Micro Needles : Do They Work?

Well, I’ve been suckered in to buying another skin beauty device that I’m hoping pays off in nicer, younger looking skin.  It’s the micro needle skin roller. I had never even heard of it before I happened across it online on Amazon, one of my favorite sites for beauty and everything else.

Have you ever heard of something that you never even thought of buying before because of the “other suggestions” that come up on Amazon? Well, it happens to have suckered me in several times on other things as well, including books, items for the house and cooking, and all kinds of other good stuff.

The micro needle roller that I bought has .5 mm tiny needles. You can go up to 1.5 mm but I figured I’d better start off short since I heard it can be kind of painful.  What is it you ask? You’re probably dying of curiosity by now as I was when I saw the name of the product.

It’s not a torture device if you thought that.  It’s a little roller that has teeny tiny needles on it that are so fine you are not supposed to feel them too much.  However, a lot of reviewers of the micro needle system say that they feel pain or discomfort.

For this reason, they offer a numbing cream that you can use with it. Well, it may not be offered by the same company, but it’s offered in conjunction with it.  The numbing cream helps you to use the micro needle system without as much discomfort.

Why needles? Well, they are supposed to put tiny piercings into the skin, allowing for your skincare creams, lotions and serums to penetrate much more deeply and get to work on the deeper layers of the skin.

So, if you are using wrinkle and fine lines cream, then you should get better results because the product is able to work on the deeper layers of the skin.  Or, if you are using sunspot fading creams, you should notice a significant difference in them because the piercings in the skin help the product to get down deeper and address the problems.

I ordered it yesterday so I should be getting it in the mail soon. I will be providing a review on the micro needle skin roller soon. Mine was just over twenty bucks.

Botox and Actresses : Where are the Expressions?

When it comes to Hollywood, it is increasingly a rarity to find an actress (or nowadays an actor) who hasn’t had some sort of procedure, process or plastic surgery to alter their looks or freeze time and prevent the signs of aging.

In fact, actresses are going under the Botox needle earlier and earlier since actresses are perceived to have such a  short “shelf life” in Hollywood. A sad fact, but these are the ridiculous pressures and double standards that these young women have to live up to. I’m sure it’s gotta be extremely depressing to live in such a an oppressive mini-society.

Botox, as you well know by now, is a botulism toxin that is inserted just below the skin, no deeper than the surface muscles, to help freeze muscle control and expressions to a degree so that you do not emote and show – God forbid – wrinkles. These wrinkles include crows feet (my favorite), laugh lines, forehead creases and more.

These wrinkles though, are signs that you have lived, loved and laughed, and they are also visual cues to show others how you are feeling. As Julia Roberts has said in her effort not to get Botox as she ages – she wants her kids to know when she’s happy or pissed!

What I have been noticing, both in television and movies, is that it seems an increasing amount of actresses are showing signs of frozen face. They cannot properly emote on screen due to Botox, and therefore, their acting takes a hit – it looks disingenuous and actually can really impact how their acting skills are perceived.

Actresses who want to be taken seriously should really lay off the Botox. Look at what happened to Nicole Kidman’s career after she started getting too much surgery and Botox – she’s no longer respected as the raw actress she used to be.

Of course there are others as well, but sometimes you can’t put your finger on it, they just don’t look like they are expressing themselves properly.  Remember, Botox comes with a price – you may not be able to express your personality as much!  But then again, you’ll be staving off those bothersome wrinkles.  I guess if you’re not an actress, it’s less of an issue ?

Young Women Getting Surgery/Botox Prematurely?

There was a great article that I recently read about how the age for “youth enhancing” types of procedures, surgery and things like Botox and peels is being pushed lower and lower. The incredible pressure that we feel as women to maintain a youthful, fresh appearance often weighs so heavily. 

I’ve found myself looking at my ever increasing wrinkles in the mirror, which I’ve largely been able to help reverse or at least keep at a standstill for a couple years by using the best anti aging and wrinkle products.  I often think about what they would look like if I had some radical procedure (NEVER would I get a facelift – EVER).

