Skin Typing and Conditions

If you own a Volkswagen Jetta, you wouldn't follow the maintenance procedure of a Honda Accord. 

The same theory can be applied to skin care and if you were to have dry skin, you wouldn’t use a cleanser, moisturizer, and cosmetic products more suited to someone with oily, resistant skin. 

During my late adolescent years before I got familiar with skin type, I was bombarded with using products that was not compatible to my skin for two reasons. The first one being that since my skin was combination, (both dry and oily in certain places) I kept approaching it the wrong way. As I got obsessed with maintaining the oilier areas by using acne products, the dry areas got irritated by drying ingredients that it became dehydrated, flaky, and my cheeks were always inflamed with redness.This made me looked sunburned constantly. As I tried reversing the approach by using heavy cream and moisturizer to combat the dryness, my oilier areas became just plain greasy. 

I was really lost and felt I could not control my skin so I stop using skincare all together. Little did I know, by doing that, my skin just wrecked havoc. My T-zone areas became super oily with blackheads sprouting up to say hello while my dry red cheeks textured and felt sandpaperish  all over my entire face. 
Being still lost and confused, I covered it all up with makeup—which helped the aesthetic but I was still not happy with my skin. After I took off all the makeup the redness, and dry patches were still there. And the foundation compact I used added more oil which broke my T-zone area. 

The second reason was that I did not know the difference of skin type and condition. A persons’ skin type can be normal, dry, oily, or combination. Yet, a persons’ skin condition can be sensitive, problematic (acne), and dehydrated (lost of water vs. lack of oil in dry skin), or anti-aging etc. What makes skin type and skin condition different from each other is that while skin types are internally genetic determined and cannot be change, skin conditions both internal and external factors affects the skin may be change. Pigmentation and acne are both intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affects our skin can be improve most of the time by proper pharmaceutical product as well as medical medication to balance out hormones conditions.  

My young self got enlightened as I started working for a wonderful dermatologist and got a beginners' education on what's the difference between over-the-counter products (cosmetic) and pharmaceutical products (more on this later) and went on to Aesthetician school years after that and had a full understanding of how important skin types are. 

I started getting more and more interested about skin function and picked up books by MDs and got really into product selection. Paula Begoun was one of my favorite guru for reviewing OTC products. I learned what products to pick up for my skin type and my skin started to look better.

one way to test and see what type of skin you process is by washing your face with  lukewarm water and dry it while leaving it unmoisturize for one hour. After one hour, press a single piece tissue: one of the four head, one on the nose, one on each cheeks, and one on chin. Press down on each tissues like you plotting your skin with even pressure by the palm of your hands. Let it sit for a couple of seconds, and take the tissues off.

what you need:

thin white wrapping tissues cut up into five individual 3" by 3" pieces. 

Now that you have your tissues and the oil production, let's see what skin type match you best. 

  

List of skin type

Normal -if no oil appears on the tissue paper and your skin does not feel tight or look flaky
a normal skin type has good amount of oil/water balance. Although the skin can fluctuate and be a little more dry or oily, one production does not exceed the other. Pores on normal skin type are often consistent in size making the skin texture and complexion even. To promote balance, maintenance and preventive care is the goal for the skin type. To evenly maintain texture complexion, use skin care product that keeps skins’ sufficiently hydrated.  

Dry-if your skin feels dry, tight, itchy or flaky and no oil appear on the paper
Dry skin type does not have enough oil production and often feels dry, tight, or flaky. The hair follicles and skin pores are usually small with little to minimal oil secreting outward to the surface. Dry skin needs extra care and detail maintenance because it lacks the natural oil secretions that helps protect it from environmental damage and aging. Dry skin is more prone to premature aging (seeing wrinkles at 25 versus 35) due to the lack of lipids production and is often affiliated with dehydration--- a condition due to the lost of water. Drinking plenty of water does help hydrate the skin with moisture however using humectants can help minimize the negative effects of dryness.

