Why Winter Hydration is Important

Feel that chill in the air? Winter is well on its way. And while many of us look forward to sweater weather with relish, you wouldn’t know it by looking at our skin. Between the icy outdoor air and the desiccating indoor heat, it’s no surprise that the biggest beauty gripe of the season is dry skin. However, what most see as a minor inconvenience could hold serious consequences for your complexion years down the road. In the fight against premature aging, winter hydration is just as important as summer sun protection.

While the cold alone isn’t enough to signal a four-star beauty alarm, the drop in humidity compounded with around-the-clock heating are solid clues that its time to step up your skin care regimen. To keep your home cool in the summer and toasty in the winter, your air conditioner dehumidifies the air to control the climate. While this saves you from constantly bundling up when it’s cold outside, it also throws your skin into a state of panic.

Like a sponge, your skin absorbs moisture from the environment to keep its cells healthy and functioning. It also creates a lipid (fatty) barrier to maintain optimal moisture levels even when the humidity fluctuates, like during the winter. Between this lipid barrier and sebum—natural oils secreted by the sebaceous glands—the skin helps combat trans-epidermal water loss, or TEWL. If these natural defenses are compromised, the skin’s cells can quickly lose vital moisture, dry out and die. Over time, dead cells can build up, creating a dull appearance and blocking topical ingredients from reaching the healthy cells below.

What threatens the skin’s natural defenses? Anything that strips its lipid and sebum barrier leaves skin vulnerable to dehydration. Talc-based cosmetics, common cleanser detergents like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and topical irritants, like alcohol and benzoyl peroxide, that can cause inflammation all pose a threat to skin’s delicate moisture balance. Chronic barrier abuse can lead to cracked, broken skin, contributing to signs of premature aging. With skin immunity and repair function in jeopardy, lines and wrinkles can easily follow.

Fortunately, you can prevent the type of winter damage that can lead to premature aging with topical ingredients that work with the skin’s barrier to minimize moisture loss. In addition to natural emollients like shea butter, moisture-enhancing ingredients like jojoba oil, liquid crystals and heavy water can work wonders on both seasonal and persistent dry skin.

Jojoba oil comes from the jojoba shrub, found throughout the southwestern United States and Mexico. Jojoba oil acts similarly to human sebum, conditioning the skin and helping to trap in moisture. Combined with other key moisturizers in a formula like CosMedix’s Hydrate+, this highly prized emollient encourages healthy hydration, especially in skin stripped of its own natural oils.

While jojoba oil helps hydrate skin by locking moisture inside, liquid crystals, like those found in Emulsion, help support the natural liquid crystal matrix of dermal tissue and cell membranes. Existing in a state between liquid and solid, liquid crystals help enhance the absorption of topical hydrators that might otherwise remain on the skin’s surface. Because all cellular components in the body exist in a liquid crystal state, liquid crystal skin care products communicate with the skin’s cells to help correct concerns like moisture loss.

One ingredient you’re not likely to hear a lot about is heavy water. However, with a list of benefits that includes ionizing radiation, boosting immunity and fighting acne bacteria, this little known substance is a skin care powerhouse. Heavy water, or deuterium oxide, is water enriched with deuterium, a hydrogen isotope found naturally in the ocean. Denser than water (hence the name), it’s more resistant to evaporation, making products rich in this moisture-binding ingredient, like Mystic, dry skin must haves.

By targeting moisture loss from outside and within, multi-active hydrating products like those in CosMedix’s chirally correct skin care line can help eliminate winter dryness and prevent the aging effects that build with time. Used in conjunction with a skin care regimen customized to your skin’s needs, corrective hydrators can help you give dry skin the cold shoulder this season and every season.

Cosmedix Facials and Products are available at Suede Salon Spa and Body.  Call today to schedule your Complimentary Skin Consultation.  856-985-0700

Peels with the Power to Change the Skin and the Results to Prove It

The Proof is in the Peel

Few cosmetic treatments can change the skin’s appearance more dramatically than a professional facial peel. From correcting troublesome conditions, like acne or hyperpigmentation, to simply giving the skin a rejuvenating “lift,” peels exist for a variety of purposes. However, navigating the bloated peel market all alone–and the claims that each product makes–can be a daunting task. If you’re considering a facial peel, the myriad choices available can seem overwhelming without a solid benchmark for comparison. And for most people, that benchmark is the proof that a product performs as promised.

