Archive
Are You Doing the Best You Can for Your Facial Skin?
Please answer YES/NO to the following questions.
Skin Type
- Do you understand your skin type, concerns and prognosis (ie. how your ageing will progress)?
Skincare & Facial Massage @ Home
- You are happy with your skincare routine?
- Do you like your skincare product formulations (textures/ fragrance)?
- Do you know specific techniques to apply your skincare in different facial zones?
- Do you massage your face at home?
- Do you practice personalised Rolling & Acupressure?
- Do you practice Facial Yoga?
- Do you look forward to using your skincare products twice a day ?
- Do you have realistic expectations regarding the efficacy of your skincare?
Seasonal and Hormonal Changes
- Do you have a personalised winter and summer routine?
- Do you understand how to prevent concerns arising from travelling and hormonal cycles?
Health & Lifestyle
- Do you understand the impact of your specific health issues (e.g. quality of sleep, allergies, medication) on your skin?
- Do you understand how your lifestyle (e.g. suntanning, smoking, alcohol, diet, water intake, exercise, relaxation, family support) affects your skin?
Professional Treatments
- Do you have regular professional treatments that complement your care @home – be that every 2, 4 or 6 weeks?
Wrinkles, Emotions and Facial Expressions
- Draw your concerns e.g. frown lines, laughter lines, pigmentation patches into the picture.
- List your frequent emotions and facial expressions to see what muscles you engage repetitively.
A Day in the Life of a Face: Photo Diary
Our faces change during the day and this is an interesting experiment. The comments are Anna’s own. Harsh at times. My comments are in italics. What could Anna do to look better during the day? Please comment below!
7am
Morning face. According to a new study on how our faces change from hour to hour and day to day, by 3.30pm we look the worst. Morning faces are less wrinkled than in the afternoon because lying down means gravity lets up a little overnight.
Anna’s morning face at 7am (l) and looking rosy and glowing at 10.15am post run (r)
10.15am
Post morning run training for a marathon. People with skin type prone to redness should avoid strenuous exercise and extremes of temperature or risk broken capillaries. The increased blood flow has at least done something for those early morning under-eye bags. However, the lines around her mouth have deepened.
In my view, excessive running is not the best for sagging cheeks and jawline.
11.15am
Make-up - while the application of foundation has made her look less flustered, it has also highlighted the creases above the eyebrows.
12.30am
She look ashen and exhausted. Her lipstick and foundation have long disappeared, while her eyeliner and mascara are fading. Adding caffeine makes her deep frown lines in the forehead and creases around her mouth appear.
3.30pm
Welcome to the beauty low spot – particularly on Wednesdays. Her face still looks oily – spotty, even – from the run but the make-up wore off long ago. Those eye bags have reappeared too. After a snack, the guilt and sugar rush are definitely showing in her face – a shine on her forehead and the end of the nose, and her ageing- dimples deepen.
Anna’s beauty low spot at 3.30pm (l) as identified by research for St. Tropez Anti-Ageing, and her hair is rebelling by 7pm post-ballet class (r)
7pm
Although she is looking less greasy than in the previous picture, her face is starting to look pallid, her wrinkles around the chin and nose are deepening.
A day in the life of a face: Anna puts on make up to go out for the evening8pm
Make-up applied, still a bit tired. The final look in the mirror – lots of laughter lines have appeared around her mouth and eyes, probably accentuated by her foundation, but her eyeliner and mascara and lipstick has given her face some warmth.
Looking human again but tired still at 8pm (l) and ready for bed once more at 11pm (r)
11pm
Make-up taken off. Staring at the mirror she feels she looks terrible without make-up. Greenish circles around her eyes and a deep line has emerged above the left eye, which wasn’t there this morning. Her double chin is now very noticeable. The overpowering tiredness she feels can clearly be seen on her face. Her face has had its own journey as she has gone about her day and has its own story to tell.
What could have Anna done to look better through the day? Please write your comments – I will publish my recommendations shortly!
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2274641/A-day-life-face-In-extraordinary-picture-diary-Anna-Pursglove-shows-faces-change-single-day.html#ixzz2KVOV19XC
Wellbeing & Self-esteem in Skincare
I have been invited to give a talk about Wellbeing in Skincare to the Society of Cosmetic Scientists (RGN) in summer 2013. I am looking into what constitutes our sense of wellbeing – and how can skincare help – and will be updating this blog with new findings regularly.
