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Chemical Peels

October 11th, 2012 by Chandler - Beauty Contributor
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At some point or another you’ve heard the words “Chemical Peel” come up when talking about skin care or anti-aging. Chemical peels are medical procedures administered to help with signs of aging, sun damage, acne, and scars. Chemical Peels use a variety of different chemicals such as phenol, alphahydroxy acids, and trichloroacetic acids. Each one of them has a different purpose. The formula and combo of chemicals will be adjusted to meet your skins particular needs.

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Someone who has mild wrinkles, uneven pigment, acne, or dryness would want a light chemical peel. This type of peel removes the epidermis, which is the outer layer of skin, like a light exfoliation leaving a healthy glow.
For acne scars, deeper wrinkles, and uneven skin color, a medium chemical peel might be recommended. This uses acids more aggressive than if you were to do a light chemical peel. This peel removes the epidermis as well as skin cells from the dermis, which is your middle layer of skin. You will peel and experience more redness than someone would from the light chemical peel.

If you have skin that is sun damaged, scars, deep wrinkles, or severe discoloration, a deeper peel would be the way to go. Using the strongest chemicals, this peel penetrates down to the lower dermal layer of your skin. A pre-treatment such as a topical Retin-A is usually used for weeks before to prepare the skin. There will be several days of downtime after this invasive peel, as your skin will be really red and severely peeling. The redness can last weeks, but with a really deep chemical peel, you could achieve results that could last for years.

Your physician will recommend how often would be safe to get chemical peels depending on your skin type and how your skin reacts.

There are some risks and considerations that go along with this medical procedure, which you should consult with your physician about before your treatment to make sure a chemical peel is right for you.

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10 Skin Care Tips for Fall

October 2nd, 2012 by Chandler - Beauty Contributor
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Fall is here! For you folks that love fall as much as I do, here are 10 skincare tips for this autumn.

Crisp mornings and breezy days ahead, also means that your skin will get dry and need some TLC.

Oil-based scrubs- They are perfect for fall because you get the exfoliation benefits, with the benefits of hydrating oils. It is important to exfoliate and get all of those dead skin cells off to give your skin a smooth glow. Also, it is important to hydrate after exfoliation to make sure your skin doesn’t dry out.

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Lotions- Everyday your skin should get some type of hydration. The best time to apply lotion is at night right after a shower or bath. Coca butter and Shea butter have some of the best hydrating properties and they smell amazing.

Sunscreen- Just because it isn’t summer anymore doesn’t mean that you should neglect using sun protection. It is a daily essential, so don’t forget it!

Ditch the soap- fragrant soaps might smell nice, but they tend to dry out your skin. Instead, go for a creamy body wash.

Kissable lips- The weather is drying, and so will your lips! Be sure to get a lip balm to keep them nice and hydrated. Use non-petroleum based for best results.

Hydrating Masks- During the work week, when you feel as if you don’t have any time to take care of your face, after cleansing throw on a hydrating mask. Keep the mask on while you watch your favorite show and then take it off right before bed and follow with moisturizer to give your face a fresh glow.http://www.sheckys.com/files/2012/10/PumpkinFaceMask.jpg

Flaky Scalp- If your scalp starts to get itchy and flaky as the weather changes, try buying a shampoo that has 5% Tea Tree Oil or mix 2% into your own shampoo. Tea Tree has been said to help treat mild cases of dandruff, and it smells earthy and amazing!

Hand Cream- Invest in a great hand cream! The worst is when your hands get cracked and dried out, so lather them up with a creamy lotion, specially formulated just for them!

Drink up- Drinking water helps keep you and your skin hydrated from the inside out! So, In between those latte’s , don’t forget to guzzle down H20, your skin will thank you.

Relax and take a bath- Adding almond oil or jojoba oil to your bath is not only relaxing, but very hydrating! Draw up some warm water, and add a couple drops. It’ll smell amazing and leave your skin feeling soft.

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Chapped Lips

September 21st, 2012 by Chandler - Beauty Contributor
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Chapped lips can be caused by a number of reasons like climate change and dry weather. They can be rough, flaky, cracked, and if really dry they can bleed. There is nothing to hide it, because applying lipstick tends to make it look even worse. Chapped lips cannot go back to normal in one day so taking good care of them while they are in this dry state is crucial. Your lips do not contain any oil glands which makes them more vulnerable to any weather conditions and keeping them moisturized is very important. Ingredients like Shea butter, Vitamin E, and beeswax are what you should be looking for when purchasing a lip moisturizer to soothe and heal your chapped lips. They work to create a barrier against dehydration while the moisturizing ingredients work to fix the chapping. Stay away from waxy lip ointments like Vaseline, they do more drying out than helping cure the problem.  Also, a light exfoliant, like a sugar scrub, would be good to apply before the lip balm to remove some of the dead, flaky skin. Drink lots of water to stay hydrated because dehydration could also be a factor in your dry lip dilemma. So, when the weather starts to change and your lips start to chap, put some moisturizing lip balm in your purse and leave it there because you’ll need it!

