Beauty Best Bets– Three New Favorites

When it comes to personal care products, I tend to  follow the less is more philosophy.  Rather than   shelves of different options,  I  like to  find what I think  is the best product for me — and then stick to it.  This sets the bar pretty high and a new formulation  has to be unique to find a spot in my medicine cbinet. I’ve not added  to my  Fabuous Fifteen in more than ayear but with  newly sensitive skin, I needed new options:

1.  Anti-Redness Foaming Cleanser ( Alaur, $50) — When it comes to skin care it seems that most  people start with a moisturizer.  Not me.  I think that the right cleanser is the foundation of any treatment plan.   When my skin developed a type of rosacea,  I needed to change cleansers.  Anti-Redness Foaming Cleanser is a gentle product that not  only avoids irritating ingredients, it contains sulfosuccinate which deals with the organisms which contribute to redness. Its applied  all over the face and gently massaged into the skin, then rinsed off with cool water. It leaves my skin smooth  and refreshed and keeps redness at bay.  It is only  available from the  offices of Dr Albert Lefkovits ( 212- 861-9600).  You can call and  place an order to  be  sent out to you.

2. Sunforgettable  SPF50 ( Colorscience, $60)

When I’m asked for my single most important anti-aging  tip, its a no-brainer.   A daily sunscreen is both the easiest and most affordable  way to  prevent signs of early aging.   But finding a sunscreen  that works for sensitive skin can be challenging.  Chemical sunscreens like Helioplex are super-effective but can be irritating to rosacea or acne prone skin.  Physical  sunscreens  like titanium dioxide  work well but their  creamy base can provoke problems.  Since developing a tendency to  blossom with  red splotches, I’ve been using mineral make-up  which contain  physical sunscreens  but offer only a 20SPF.   Its  better than nothing, especially when applied  every two hours, but its really not enough coverage for a day at the beach. 

When I discovered Colorscience Sunforgettable at  Cosmoprof  in Las Vegas, I felt  like the mothership had called me home. This brush on powder is packaged in a brush topped vial and is uber easy  to reapply during the day.   I used it on vaca around a pool, on a picnic and playing tennis  and not  a single freckle or splotch appeared.   This is pretty significant since about 80% of people with rosacea report that  sunlight is the biggest redness trigger.

Sunforgettable is not inexpensive, but totally worth the money. Not available in stores, it can be  purchased   online, and from physicians and spas.   I don’t usually like to buy color-based  products online because its hard to find the right shade.  I have fairly light skin tones and ordered the medium shade.  I usually buy lighter shades, but I  thought it might give me a bit of summer color.  Medium turned out to be fairly  light and neutral, and  looked quite good.    I am so attached to this product  that I’ve added it to my ” leaving the apartment check list:  eg keys, wallet, phone and now Sunforgettable.

3.Sugar Lip Polish ( Fresh,$22.50)

I love when a little idea produces a big result.  Sugar Lip Polish just works.  This  gritty paste gently removes old, dry  lip skin  and makes  lips  look fresher and lipstick applies more smoothly.  Not only does the sugar as as a scrub, its also rich in glycolic acid– a great anti-aging ingredient.  Its available  at the Fresh counter in department stores and in Sephora– both instore and online.   This little tub  is worth  the real estate  in even the most crowded medicine cabinet shelves.

Note:  I purchased all the products used in this review.

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Rosacea- Sensitive Skin, Part 2

What do Renee Zellegwer, Cameron Diaz, Mariah Carey, and Bill Clinton have  in common?  They are four of the  16 million  Americans  who  have to deal with a form of sensitive  skin called rosacea.  For reasons that  are not clear, the skin tends to flush easily and stay red.  It is more common in women with fair skin, but its also seen in men and people with darker eyes and coloring.  

There are two  main  forms of rosacea:

1– The most common and mildest form consists primarily of bright red skin and numerous small broken blood vessels on the skin’s surface.  Why this happens  is not clear ( genetics?)  but certain triggers seems to bring trigger flare-ups.  Sunlight is the biggest culprit, followed closely by alcohol, spicy foods, stress,  chocolate, coffee and hot showers.

2– The second form of rosacea has similar redness but now the skin also  has pimple  like breakouts that don’t respond to traditional care.  There is some evidence that bacteria and yeast  microorganisms  are part of the problem.  Sunlight and the other well-known rosacea trigger also  contribute to outbreaks of this  type of rosacea.

Treatment of Rosacea 

Treatment starts with trying to avoid  factors  which provoke flushing.   Rosacea  prone skin is very suseptible to cosmetics  and should avoid  irritating ingredients  including alcohol, witch hazel, fragrance, and menthol.  Many experts advise against exfoliating agents such as scrubbing grains, glycolic acid  and complexion brushes.  Effective sun protection is key.  Use an oil-free  physical  sunscreen with  zinc or titanium oxide like Sensitive Skin SPF30 by Neutrogena.  As good as they are, chemical sunscreens can be  too irritating for rosacea-prone skin. To reduce  inflammation, bathing the skin with fresh milk and oatmeal solutions can  provide relief.   Lasers, especially IPL,  have proved to be extremely helpful for rosacea.  They close off the tiny blood vessels in the skin,shutting off the source of the flushing.

There are  additional treatment options for  the acne like form of rosacea.  Topical antibiotics like  MetroGel or anti-inflammatory lotions like Finacea can reduce  break-outs.  Cleansing pads with sulfa   like Prascion will also get to the micro-organisms that can be part of the problem.  For  severe rosacea, doctors can prescribe low-dose oral antibiotics like Oracea.

One final word:  Cortisone creams which are used for  so successfully for so many  skin problems   actually make  rosacea worse. They  have actually been known to provoke its  own type of rosacea.  While steroids can temorarily  improve the rosacea, the  problems rebound when  they are stopped 

For   more information on  rosacea visit  the National Rosacea Society  http://www.rosacea.org.

Next  post– Just because its red doesn’t mean its rosacea.

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