My Beauty Space

Hmm…easier than liposuction. I’m sure a lot of women who have thought of lipo and not gone through with it were just waiting for this type of procedure to come out. And they finally have it. Smart lipo is a more targeted, quicker recovery time version of the original, more invasive and more painful liposuction that seems to have taken the world by storm, especially the celebrity population which can’t seem to stay away from the second more popular cosmetic enhancement procedure. Liposuction is even the rumored reason behind Britney Spears recent weight loss and toning up, hmm…maybe she had the new smart lipo?

Here’s how it works. The big needles that are used to extract the fat from your problem areas and basically suck it out are inserted more locally and are less invasive. I really don’t fully understand how it works to be honest, and I even saw a video of it. Basically, it looks like a large knitting needle punctures the area that needs the fat removed, the fat is sucked down a tube, and voila, that’s it.

I think the difference here may be that the skin is not actually cut like it is with liposuction, but rather the invasiveness is actually lessened because of the tool used. Not only that, doctors that pioneered the new Smart Lipo technique say that it not only removes excess fat, but it also tightens and tones the area that it treated, leaving you with a smoother more toned appearance. Might this also be of benefit for women who have a lot cellulite?

For now I’ll stick to my cellulite treatment creams, but this is definitely an interesting option for those looking to spot reduce fat in certain areas, ie saddle bags (my least favorite part personally), excess belly fat, and thigh fat. It can even be used to target excess arm fat. I didn’t get a price on it, but I’m sure if you do a search you can find some websites that can tell you the cost of this, and if any cosmetic dermatologists or plastic surgeons are doing it in your area yet, since it’s such a new procedure.

It’s summer time, and we all know what that means as women. We can’t get away with not shaving our legs for days on end if we want to like we can in the winter months when our legs go unexposed for days and the only person that knows we don’t shave is our poor partners. I personally hate to shave my legs every day, and so I basically don’t. I’ve resigned myself to shaving more often of course, to avoid embarrassment, but I’ve come to sort of an agreement with myself that once every three days is just fine, and I can still have presentable legs with shaving this much.

But what if you really don’t want to shave? What are your options? Well, there are some depillatories out on the market like Veet and Nair, but honestly they smell so terrible that I’m not even sure it’s worth not having to shaving a few more days by using these. I also have to admit, I’m afraid I’m exposing myself to some pretty horrendous chemicals by doing this, because should a hair remover really just “melt” your hair right out of it’s follicle? Makes me a little uneasy, don’t know about you!

There is of course another option to hair removal that is supposedly permanent in the summer time and for that matter, all year round, and that is laser hair removal. Laser hair removal is pretty expensive though, and you basically pay by how large of an area you wish to be treated, and therefore “hair free” forever, or with very little follow up for the next few years.

Laser hair removal works by actually destroying the hair follicles so that the hairs that are individually targeted by the laser never come back. The trick is to get them all though, and so this many times requires several follow up visits to make sure the hair really is all gone. I’ve heard some horror stories about laser hair removal too, but if you go to a reputable place, you should be fine. Just be prepared to pay! How nice it would be to never shave again though….

There are always waxing sessions as well, which some women like and some women hate. Basically wax is applied to the areas you don’t want hair, and voila, it’s ripped right out, and doesn’t grow back for several weeks. A lot of women who have waxing done regularly to remove hair claim that their hair grows back much finer and also is not as hard to shave off, so this may be a good option as well. There are hair removal creams also, some of them natural, like Nad’s and other herbal and natural hair removal creams that claim to make it much harder for your pesky hairs to grow back.

Remember how we talked about alternatives to Mystic tanning the other day? Mystic tan is a great system that uses a patented technology to adhere the self tanning agent to your skin with what they call “Magnetan” technology. Supposedly, their self tanning agent, primarily DHA, the self tanning agent found in all self tanners, adheres much better to the skin because of this “magnetic quality”.

Also, the strange thing about Mystic tan is that they tell you when you get out of the booth to towel off, and the tan will not wipe off or become affected or streaked by the towel. I however, always only towel off lightly, and I wait about five minutes before I dress again, just because if I use the bronzing agent I don’t want my clothes to get all brown.

This time when I went to the new tanning salon that I found offers Mystic tan in my new neighborhood, their bronzer was actually out, and I had to use only the DHA spray. I have to tell you, I actually liked it better this way because my clothes, bra and underwear were not stained brown, and I felt like I actually maintained my “real tan” for a longer time.