For now, just a few notes:
58 % of Americans say that their beauty and personal care products give then a boost of self esteem [Mintel by twitter]
Appearance and Self-esteem
Our society is ageing rapidly. Skin is a visible organ of emotional expression and social communication – skin condition impacts on how others perceive us and how we see ourselves. Both skin texture and colouration play a role and Professor David Perrett (University of Aberdeen) suggests that Face Can Monitor and Motivate Health.
Dissatisfaction with facial appearance causes distress, low self-esteem and compromised relationships [Kligman 1997] as our society views visible ageing differently to internal diseases [Morgan 1997]. Ageing women paid less attention and given less visual contact, making them feel invisible [Fink 2008]. Media have a negative impact, exposure to the ideal images are detrimental at times of greater self-monitoring (puberty and menopause) [Newton 2005].
Self Esteem Programme by Dove and CTPA
Dove has launched 2012 Self Esteem Programme to help self-esteem education in schools. They want to help teens to develop healthy body confidence and realistic beauty ideals. “The school years are such an important tim in the shaping of future confidence, and skincare and make up can make a real difference to how confident teens feel.” [Pure Beauty 2012]
CTPA argue that self-esteem is more important today than ever before. We lead increasingly open-ended lives, with fewer universal values, where people are responsible for creating their own individuality. However, we live in a society of high aspirations where our self-confidence is regularly tested as we struggle to meet the standards we create for ourselves. The CTPA report allows us to better understand what makes up self-esteem by analysing a range of influences including family, financial status and appearance.
“The more healthily you live, the better you look. You still want to look like yourself when you grow older. You lose your sensuality when you have surgery, it takes away a part of who you are.” Sharon Stone
The Truth about Looking Young: The Horizon Programme – July 2012
The BBC run the Horizon Programme with a title “The truth about looking young” on Monday 23 July 2012. The introduction to the programme says. “Plastic surgeon Dr Rozina Ali leaves the operating theatre behind for the frontiers of skin science and asks if it is possible to make your skin look younger without surgery. She discovers the latest research about how the foods we eat can protect our skin from damage, and how a chemical found in a squid’s eye is at the forefront of a new sun protection cream. She also finds out how sugar in our blood can make us look older, and explores an exciting new science called glycobiology, which promises a breakthrough in making us look younger.”
There is an interesting finding to follow, however, the programme was in my view slightly unbalanced and two-dimensional, featuring primarily Unilever and L’Oreal research.
Skin is a visible and large organ – 20 square feet. Facial skin defines us – it is the first thing we look at when approaching other people. We all look for credible evidence in terms of our skincare products. By now, we understand the daily battle with the sun that degrades our collagen fibres – these normally give skin youthful volume and plumpness. When destroyed, skin deflates, wrinkles and saggs. A study of lorry drivers shows that glass filters out UVB – the short wavelength that burns us – but not UVA. Prof Chris Griffiths from the University of Manchester explains that there are more deep wrinkles on the right side of our face compared to left. (Also the eye brow is lower (sagging) and the nasolabial line might be more pronounced (Marionette line)).
And that is the interesting finding: Even in people that are not driving for living, the right side of their faces has more/deeper wrinkles than left – just from everyday driving!
UVA ages, UVB burns. Sunscreen every day is imperative and also 5 star UVA protection.
Today, most mainstream skincare products include UVA protection in combination with UVB protection (SPF). Research studies, like the one above, show the impoartance of consistent, daily use of skincare products with both broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection to help protect skin form the sun ageing effects all year round and help maintain the skins elasticity and firmness. UV A penetrate not only glass but also clowds, causing direct damage to collagen and elastin. SPF protects skin against the tanning and burning. The SPF number indicates the ability of a sun protection product to filter out UVB rays. An SPF 15 will filter out approximately 93 % of UVB rays and SPF 30 will filter out around 96 %. An SPF 15 and SPF 30 are recommended in skincare for autum/winter and spring/summer period, respectively.
FaceWorkshops Case Study: Facial Massage & Exercise: Results in Photos
Her face looks softer and lifted, with improved definition. As she continues with her routine, the benefits will be even more apparent.
***
For more information about facial massage & exercise and or how to become a case study, please email info@faceworkshops.com
Ageing in Figures
According to Unilever research, these are the factors that bring about good ageing in 40 – 70 years old women.
In China
Less sun exposure – 2.9 years younger
Working indoors – 6.5 years younger
Pre-menopause – 3.5 years younger
Frequent use of moisturiser – 2.4 years younger
Frequent use of night cream – 2.4 years younger
In Spain
Eating fruit and veg every day – 2.1 years younger
Healthy diet – 1.8 years younger
Never using a sunbed – 5.7 years younger
Ever used HRT – 2.5 years younger
Frequent use of moisturiser – 2.8 years younger
Non smoker – 1.8 years younger
Falling asleep quickly – 2.5 years younger
Also in my practice – healthy lifestyle, lots of sleep and a good skincare routine accounts for 80 % of success in delaying skin ageing.