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NuFACE

September 7th, 2012 by Chandler - Beauty Contributor
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Known as the 5 minute facelift, NuFACE is the leader in non-invasive facial toning. The NuFACE Trinity, a hand held device to lift, tone, and sculpt your face, was designed with their signature Microcurrent technology. It uses gentle microcurrent waves to stimulate the facial muscles, improving your skin’s appearance. The Trinity is the newest addition to the NuFACE line, but delivers the same microcurrent quality as the NuFACE classic as well as some new features. Interchangeable heads and a smart skin sensor allow for the Trinity to deliver a variety of spa-quality treatments at home.

The NuFACE Trinity features a beautifully ergonomic design with easy-to-use push buttons and a charging cradle, making it even easier to achieve beautiful results in only minutes a day.  Non-invasive and easy, you’ll get beautiful lifting and toning with just one device. Seems to good to be true, right? Well, with NuFACE, convenience and quality matter.
The way you would use it is to cleanse your face, and apply NuFACE gel primer to the areas being treated, and simply guide the Trinity over the contours of the face to get a visible lift. When you are finished, wipe the gel primer off, and finish with your regular skincare regimen.  As easy as that you’ll get the tightening and lift that you crave leaving you with more youthful skin.

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IPL photofacial

September 1st, 2012 by Chandler - Beauty Contributor
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One of our most popular treatments is the IPL photo-facial treatment. An IPL is short for Intense pulse light, not technically a laser because it uses carefully delivered pulses of light in different wavelengths. IPL treatments help with the appearance of photo-aged skin, tiny blood vessles,  age spots (sun-induced freckles), brown pigments, redness, broken capillaries, and gives the skin a smoother, more even skin tone. IPL skin treatments help restore a more youthful appearance without any downtime.  We recommend using IPLs in a series, doing about 4-6 treatments at 3 weeks apart is where our patients have seen the best results.  Patients are very pleased with treatment results because the process treats the full face, neck, chest or hands, rather than addressing a single isolated area or imperfection. With a series of treatments, IPL technology can help restore a more youthful appearance without patient downtime or a prolonged recovery, necessary after other types of treatments. 

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Invisalign

July 31st, 2012 by Chandler - Beauty Contributor
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The only way to achieve a perfect, straight smile seemed to be metal braces. They’re bulky, inconvenient, and painful. Now, you can get a perfect smile using invisible technology with Invisalign. You can always have a confident smile on even while you’re wearing your Invisalign aligners. Virtually invisible and made just for you, they are comfortable to wear. You can conveniently take them off whenever you want, so there are no restrictions on what you can eat or how you brush and floss. Put the aligners back on when you’re all done and that’s it! You will put on a new set of aligners about every two weeks which will move your teeth little by little. On average, Invisalign takes about a year to give you your perfect smile. A 3D computer technology, used by your dentist or orthodontist, maps your complete treatment from beginning to end. With that, custom made aligners are produced unique to your specific treatment. 9 out of 10 surveyed patients have expressed high satisfaction with their Invisalign treatments. Your doctor’s office can talk to you about pricing and financing and give you some payment plan options for your treatment. Invisalign usually ranges around the same price as regular braces and through your orthodontic insurance, can usually be covered the same amount as conventional braces.

So, if you’re looking for an easy solution to creating your perfect smile, get in to see your dentist or orthodontist and ask them if Invisalign is right for you.

 You’ll have a new reason to smile with Invisalign!

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mybody skincare

July 24th, 2012 by Chandler - Beauty Contributor
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                      mybody is an exciting new skincare company that offers clinical products developed to correct, protect and maintain healthy skin and a healthier you. Focusing beyond symptoms of problematic skin conditions, it is founded on the basic idea that when the mind and body are in optimal health, the skin looks and acts younger longer – regardless of age. mybody’s superior skincare formulations combine the latest in groundbreaking skin technologies with ingredients that are familiar within the body to reawaken its own youthful skin processes. Each targeted skincare system works all day every day to reprogram the skin to look and act healthier and younger. Not only helping with anti-aging, but helping eliminate unwanted skin conditions to give you better well being.

                     The science behind mybody is adapting biological designs from nature with improved technical applications that can be applied to what naturally happens in the body, but has maybe lessened or diminished with age. They use ingredients that are recognized and used by the body in which it can process naturally. Using topical probiotics, peptides, bioemulsions, ingredients containing fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins from plant rather than human or animal. They use a non-paraben preservative system, and no artifical dyes or colorants. They also do NOT test on animals!

                   They have a skincare system designed for every specific skin type. From Acne to Anti-aging, this skincare is sure to satisfy even the most problematic skin types. So, put your body first and take care of that gorgeous skin with mybody’s superior products. Your skin will thank you!

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Green Tea

July 12th, 2012 by Chandler - Beauty Contributor
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Is there any other food or drink reported to have as many health benefits as green tea? Green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at least 4,000 years, treating everything from depression to cancer patients. The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechins, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is an anti-oxidant that besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. Some other medical conditions that green tea is said to be helpful for are rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and an impaired immune system. There are also studies that show that green tea helps with weight loss. The caffeine in green tea has been said to burn calories. Research has shown that a patient given green tea with caffeine weighed less and burned more calories than a patient just given caffeine and placebo. Another fun fact is that green tea can help prevent tooth decay! Its bacteria fighting abilities help to kill the bacteria that cause dental plaque.

