Tag Archives | cosmeceuticals

NEW ARRIVAL: Beautyblender Sponge Applicator

By Skinmedix on June 28, 2013 in beauty, Uncategorized

NEW ARRIVAL: Beauty Blender

Now you can look like a movie star without the pricey services of a major make up artist. Introducing Beautyblender, the ultimate make up sponge applicator. Invented by top Hollywood make up artist Rea Ann Silva, Beautyblender has been created to leave you with a professional finish and a flawless complexion. Silva knows that the key to a perfect face is simple: a perfect blend. So forget your fingers or sharp-edged triangular sponges, these application methods waste make up and can leave visible streaks.

Beautyblender’s patent-pending elliptical shape makes application foolproof by allowing you to access hard-to-reach areas with stunning ease. Its suede texture is sensual to the touch and its unique curves fit the contours of your face, leaving your make up dazzling and undetectable. Beautyblender is latex free, non-allergenic and odor free.

The Sponge


Original Beautyblender® – the star of the system	Beautyblender® Pro – Same material, different color. A true omage to Professional Makeup Artists around the world.	Beautyblender® Pure – Still the same amazing cosmetic applicator but without color

How to UseAlways dampen the Beauty Blender sponge before use. Take the sponge and soak it in water. The sponge expands to nearly double it’s volume. Squeeze out all the water, and use the damp sponge to apply the makeup. Bounce Beautyblender against your face when applying make up. Bouncing, also called stippling, blends make up without creating changes in the texture or tone of your skin. Use Beautyblender’s pointed side for hard-to-reach spots like around the nose and mouth, and under the eyes. Use the round base for foundation and blush on the larger areas of your face such as your forehead, cheeks and chin.

Tip: Make sure you don’t throw away the packaging, as the pedestal in the packaging is used to store your sponge after usage and for drying after you have cleaned it.

Shop the Beautyblender and Beautyblender cleansers on SkinMedix.com – now available in single, duo, and multi-variety packs!

Prepping Your Skin for Makeup

By Skinmedix on June 22, 2013 in beauty, Uncategorized

All the primer in the world can’t create flawless skin. For that seamless makeup look, try one or all of these tips to get your complexion ready!

Power Wash

Sloughing off those dead skin cells is the quickest way to boost radiance. To do so without irritation, use an oscillating brush, like Clarisonic Mia 2 Sonic Cleansing System, with a mild scrub twice a week. And once a week, apply a clay mask, like Revision Black Mask, to absorb impurities.

Smooth

At-home peels can help you achieve a silkier finish. Use a peel, like Neostrata Skin Active Perfecting Peel, one a week at night–it’s an at home treatment with glycolic acid to smooth the skin’s texture and even out tone.

Hydrate

Dry and chalky does not make for a great nude look. What you’re after is “lush” skin, and to get it you have to seal in moisture. After cleansing, use a generous layer of hyaluronic acid, found in products like SkinCeuticals Hydrating B5 Gel, to attract water molecules to the skin. Follow with a drop of facial treatment oil, like Trilogy Rosehip Oil.

How do you prep your skin before makeup?

How Your Phone is Messing with Your Skin

By Skinmedix on June 14, 2013 in anti-aging, beauty

You feel like completely lost without it, but your lifeline to your friends, family, and work could be wreaking havoc on your skin.

Habit: Squinting your eyes to read the small type on your screen.

Problem: Crow’s feet and 11 lines (the vertical frown line between the brows), which normally don’t show up until your 30s or 40s, are showing up more and more on people in their 20s.

Quick Fix: Increase your font size to “Grandma” (20pts or bigger), and up your screen’s brightness. Look for products with argireline to temporarily freeze muscle movements. Some studies show up to a 60% reduction in wrinkle depth in one month of use.

We recommend:

Kinerase C8 Peptide Deep Wrinkle Treatment
PCA Skin ExLinea Peptide Smoothing Serum
GloTherapeutics Super Serum

Habit: Constantly looking down to check texts, emails, Facebook, etc.

Problem: It’s called text-neck—a slack, untoned neck and jawline caused by a breakdown in collagen and elastin. These tiny fibers only have an infinite number of times they can fold. The constant up-and-down movement weakens this support structure.

Quick Fix: Hold your phone eye level to minimize folding at the neck. Apply a skin-firming, peptide-rich cream on your jawline and down your neck. According to a study in Molecular Pharmaceutics, products containing high levels of Matrixyl can nearly double collagen production.