But of course my mind has gone the way of Botox. I’m still really leery of Botox though. I know that thousands of women and men get Botox every year without incident, and no side effects, it’s just that the long term safety of it is what scares me. I do think it’s a great way to freeze wrinkles where they are, but I have serious questions about the safety of injecting a toxin underneath the skin.

A toxin is a toxin.  Period.  And what kinds of other things are in the shot? No doubt preservatives and other delivery type of chemicals.  I just don’t know what all is being injected. Plus there have been studies that Botulism may migrate to the brain and stay there. What are the long term effects of getting this done a couple times a year, built up over the years?

We really don’t know yet. And Botox isn’t something that you just get done once and then you’re done. You don’t maintain your results if you don’t keep getting the injections 2-4 times per year.

The age for women who are getting Botox often now is starting in the twenties!  This is when your skin still looks its best naturally!  Yet some doctors are recommending it this young so that you can have a sort of “preventive” measure against wrinkles. 

In Hollywood, take the pressure that us normal women feel to look young and beautiful and multiply it by a hundred. Women in the entertainment industry are incredibly pressured to look young forever.  It’s unfair, but the media really crucifies women when they start to look old.

Fox News does a segment that’s particularly cruel where they compare two stars of the same age.  Obviously, one looks older and one looks younger. It’s this type of constant comparing that women need to get away from, and yet we’re faced with it, both self imposed and outside-imposed every day!

Natural Shampoos Get Your Hair Clean, Shiny

Shampoos that don’t contain SLS, or sodium lauryl sulfates (or any sulfates for that matter) have really skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years. This is in large part doe to the negative press that SLS has gotten. SLS is a known skin irritant. It dries the skin and hair, as well as the scalp.

It breaks downt he lipid layers (fatty protective layers) of the skin and hair. Sure, this allows for more conditioner to penetrate, but it also can cause unwanted splitting and fraying of the hair, creating a rough and frizzy look. 

Some are so used to the huge foaming capacity of SLS that they would never think a natural shampoo alternative could get their hair truly clean.  We’ve been conditioned to think that high lather equates to cleanliness, but in reality, it often equates to skin and hair damage as well as dryness.

I’ve tried a natural shampoo base that contains only a very mild lathering agent that is often used in childrens and baby shampoos. It also contained apple cider vinegar, which is a natural hair cleansing agent that helps to naturally cleanse the hair and remove old debris to create a smoother, shinier surface.

It worked nicely, however it took me a while to get it out of my head that it didn’t need to have the exact same lathering action that all those commercial brands I’d previously used had. It lathered, but it was a different kind of lather – sort of clumping all my hair together. It even had a somewhat odd aroma – not like the heavily perfumed ones I was used to.

However, what it did do that other shampoos did not was to provide my hair with cleansing, without stripping it of moisture. I also noticed that it stripped the dirt and oil out of my hair, but allowed my conditioner to penetrate much better – without drying it out.

My scalp also felt much healthier. It didn’t feel dry or anything after that, and it wasn’t itchy at all.  I noticed that my hair was shinier after I used it.  There are lots of natural shampoos out there, some use castille soap, and others use other mild surfactants that are of a much gentler nature than sodium lauryl sulfate.

Teen Woman Dies From Hair Color

Well, this is certainly tragic and very alarming for those of us that color our hair. I just read a story about how a teen woman in Scotland, who according to friends had dyed her hair many colors before, died shortly after applying a hair dye to her hair.

The seventeen year old girl had applied the hair color to her hair about twenty minutes before she started to get violently ill. She began apparently tugging at the hair foils (sounds like it may have been a highlighting hair dye kit) and saying “no, no”.

She got sick, and then her friends had to hold her down. She went limp. The emergency medical services were called and she was rushed to a hospital, but it was too late. She died and could not be saved.  It is unclear now whether the hair dye she used was tainted with something or whether she simply had a very violent allergic reaction to chemicals in the hair dye.

Currently, the death is listed as unexplained. I will follow up when I hear more on the outcome of the autopsy, which undoubtedly will be done.

Hair color is a big concern for me. I used so many different hairy dyes when I was younger. I’ve only recently switched to natural hair dyes without all of the toxic chemicals in them in the last two years. Not only is my hair healthier and I’m not breathing in the chemicals for days afterwards, but I don’t get the burning scalp feeling that you get with so many chemical hair colors.