Examples of Higher Grade Humectants

Hyaluronic acid from plants are capable of binding incredible amounts of water molecules to itself, due to its polymeric sugar structure.
 Sodium PCA : Attract and bind several times its own weight in water and is considered to be one of the primary moisturizers of skin cells.  
Panthenol is a very popular humectant for skin care products. It is a provitamin of B5 (pantothenic acid), and is present in many living cells.

Oily-if oil comes off of your nose, forehead and cheeks
oily skin type produces excess sebum/oil production. The hair follicles and skin pores size are larger and contains more oil. If you notice visible pores size bigger than the tip of a safety pin needle, chances are the skin is oily type. Oily skin type requires additional cleaning and exfoliation more than the other skin types. Although oily skin is prone to blemishes because of the pores constant clogged with oil and extra dead skin cells build up, it is not necessarily true that all oily skin have breakouts. Oily skin type can range from conditions dealing with internal and external causes.

“It is important to be mindful not to overly clean the skin making matters worse by stripping the skin and irritating it.” 

If skin is overly dry it is not balance in the body and our natural protection mechanism try to produce additional oil to compensate for the dryness on the surface. This is when the oily skin type looks and feels like worlds colliding, because on one end, your natural oil production generating as it should, while your protection mechanism triggers additional oil production causing a greasy mess.  

Combination-if there's oil on your nose and forehead, but not your cheeks
combination skin can be both oily and dry at the same time. While the other skin type tend to be evenly distributed oil/water throughout the skin, combination type are more fragmented distributing oily areas –like the T-zone (forehead , nose , chin ) and dry patches in others-- commonly the cheeks, but not always. With combination skin it seems logic to divide and conquer the areas by use products that are appropriate---but that would cost a lot in time and money. 

Instead, approaching it by treating and overcoming the dryness, however, not the same way you would with dry skin. 

The problem is, with dry skin it lacks lipids, which is oil, but combination skin already has oil production generating, so we don't want to over stimulate that part of the skin. In fact, gel based products like aloe vera for our face, or water binding humectants and emulsifiers is best when choosing skin products for combo skin. For makeup use, water- based products works best.

While a person skin can have one skin typing, it is not uncommon to have one to multiple skin condition. A person might have dry sensitive Sun damage and prone to wrinkles while another person might have oily sensitive Sun damage and wrinkle and both people may be related and still have a unique skin identity. Here is a list of some conditions.  


List of common skin condition

Dehydration: dehydration is the lack of moisture (water) within the skin caused by the environment, medication, topical agents, aging, or dehydrating drinks such as caffeine, or alcohol. Water intake is needed for healthy functioning of the body and skin cell. 

Sun damage: Sun caused damage to the epidermis and dermis, wrinkles, collagen and elastin breakdown, dark pigmentation or lack of pigmentation, and post-cancerous skin. 

Comedones: open, comedones are blackheads and clogged pores caused by the buildup of oil, and leftover dead skin cells stuck in the pocket of skin pores. Closed comedones are blackheads with a layer of thin skin covering the opening of the Pores. Closed comedones often create incubation for trapped dead skin cells and needs to be exfoliated and extracted. In acne grade I, comedones are not uncommon. T

Milia: Milias are whiteheads with oil and dead skin cell trapped beneath the surface of the skin (non within the pores). Milias are often found underneath the eyes and commonly found within the inner eyelids. They don't look like blackheads or pimples a rather small to medium bump underneath the skin. 

Adult acne: acne breakouts happen after puberty from hormonal changes or other internal or external causes. 

Enlarged pores: larger Porter two to access oil and extra dead skin cells trapped in hair follicles or expansion due to skins elasticity loss. 

Hyperkeratinization: excessive building up of extra left over dead skin cells. 

Keratosis:  a postcondition Hyperkeratinization that form a buildup of cells that creates rough bumpy textures on the skin. A common place for keratosis, is on the backside of the upper arm, and men's back. 

