“Taking the appropriate amount of essential fatty acids daily will help the skin from the inside as well; the very matrix that gives our skin its turgidity and “bounce”. If your client is patient and adheres to her or his home prescriptives as directed, they will see the crepe veil lifting and a firmer and tighter body skin appearing.”
It is summer in the USA and as I am writing this by my pool in the heat of the noon sun, I am recalling the various people I have observed lately who have “chicken skin” on their arms, thighs, decolletage and legs, desperately trying to cover it all with deeper and deeper tans!
Sadly, this only enhances the crepeyness through solar lipofucin and degradation of collagen and elastin fibres. For a long time and up until now, the clumsy approach to removing this, outside of actual surgery, was to peel, peel and peel. Exfoliation of any kind merely removes superficial cuticle (dead cells) and does nothing for the infrastructure of the lower epidermis or the matrix of the skin itself. Certainly a certain amount of exfoliation is necessary to keep the top of the skin relatively smooth feeling, but despite doing this and applying lavish amounts of moisturiser (that film stars always advise when asked about their beauty secrets) the loose skin remains, turning to ripples and puckered tissue when you move your arms or legs a certain way!
There are protocols that can strengthen this type of condition and actually build up tissue, but it takes several weeks and a lot of commitment on behalf of the client regarding their home use products. Despite the time element, this is the only way I have ever seen that actually tightens loose skin outside of serious surgery (which leaves scars to deal with).
First of all, some cell removal, through clinically applied ingredients, must be addressed. We know acids and alkaline can remove a lot of skin cells quickly – depending upon the pH factor you wish to employ. In cases of follicultis, skin tags and lentigos a course of alkaline removal treatments is the advised first step. This would be followed by two to three weeks (depending on sensitivity of the client) of a special blend of acids and retinoids that would open the door to the skin strengthening process. Alkaline-based treatments operate on a very high pH factor, quickly desquamating not only dead skin cells, but impacted follicles, excessive hair and the “higher”areas of lentigos, those raised up-looking hyper-pigmentation spots usually seen on older clients (make sure that any irregularity observed on these is first examined by a dermatologist)
A careful blend of alpha hydroxy acids mixed in various proportions with an equally precise blend of retinoids and beta carotenes can be applied by sweeping generous amounts of the mixture over large areas of the body in one go.
Unfortunately the industry has made a great hullabaloo over each of these mediums, pitting them against each other as the “best way to peel skin”. Many companies tout the benefits of AHAs and BHAs as being superior to any other method of removal. Others scoff at this as being dated and dehydrative to the skin and claim retinoids are safer and better as a “peeling” or cell turnover protocol.
Both camps are partially right and mostly wrong. Each method has totally different chemical actions in the skin although both are keratolytic (hence the controversy; sunburn peels the skin off too, but leaves behind compromised cell DNA damage forever!)
Alpha hydroxy acids are good for swelling excess dead cells on the skin like little balloons overfilled with water; as the cells burst they detach from the surface. By their nature, AHAs are hygroscopic and their action pulls any moisture or fluids in the epidermis up into the dead cell which eventually overfills and explodes. This is OK for certain controlled and therapistmonitored treatments, but frequent application can dehydrate the life out of the skin! Frequency can also over-thin the skin making it more susceptible to sun damage and hyper pigmentation.
Retinoids are double-edged swords. Vitamin A is totally essential for skin cell health and longevity – in certain amounts. Too little vitamin A and the cell suffers; too much, and there are contraindications and an even more aged-looking skin. Fortunately nature has provided the skin cells with specific receptors “labeled” for each co-enzyme and vitamin (except C who can go anywhere and is not toxic at overload levels) and only so much vitamin A can be absorbed into the cell anyway. But constant overload can create contraindications. Beta carotene, which is only derived from plants, is not toxic at any level and only becomes vitamin A (retinol) once in the skin, where the enzymatic conversion takes place.
The best thing about vitamin A is that it actually creates new fibroblast cells, those little factories in the skin that are responsible for producing new collagen through an amino acid/peptide chain stimulated by vitamin C!