Not sure if there was anything to it, but I almost felt like not using the bronzer mixed in with the DHA, I got more of an effect from the DHA than I normally do. Today it’s been five days since I went and I’m still “tan” although admittedly it’s fading and needs to be recharged.

If you go to a Mystic tan booth, some of them do have a button in them where you can turn the bronzer off or on, and I’d recommend trying it once without the bronzer, see if you like it. I think I’m going to go without the bronzer from now on, since my new place has the option built in. Self tanning is a great invention for those of us who can’t or should not tan.

I just think that if you Mystic tan, you may want to hold your breath when the spray comes out. It is supposed to be harmless, but it just makes me feel better to not inhale the droplets. You never know these days! Oh, also Mystic tan can be cost prohibitive, at this salon, it’s about $28 a session (ouch), but I got lucky and they’re running a special buy two get two free. Still steep, but to me it’s worth not damaging my skin and adding to my risk of skin cancer. If you feel like it costs too much or you really would rather self tan in your own home, check out alternative self tanners.

You may or may not be a fan of self tanning, but I for one am, because it offers me a great alternative to baking myself in the sun every summer to achieve a healthy “looking” glow from the sun, especially since that glow is anything but healthy on me, since I’m Irish and German and my skin tends to burn rather than tan, and I’m also prone to sunspots and basal cell carcinoma sun spots (I’ve had two removed already, no doubt from my earlier years of putting baby oil and every other tanning accelerator on to achieve a golden glow - STUPID!)

I started to enjoy the Mystic Tan booths about three years ago, but found a few problems with it.  Number one, the cost is pretty expensive, with one session averaging over twenty dollars.  You can however usually buy packages that can significantly reduce the cost per visit, but you still end up spending a decent chunk of change in the end to get the fake tan from Mystic.  If you’re looking for alternatives to the infinitely popular Mystic Tan though, beware, as I’ve heard most of these systems don’t match up to the evenness and color of Mystic. 

Fantasy tan is one of them, it’s a booth-like system, and there are other knock offs of Mystic in booth form as well.  There is also airbrush self tanning available in some salons, although not many.  This option can be good if you get someone who knows what they’re doing, but get someone that doesn’t and you may end up with a streaky, uneven tan.

The second problem I found with the Mystic tan is the smell that develops.  It’s a lot stronger than other self tanners you’d buy in a department or drug store, and it probably is because it’s a lot more potent and does give you a better tan than these, but try telling that to your bedmate, who has to deal with the potent smell at night, which gets worse, even after you shower, as the DHA activates on your skin overnight. 

There is supposedly a new product Mystic came out with though, something called “Fresh” or something along those lines which is supposed to help the smell issue.  Other than that, honestly, if I could have a Mystic Tanning booth in my own home, I probably would.  It’s easy and convenenient, and it does save you from having to rub yourself down with self tanner. 

But,  you have to go somewhere to do it, which adds to the inconvenience factor as well.  This is why I keep self tanners at home, because I would have to make a jaunt over to the nearest tanning salon that has Mystic tan, and now that is over twenty minutes away.  If you need a really fast, even tan, then Mystic is probably the best way to go, but there are also some great self tanners that you can apply yourself at home, especially if you’re like me and you live prohibitively far from the nearest offering salon. 

I got an intriguing email the other day about a product who’s email tagline (which is why I opened it, I had to see the product they were talking about with such extravagent claims) said “Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon in a Bottle”.  With a title like that, I gotta hand it to them, it’s catchy and it makes you wonder what product they’re talking about.

It’s for a product called Radiance Restoragen, and it can be used either by itself or in combination with a collagen therapy as well.  It’s by a company called Health Direct, whom I still receive periodic emails from because I purchased one of their products called Sculpt n Cleanse that is used as a digestive tract cleanser (colon cleanser) about three years ago. 

It claims to do pretty much the same laundry list of most other anti aging products, creams, cleansers and various other products out there because it states is reduces wrinkles and fine lines and helps restore tone and color as well as provide protection against the ravages of the environment.  It does all this in less time, a fraction of the cost, and with no recovery time when compared to a facelift.  So I’m expecting to see some pretty fantastic before and after photos as they promise.  Sounds good, so I kept reading. 

The before and afters look good, however, I did notice one thing.  It seemed like the people were making different facial expressions in the before vs. the after picture.  Believe it or not, facial expression can make a world of difference in before and after photos. 