We recommend:

Neostrata Firming Collagen Booster
Exuviance Collagen Triple Boost Serum
GloTherapeutics gloPeptide plus Defense

Habit: Talking long enough that your phone gets hot against your face.

Problem: Prolonged exposure to heat from any source can increase melanin production in that area—and if brown spots and an uneven tone weren’t bad enough, research shows they can make you look up to 10 years older!

Quick fix: Use a handsfree headset or speakerphone. A brightening cream, with ingredients like licorice, can help fade unwanted spots.

We recommend:

Vivite Vibrance Therapy
DermaQuest Retinol Youth Brightening Serum
SkinMedica LYTERA Skin Brightening Complex

Habit: Pressing your face against your phone. (See those oil and makeup streaks on your screen?)

Problem: The touch-screen trend has caused a rise in acne in the “phone zone”—temples, cheeks, and chin. The dirt and bacteria that live on your screen are transferred to your skin when you talk on the phone which may lead to breakouts.

Quick fix: Clean your phone daily with an anti-bacterial wipe. Use a benzoyl peroxide lotion or glycolic acid face pads to keep your pores clear.

We recommend:

Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glow Pad
Glycolix Elite Treatment Pads 15 Percent
DDF Benzoyl Peroxide Gel 5%
PCA Skin Acne Cream

Are you guilty of any of these bad habits?

NEW ARRIVAL: Revaleskin Hyrdalift Complex & Natural Defense SPF 25

By on June 8, 2013 in anti-aging, new arrival, SPF

HYDRALIFT COMPLEX
For greater luminosity, smoother texture and more hydrated skin appearance

Revaleskin HydraLift Complex with 1% CoffeeBerry Whole Fruit Extract is clinically proven to: boost moisture levels within the skin by 113%; help improve hydration and elasticity; and help guard against the primary contributor to premature aging, oxidative stress. Designed to attract moisture and keep it in the skin, Revaleskin HydraLift Complex is effective when used alone as a targeted hydrating anti-aging treatment but can also be used as an addition to your current skincare regimen.

Hydra-Lift Key Ingredients

1% CoffeeBerry Whole Fruit Extract – A naturally potent antioxidant
Retinol – Skin revitalizer with antioxidant properties
Tocopherol (Vitamin E) – Antioxidant with skin moisturizing properties
Glycerin – Skin moisturizer
Flowering Yarrow Extract – Softens skin to help it look and feel supple
Alchemilla Vulgaris Extract – Helps reduce appearance of wrinkles
Bearberry, Mulberry, & Pea Extracts – Skin brighteners
Primula Veris Extract – Skin conditioner
Shea Butter – Softens skin to help it look and feel supple
Licorice Root Extract – Restores a healthy radiance by increasing skin’s luminosity
Humectants – Attract water and retain skin hydration

Use Directions
For best results, apply evenly to clean face, neck and chest twice daily.

NATURAL DEFENSE BROAD SPECTRUM SPF 25 SUNSCREEN
For Broad Spectrum UVA and UVB SPF 25 protection

Revaleskin Natural Defense SPF 25 contains 0.1% CoffeeBerry Whole Fruit Extract – one of nature’s most potent antioxidants – in a 98.4% natural formulation, offering Broad Spectrum UVA and UVB SPF 25 protection. More than a sunscreen alone, Revaleskin Natural Defense SPF 25 it also helps to provide protection from free radicals, with hydrating and brightening benefits, and beautifully evens the complexion while concealing blemishes with a tinted, shine-free matte finish.

Key Ingredients

0.1% CoffeeBerry Whole Fruit Extract – A naturally potent antioxidant
Micronized Titanium Dioxide – A broad spectrum non-chemical, sunscreen
GlycerinSkin – Skin moisturizer
Squalene (derived from olives) – Moisturizer and skin conditioning agent
Sorbitan Sesquioleate (derived from corn) – Moisturizing and skin conditioning agent
Cetyl Ricinoleate (from castor beans) – Emollient, skin conditioner and protectant
Lecithin (phospholipid) – Moisturizing and soothing agent
Beeswax (Cera Alba) – Emollient (softens and smoothes skin), skin conditioner

Use Directions
Apply using a rolling, patting motion until product blends evenly on the skin prior to sun exposure. Re-apply as needed or after swimming, towel drying, perspiring heavily or washing.

Have you tried NEW Revaleskin Hydralift Complex and Natural Defense SPF 25 yet?