Common sense and a lot of clinical trials showed us that when you combine well- formulated AHA compounds and retinoid blends together and apply this blend to crepe- ridden tissue, something extraordinary takes place…
First of all the client will resemble a red-gold lobster! This is due to the high colouration in beta carotene, staining the surface cuticle much like fake tan products do.
On or around the third day, some epilating of tissue takes place. This will increase in a “sheeting’ action with old skin falling away over the next several days. It is important to realize that this is the time to get the skin firming and strengthening as the old, redundant corneum drops away. Beta glucan products (preferably in serum form) are essential here. This polysaccharide group from yeast cell wall extracts will build up the skin’s immune system immediately, stimulating the Langerhans cells. Following this, ascorbic acid serums are vital. Retinoids are already providing more fibroblast activity and vitamin C is the precursor to new and fresh collagen made by these cells that will strengthen the infrastructure of loose and slack skin. Think of a lot of new collagen factories without a boss. Vitamin C is the boss!
“I have always firmly believed that skin has “cell memory” or a metabolism like our bodies do regarding white and brown adipose tissue (fats) and with this type of treatment, it appears to “snap back”, becoming firmer and fuller in texture like it was when we were very young.”
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding vitamin C over the years and ironically despite my many articles on the subject – it continues to rage on. The internet is packed with products crammed with vitamin C, and each product line offers a “superior form of C” and “higher percentages” up to 10 per cent!
Here is the truth:
- Ascorbic acid (vit.C) in its plain, molecular complete form, just plain – is no different from any other form of ascorbic acid as far as the skin and body is concerned. It IS unstable and denatures quickly when exposed to oxygen.
- The “stabilised” versions of C are modified to last longer as far as potency goes but the modification weakens them. (ascorbyl magnesium phosphate for example)
- Blending them all seems to maintain strength and longevity of power.
- The latest “designer C”, ascorbyl glucosidal, is no better than any other form of C; I have used it for a very long time simply because it handles a wider range of pH changes in formulations. This is all that makes it different.
- Any combination of vitamin C over five percent in any product would be chemically impossible to package in a jar or bottle. It would bubble over at any temperature change and become highly unstable very quickly. I know this from personal experience from years ago in research and practice. It is something all intelligent chemists know, but it appears that marketers seldom talk to chemists!
- The skin basically absorbs only about three per cent vitamin C anyway, at any given application (and this of course, depends upon the delivery system of the product, the potency of the ascorbic acid, temperature of the skin and other variables. This is why religious application during the aforementioned treatment time is essential).
After the serums containing beta glucan and vitamin C are applied, a topical trans-epidermal crème loaded with antioxidants, proteins and co-enzymes have to be applied over the serums to not only occlude them with lipids, but to provide those ingredients as “skin food” to the tissue. At some point after several days, circulation and detox treatments with full body enzyme masks are to be performed to get the “plasmatic” action going on the capillaries – which in turn rush fresh oxygen from the lungs to the mitochondria of each skin cell – renewing it and creating an environment that allows the cell to perform at optimal levels. I have always firmly believed that skin has “cell memory” or a metabolism like our bodies do regarding white and brown adipose tissue (fats) and with this type of treatment, it appears to “snap back”, becoming firmer and fuller in texture like it was when we were very young.
Taking the appropriate amount of essential fatty acids daily will help the skin from the inside as well; the very matrix that gives our skin its turgidity and “bounce”. If your client is patient and adheres to her or his home prescriptives as directed, they will see the crepe veil lifting and a firmer and tighter body skin appearing. Rhino knees smooth out, underarm “flaps” firm up and inner thighs renew their clutch! A side benefit to this type of protocol is that a lot of annoying hyper-pigmented “spots” vanish or fade as well – especially if you put them on a spot treatment inhibitor programme at the same time.
Is this permanent? No. Nothing is. But it is maintainable and can be repeated many times during a client’s lifetime. And isn’t that the whole point of dedicated treatment in the first place – quality of life!