Couperous Skin: visible redness with capillaries. Dilated capillaries is a sign of weakening of the capillary walls ( blood vessel) due to internal or external causes. A common external cause of couperous skin is using harsh detergent cleansers. 

Sensitivities: skin reactions from internal and external causes. 

Wrinkles/aging: loss of collagen deprived depth within the dermis causes lines on the surface of the skin. Can be internally or externally caused.

Hyperpigmentation: Brown, dark discolorations from melanin production due to the oveexposure of Sun or irritation or hormonal causes. Common Hyperpigmentation's are freckles, dark birthmarks, or pregnancy marking. 

Hypopigmentation: white, colorless area from the lack of melanin production due to overexposure of Sun. 

Rosacea: chronic redness, raise blemishes or infected lesions with white or yellow fluids within trapped skin pores or hair follicles. 

Papules: raised lesions or blemishes. Papules are often confused with pimples because they look like them, however, underneath a papules, there is no fluid, and is often resemble of skin hives or irritation. 

Pustules: An infected papules with fluid inside trapped skin pores or hair follicles. 


When approaching skin conditions, be mindful of maintaining the skin type first. Pick a skin system like cleansers, toner(optional), basic moisturizers and sunscreens matching skin type. 

As for “treatment” type skin routines, pick out serums, special exfoliations and moisturizer to customize the needs of satisfying the condition. 


For example, someone with dry skin would benefit a creamy (milky) cleanser that contains emollients like lanolin. Lanolin is a wool fat, and a natural emulsifier that absorbs and holds water to the skin and contains 20 to 30% water. By using a creamy cleanser in the morning and saving a foamy cleansers for nighttime, it will conditions your skin, along with your morning moisturizer to the environment you can be exposed to (sun, wind, heat etc.) that can dry out the skin.

At night time, a foamy cleanser will exfoliate impurities that might have collected during the day. Cleanser that contains ingredients such as cocoamide (DEA, MEA) that derived from coconut oil will helps cleansers foam up, yet locks moisture to the skin. Also, try using a little coconut oil and massage the skin couple times a week to introduce the fatty oil which helps condition and restore your acid mantle (read “It’s a party and all the rubber bands are invite”).

As for moisturizer and SPF, pick up a product that doesn't contain any alcohol, but is formulated good humectants like glycerin, hyaluronic acid, or dimethicone. These ingredients slow down moisture loss during the day preventing further dehydration. Most over-the-counter products will carry these ingredients.

If you want a natural route, look for moisturizer that contains ingredients like pure lavender oil ( calms sensitive skin) licorice root extract, or olive oil. One of my personal favorite is Yon Ka Creme 28. It has tons of natural oils to moisture the skin, yet doesn't leave a sticky or greasy feeling after applying.

For foundation, use a cream based like Eve Pearls HD Foundations. The oil in the cream type makeups will help with dryness.   

I hope this has brought awareness to the skin typing and condition and if you have any comments or questions feel free to e-mail! 

Glo Minerals Makeup Review Series: Lipsticks

"Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick and pull yourself together." -Elizabeth Taylor

When I was younger watching my mother getting ready and putting on her makeup I remembered her mentioned "never leave the house without shade of lipstick on". By the time I turned 19, what made me notion more into her philosophy behind lipstick values was when I visited my aunt (my mother's older sister) in Vietnam. While my mother and I was on the airplane heading to Vietnam, she took advantage of the duty-free Dior set of pastel pink lipsticks. My mother noticed a color she liked and a shade my aunt preferred. So she got the set of 5 Dior lipstick, kept one, gave one to my aunt, and the others to my cousins. 

While staying at my aunts' house, she too had mentioned she never left home without wearing her favorite shade of pastel pink lipstick. I mean, given that my aunt was probably going on 50 during that time, didn't bother wearing foundation and couldn't care less about applying mascara or even eyeshadow for that matter but her lipstick was that important to her that she wouldn't stepped out of her own house without considering it.