For example one picture showed a man squinting slightly in the before picture where his eyes were wide open in the after picture, so naturally, his crows feet didn’t show up as much in the after picture.  I’m sure it’s a good product, I just think they should have taken the before and afters with totally neutral expressions, and the different expressions are noticeable between the two pictures. 

I was doing a half hour yoga session today, and was struck by something the instructor (on the DVD) said.  She said you can enjoy not only the overall muscle and strength/breathing benefits of yoga, but also the anti aging benefits.  So, I looked into it a little to see if yoga truly could offer some anti aging benefits, and found that in fact this is a true statement.

Yoga’s primary benefit is to regulate breathing and also to train the body to deal with stress better and to breathe on a more even keel all the time, no matter how stressed you’re feeling.  One of the primary causes of aging is an acceleration of oxygen loss in the blood stream.  Well, guess what?  When we’re stressed out or anxious, one of the biggest side effects we will notice is rapid breathing or a shortness of breath. 

When you’re not breathing right, you are essentially depriving your blood of the oxygen it needs to “breathe” and do it’s job.  When the blood is starved of oxygen, it starves other areas of the body (including the skin and other major organs) of vital oxygen, which in essence helps speed the eventual death, or aging of the organ, including the skin.

I do notice that after yoga, I feel like my breathing is more even, and when I’m practicing it regularly, I can definitely tell a big difference in my body and mind’s ability to control my reactions to stress.  I can tell that my breathing is more regulated, and yes, I do feel that my skin looks better. 

My skin, personally reacts very badly to stress.  It starts to look very red and uneven, but it also is very prone to acne when I’m stressed out or anxious.  I can definitely see how yoga has helped me to prevent certain aspects of aging, or at least help me to slow them down.  I might even say it’s a small part of my skin care routine! 

I was just in the dermatologist’s office today to get a full body check for basal cell carcinoma spots (pre-cancerous spots on the skin basically caused by sun exposure, especially common in people like me, with fair skin), and was browsing through (and subsequently “pitched” on) a chemical peel that the dermatologist can perform on her patients called “Vitalize Peel”. 

So, naturally, being the curious person I am, I listened to her assistant’s full explanation of what the Vitalize peel is, what one could expect from this procedure, the downtime, yada yada, so I could see if it would be something I’d ever be interested in if it helped reduce fine lines and also would help get rid of some of my remaining acne scarring. 

I’ve done a few rounds of microdermabrasion, and my acne scarring would improve, but it would never fully go away, so I’m intrigued by the fact that this seemed to be a little more agressive of a treatment. 

So, here’s the scoop on the Vitalize peel.  It’s a fairly agressive chemical peel that is applied to your face in the dermatologist’s office.  The whole procedure from start to finish is about twenty minutes and costs $150 per peel. 

I asked how many peels patients usually opt for and was told that most will do three, once a month, for a three month period once a year, and then repeat twice to three times the following year, in consecutive months to maintain results and renew the skin.  But, then, when I got home later, I read in the pamphlet that many patients with more agressive intentions may actually opt for six treatments and combine them with other treatments, like an acne patient may combine it with either a topical or oral acne medication, and a patient with wrinkle and anti aging concerns may pair it with Retin-A.

The dermatologist actually showed me an area on her throat that she had just had the peel done on days earlier, and the only remnants was a slight peeling and flaking, no redness.  However, when explained to me, one would not want to go anywhere for several hours after the peel as the skin tends to take on a greenish hue (lovely, huh), and the skin may appear red and sunburned for several hours to several days after the peel, depending on the person’s skin.

It is imperative that anyone who gets a chemical peel or microdermabrasion or dermabrasion wears a strong SPF in the days and even weeks following a treatment, because the layers of skin that act as our primary protectant against the sun’s UV rays are stripped away during these procedures and our skin becomes especially susceptible to being sunburned and incurring other types of environmental damage.  Constant moisturization and protection is key to healing quickly. 

I did notice that many of the women in the office had suspiciously smooth skin, no doubt a product of the peels that they are so accustomed at performing in the office, so their skin was a great advertisement for the possiblities one might expect from getting a series of these peels. 

Everyone (I hope) at this point knows how important it is for people to wear sunscreen on their skin all year round, even in the winter when the sun’s rays can still bounce off the snow and burn our skin and start the cellular degeneration process known as aging.  But what about for your hair? 