For Suede Salon, Spa and Body's , proof is easy to come by. Suede's Estheticians are known for their ability to create  a healthy complexion without irritation, Suede only uses peels that back up their product claims with hard evidence for years. And with a proven collection of non-wounding peels for all skin types, you won’t have to scour the earth to find the right treatment for your unique concerns.

For those looking to correct superficial flaws and revitalize the skin, Today’s Peels offer a gentle, no-downtime alternative to harsh chemical peels. Instead of forcing the skin to repair itself with damaging chemicals, Our peels work with the skin’s own chemistry to encourage healthy exfoliation and renewal. Using chirally correct ingredients–ingredients purified at the molecular level for maximum potency with minimal irritation risk–Today’s Peels require no prior preparation, yet are powerful enough to dramatically diminish the appearance of fine lines, dark spots, oily and acne-prone skin.

Blueberry Smoothie $75
Combining antioxidant blueberry extract with stimulating L-lactic acid and blue corn meal, Blueberry Smoothie is a powerful yet gentle exfoliating peel and scrub. An exceptional blemish treatment, this light peel effectively corrects an assortment of superficial skin concerns, from sun damage to multiple degrees of discoloration. So impressive are its results that Blueberry Smoothie is among Suede's top-selling treatments.

Pomegranate Peel $75
Designed to even out the top layers of the skin, Pomegranate Peel infuses the skin with powerful antioxidants while stimulating collagen to smooth over rough skin and correct uneven texture and tone. Combining 15 percent L-lactic acid–a chirally correct alpha hydroxyl acid derived from milk–with some of nature’s most effective free radical fighters, including red wine resveratrol, pomegranate seed oil and astaxanthin–a marine carotenoid 500 times more potent than vitamin E–Pomegranate Peel is remarkably gentle catalyst for change.

Benefit Peel  $100
Benefit Peel truly is a peel for all skin types. Utilizing encapsulated retinol, this stimulating antioxidant peel is especially effective at neutralizing hyperpigmented, problem and prematurely aged skin types. In fact, in recent clinical testing, 91 percent of Benefit Peel recipients reported brighter skin, more uniform tone and less apparent wrinkles in just six weeks.

Purity Peel  $125
A unique blend of five chirally correct acids, Purity Peel is the answer to oily and acne-prone skin. Made with 10 percent encapsulated retinol and over four percent salicylic acid and L-TCA complex, this maximum strength clarifying peel effectively exfoliates problem skin, unclogs pores and eliminates toxins and impurities with amazing results. In clinical testing, over 95 percent reported clearer skin and fewer and less severe breakouts in just four weeks.

Call today for your Complimentary Skin Consultation and learn what peel is best for your skin type.  856-985-0700.

8 Skincare Words You Hear But Might Not Know What They Mean

If you’ve ever picked up a skincare product and felt a little stumped, you are not alone. Even the biggest beauty fanatics can have a hard time keeping up with the evolving dermatology-speak popping up on products left and right. To help us wade through the diction and learn why these key words matter to us, we reached out to Dr. Mona Gohara,Assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Yale and co‐founder of k&j sunprotective clothing.

AHA/BHA: Two types of acids that are very useful in the fight against acne, exfoliation, anti-aging, and overall skin maintenance.

Antioxidant: The antidote against free radicals, antioxidants protect cells from damage that causes aging and even cancer. They can come in the form of synthetic chemicals, vitamins, or foods. Some antioxidant-packed foods include kiwis, mulberries, blueberries blackberries, prunes, pomegranate, pink grapefruit, red grapes, kale, spinach, brussel sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli, beets and red bell pepper.

Barrier Function: The skin's barrier (the epidermis) is the outermost layer. Its main function is to keep water in, so that the skin is well hydrated and moisturized.

Collagen: One of the most important structural proteins in the skin, it keeps us wrinkle free, and youthful.

Elastin: Collagen’s BFF, these two work together to keep the spring in skin's step. Without elastin, sag would be a permanent status.

Enzyme: Proteins that speed up a chemical reaction without being consumed in the chemical reaction. For skin, they help with inflammation, aging, and cell turnover (exfoliation).

Free Radical: A tiny chemical particle that, when activated by UV light, wreaks cosmetic havoc on the skin, causing wrinkles and discoloration.

Peptide: The building block of proteins—they are small particles that can penetrate the skin easily and signal other cells to do things (such as rebuild collagen), making peptides a prime ingredient in cosmetics.

And now you’re armed with your dermatologist dictionary.

Have any other skincare questions?  Call us at Suede Salon Spa and Body to schedule a Free Skin Consultation and custom regiment.  856-985-0700