What made me felt less empathetic towards my mother and aunt during that time about wearing lipsticks was that I grew up during the 90s and consider myself a minimalist at heart and when it came to makeup I fashion a natural looking appearance. However, when given the opportunity to get dolled up for events, special occasions or dinners, I do apply lipstick along with the usual foundation and blush, concealer and eyeshadow, mascara and etc. to have a complete photo ready appearance--but going grocery shopping or hopping from one class to another at University, I didn't consider wearing lipstick. I guess at the time I didn't put too much thought into my mothers' statement however as I grew older, I found her philosophy to be true.

My mother and aunt both didn't shed their wisdom on vanity but more socializing my young self into considering that before presenting yourself to the world, do consider presenting yourselves' best. And I agree to this. Even as a minimalist, before leaving the comfort of my home I make sure to complete my morning hygiene routines and brush my hair, iron the clothes I'm going to wear and make sure nothing is standing out that's absurd the world ( like a nip slip). I find it's true that first impression counts and heard that when you meet somebody for the first time you have about 30 seconds to persuade their judgment based on your nonverbal communication--- which is, appearances.  

The both women I knew grew up during the 60s and even though the Vietnam War was present in their everyday life, in practice, they were the product of a generation with flower power and hip swinging groovy style of pastels palettes. Their belief and valued that by leaving the house without lipstick can generate a feeling of social faux pas because you didn't take a minute or two to care about what you look like as you present yourself to the world. A feeling of nakedness if you want to put that way.

Fast forward to 2012 today (even though I owned over 50 shades of lipsticks) on a good day, I currently only wear one shade which is my favorite from Glo mineral makeup called Rose Petal. Even with the shade of lipstick on, it's the same color as my lips. So why even wear lipstick.. what's the point, you might ask..

Somewhere between the fine lines of my mother and aunts' wisdoms, I have fallen into their subliminal influences.

The more more I think about it, even when I casualty get dolled up to meet my girlfriends for a coffee break, or meeting my crush up for a late lunch, even if I'm just wearing  foundation and mascara I still apply a shade of lipstick. Or when I have a really bad day and I feel my appearance is not so great, I put on shade of lipstick, thinking if I can fake the world into thinking I look fine, and calm (even if I only got an hour of sleep last night staying up studying for exams) everything will be okay--somewhat.

To get really philosophical about the matter, I guess you can say lipsticks can be viewed as a shield of armor---for some of us gals, or guys (non discrimination zone here). so the next time, you having a bad day, just remember, apply your favorite shade of lipstick, keep calm, and carry on..... No one will know you are stressed out ( hopefully) :) 


With that being said, I shared to you my collection of glow mineral lipsticks. I have countless other brands of lipsticks, however, glow mineral has been one of my favorite line within the past years. Their lipsticks, not only is it highly pigmented, but it stays on the skin so well  that it can also be used as blush or lip stained.

No more will I be ashamed of having this much lipsticks. I hope you enjoy :p

Glo Mineral Shades of Pinks

Colors from L to R: Fuji, Raspberry, Tulip, Bora Bora, Tahiti, and Pink Sugar

Shades of Corals

 

Colors from L to R: Siren, Aruba, and Coral

 

Shades of  Nudes

I noticed from the nudes, the most popular shades are Blush, Natural and Bella, 

what do you think?

 Colors from L to R: Willow, Cashmere, Blush, Natural, Bella and Rose Petal (my favorite shade)

Shades of Reds

 

Colors from L to R: Bordeaux, Cabaret, Jamaica, Bali, Vixen, Snap Dragon and Aubergine  

I love Vixen and mixing Bordeaux with a nude has a beautiful result. 

Shades of Taupe

Colors from L to R: Spiced Rum, Toffee, Capri, Sugar Plum, Nutmeg, and Seychelles

Here's what my arms looks like after washing it off with dial soap. the lipsticks has long wear staying power. Plus, it has Vitamin A, E and green tea in the formula to moisturize, which was what drew me to this brand.