Should You Use a Facial Toner?

By Skinmedix on June 3, 2013 in anti-aging, beauty

Due to outdated information and misperceptions, toners have become a confusing category of skin-care products that many fashion magazines and cosmetic salespeople advise against using, or simply dismiss toners as an optional step. However, a well-formulated toner can provide truly amazing benefits for your skin.

Toners are meant to be used after cleansing. They once were recommended as a way to restore skin’s pH balance after using a bar soap or bar cleanser because those types of cleansers raise the skin’s natural pH to a level that isn’t good for your skin. However, with today’s gentle, water-soluble cleansers, the skin’s pH doesn’t change appreciably, and the fact that skin’s pH recovers just fine on its own made the need for toners to adjust skin’s pH fade away.

What we now know is that after cleansing, what your skin needs is a range of ingredients that restore and repair its surface. Skin can never get too much of these important ingredients, which include antioxidants and skin-repairing substances such as glycerin, fatty acids, and ceramides. The right toner can give your skin a healthy dose of what it needs to look younger, fresher, and smoother, right after cleansing and throughout the day.

If the toner is well formulated, we recommend that you make toner an essential part of your cleansing routine because the benefits can be felt and seen almost instantly. Below is a list of some of our favorite toners for various skin types available at SkinMedix!

Toners for Oily or Blemish-Prone Skin:

SkinMedica Purifying Toner
Dermalogica Clean Start All Over Clear
Murad Clarifying Toner
Glytone Acne Cleansing Toner

Toners for Dry or Sensitive Skin:

Wilma Schumann Soothing Toner
Dermalogica Multi Active Toner
Obagi Nu-Derm Toner
DDF Aloe Toning Complex

Toners for Combination Skin:

SkinCeuticals Equalizing Toner
Neova Balancing Toner
Exuviance Moisture Balance Toner
PCA Skin Nutrient Toner

If the toner you’re considering is filled with great ingredients (like those in the list above), then skipping this step is cheating your skin of more of the beneficial ingredients it needs to become healthier and act younger. A toner that contains state-of-the-art ingredients proven to smooth, soften, calm, and repair skin is a wonderful addition to anyone’s skin-care routine!

Do you use a toner as part of your skin care regimen?

SPF 101: How to Get the Most From Your Sunscreen

By Skinmedix on May 24, 2013 in anti-aging, SPF

When it comes to fighting the damaging effects of the sun’s UV rays, you know sunscreen is a must. But what else can you do to get the most from your sunscreen? Keep reading to learn how to make your sunscreen even more effective.

1. Use an ounce (picture a full shot glass) to cover your entire body at least 30 min before sun exposure.

2. Reapply every two hours and after swimming. Our SPF sample sizes are great on the go! Throw a couple in your pocket to reapply while on a run or walk on the beach.

3. Don’t be deceived by clouds—or cold weather. Clouds only filter 20 percent of the sun’s UV rays which means that 80 percent are still penetrating the skin. No matter what is looks like outside, you have to protect your skin properly.

4. Set your sunscreen with mineral makeup or powder spf, like iS Clinical SPF 20 Powder Sunscreen. Think of it like an insurance policy against skin damage!

Did you know just one serious sunburn can increase your skin cancer risk by as much as 50 percent? Prevention starts now! Shop the full list of sun protection products available at SkinMedix here.

5 Tips for a Firmer, Younger-Looking Neck and Chest

By Skinmedix on May 16, 2013 in anti-aging, beauty

We see so much anti aging advice for our face. But what about the other parts, like our neck and chest? These areas are often on display too, and if we don’t take good care of them, they can give away our age. Keep reading for tips on how to keep your neck and chest firmer and looking younger!

1. Extend down.

Whether it’s with your Clarisonic Aria Sonic Skin Cleansing Brush or a glycolic acid, extended your daily exfoliant all the way down to the top of your chest. Sloughing away the dead-skin layer allows active ingredients to absorb faster.

2. Up the ante.

The skin on the neck and chest is thin, so sun damage is more apparent and harder to repair. Both the neck and chest require stronger formulations to reverse aging. Dedicated neck creams are more concentrated and powerful than most face creams, but some facial formulas with retinol, such as Murad Time Release Retinol Concentrate for Deep Wrinkles, can be used on the neck and chest, too.

