A Skin Care Regimen
Backed By Science
“As a physician used to prescribing therapies for patients, it is essential that I am confident of the efficacy of any product that I recommend or supply in my clinics. ”
There is a bewildering array of over-the-counter skin-care products and many of them are little more than beautiful packaging and seductive advertising. However, there is such a thing as good skin care. You need the right product that actually penetrates the skin and which has been proven in serious clinical trials to do what it says it does.
Dr Fitzgerald has selected, for simplicity, only to distribute the Obagi Medical, ZO Skin Health®, Heliocare 360, and ColoreScience® ranges.
skin care essentials that make a real difference.
Cleanser
for example: ZO® SKIN HEALTH Gentle, Exfoliating, or Hydrating Cleansers
Cleanser washes off make-up, oil, and the toxins left on your skin by pollution. Pollution can produce ageing particles called ‘free radicals’ in your skin, which cause inflammation and cell damage, so it is important to keep skin properly cleaned. The skin is constantly producing an oil called sebum from the sebaceous glands attached to your hair follicles. Sebum is very pro-inflammatory (think of acne pustules), and chronic inflammation causes premature ageing, redness, and changes in pigmentation. Oil on the surface of your skin also reduces the penetration of any other active ingredients you may be applying, which will lead to treatment failure and disappointment.
Exfoliant
for example: ZO® SKIN HEALTH Exfoliating Polish
Exfoliant gently scrubs away the layer of dead skin cells that otherwise sits on top of your skin. Removing them encourages your skin to replenish them with live and bouncy cells. Your skin develops a healthy glow and leaves it smooth to the touch. Getting rid of the dead cell layer also helps to unblock pores and minimise outbreaks, and enhances penetration of the active ingredients you will be applying afterwards.
Toner
for example: ZO® SKIN HEALTH Calming Toner
Toner rebalances the pH of your skin and optimises absorption of the other products you apply.
Vitamin C
for example: ZO® SKIN HEALTH 10% Vitamin C Self- Activating Cream
Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant. Antioxidants are molecules that ‘mop up’ the free radicals in your cells. Left to their own devices, free radicals cause harm to the cells, but Vitamin C binds with them to stop them causing damage. No matter how careful you are with your SPF, some UV light will always get through and cause production of free radicals, so having a good topical Vitamin C sitting there on the skin waiting to neutralise them immediately makes sense.
Other Antioxidants
for example: ZO® SKIN HEALTH Daily Power Defense
As we’ve seen, free radicals are the enemy, and antioxidants are your protective shield. Research shows that the wider the range of different antioxidants you apply, the better the mop-up rate of free radicals, and protection of your skin will be.
Vitamin A, retinol, retinoic acid,
for example: ZO® SKIN HEALTH A range of options depending upon the strength required.
Many people know of Vitamin A by the name Retinol. It is the miracle skin vitamin, which helps build healthy, bouncy, strong cuboidal cells at the base of the layers of skin, so that, as they move through the skin cycle, the skin is kept healthy and resists ageing. Vitamin A also suppresses sebum production, suppresses inflammation and downregulates overactive pigment-producing cells, so it really is an all-round friend to the skin. Vitamin A can feel a bit intense at first, causing redness and peeling as the skin hurries through its cycle. However, after a while of pursuing this in your daily regimen, your skin will adapt, you will stop peeling, and you will really start to see changes for the better.
Sun Cream
for example: ZO® SKIN HEALTH Sunscreen & Primers,& Heliocare 360
If you had to reduce your skin care products down to one item, this would be it. SPF 50+ with UVA and UVB protection is the single most powerful anti-ageing strategy you can adopt. The sun is responsible for a huge amount of the ageing effects we see in our skin. Even in midwinter, (when you’re not getting to enjoy the benefits of the sun anyway!) wear your SPF. UVA is the wavelength of light that causes most ageing—think ‘UVAgeing’. It travels through glass, so if you are inside in summer or winter and are managing without electric light, then you are receiving ageing UVA radiation. UVB is the light that causes sunburn and skin cancer. Most good SPFs protect you against both UVA and UVB.
What’s more, don’t just rely on SPF to do all the work. Putting on sun cream and then lying in the sun makes sun cream pointless. The more you can keep the most delicate skin, such as the skin on your face and neck, shaded, the better.
Mineral Powder Sun Screen
for example: Colorescience® Mineral Sunscreen powder Sunforgettable
Unfortunately, even the best SPF creams only last a relatively short time, perhaps about 3 hours. For real efficacy you need to be reapplying several times a day which is difficult if you wear make-up. This is where a mineral powder SPF comes into its own. Just keep one in your handbag and dust it over your face whenever you think about it.
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