By: Katharine Griffiths
Created on 23rd February 2011
Wouldn’t it be lovely to have perfect skin? In reality however, most of us are far removed from the dewy complexions of our dreams. We wanted to give you a comprehensive guide to dealing with the most common skin complaints, both in clinic and at home, so we’ve tracked down three leading lights from the aesthetics industry to help...
Dr Julia
Piper is a top
cosmetic doctor
and founder of
Private General
Practice
Services in Leicester (www.
privategpcosmetictreatments.com). Julia believes in dealing
with the issue of ageing both
through external treatments
and by looking at internal
factors such as nutrition.
Julia’s skills with injectables,
lasers and peels are well
known and the ladies of
Leicestershire attend her clinic
regularly.
Rachel Fox
qualified as
a nurse in
2002 and has
been working
in the field of
aesthetics for the past six
years. She currently works
at the High Wycombe and
Denham branches of The
Beauty Society (www.the
beautysociety.co.uk), a chain
of medical spas offering a
variety of aesthetic treatments.
Rachel is trained in all aspects
of injectables, skin
peels, laser treatments and
colonic irrigation.
Beverley
Powell is
a skincare
professional
and has worked
in the beauty
aesthetic industry for
over ten years. She is a
qualified beauty therapist,
aromatherapist and
reflexologist and has had her
own beauty business, as
well as working as a clinician
and aesthetician. Beverley
is now a consultant with
Skinbrands (www.skinbrands.co.uk), representing their cosmeceutical brands.
Skin Concern: Fine Lines
Dr Julia Piper
Concern Fine lines appear in the skin as the ageing process takes hold – the time that this first shows varies widely, with factors such as race, skin type, lifestyle and sun exposure affecting when we first look in the mirror and think “where did that line come from?”.
As we age we produce less collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid – the essential building blocks of youthful skin – and what we do produce is of a far poorer quality.
In short, as we lose volume in our skin, and lose the fat beneath it (yes, we do lose fat as we age!) our skin fails to cope, and, in a not dissimilar way to tired knicker elastic, we end up with lines and wrinkles.
In clinic There are many different treatments and skincare ingredients that will help the ageing process. The key is to find a balanced regime that will promote youthful skin – reducing wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, pore size and crucially producing a smoother and more refined skin.
Lasers, IPL and microdermabrasion can all remove the dead outer layers of the skin effectively to differing degrees, depending on the depth of the treatment and the desires of the client.
Toxins can prevent the muscles working in areas where, when they do work, they produce wrinkles – such as frown lines.
Fillers can replace lost volume; for example, nasolabials frequently form when the malar fat pad (apple of the cheek) breaks down, so replacing the lost fat with fillers such as Restylane Sub-Q or Radiesse is often far more effective and natural than ‘line chasing’ nasolabial shadows.
Chemical resurfacing removes the dead outer layers, brightening the skin, reducing the appearance of wrinkles, shrinking pore size and encouraging the natural elastin, collagen and hyaluronic acid to proliferate, restoring some of the lost dermal thickness which will in turn lead to further loss of lines and wrinkles.
At home There is a dizzying array of skincare available and you can spend anything from 99p to hundreds of pounds. Some products will instantly make your skin feel infinitely better; others take their time, may even cause initial flare ups of dryness, peeling, redness or increased spots but then offer enormous long-term clinical and cosmetic benefits.
Finding products that have the correct quantity of the best quality of the most clinically proven ingredients is tricky. Essential ingredients to look out for are hydroxyacids including alpha, beta, poly and bionic hydroxyacids and anti-oxidants such as vitamin A or chardonnay grape seed extract.
So, something like Exuviance Age Reverse would fit the bill perfectly – it is an advanced antiageing skincare line that is formulated to visibly reverse all the signs of ageing skin, including the look of deeper lines, sagging skin and discoloration, for skin that is undeniably younger.
Because no one ingredient can address all the needs of ageing skin, Exuviance Age Reverse contains multi-sourced, multi-tasking, high strength de-ageing formulas of active ingredients that work synergistically including: Patented NeoGlucosamine™; peptides and retinol; AHA and patented PHA Bionics and anti-oxidants including chardonnay grape seed extract and pomegranate.