Famous Women on Beauty and Ageing: Quotations
In any culture, beauty has been about perfection but concepts of what constitutes “perfection” have changed over the centuries. As the population ages, it could well be that concepts of beauty will shift. We live at a time of great variety of age, gender, style, background, culture and attitude and contemplating beauty brings pleasure to each of us yet it comes in all shapes, colours and sizes.
Chic, Autentic and Natural
“Being an English person, and having lived in France for 40 years, I am not as nicely turned out as the French but I don’t care like the English.” Jane Birkin
“I never put my face in the sun. I am determined not to go the way of my contemporaries and get surgery. I have a lot of facials and take scrupulous care of my skin.” Joane Collins OBE
“Self image is a complicated thing. I campaign against cosmetic surgery because it a grave act in which you don’t necessarily foresee all the consequences. The people who have it are lacking in confidence.” Emmanuelle Beart, French acress by Matthew Campbell for Sunday times.
“The more healthily you live, the better you look. We still want to look like ourselves when we grow older. We lose our sensuality when we have surgery, it takes away a part of who you are. If you look after yourself and use good products, you won’t need surgery or any other intervention.” Sharon Stone for YOU, January 2012.
The Botox Lovers
“Botox, lasers and fillers have given us new control over ageing. Not by making us look younger but by slowing down how we age. Now, if you choose to, from your early to mid thirties you can enter a twilight zone of ageing in which you are in a reverse version of dog years – for every seven years you will only age one.” Newby Hands for Harpers Bazaar
“The psychological effects of Botox and fillers have been as profound as the physical – the elongation of the life span in which we can feel good about ourselves. Psychologically, women feel empowered by the knowledge that they have this as backup. This may have contributed to a more relaxed approach to ageing, women beginning to feel more comfortable in their own skin. We want to take care of ourselves but we do not mind a few wrinkles or few signs of ageing to show we have lived.” Betty Catroux for Harpers Bazaar
“You can get an instant snapshot of a woman’s character by looking at from whether she says yes or no to Botox… Just from that one apparently superficial decision…Botox lover likes to keep up appearances, is insecure to some extent in either in her relationship, social circle or work. She is competitive, keeps secrets from her partner, is a natural townie, on a diet of some sort, permanently, and not actively involved in the community. She does not have men friends, only admirers. She has women friends but the sort you meet for a glass of bubbly before shopping at the sales, not the sort you watch TV in bed with. She dresses for bed, exfoliates regularly. The un-Botoxed are brave. They will not be coerced – even by the threat of looking uglier than everyone around them – and that suggests a degree of courage as well as confidence.” Shane Watson for Sunday Times
And Going for Surgery
“Another facelift? I’ll do whatever’s required.” Anne Robinson for Sunday Times
The Science Of Facial Massage
I would like to highlight the benefits of facial massage to broader audience.
The Science Of Facial Massage – Benefits Beyond Beauty
It might be a cliche that facial massage leads to relaxation. But how does it work? I have looked into all that is known about the physical and psychological benefits brought about by a structured, deep and long facial massage.
We are getting older and feel the need to stay looking young with the best anti-ageing skincare products and therapies. Touch, as a human need, is vital for our emotional and physical health and the face is the most accessible part of the human body. Regular facial massage is a health affirming, anti-ageing therapy with significant benefits for both skin and our psyche. It is an alternative to Botox, which has been shown to impact negatively on our social communication by changing our emotional experience. By evoking in-the-moment positive emotions, facial massage contributes to our well-being and it is its psychological effect which provides the rationale for the physiological basis underlying mechanical stimulation.
In order to be effective, clinically proven anti-ageing treatments have to stimulate the production of new, non-fragmented and well-organised collagen and/or papillary reconstruction in order to improve the appearance of aged skin. It is well-known that body massage impacts on vital body signs by inducing a state of relaxation and has a positive effect on neurosis, stress, pain, anxiety and depression. Stress has been shown to play a role in the onset of skin ageing and deterioration by compromising the epidermal barrier function and impairing the inflammatory response.
Facial massage is a form of psychological intervention; a relaxation technique with music and focused attention to the massaged area of the face. Research confirms that stress management techniques lead to reduction of skin disease symptoms.