Yes, the sun’s UVA/UVB rays can actually damage your hair also.  The sun can dry your hair out, give you some unwanted highlights, and especially if you color your hair, can alter the color of your hair with just one sun drenched day on the beach or elsewhere.  So what’s a girl with colored locks to do?

Well, buy yourself a good shampoo and conditioner made especially for colored hair.  One of the top retail brands of hair care for colored hair is L’Oreal, which makes Colorvive shampoos, conditioners, deep conditioners and leave in hair care products. They all contain UV filters that help preserve the integrity of your color by blocking these harmful rays from your hair’s cortex and keeping the color intact and more rich and intense for longer.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found that my hair has faded after just one day out in the sun, after an $80-$125 dye job.  Talk about a waste of money!  Also, look for leave in spray and hair styling products that contain UV filters to protect your hair from these damaging rays.  These are especially handy because you can spritz them in your hair if your going to be out in the sun for a long  time that day and you forgot to use your shampoo/conditioner that has the filters in it. 

Gisele Bundchen is a well known supermodel, and is perhaps most well known for strutting her enviably long legs and infamously toned body down the Victoria Secret catwalk and appearing in countless print ads and television commercials for the lingerie superstore.  Gisele lended her assets to the lingerie company for years, and became known as “the body” of Victoria’s secret, eclipsing the other models with her unique look. 

Some say Gisele is unconventionally beautiful, and I’d agree.  Face wise Gisele does not possess the typical qualities that we consider beautiful, and yet she has an undeniably “sexy” look.  Ask any guy, including my boyfriend! 

It was widely rumored that since Gisele began dating football star Tom Brady, she was becoming overwhelmed with her lack of a social time and time away from her new boyfriend due to the exhaustive hours and travelling she had to put in for being the spokesperson for Victoria’s Secret. 

The company’s CEO, Edward Razek (why is a lingerie giant headed by a man? don’t get it..) announced today that Gisele and Victoria’s Secret have indeed agreed to go their separate ways, apparently through the decision of the supermodel, but it is an amicable split, and the company thanked Gisele for her years of hard work and contributing to the world’s sexiest brand of lingerie.

He did mention that we will continue to see Gisele’s unmistakeable figure in ads and predominating the catwalk at VS’s shows for the remainder of this year, so this presumably means her contract still has some time left on it.  I just want to know one thing - how could she trade Leo DiCaprio for Tom Brady?  I’d take Leo any day!

Beauty sleep is not only a cliche phrase that makes us think of our mother’s and grandmother’s well-meant beauty advice, it’s actually a true fact that if we don’t get a lot of rest, we don’t look, well, so beautfiful! 

I know for me personally, I can tell the next day after I haven’t gotten enough rest, because my skin tends to have less healthy color to it, and I tend to get puffiness a lot around my eyes and even in my cheeks.  I also tend to break out more when I am not getting enough sleep, perhaps related to the stressors on my body and mind that result when my sleep has been compromised. 

So what can you do if for some reason you’re experiencing bouts of insomnia, or if you’re stressed out and feel anxious, and the sleep you’re getting is not of the highest, most quality caliber.  Some people just generally experience frequent of infrequent insomnia (I occasionally experience insomnia personally), and some people suffer from something call sleep apnea, which is a physical condition where one actually stops breathing momentarily during the night. 

Not only can this be disruptive to one’s REM sleep cycle, but it can also be life threatening in extreme cases.  In a sleep disorder center, they generally can run a sleep study on an individual who feels they may have some sort of sleeping abnormality, like sleep apnea, sleep walking or other conditions that interrupt their sleep cycles or which can physically affect them by affecting their quality of sleep or their sleeping cycles. 

Interruption of sleep cycles, or even a decrease in the quality of actual sleep you get per night can result in fatigue, lack of focus and concentration, general irritability, and more interestingly, lately there have been a lot of studies showing that lack of sleep, or sleep deprivation can actually depress the immune system and make you get sick more easily and more often. 

With today’s fast paced lives and nonstop mentality, it’s no wonder that sleep studies have garnered a lot of attention and demand from those who are looking for answers to their sleep disorders that are long lasting and will work.  

So, not only do sleep disorders like sleep apnea and insomnia interfere with our beauty and the continued youthfulness, tone and clarity of our skin, but they can have serious health implications if left unchecked and untreated!