Are you damaging your skin when exercising?

Posted on by Candy Langan RN

Anne turned 50 recently and decided it was finally time to get in shape. Membership to the local gym was a delightful gift from her husband Bill. After starting her exercise routine, Anne asked me if working out was causing her adult acne. She wrote, “My goal was to look better not worse! Please help me out.”

Many people notice that exercise perspiration causes not only their face to break out, but their body to show pimples, acne, and bumps as well. Science no longer believes that sweating cleans your pores but that it actually causes your pores to become blocked and grow bacteria. This red inflammation is called a pimple.

Anne can follow a few simple guidelines to resolve this situation before it becomes a major problem. Problems could potentially include permanent acne scaring and an increase in lines and wrinkles, as well as an unsightly complexion.

Here are three tips to use to make sure your workout routine does not damage or ruin your skin.

1. NO MAKEUP AT THE GYM

Unlike, her 20 or 30 year old workout partners, Anne always arrived at the gym well groomed, which meant makeup. The first recommendation is to start your workout with a clean face. That’s easy in the morning but what about the days you go after work? No excuses! You must wash your face thoroughly before beginning your workout. An easy trick is to simply wipe the face down with Academy’s Acne Control-10 if you can’t wash.

2. EXERCISE IN MODERATIONyoga

Everything in moderation! Unless your goal is to train for a triathlon, I like moderate exercise including Pilates and yoga. I’ve always believed excessive jogging and fat burning does created an aging, sickly looking face. Fortunately, for those who have abused their faces with extremes, we can offer solutions such as non-permanent fillers and Academy medical based skin care products.

3. CLEAN YOUR BODY AND CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES IMMEDIATELY

Always take a cool shower, shampoo your hair, and change your clothes as soon as possible after exercising. Remember to rinse the conditioner out of your hair thoroughly before washing your face and body. The residue of the conditioner could be affecting your skin. Use Academy’s Gentle Facial Cleanser to cleanse thoroughly and calm your facial skin. Pat dry and wait one minute before applying Academy Hydrolight Plus 15 to prevent breakouts. In the presence of active breakouts, use Acne Control-10 instead.

Also, if your exercising brings you outdoors you’ll be wearing a hat and sunscreen, both of which may cause you to breakout. Sweating under your hat for long periods of time is a likely culprit of clogged pores. Remove your hat as soon as possible and wipe quickly with Academy’s Acne Control when water is unavailable.

Take less than 10 minutes to practice these easy steps to guarantee your face will look as healthy as your body feels.

Why You Don’t Need Eye Cream

Posted on by Candy Langan RN

The first place we start to show age is around our eyes. Because we become desperate, eye creams have become one of the most popular gimmicky cosmetic products advertised today.

The eyeball is actually surrounded by fat and a thin muscle holds the fat back into place. When the muscle weakens through age or genetics, the fat becomes “bags” under your eyes. These “fat bags” cannot be reduced by topical chemicals, skin care creams, or under eye rollers & massage. The best way to correct this problem is with a surgical procedure called a blepharoplasty, either through a skin incision made under the eyelashes or through an invisible incision made on the inside of the lower lid.

So, let’s talk about what we should do to slow down the aging process of our eyes. First, let’s not forget that our eyelid skin is thin and delicate. Both our epidermal (outer layer) and our dermal (inner alive layer) are equally delicate. Remember our goal in medical skin care is to decrease the dead outer layer and increase the alive inner layer. This reversal is what anti-aging skin care is all about.

With this understanding, it makes sense to apply your Academy by Candy HydroLight Plus-15 to your eyelids. But how? Simply, massage a small amount of crème over your entire face and neck and use the remaining bit both under and over your eyelids.

Voila. This will help tighten the area around your eyes.

What is Collagen? And is putting it on your face working?

Posted on by Candy Langan RN

What is Collagen? Why are there so many skin care products formulated with Collagen?

Let’s take a look at what Collagen really is and why it plays such an important role in keeping our skin looking youthful.

What is Collagen?

Collagen is a protein part of the connective tissue that helps the skin maintain firmness, suppleness, and elasticity.

As we age, the outer layer (or keratin layer) of the epidermis becomes thick, clumpy, irregular, flaky, and dull looking. Conversely, the live (or dermal layer) becomes thin, losing its Collagen and elasticity. When skin loses Collagen, it wrinkles. When skin loses elasticity, it sags.