3. Bring in the peptides.

Some of the best ingredients for treating damage below the jawline is tetrapeptides, like the ones in StriVectin-TL Tightening Neck Cream. There’s plenty of science to show they help make new collagen and elastic tissue, which is what the neck and chest need to look firmer and younger.

4. Stengthen the skin barrier.

Niacin is a B vitamin that, until recently, we could not get through the skin barrier. Now a new delivery system, in the NIA24 andStrivectin-TL lines, means it can penetrate the epidermis and strengthen the skin barrier. Try NIA24 Sun Damage Repair for Decolletage and Hands to dramatically improve the texture and tone of the neck and décolletage!

5. Watch your wardrobe.

When you treat skin below the jawline with anti-aging ingredients, consider the fabrics you wear. Anything scratchy, like wool, can cause irritation.

Is treating your neck and chest already part of your skin care regimen?

Say it isn’t so! LiLash No Longer Available after May 2013

By on May 10, 2013 in beauty, Beauty News

bloglilash2
Sadly, Cosmetic Alchemy LLC, the makers of LiLash and LiBrow, will no longer distribute their products within the United States as of May 13, 2013. Resellers, including SkinMedix, will be unable to place orders with Cosmetic Alchemy after that date and thereafter SkinMedix will be limited to supplies on hand. Click here to stock up on your favorite lash conditioner while supplies last!

What Skin Cancer Looks Like

By on May 3, 2013 in skin science, SPF, summer, Uncategorized

Pretty? No. But this is what skin cancer looks like, and these pictures could help you spot it. The earlier you can catch skin cancer, the easier it is to cure. Compare your moles to these images, and see a doctor if you find anything suspicious.

normal Normal Mole

A small brown spot that’s symmetrical and all one shade an that hasn’t changes over the years is probably nothing to worry about.

dysplasticnervus Dysplastic Nevus

A.k.a. an “atypical mole.” This tends to be dark with irregular borders. It could become cancerous so your derm will remove it or keep a close eye on it.

actinic_keratosis Actinic Keratosis

This potentially cancerous spot usually occurs on sun-exposed areas (scalp, lips, hands) and tends to look like a raised, rough, or scaly patch.

basal_cell Basal Cell Carcinoma

The most common type of skin cancer, BCC forms deep in the skin and looks like a raised pink growth or sore that won’t heal.

squamous_cell Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Look for a reddish patch or wartlike bump that may crust or bleed. Get it checked out pronto—left untreated, it may spread.

Melanoma

The most deadly of skin cancers, melanomas may look geometrical in form and be smooth or raised. These cancers may also have irregular borders. They can be black, brown, gray, white or even red.

Plus, watch for the ABCDEUs. Use this guide to help determine if a mole could be dangerous. See a dermatologist if your spot has any of these characteristics.

A = Asymmetry – One half is s noticeably different shape than the other.

B = Border – The edges are uneven—maybe even scalloped or notched.

C = Color – The mole has multiple shades of brown, black, or red.

D = Diameter – Melanomas are usually big, about the size of a penicel eraser.

E = Evolving – This is any mole that has changed in color, size, or shape—whether that’s over the last month or the past decade.

U = Ugly Ducking – If any of your moles does not look like the other, get them checked.

Did you know just one serious sunburn can increase your skin cancer risk by as much as 50 percent? Monitor your skin for suspicious spots and moles and visit a dermatologist if you notice any changes in your skin. In the mean time, shop our full list of sun protection products here!

NEW ARRIVAL: PRESCRIBEDsolutions

By Skinmedix on April 26, 2013 in new arrival

PRESCRIBEDsolutions is a unique, potent skin care line designed to prepare, repair and maintain better skin. Each product offers medical-grade formulas, customized by physicians for long-lasting results. PRESCRIBEDsolutions especially caters to speed up healing processes, due to harsh skin treatments, allowing for a comfortable, quick recovery.

PRESCRIBEDsolutions is the only skincare line that enables you to customize your skincare products. PRESCRIBEDsolutions allows you to treat your short term concerns, such as temporary post procedure inflammation as well as longer term skincare concerns, such as skin discolorations or visible signs of aging by boosting your products -in a matter of seconds – with potent state of the art ingredients. When ordering a PRESCRIBEDsolutions product, choose an extra booster (available for purchase here) that can be added to your product. When mixed in with your product, it’ll become your own customized skin care product formulated for your specific skincare needs!

Have you tried PRESCRIBEDsolutions? Which booster is your favorite? Let us know in a comment below!