So, with all of these benefits, why not guzzle down glasses of green tea? The only side effect is said to be insomnia because of the caffeine, but, coffee has more caffeine than green tea. Swap out your cup of Joe with a cup of this stuff. The benefits are endless and it also happens to be quite tasty!

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UVA and UVB rays

June 7th, 2012 by Chandler - Beauty Contributor
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UV radiation is part of the light spectrum that reaches the earth from the sun. It has wavelengths shorter than visible light, making it invisible to the naked eye. These wavelengths are classified as UVA, UVB, or UVC. UVA being the longest wave-length, UVB being shorter, and with even shorter rays, most UVC is absorbed by the ozone layer and does not reach the earth. Both UVA and UVB, however, penetrate the atmosphere and play an important role in premature skin aging, eye damage, and skin cancers. By damaging the skin’s cellular DNA, excessive UV radiation produces mutations that can lead to skin cancer. UV radiation is considered the main cause of non-melanoma skin cancers, including basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. These cancers strike more than 250,000 Americans each year. Many experts believe that, especially for fair-skinned people, UV radiation also frequently plays a key role in melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, which kills more than 8,000 Americans each year.

Most of us are exposed to large amounts of UVA rays throughout our lifetime. 95% of the rays that reach the earth’s surface are UVA rays. UVA rays are less intense than UVB rays, but they are present with equal intensity through all of the daylight hours, and can penetrate through clouds and glass. UVA is the dominant tanning ray, and we now know that tanning, whether outdoors or in a salon, causes cumulative damage over time. A tan results from injury to the skin’s DNA; the skin darkens in an imperfect attempt to prevent further DNA damage. These imperfections, or mutations, can lead to skin cancer.Tanning booths primarily emit UVA. The high-pressure sunlamps used in tanning salons emit doses of UVA as much as 12 times that of the sun. Not surprisingly, people who use tanning salons are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma, and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma. According to recent research, first exposure to tanning beds in youth increases melanoma risk by 75 percent.

UVB, the chief cause of skin reddening and sunburn, tends to damage the skin’s more superficial epidermal layers. It plays a key role in the development of skin cancer and a 0.role in tanning and photo-aging. Its intensity varies by season, location, and time of day. The most significant amount of UVB hits the U.S. between 10 AM and 4 PM from April to October. However, UVB rays can burn and damage your skin year-round, especially at high altitudes and on reflective surfaces such as snow or ice, which bounce back up to 80 percent of the rays so that they hit the skin twice. UVB rays do not significantly penetrate glass.

Being exposed to both UVA and UVB without protection can cause serious damage to your skin, cells, and eyes. So, slather on that SPF. Re-applying your sunscreen every 2 hours is recommended. Pop on those sunglasses to protect your eyes, and you are protected against the sun this summer.

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What is Sleep Apnea?

May 15th, 2012 by Chandler - Beauty Contributor
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Sleep apnea affects the way you breathe when you are asleep; your breathing becomes interrupted or very shallow. 2 to 4% of Americans are thought to be suffering from undiagnosed sleep apnea. The pauses of breathing that occur can last 10 to 20 seconds each and happen hundreds of times during a night of sleep. When breathing is paused, you are jolted out of your natural sleep rhythm.

There are three types of sleep apnea. These include:

-          Obstructive sleep apnea, which is the most common. It occurs when the soft tissue in the back of the throat relaxes during sleep which causes a blockage of the airway. People with obstructive sleep apnea tend to snore loudly.

-          Central sleep apnea, which is a much less common type of sleep apnea. This type involves the central nervous system instead of air way obstruction. This is when the brain fails to signal the muscles that control breathing. People with central sleep apnea tend to seldom snore.

-          Complex sleep apnea is a combination of both Obstructive and Central sleep apnea.

Some symptoms of sleep apnea include loud and chronic snoring, choking, snorting, and gasping, long pauses of breathing during sleep, and daytime sleepiness no matter how much time you spend in bed.

There are some medical routes you can take to help cease sleep apnea. CPAP is one of them. Continuous positive airflow pressure is the most common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea. In many cases, you would experience immediate relief of sleep apnea symptoms and a huge boost in your mental and physical energy. It is mask hooked up to a machine that provides a constant stream of air which will keep breathing passages open during sleep.

There are also dental devices available for patients with sleep apnea. Most of the devices fit inside the mouth and resemble an athletic mouth guard. Some fit around the head and chin so they can adjust the position of your jaw. These devices open your air way by bringing your lower jaw forward during sleep. It is very important to get fitted for one of these devices by a dentist specializing in sleep apnea.

 If you suspect that you suffer from sleep apnea, go to your doctor today. From there, they can guide you in the right direction for treatment so you can get a better night sleep!

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