Can you apply Collagen to your face for results?

With these proven facts, it seems logical to assume that actually applying Collagen to our skin would help reverse some of this aging process, right?

Guess what? It doesn’t! Yet, many cosmetic companies continue to imply that their Collagen-filled skin care products can achieve this anti-aging miracle.

Real Talk

So what’s the real truth? The truth is that by the time we are 30, we will have lost about 30% of our skin’s collagen and elastin, creating wrinkling and sagging. (And as we age, that percentage obviously goes up.)

What can we do to boost Collagen? (AKA look younger!)

Reversing this damage can be achieved by stimulating, or smacking, new Collagen and elastin cells into regenerating.

Products must contain ingredients which are molecularly small enough to penetrate deep into the skin where these collagen cells live. (Those skincare products on the market today contain large molecules of Collagen that are impossible to penetrate your skin.) In addition, these ingredients must be formulated strong enough to smack and reawaken these very important cells.

Glycolic Acid, if formulated correctly and used consistently, is the most effective way to prevent, slow down, and even reverse the aging process of the skin. The key phrase here though is “formulated correctly.”

Always ask questions and study the ingredients of your skincare products. You’re likely wasting your money on products that don’t work.

Strength Matters: Why You Need to Know More About Ingredients in Your Skincare Products

Posted on by Candy Langan RN

How much do you know about the strength and quantity of the ingredients in your skincare products?

Sure, you may read articles that tell you what ingredients to look for, but what about how much of that ingredient is in the product? Or what other ingredients are in that product that may counteract it?

A study reported from Italy titled “A Prospective Study of Anti-Aging topical therapies using a Quantitative Method of Assessment” concluded that the value of “unbuffered” ( low pH) Glycolic Acid has been verified and scientifically substantiated to be more beneficial compared to Vitamins A, C, E, Coenzyme Q10, Lipoic acid, Hyaluronic Acid, Kinerase, and Pyruvic Acid.

Why?

Because the antioxidant Glycolic Acid, in its proper strength, has the smallest molecular size, enabling it to penetrate the skin the deepest, rendering it the most effective!

Another study performed on burn patients proved that Glycolic Acid decreased the healing time by 50%. Once again, proving that the antioxidant Glycolic Acid not only protects against free-radical damage, but stimulates new cellular growth faster than any other skin care ingredient.

Be mindful however that the FDA study indicated that all ingredients are not equal. The strength of these products vary dramatically by not only percent but even more importantly by pH.

More is not always better. Here at Academy by Candy, we are always open and honest about the strength of our Glycolic Acid. We use 15% unbuffered Glycolic Acid with a pH of 1.5 in our products. This is why our customers get the best results. (In-office Glycolic Peels are 70% unbuffered Glycolic Acid with 0.5 pH.)

Strength Matters: Why You Need to Know More About Ingredients in Your Skincare Products

Posted on by Candy Langan RN

How much do you know about the strength and quantity of the ingredients in your skincare products?

Sure, you may read articles that tell you what ingredients to look for, but what about how much of that ingredient is in the product? Or what other ingredients are in that product that may counteract it?

A study reported from Italy titled “A Prospective Study of Anti-Aging topical therapies using a Quantitative Method of Assessment” concluded that the value of “unbuffered” (aka: low pH) Glycolic Acid has been verified and scientifically substantiated to be more beneficial compared to: Vitamins A, C, E, Coenzyme Q10, Lipoic acid, Hyaluronic Acid, Kinerase and Pyruvic Acid.

Why?

Because the antioxidant Glycolic Acid, in its proper strength, has the smallest molecular size, enabling it to penetrate the skin the deepest, rendering it the most effective!

Another study performed on burn patients proved that Glycolic Acid decreased the healing time by 50%. Once again, proving that the antioxidant Glycolic Acid not only protects against free-radical damage, but stimulates new cellular growth faster than any other skin care ingredient.

Be mindful however that the FDA study indicated that all ingredients are not equal. The strength of these products vary dramatically by not only percent but even more importantly by pH.

More is not always better. Here at Academy by Candy, we are always open and honest about the strength of our Glycolic Acid. We use 10% unbuffered Glycolic Acid with a pH of 1.5 in our products. This is why our customers get the best results. (In-office Glycolic Peels are 70% unbuffered Glycolic Acid with 0.5 pH.)