult-fave brand Skinceuticals is opening its first IRL shops—and facials are involved
January 13, 2020 at 07:44PM by CWC Derms and beauty lovers, rejoice! SkinCeuticals is launching SkinCeuticals SkinLab, the first brick-and-mortar shops since its founding in 1997, where customers can get a specialized treatment and shop the brand’s best products. “With SkinCeuticals SkinLab’s approachable aesthetics, we are bringing in the next generation of aesthetic enthusiasts to our doctors and brand to further our ultimate goal of sharing the wealth of knowledge that our physicians have and our experience with advanced skincare combined with professional aesthetic treatments,” says Christina Fair, general manager of SkinCeuticals, in a press release. SkinCeuticals SkinLab opens February 2020 in Napa, California, (led by dermatologist Karynne Duncan, MD) and Stamford, Connecticut, (led by dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon Kim Nichols, MD). A third location in Houston (led by plastic surgeon Forrest Roth, MD) opens its doors in March, with further expansion slated throughout 2020. Photo: PRNewsfoto/SkinCeuticals The SkinCeuticals SkinLab will offer three signature treatments: SkinSmooth, an LED micropeel and phyto-corrective gel treatment using red-light therapy and a chemical peel; SkinBright, a non-invasive laser therapy followed with the brand’s vitamin C serum, C E Ferulic; and SkinFirm, microneedling followed by Hydrating B₅ Gel. Each location will also offer aesthetic services aligned with the expertise of the leading doctor, including body contouring, injectables, and vitamin IV drips. And when your treatment is done, you can stop by SkinCeuticals Dermablend Professional station for touchups to your makeup following treatments. If there isn’t a SkinLab opening in your city, you can still shop the
The best beginner skin-care routine for your kid (or yourself) to start with
January 11, 2020 at 10:00PM by CWC Like pretty much everything in your early teens—your first crush, your first period, your first bra purchase—navigating your first skin-care routine can be particularly confusing. It’s as if all of a sudden, your hormones have all teamed up and decided to hit you with a one-two punch of oily skin and acne, and you’ve got to figure out how to deal. My own personal introduction to skin care came at the ripe age of 13 by way of a mail-order skin-care kit that Jessica Simpson swore cleared up her acne. In other words, I had no idea what I was doing. Allow me to make things easier for future generations of skin-concerned teenagers. Besides helping deal with whatever skin concerns are looming from hyperactive sebaceous glands (damn you, adolescent acne), the products we use as teenagers actually help set up our skin for later on in life. “Think of your youthful skin as the foundation that your skin starts from as cell turnover slows down after the age of 30,” says board-certified dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, MD. “When you are young, your cellular machinery is functioning optimally so you want to enhance that activity the best you can.” In other words, taking care of your skin the right way early in life means you won’t be making up for lost time when wrinkles and age spots set in down the road. While we grownups can’t exactly do anything about, say, the plastic beads we
Whoa, whoa! Should I be mixing my skin care products to use less and save money?
January 11, 2020 at 02:00AM by CWC You might apply your skin-care products like you’re icing a cake: layer by layer. But dermatologists say that if you’re doing so with active ingredients, you’re likely wasting a ton of your favorite formulas (and a lot of money)—but there’s a pretty easy fix when you’re trying to figure out how to make skin-care products last longer. First, identify the actives in your routine. “Active ingredients are those that have a therapeutic effect in the skin, either to improve skin tone, texture, wrinkles, or even acne,” says Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital. Actives include ingredients like retinol, vitamin C, and glycolic acid. “The actives are the ingredients that get the job done, as opposed to the inactives which are ingredients that make up the base formula.” And because they’re so potent and powerful, it’s easy to overdo it. If you do feel more comfortable applying one layer at a time, Dr. Zeichner recommends following a new protocol. “I typically recommend using one green pea-sized amount of your product containing active ingredients for the entire face. Spread a tiny bit on the cheeks, nose, chin and forehead then rub in and connect the dots,” says Dr. Zeichner. Alternatively, you can also combine your active ingredients, says Tiffany Masterson, Well+Good Changemaker and founder of Drunk Elephant. Just make sure not to combine products that work against each other. (If you can, it’s best to consult
This retinol oil has completely transformed how bright and even my skin looks
January 10, 2020 at 09:00PM by CWC When my hormonal acne wouldn’t budge, I had to end my love affair with facial oils as I figured out a game plan for clear skin. This saddened me, because although facial oils are luxe, nourishing ways to hydrate and feed your skin, lots of dermatologists advise against acneic skin types using oil-based beauty products. Now that my breakouts have been under control for a little over a year (praise be), I’m in a committed relationship with one particular facial oil: the Mara Beauty Algae Retinol Oil ($120). I’ll admit I was scared to slather an oil onto my temperamental skin after such a long break, but felt hopeful about this one since it is packed with so many of the top skin-boosting ingredients out there (retinol and algae, for starters). Plus, when this Mara Beauty creation launched right before the new year in 2019, it quickly garnered one five-star review after another on every beauty retail website out there. And so, after one week of nightly use, I became attached—or devoted, really—to the retinol… because it was transforming my skin into the glowiest and brightest that it’s ever been, and I now refuse to live without it. Photo: Mara Beauty Shop now: Mara Beauty Algae Retinol Oil ($120) I was first intrigued by this oil because it’s riding the wave of the algae in skin care trend—an ocean-derived ingredient that retains moisture and is filled with skin-friendly nutrients and minerals, and has
This pressed serum is pricey but absolutely worth the money
January 01, 2020 at 03:00PM by CWC Discovering Maya Chia’s “The Super Blend” ($105) was a happy accident. After forgetting my usual moisturizer on a trip home to see my family, my mother handed me the pressed serum with a ceremonious flourish and said: “Here, try this.” Since then, the sherbert-hued skin-care product has a forever-home on my face. The beauty brand describes the product as a “multi-correctional moisture concentrate using our most complex ingredient deck to date in a high-performance, luxurious formula” and I’d like to second that. The formula includes botanicals, pressed seed oils, and butters—all of which are great. But personally, I’m most invested in how all these components come together in a rich, non-greasy balm that turns my skin from dull to luminescent overnight. In short: It has set a new standard for how I expect all my beauty products to work. Now, I know the triple-digit price tag may seem like a bit of a deterrent, but please allow me to explain why my Maya Chia mainstay is worth the extravagance. To get the full, glorious benefits of the product, you really only need a teeny-tiny bit (I’m talking the amount you can fit on the tip of your pinky finger). The jar that I purchased last Christmas ran out a few days ago and some very warped, self-indulgent math tells me that means I only paid about 29 cents per application. There’s something else, too. Whenever I feel the slightest bit comfier in my