Having done massage treatments on a day-to-day basis, I am able to compare published research to my client’s experiences. For more information about my treatments, please go to www.faceworkshops.com
Facial Massage & Relaxation At Home
- It is a nice feeling to indulge in a relaxing afternoon with a scented candle or calming eye pads but making time for relaxation in our demanding day to day life is essential for our health. Goal setting and stressful, aggressive work environment changes our hormones (adrenaline, testosterone levels are higher) and this can have a negative impact on our skin. As 80 – 90 % of illnesses are stress related, relaxation should be an important part of our life.
- The main benefits of a facial massage are calming effect, increased blood and lymph flow, muscle relaxation and increase in endorphins that make us feel good.
- Start with massaging decollete, shoulders and neck with flat hands. Sweep upwards and outwards in a slow motion, use organic plant oil and remove it with a hot flannel. Invest time into massaging the areas prone to sagging (use your thumbs and index fingers) to increase blood flow and slow down the ageing process.
Choose the Right Oil
- Use light oil with sensual, smooth feel (not a sticky base) and pleasant aroma that transports you to a far away place.
- Dim your lights, wrap in warm towels, light a scented candle – breathe deeply and listen to relaxing music.
Inspired by Pure Beauty (October 2011).
Different Schools of Facial Exercise: The Expert View
My Facial Yoga Parties are introductory, light and fun. But if the participants want to progress, I usually recommend specific books or DVDs to exercise a distinct part of their face.
To give you more of an insight into the best schools of Facial Yoga, I have invited my first guest blogger whose expertise I regard highly, Lynn Rae, a facial posture & jaw realignment specialist. Lynn is based in London and here are her comments on the distinct ways of approaching Facial Yoga..
Lynn says:
Marja Putkisto Training – http://www.methodputkisto.com/uk
- I have trained with Marja Putkisto and worked alongside her for many years so I know and understand the Method Putkisto Face first hand.
- It is a whole body experience – the posture of the body and the position of the head upon the body are crucial to the work.
- It involves being aware of the face as a 3-dimensional structure and thinking from the inside- out – breathing, massage, stretching/releasing tight muscles in facial exercises, as well as a small amount of posture awareness and upper body releasing exercises.
- No mirrors are used for the exercises so changes are felt rather than seen, although a mirror is available to assess changes.
- The overall experience leaves you feeling energized, relaxed and the feeling that you have a new relationship with your face and a better understanding of its structure.
- The results are instant, you can see and feel that the face is more open and uplifted than before, with a great sense of mobility. Of course for the results to become permanent a course of classes is necessary. The programme is carried out one to one or in a group/ workshop format.
Eva Fraser Method – http://www.evafraser.com/
I have a colleague who has participated in the Eva Fraser method.
- From what I can gather, it is very precise and prescriptive with very specific exercises and repetitions. I think the main difference between the two methods is that this is carried out in front of a mirror and you watch rather than feel what is happening, the work is from the outside.
- Also the work is very much focused on the face and neck, rather than connecting it to the whole body.
- This is a beautifully organized and tried and tested programme with highly specific diagrams and an absolute knowledge of what is expected.
- The focus seems to be more on strengthening the lifting muscles of the face; although it plumps up the face, it doesn’t encourage mobility. The results happen over time as the muscles gain tone.
Yoga Face Method
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yoga-Face-Eliminate-Wrinkles-Anti-aging/dp/1583332774
- The exercises again are generally done in groups, which adds a lovely dynamic and energy. With breathing and meditation it can sometimes also be a full body experience.
- It is more about creating shapes with the face than precise exercises, which helps to release and strengthen the structure as well as encouraging mobility and fun.
In Summary:
You should choose a programme depending on what are the most important aspects to you.
- Knowledge of the face and its structure
- Release of muscular tension
- Relaxation
- Improved postural awareness
- Exercises and massage to do at home
- A feeling of the face being opened, uplifted and mobilized
- Fun approach so you will want to do it regularly
For more information about Lynn’s work and classes in London, please go to her LinkedIn profile
Ageing Face & Lifestyle
Bad Lifestyle Habits Impact on Your Facial Ageing
These photos speak for themselves. Drinking, smoking and junk food affect our appearance in the long-term. The 42-year-old freelance journalist Anna Magee worked with a forensic artist to create images of what she’d look like 10 years from now adopting different lifestyles. She admits to having cheek fillers and Botox injections in the past.
The three projected images show her face 10 years from now:
SMOKING
A survey of over 1,000 Yahoo! users found that only 28% of smokers admit to being addicted and dependent on cigarettes with 72% claiming “I choose when I smoke and can go without at any time.” 41% of the people ages 18-34 said they only smoke in a social setting, but if you want to avoid these nasty signs of aging, every cigarette may count. Fifty-six percent of people ages 18-34 said they smoke when drinking.
