Romy Simone: Cosmetic Acupuncture | Los Angeles |

Did you know that most people exfoliate their face too much?

romysimone — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:35:40 +0000

Are you one of those cleanser junkies? D you have about 8 different skin care products that you use on a daily basis to clean, tone, moisturize and exfoliate your face? Well then you should read this article. I am going to focus only on exfoliating products here. More is better is useful in some situations, but when it comes to your face, less is more. The skin is extremely delicate and thin. As we get older, that skin gets even thinner and thus even more delicate. That is why we commonly see that after the age of 30, the grey areas under the eyes begin to show, the pores begin to become noticeable and rosacea becomes quite common. On the market today, most and almost all products for exfoliating are way too harsh for the skin. It is like waxing your car with sand instead of a gentle and minimal product. No matter what skin type you have, you have to be gentle with the way you exfoliate, what to use and how often. Once a week is too much. On average, once or twice a month is maximum, and many patients find that once every other month suffices.

A great food based item that you can use is oat flour. Since it is a food, you don’t ever have to worry about any strange chemicals that may affect your health or give you skin sensitivities. The key to exfoliating is to do more of a gentle massage with the flour. The flow of blood that comes to the face creates great circulation to the skin. The skin sheds automatically and does not need your help on a constant basis. The more you do, the less the body does. You do not want this to happen because then the body relies on you to do it’s work rather than you allowing the body to do what it does best….take care of you.

Gender And Wrinkles

romysimone — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 23:13:27 +0000

Women tend to develop more wrinkles around their mouths than men do. This is likely due to the fact that women have fewer sweat glands. Also, fewer sebaceous glands that secrete oily sebum to lubricate the skin. Along with this there tends to be fewer blood vessels in this area too.

Decreases in the number of blood vessels available to supply the skin with needed nutrients also increases dryness of skin, which increases the appearance of wrinkles. Also, there is a decrease in the body’s androgen levels. The actual size of the sebaceous glands decreases and their secretion activity slows down.

Facial Muscle Use And Wrinkles

romysimone — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:49:37 +0000

Habitual facial expressions cause the skin to wrinkle as it looses elasticity. Frown lines between the eyebrows and crows feet radiating from the corners of the eyes are mostly affected. Wrinkles thus develop as the tiny muscles in those areas permanently contract.

It is a good thing to be aware of the frowning that occurs a lot when we are in stressful situations. It is this repetitive reaction that is done that trains the skin to leave its mark after some time. Usually, patients wake up one day and notice a wrinkle on their face that was not there yesterday. What really happened was that there had been this gradual imprint so slightly growing, that was not noticed in those many years of formation prior.

Nutrition And Wrinkles

romysimone — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 01:40:09 +0000

Poor nutrition which creates deficiencies in the body are directly linked to skin aging. In this hustle and bustle society, especially in big cities like Los Angeles, people seldom take the time to prepare healthy meals at home. This is due to the high-paced and stressed environment.

This is why it is important to make sure you are eating plenty of fresh veggies and fruits which contain antioxidants. These help fight free radical damage and pollutants. Selenium and vitamins A, C and E are essential. Grape seed extract, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ginkgo biloba are powerful plant-based antioxidants.

Also known to help prevent wrinkles are MSM, primrose oil, silica, calcium, magnesium, flaxseed oil and glucosamine sulfate. Again, most of these are found in a variety of fruits and veggies.

Hormones And Wrinkles

romysimone — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 01:28:18 +0000

We all experience the hormones that change in our bodies throughout our lives. As far as the skin, the hormones have an effect on it as we age. It is likely that there are skin changes as a result of the hormonal effects of menopause and/or decreased estrogen production.

There are many experiments studied which show this lack of estrogen to cause a decrease in collagen levels of 2% per year and a decrease in skin thickness of 1% per year. It is also believed that levels of DHEA significantly decrease as we age, thereby directly impacting our natural levels of female and male hormones. Cortisol is a hormone that is involved in the effects of aging on the body, including thinning of the skin. It increases when we are stressed out. If stress and cortisol levels remain elevated for long periods of time, that thinning skin may result in wrinkles.

Gravity and Wrinkles

romysimone — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 02:19:29 +0000

Gravity holds your feet down to the ground because the mass of the planet exerts a gravitational pull on the mass of your body. Every time you jump, you experience gravity. It pulls you back down to the ground. Without gravity, you’d float off into the atmosphere.? So how does gravity relate to facial skin? The older we get, the more gravity weighs upon us. So slightly over the years the skin begins to sag until one day you notice a big change of skin hanging below your jaw. It is the effects of gravity which make the loosening of the skin more apparent as skin sags more. This causes jowls.

Free Radicals And Wrinkles

romysimone — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 01:08:50 +0000

We hear about free radical damage to the skin frequently. So what exactly is a free radical? A free radical is a reactive atom created in our skin as a result of ultraviolet rays exposure of the sun. Free radicals cause cell inflammation and damages collagen, the protein that helps give skin its structure.

A free radical is an atom with a negative charge which is not ideal since it prefers to be neutral. They form very frequently in organisms that breathe oxygen, like us. We have some natural defenses against these free radicals by our bodies producing superoxide dismutase, a protein that helps repair cells damaged by free radicals as well as detoxification of them. Yet, this is not enough to protect against all the damage that sun-related free radicals cause to our skin. Unfortunately damage is done to cell function and genetic material may be damaged.

Sun Damage And Wrinkles

romysimone — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 00:45:11 +0000

It has been shown through test after test that ninety percent of the signs of the aging of your skin results from the sun and not from chronological aging. As an example, just compare the skin that has been protected from the sun, as in your gluteus(butt) or the underside of your arm to that which is exposed to the sun, like your face and neck. The gluteus(butt) skin will have no signs of aging, while the face will have lines, wrinkles and sagging skin.

Exposure to ultraviolet light, such as UV radiation speeds up the natural aging process and causes premature wrinkling. Exposure to UV light breaks down your skin’s connective tissue — collagen and elastin fibers, which lie in the deeper layer of skin. Without this tissue, your skin loses strength and flexibility. This is what creates the early signs of wrinkles.

Photo-damage is another name for sun damage and again the harmful ultraviolet rays cause much harm to the skin and its appearance. As we are exposed to the sun, our skin’s collagen and elastin break down and healthy cell production is impaired.

Aging And Wrinkles

romysimone — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 00:42:28 +0000

As you get older, your skin naturally becomes more delicate and less elastic. There is less production of natural oils that makes your skin drier and appear more wrinkled. Fat in the deeper layers of your skin starts to produce less frequently, which diminishes the plump appearance of the skin. This creates lines and crevices as well as loose and saggy skin.

Also with age, the epidermal cells become flimsy and less sticky. These thin cells then make the skin look paper thin. The barrier function of the skin, which allows moisture to be released instead of being kept in the skin, is lessened. This also causes dryness. There is a drop in the number of epidermal cells by 10% every 10 years and they start dividing more slowly, which makes the skin less able to repair itself quickly.