What do you see when you look in the mirror?

 As we enter our forties, fifties, and beyond remember it's not about looking younger it's about looking as good as you can at your age.  I watched Oprah yesterday and on the program were four supermodels of  past decades. Without naming them I will say that they all looked pretty amazing. Their skin was bright and healthy, with tiny lines around their eyes and mouth. Not all the signs of aging were erased. One had a slightly less natural look which is probably the result of too many fillers. I want to help you find ways to improve your looks without changing your face and what makes you who you are.
 I truly believe that a beautiful face starts with beautiful skin. Remember baby oil and iodine? Baby Boomer's really weren't educated on the damages effects of the sun. Beauty was suntanned skin. Genetics play a big part in how well we age as well as our life style like our diet, smoking, stress, sleep habits and bottom line is some of it is just out of our control. As we age our skins metabolism slows down and we deal with changing hormone levels. Whew....no wonder we can't keep up!
There's nothing more beautiful than skin that has a natural healthy glow. I want to take you through some nonsurgical options as the number of treatments can be overwhelming. The following is a list of some options and treatments that a good dermatologist and or esthetician can do for you. In order to keep your attention and give you a chance to process I'll list them and give more detail on each as I blog.
 Lets' start with the benefits to having a spa facial. followed by other skin savers like retinoids, growth factors, chemical peels, laser skin rejuvenation, injections with botox and fillers, ablative laser resurfacing for brown spots. And the makeup face lift!
Spa Facials with your esthetician: I get asked a lot, how often  should I have a facial? You could have a facial once a month if your budget allows. Ideally, once a quarter with the change of season will benefit your skin. Facials are the perfect combination of results and incredible relaxation. One of the main focuses of facials is to exfoliate and clean out the pores. This is important because the pores are the largest pathway for penetration of active ingredients from our skin care products and oxygen into the skin. When pores are cleared you have less likelihood of breakouts as bacteria cannot flourish in the presence of oxygen. Exfoliation can be done by your estheticain by using fruit enzymes, peels, and microdermabrasion. They all take off the dead layer of skin revealing fresher smoother skin. Massage will stimulate lymphatic drainage ridding the skin of toxins. Toxins rob the cells of the ability to regenerate. { this is also why we choose products with antioxidants} Because of physiological changes, sun, and smoking our capillary walls become less permeable {meaning less blood flow to the skin tissue cells} massage and oxygen unblock those capillaries making them better able to deliver nutrients to our skins cells. Finally one of things I like to tell my clients is that establishing a  relationship with your esthetician gives you that go to person with questions about changes in your skin and any other concerns as they arise. She will know your skin as well as you do if you maintain that relationship.
Be gentle with your skin, more isn't always better.
Be happy in your skin,
Donna