Many, many ingredients in commercial hair dyes have been linked to cancer as well as neurological disorders and other health conditions. It’s just not worth it any more when you can get some great, natural alternatives today that do just as good a job of dying your hair.

It’s the dark hair dyes that have the most worrisome ingredients in them, and those are the ones you want to avoid most – although lighter colors also have harsh ingredients.  Listen to your body. Do your lungs and nose burn when you inhale the fumes?  Do you feel nauseous when you are around these chemicals?

If so, then your body is telling you these ingredients are toxic. This is a tragic story, absolutely tragic.

Get Fuller Hair with This Blow Drying Method

I recently went on a long overdue trip to the beauty salon to get my hair cut. It had been almost six months, and my hair was becoming a haven for split ends, and it just looked too long and straggly. In my misguided attempt to grow my hair out, I totally avoided the barber’s shears for too long.

Every time I go, they seem to take off just a little too much length for me. Even if I say half an inch, I end up coming out with at least two inches cut off the bottom. Not that it’s all that bad – of course it makes your hair look way healthier. However, it makes me leery of going because they just take too much off.

At any rate, this last trip I learned a valuable lesson about how to blow my hair dry and give it much more body and a prettier shape. It was some sort of method the stylist called over brushing or combing – something to that effect.

I’ve always had a hard time with getting more volume around the crown of my hair. I asked her how to remedy that. She said it’s really important to get a high quality large round brush.  This helps to lift the hair away from the root and create more body and volume – it also reduce blow drying time which makes it better for your hair since there is less heat contact.

She showed me how to take the round brush and dig it under the crown of the hair and the top of the head. She said to then take it over to the OPPOSITE side of where you normally part your hair.  This creates more volume and  more body because you are blowing it dry for a few seconds in the opposite direction of where the part will ultimately lie.

It really does work too. I had a nicely rounded crown, and it had noticeably more body than when I just blow dry everything in a straight forward way, straight down and out.  This way, I get the volume at the roots and it helps my hair look fuller throughout the whole day.

I also added a little Bumble and Bumble hair spray for a root boost – it’s a thickening hair spray, so it helps to naturally boost the roots and create the illusion of fuller, bouncier hair.

Dermatologist Shortage Continues

The shortage of dermatologists continues to be a problem in many areas of the United States. So, if you’re currently a pre-med student, maybe you have a new incentive to become a dermatologist or skin specialist!  You certainly would have your pick of clients right now.

I remember when I was younger (in my teens, yep a while ago), and had my pick of several dermatologists when I started having big issues with acne breakouts.  It was easy to call up and get an appointment. Granted, you may have a week’s wait, but you could usually get in fairly quickly.

Now, many patients are on months long waiting list just to get checked up for routine stuff. More concerning is that people with more serious issues such as suspicious spots on their skin that could be cancerous, may be having just as tough a time getting in for a look.

Apparently a lot of people are graduating with their dermatology degree and are moving away from places like the midwest and south in favor of moving to places like California, Oregon and the pacific northwest (which is desirable for a lot of people for a variety of reasons).

Unless you already have an established relationship with your dermatologist, you could find yourself having a hard time getting an appointment as a new patient these days.  If you have serious problems, you really may have to look around for a while or call your health insurance company to get some guidance on how to get in somewhere sooner.

You could also see if you can get a phone consultation, or you can go to a primary care doctor to have them take a look at the issue you are having with your skin. They can then refer you to a skin care specialist if needed, but sometimes they can take care of the problem without sending you to anyone. 

If it’s acne, remember you can find some of the best acne products at the drugstore.

Hydroquinone Skin Lightening Alternatives

Hydroquinone enjoyed quite a long reign as the skin lightening agent of choice in many different skincare products.  However, serious doubts about its safety began to come up after several years on the market. Especially for people who had used products with hydroquinone as the active ingredient repeatedly over the course of months or years.