Do you have a favorite shade of lipsticks you can't live without? Share under Comments :)

Metallic Shadows

 Took a break from reading up on skincare to do makeup. 

I got influence by seeing trends of metallic madness of runway designers coming out with gold and sliver looks for Fall 2012. I could not help but to try a metallic look and who else is better to paint on than yours truly.   

Trend watch for Fall 2012

 

Here's yours truly with nothing but moisturizer on skin..and a smile too, of course 

  

Took both without (Top) and with (bottom) flash to see how the colors stood out in different lights. 

 I skipped primer on this look because my Yon Ka Creme 28 moisturizer acted like a primer on my dry/combo skin. 

For foundation I used Urban DecayNaked Skin in 3.5 (it has more yellow undertone, but great for anyone fair to light tan). I have to said that I am loving my UD Naked skin foundation. It feels light on the skin and covers well for my pigmentation.

 

 

As for my eyebrows, I started using Anastasia Brow Wiz: Brunette more than my other brow pens and I am loving how it looks!

For the eyeshadow, I used Naked 2 P: blackout, Busted, Chopper, Half  Baked and foxy for Higlight. The inter lid: NYX roll on shimmer.

For my lips: I lined with Too Faced Perfect Lips in color Perfect Nude (I know...so much perfect thrown around) and tapped Glo Minerals Lipstick: Bordeaux on the center of my lips and blend blend it all in.  

 

(Can not do all these pictures without smiling in one too....of course) 

Comment and show me your versions of this falls' trends whether its makeup or fashion or etc. lets celebrate the creativity!

It's a party and all of the rubber bands are invited: what is skin, how does skin function and why is it valuable to know that it’s aging?

Skin, the integumentary system, is the largest organ in the body. Although from time to time, taking proper care of skin gets devalued when socially compared to internal organs, but, our skin plays an important part of our everyday life. Our skin was designed to be strong, and provides a waterproof barrier to protect us from the environment around us. It also shells our inner organs from falling out! The skin layers, nerves, and glands, hair follicles and cellular functions all working together regulating and shelter our body. Skin type and conditions may vary amongst individuals, however ideal healthy skin is moist, soft, smooth, and has an acidic ph balance (more on PH later). Skin texture also varies from one area of the body to the next. For example our skin is thicker on the palms of her hands and soles of feet and is thinnest around the eyelids. 

To put it to plain view, each inch of skin contains approximately:

Millions of cells, 15 feet of blood vessels, 12 feet of nerves, 650 sweat glands, 100 oil glands, 65 hairs, and 1,300 nerve endings. 

So how do we take care of our skin? The basic skin care routines are cleaning, moisturizing and protecting it from UV rays by using a SPF. And that routine change over time as our skin ages. 

To truly understand the importance of promoting skin anti-aging, let's explore the skin function a bit more closely.

Let's Have a Party-- the Introverts, the Host, and the Extroverts

The layers of skin—the party

The layers of skin are compressed by three parts, the reticular layer of dermis (fatty tissue layer), the dermis, and the epidermis. Together the dermis and epidermis add up seven layers of skin -- two being in the dermis and five being in the epidermis.

The Introverts

Let's start at the bottom with the reticular (subcutaneous) layer of the dermis. This layer is the deepest in distance when measured from the surface. 

Let's imagine there’s a party going on and there are three types of groups attending the party. The reticular layer of the dermis would be the introverts. Now, don’t get me wrong, at this layer of skin, it is very much active and vital in contributing to the skin (the party) but ---not too much action is happening and some just minding their own thing. This layer helps the top dermis by providing cushion and insulates the epidermis. 

Adipose (fatty) tissues clusters in grape like formation giving the skin its cushion, contour and smoothness to the body. Sweat glands are formed and you can see the root of hair follicles and artery veins pumping red and white blood cells at this layer.

The Host with the Most Rubber Bands

As we rise north away from the fatty layer, the dermis awaits us with supplies of FOOD. 

