Denise Dubois, owner of Complexions Spa, offers her expert advice on how to achieve younger, healthier looking skin today!
As an esthetician for more than 30 years, I’m often asked, “what can I do to take better care of my skin?” Especially after the summer season comes to a close and we have all spent hours outdoors enjoying all the season has to offer, people are looking to repair the damage than has been done over the last several months. The answer isn’t that difficult. It truly is a partnership between your professional monthly treatments, and what you do at home every day. There is no such thing as a miracle treatment or a quick fix because even the most sought after procedure won’t last if you don’t combine it with a good daily home skin care regime.
So what happens when our skin ages? To keep, it short and simple, as we age, healthy skin cell renewal slows down and we don’t heal as quickly or replace new epidermal surface cells as fast as we did when we were younger. As time goes by, it slows more and more each year. This leaves our skin rough and dull. Environmental stresses break down the collagen and elastin fibers which lead to fine lines, wrinkles and even enlarged pores in the texture. Hormonal changes and sun exposure result in discoloration in the way of redness and brown spots. And finally, we lose the plumpness of the underlying fatty layer and we no longer have those nice contours. This is what we call aging skin. The truth is, according to the Academy of Dermatology, approximately 90% of what we see on the surface of our skin is actually caused by extrinsic aging or what we did or did not do to take care of our skin.
So now what? There are so many choices of what to do and what is the best option? I always start by saying persistence in your treatment is what makes a difference. We can’t expect one treatment to achieve the results. Just like a fad diet doesn’t work to lose weight. It is a lifestyle choice and it doesn’t end. You either eat right and exercise or you don’t. The results of your efforts will speak for them self. Managing how our skin ages is also a choice and it begins with sun protection at a young age. On top of that, you will then need constant, good skin care every day, morning and night. Daily care at home combined with professional spa treatments such as results driven facials, exfoliation treatments like peels and microdermabrasion, and even in some cases resurfacing treatments, micro-needling and light therapies for color corrections can help improve your skin drastically.
It is also important to mention that so many advances have been made with the approach to treating the skin due to lifestyle and the fact, people do not want to have treatments that cause so much down time that you have to go into hiding. You do not have to have treatments that are aggressive. In fact, causing to much irritation and inflammation can be counterproductive. That is why the persistent approach to good home skincare and results driven monthly treatments are so successful.
So what if you haven’t practiced good skin care habits? The good news is, it’s never too late to start improving your skin. Where do you begin?
In my professional opinion, I recommend starting with an in depth analysis with a licensed professional where an imaging machine is used that can see below the skin’s surface. With special digital imaging, you can see sun damage, vascular areas, measure the depth of wrinkles and texture imperfections. An analysis on this level will not only allow you to monitor results, it also helps the esthetician determine which procedures are going to be most effective for your personal skin condition. Often times we combine many different modalities for the optimal result. This has been documented in many medical journals in both dermatology as well as aesthetic plastic surgery as reaping the most desirable outcome.
When we meet with a client at Complexions Spa, we offer a consultation using a medical imaging machine called Visia where we take images of your skin and go through a very in depth analysis. During the analysis we also determine the most appropriate home care regimen and provide a starter kit to get you going in the right direction. We then customize a program by combining various procedures to achieve the desired results. Programs are available for all skin conditions and are customized accordingly from blemish control to restorative youthful skin programs.
Here are some tips to achieve better skin now:
- Gently exfoliate your skin daily to loosen the bond of epidermal build up.
- Apply an antioxidant to help neutralize the assault from environmental damage we receive daily from air pollution, sun light, stress, and more.
- Hydrate your skin with a daily moisturizer to restore lost hydration and plump cells.
- Apply plant stem cells, peptides and retinol to rebuild collagen and elastin and regenerate our skin.
- Apply sun protection daily! Even in the dreariest winter months. Did you know the skin can still burn on a cloudy, hazy winter day? Get into the habit of protecting your skin every day. It’s the daily assault that causes the most damage, not the day at the beach.
- Start a professional skin care program that includes a combination of monthly results oriented facial therapies selected by your skin care professional.