It was actually linked to skin cancer.  The chemical itself contains carcinogenic compounds, but there is another carcinogenic aspect to using this ingredient on your skin. Apparently, the repeated use of hydroquinone actually increases the UV penetration when your skin is exposed to UV light.

This makes it more carcinogenic to get sun exposure on your skin where the hydroquinone is usually applied.  Adding that to the fact that it is already carcinogenic on its own, it makes it an absolute no-no ingredient that you should probably stay away from all together.

There are some alterntives to hydroquinone, however, they are not as capable at lightening the skin as hydroquinone is.  One of them is kojic acid. This is derived from a mushroom.  Becvause this is a totally natural alternative, there are no known health dangers associated with it at this time.

It is not as effective as hydroquinone, however, with repeate use, some do report that they have good results.  Another option is to use manual exfoliants on the face or other areas where you are trying to reduce the appearance of age spots, freckles and sun damage or melasma. 

Fruit acids may help to reduce hyperpigmentation as well.  Alpha hydroxy acid and other fruit derived acids, as well as acid peels using lactic acid or glycolic acid.  Glycolic acid is fantastic as an overall wrinkle reducing and age spot reducing agent when used regularly. It just needs to be used with much care and also you must avoid UV exposure for a few days after getting a peel.

Liposuction Good for Cholesterol Levels?

In a surprising outcome, tests done on liposuction patients – those that were average healthy weight as well as those who were heavier to begin with – actually showed a large drop in their trygliceride readings. This means they had great cholesterol readings.

When your cholesterol is high, you are at a much higher risk for things like stroke and heart attack, so having low cholesterol levels in your blood is really an excellent thing for your health.  When we are talking great numbers on patients who had lipo, we are talking HUGE numbers.

We are talking close to fifty percent drops, which is no small potatoes. Ok, so it’s in the low forties, but that is still amazing to me that a procedure that sucks the fat off your body can actually have that large of an impact – especially when liposuction is limited in how much fat it can take off of the human body.

It’s quite amazing, and no doubt will be yet another draw for women and men alike to go get the procedure done. Not only is it beneficial to your appearance, but it also may help your health. Now, there are still the downsides that there always were to this fairly serious cosmetic surgery.

You are put under completely for one. You also have to go through a sometimes painful and long recovery.  There are also the risks we talked about a while ago that have to do with the potential for the fat coming back in very odd places.

The fat does redistribute on the body, but many times patients have complained that now they have bigger arms if they got their belly done, or bigger thighs if they got their arms done and so on and so forther. The risks of the surgery itself are not anything to bat an eye at either. There are the inherent risks of anesthesia, which can be serious if one has an adverse side effect.  There are also always the risks of infection.

Warning : Stay Away from Botox Home Kits

There is an alarming trend that Doctors are warning women (and men) to stay away from. Apparently, Botox is now available in “Do it yourself” kits online, and women are flocking to these kits as a way to have Botox done without paying almost double the price in a professional’s office.

However, there are terrible things that can happen as a result of a non professional adminstering this product, and I’m kind of surprised that the FDA hasn’t stepped in and made this illegal to sell online.

You can scar yourself, temporarily or permanently paralyze unintended areas of the face or body, or even kill yourself if you do it wrong, so it’s important that a professional administer these types of treatments.  After all, it is a botulism bacteria that you are injecting, and it is deadly if it reaches the wrong areas of the body.

Botox is only meant to go just beneath the surface of the skin – it is not meant to penetrate any further past that. People who are not experienced may go too far in the muscle, or may inject it in to the wrong area.  Also, they may end up getting things like a droopy eye or mouth because they put the needle in too deep.

Of course, the kit comes with a do it yourself video to watch, but is a couple minutes watching a video really any substitute for years of experience. Heck, even Doctors and professionals with experience can screw up the procedure, as has been evidenced by complaints from some clients and notorious horror stories.

I’m all for doing anything you can at home that is safe, but injecting yourself with a needle of Botox seems a bit extreme.  I like doing my own facial peels, microdermabrasion and other self administered treatments at home, but none involve a needle and a highly dangerous strain of bacteria that when used wrong can have devastating consequences.

If you want Botox, I’d advise you to stick with the original plan and go to a doctor.  Then you are in capable, experienced hands.