Within the dermis, you can find more active tissues that are surrounded by sebaceous glands (which produces oil), and more live connective tissues containing blood and lymph vessels. This layer is important to your skin because it supplies nourishment (like a good host providing food at a party---sometimes, but I’m more BYOB kinda gal). As vessels pumps blood, it deliver nutrients within the plasma like oxygen and moisture to the surface of our skin. Also within this layer we find Sudoriferous (sweat) glands continuing upwards, nerves, and arrector pili muscles.

What’s important about the dermis layer is that protein fibers production like collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid gives the skin its strength, structure and elasticity. During our late 20’s we can see this layer beginning to slow down the elasticity production resulting in the droopy appearance or sagging skin and the cause of our skin sinking inward during our senior years. 

Think of the protein fibers as a rubber band, and throughout time if the skin did not have anti-aging influences, the area that had more muscle movements like frown and laugh lines as well as our eye areas starts to loses support in depth causing the appearances of wrinkles. 

Collagen is mostly important by providing plumpness and thickness to the skin’s structure. Collagen makes up 70% of the dermis and is produced by a cell called fibroblasts. Hyaluronic acid plays a key part to collagen because it lubricates fibroblasts and stimulates the creation of tubulin which assists cells through the cell cycle. This is why hyaluronic acid cosmetic products are often associated with collagen production and hydration. 

Although having collagen alone sounds just about enough to give the skin its function however just like yin and yang, healthy skin needs both collagen and elastin. 

Let's go back to our rubber band example. Here you have a nice rubber band with thick band, however you need it to move, stretch to expand and retract. Like the rubber band our skin needs mobility to move, stretch, expand and retract along with our muscles --so the next time you pull on your skin, it should bounce back. Skin elastic tissue fibers are lost more quickly when left unprotected and overexposed to the sun. (People in your late 20s and older, that drives a around a lot or works near a sunny window, have you ever notice your driving side of your face sagging a little more compared to the other side?)

 

Sunscreen or other products with anti-oxidant ingredients delay elastin tissue fibers from breaking down. This is one reason why some older tanned skin feels leathery or loosens—it’s due to overexpose of the UV rays. Smoking is another example of speeding up the skin’s aging. Smoking causes tissue around the mouth to breakdown and wrinkle more than non-smokers. Pucker up! I have my favorite shade of lip-gloss on—it’s called, My Lips is Gone with the Wrinkles.  

So bottom line: collagen= skin structure. Hyaluronic acid = collagen lubrication. Elastin tissue fiber=skin flexibility

The Extroverts

Let's check back at our party. Our introverts providing structural support to the party. Without the introverts, the party would just be unsophisticated... No backbone if you want to put it that way. The introverts add depth to the party by providing interaction that's important in support the structure of the party. Our host is busy away providing everybody with food and making sure they are well taking care and entertained. Then… Suddenly, our extroverts arrive.

The extroverts are considered the life of the party and are not afraid to really put themselves out there for the world to view (Just like our most outer skin layer, the epidermis). Let's say there are five members of this extroverts grouping.

Let's imagine this group of extroverts is the social butterflies within our party. They know everyone from each introverts and the host are vital to the existent because these extroverts depend on the other groups’ attention to survive.

Traveling pass the dermis we find our skin’s most outer layer, the epidermis, let's start at the top with Stratum corneum--our outermost layer of the epidermis. This layer main function is to help our skin hold in moisture and oil. If looked at under a microscope, this tissue paper thin layer contains scale-like cells made primarily of soft keratin called keratinocytes. Keratin is a fiber protein that provides resiliency and protection to the skin and an example of hard keratin is the protein found in our hair and nails. Although the keratin protected our skin, it is considered dead skin cells that are flatten and die as it gets punished or sloughed off continuously by new fresh skin cells rising towards the surface. This is called cell turnover. 