The combination of all these ingredients helps to lift and firm sagging skin, even the appearance of skin discolouration, restore a smooth surface texture and prevent future ageing damage.
Skin Concern: Dry,
Dehydrated Skin
Beverley Powell
Concern Dry skin and dehydrated skin are two different skin conditions. Dry skin does not have the right amount of oil to keep it soft, smooth and supple, while dehydrated skin is skin which is lacking in hydration.
There are a number of causes of dehydrated skin, including deficient water intake, alcohol, smoking, certain medications, exposure to weather and ageing. Dry skin can also be genetic.
Both types of skin can be red, irritated, inflamed and itchy, and symptoms can include flaking, scaling and cracking of the skin.
In clinic I would recommend anyone with dry skin to try out the Hydrafacial treatment at their local cosmetic clinic. It’s the only procedure that integrates cleansing, exfoliation, extraction and hydration.
It’s painless and dramatically increases hydration and anti-oxidant levels after just one treatment. It also has significant other benefits.
The skin is first of all prepared using botanical extracts to gently exfoliate the skin and deliver those extracts deep into the skin. This dislodges dead skin cells and gets the skin ready for the next stage.
A beta hydroxy acid is then applied, which pushes out any impurities and also plumps up the skin to lessen wrinkles and deep lines.
Finally, a chemical peel containing glycolic and salicylic acid is delivered deep into the skin tissue, giving the effects of a more aggressive peel but without the redness and flaky skin associated with a chemical peel. It’s also good for sun damaged and tired looking skin.
The whole process takes about 30 minutes, leaving you well hydrated with your skin feeling soft. The treatment can be combined with red light treatment to stimulate collagen production and self healing. This is completely comfortable and produces immediate results.
Another clinic treatment that’s painless and is worth trying out is the Skinmedica Vitalize peel. It’s a peel that’s applied by your doctor. Approximately 48 hours later your skin will start to peel and this will continue for up to five days. This will help to get rid of all your dry skin and leave it feeling smoother.
At home My must have products for use at home are SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic and SkinCeuticals Retexturing Activator. You need to apply four to five drops of SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic to the skin each morning. It contains pure vitamin C and E and is a powerful anti-oxidant. Perfect for fine lines and wrinkles, you will see a huge improvement in texture and it will bring a radiance to the skin.
SkinCeuticals Retexturing Activator can be applied in the morning and at night. It improves hydration, exfoliates and makes your skin very smooth.
In the evening (twice a week), I would use the home-use Medik8 Dermaroller. This is a great home treatment which works by making pinprick holes in the skin. You then apply Medik8 Retinol 3TR serum followed by the Medik8 B5 Serum which helps improve the texture of the skin.
If your skin is very dry, AGE Interrupter from SkinCeuticals is a great cream moisturiser. It contains 30 per cent Proxylane which will increase moisture to the top layer of the skin. It feels like velvet on skin. And don’t forget to use an SPF for protection!
Skin Concern: Problem Skin
Dr Julia Piper
The concern
Dealing with acneic skin is not easy or straightforward. Frequently
skincare increases the greasiness of the skin making us think we are
moisturised, but it is actually decreasing the water content of our skin. So
in real terms skin is drier therefore we produce more oil and then are more prone to acne.
We need a skin with as much water in it as possible for a hydrated, youthful fullness in the dermis. Increasing the greasiness will not benefit an ageing skin, nor will it benefit acne.
We often forget that using an alkaline product on the face will also affect the natural acidity of the skin – acidity that is essential in protecting it from bacterial attack, particularly if you're prone to acne.
In clinic When treating acneic skin in clinic we need to be mindful to reduce sebum production and to increase hydration in the skin as well as to prevent further breakouts and reduce the impact of any pigmentation changes and scarring that so frequently remain once the acne has been successfully treated.
As well as the prescription treatments we offer as part of our general practice commitments, products such as polyhydroxyacids can be successfully used in combination with glycolic and salicylic acid peels to balance hydration and oil production.
A course of skin peels can be very effective at reducing breakouts and resurfacing to leave a smoother more refined skin. Combining ingredients allows us to tailor each peel to our patients specific needs, for example using a pre peel arbutin and kojic acid treatment to target post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, or mandelic acid to target excessive sebum production.