Ideally, in a younger person, skin turnover occurs about every 20 to 30 days, however, by the time our skin is in our late 60s the process takes about 45 to 50 days which is one of the main reasons our skin loses the freshness or youthful glow as we age. 

In the effort of making the subject fun, if the Stratum corneum took on an actual social butterfly persona, this layer would be like Regina George from the movie Mean Girl. This layer is really out there for the world to see and whether if it's behaving badly or good, it receives attention no matter what.

South of the stratum corneum, we find stratum lucidum, stratum granulosum, and stratum sprinosum. These groups of epidermis layers are important in that they support the stratum corneum layer but not much depth is significant amongst them.      

The stratum lucidum is a translucent layer only found on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet providing a barrier, while the stratum sprinosum assist in holding the cells together and stratum granulosum composed cells that resemble granules which are filled with Keratin produced intracellular lipids. These composed cells will eventually move to the surface replacing the cells shed from stratum corneum. --- Just like Gretchen, Karen and Regina George. 

Lastly, closest to our dermis, we find our stratum germinativum or also know as the basal layer of the dermis. In this layer of skin we see cell division called mitosis occuring constantly. New cells are produced, generated, and multiply to create the structure of our skin. As these fresh cells migrate towards the surface, it becomes strong and protective. 

This layer of the epidermis also contains cells called melanocytes. Melanocytes have a unique responsibility in determining a person’s skin color by producing melanin. Whether a person is born in Africa or Sweden, both individuals have the same amount of melanocytes. What is different is the amount of melanin the melanocytes produces. In theory, if our skin is exposed to harsher sunny environment our melanocytes would generate more melanin to umbrella the over exposed damage skin. However, this process takes years for the melanocytes to produce melanin, and for the melanin cells to reach the surface. 

This is where I find the biology of skin so interesting. Regardless of our ethnic in heritage, our skin just knows what it needs to protect us from our environment. For example, if your ancestors were born in Africa where the sun exposure is warmer, over the expansions of millions of years our skin genotyping just recognize that in order to survive within the environment the melanocytes in the skin would have to generate more melanin to act as an umbrella thus providing sun protection. This theory also apply for someone who ancestors thrived in an environment that lacked sun and the skins’ melanocytes did not get triggered as much when compared to its continental neighbors.

With the years of practicing skin therapy, one important fact that I stress with my clients is that, once the melanocytes are triggered in producing melanin, it's virtually impossible to stop the process. The process is our body natural way of protecting our skin from the exposed harsh UV rays environment. the dark pigmentation spots we see on our skin is our body saying, hey, this area of skin cells got too much sun, so I am sending melanin up to the surface to protect it from the UV rays. (Another type of dark pigmentation comes from hormonal triggering during pregnancy, but more on hormonal changes later.)   

To fade out freckles, unwanted pigmentation, products like potent antioxidants can be used to soften and lighten the already produced melanin and chemical peels are affected, however, the melanocytes will keep generating even if the lighting product is stopped.

Popular skin lighting peels are successful in lightning of the skin because of this fast results however, one treatment does not devoid the core problem and the peels needs to be done again over time. 

If its a fast results you want then chemicals peels like the Vi peel is a way to go, but keep in mind that it might be an annual peel you do. Or an antioxidant serum that you use everyday in your skincare routines. Or both. The key is staying committed to the method you wish to get out of the treatments.

When talking about skin care products that influence anti-aging, it's important to have ingredients that are potent enough to deliver to this layer of skin. When a good product is applied to the surface of the skin and its molecule gets delivered down to this layer, it influence in the creation of new cells. As the process of mitosis happens and anti-aging ingredients like antioxidant is applied, it influences mitosis to create healthy skin cells by replacing cells that are missing an electron that was taking by a free radical.   

Everyone's' skin type and conditions are uniquely different and by understanding our skin structure and that one product does not necessarily apply to all yet knowing skin functions is important in making a decision on what products our skin need. Keeping that in mind, this has been a basic look at skin functionality. If you have any questions please feel free to comment or e-mail.