Chemical peels can mean anything from a superficial clean of the skin to a very deep peel removing many layers of skin and requiring weeks of ‘downtime’ – the sorts of peels we believe in are those that resurface the skin gently but definitely, allowing patients to go about their normal activities but also working at a deeper level.
This encourages new more youthful skin to grow ‘beneath the surface’ and shows increasing results over the subsequent months as well as delivering long-term skin health benefits.
At home Home care for problem and acneic skins involves balancing the needs of the skin for moisture with the need for reduced oiliness, providing antibacterial protection and also allowing topical prescribed treatments.
NeoStrata is a skincare line developed by dermatologists in the 1970s and constantly updated since then. Within the extensive range are products designed specifically for problem skins.
In fact one product is even called Problem Dry Skin Cream – this is a product that can be used for severely dry and damaged skin, even for psoriasis, but is also extremely good for breaking down calluses on the feet hence the nickname it has been given – ‘a pedicure in a jar’.
The Bionic range of NeoStrata products is based on a hydroxyacid called lactobionic acid that is extraordinarily safe and gentle, but also delivers effective anti-ageing and resurfacing benefits; these products have been successfully tested on patients with acne rosacea.
Products with this level of efficacy should be obtained through a clinic where you can get advice on your skin and on what products and treatments would best suit your unique needs.
Skin Concern: Hyperpigmentation
Rachel Fox
Concern Hyperpigmentation is characterised by patches of the skin which have become darker in colour than the surrounding area, due to an overproduction of melanin in the skin.
It is often caused by sun exposure or injury to the skin such as plucking of facial hair, acne, or fluctuations in female hormones caused by being pregnant or on the contraceptive pill.
It can also be caused by inappropriate use of skin lightening products, so sufferers should be wary of buying products on the internet or from non-reputable sources.
The sad thing is that often clients will have wasted a lot of time and money on different lotions and potions before they come to the clinic and speak to the person that they should have come to in the first place.
Research has shown that people with uneven pigmentation are often perceived as being older than their peers, so reducing pigmentation can also be an effective anti-ageing treatment.
In clinic There are several treatments available to treat hyperpigmentation in clinic and it is important to have a full consultation and to ensure that the practitioner you are speaking to is fully qualified before going ahead with any procedure.
There are really two treatments that I find to be the most effective and so would usually prescribe to clients. The first is Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatment, where areas of pigmentation are subjected to pulses of high energy light, which breaks down the pigmentation.
We also offer glotherapeutics skin peels, which range from a superficial peel to a medium depth peel, and which are very effective at treating hyperpigmentation.
A facial peel works by exfoliating the top layer of the skin, removing the pigment and exposing the fresher skin underneath, which is more even in tone. The number of treatments you will need depends on the individual case – the cause and extent of pigmentation, how long it’s been there and the intensity of treatment that the client chooses.
If s/he decides to go for a superficial peel, more treatments will be required, whereas a deeper peel might clear the problem in just a couple of treatments.
Whatever treatment you use on pigmented skin, a large part of the success will depend on the degree of commitment that the client has – if s/he is using home care products properly and coming back for regular treatments then the results will be better and will start to show sooner.
At home To complement the peels that we offer in clinic, we also sell the glotherapeutics Advanced range of home care products, which was launched last year.
This range contains a number of different products to deal with hyperpigmentation, but my personal favourite is the Triple Action Serum, which contains two per cent hydroquinone, one per cent retinol and one per cent glycolic acid – the three most effective ingredients to treat hyperpigmentation.
It is possible to treat mild hyperpigmentation with home care products alone if you are using a range that contains effective ingredients in the same amounts as the glotherapeutics products.
However, the best way to get a quick and effective result is to combine these products with peels in clinic. I would usually prescribe a skincare regime incorporating a glo cleanser, toner and the Triple Active Serum.
All these products contain glycolic acid, and this treats the pigmentation itself, but it also preps the skin for the peel, bringing it to a healthier condition before you actually come into the clinic, so you get a better response from the treatment.
Another really important thing to remember about home care when you’re undergoing any
treatment in clinic is to use an SPF of 30 or more every day to protect your skin.
