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Happy
New Year!
Whether you start your New
Year at the beginning of January or ring it in on
February 7th as the Year of the Rat, we hope everyone
had a nice holiday and are ready to get back with
gusto! In January we make resolutions and take actions
to improve our lives. It is no surprise that the gyms
are full and there are more folks making the effort to
be active in hopes of keeping their resolutions.
Happy
Spa Puppies
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It is also a great time to
take care your skin during what are the driest months
of the winter.
Rejuvenating Facial Therapy
We offer $5.00 off the
first three
appointments
booked!!
So
call in to book your facial!!
It is also the
perfect time to illuminate
your skin and remove
Sun damage with Laser treatments and
IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) therapy.
After the holidays, it might
seem like a long haul until spring but the best way to
get through it is to take care of yourself and have a
little fun!!
This month we will talk
about the ten best tips to avoid dry skin, introduce
Jennifer and investigate some ways to beat the "winter
blues".
In this
issue:
· Dry
Skin & Winter Itch - 10 Cold Weather
Options
· Introducing
Jennifer!!
· Beating the
"Winter Blues"
· In the
Background
Dry Skin & Winter Itch - 10
Cold Weather Options
If you're reading this
newsletter at your home in Miami Beach, you can
probably skip this message. Go out and bask in the
warm, moist air (with you sun block, right?). Give
your skin a good drink of tropical humidity. Enjoy
yourself. Have a nice day!
Okay, now that
they're gone, the rest of us can get down to the
business of keeping our skin from flaking off in a
bunch of little piles while we scratch away the
remaining months until spring. Yes, those of us who
live in cold, dry climates--where the forced-air
heater runs day and night--are the ones who know the
agony of dry skin and winter itch.
Well, what to do about
it? Easy.
Turn down the heat and move to Florida. Can't move?
Then at least turn down the heat; that's a big step
along the path to healthier winter skin. There are
plenty more steps you can take, and we've listed many
of them here. They all follow one basic premise,
however, and it's this:
Dryness results from a
lack of water in your skin--not oil. Keep that in mind
as you read this and as you go about your daily
routine this winter, and your skin will thank you for
it.
Don't try
to drink dryness away. Many beauty books and
glamour magazines rec ommend
drinking "at least seven or eight glasses of water per
day" to keep the skin hydrated and prevent dryness.
Don't believe it.
"If you're totally
dehydrated, your skin will become dry," says Kenneth
Neldner, M.D., a professor and chairman of the
Department of Dermatology at the Texas Tech University
Health Sciences Centre School of Medicine. "But if you
are normally hydrated, you cannot possibly counteract
or correct dry skin by drinking water."
?SPAN
class=style18>Put water where it counts. "The
best way to get water into the skin is by soaking in
it," says Hillard H. Pearlstein, M.D., assistant
clinical professor of dermatology at the Mount Sinai
School of Medicine in New York City. He recommends
(and so do I)a 15-minute soak in lukewarm water, not
hot water. And forget the notion that you should bathe
every day. The rule of thumb for dry skin is: Bathe
less and use cooler water.
Lubricate the
skin. Follow each bath with a
moisturizer. The tendency is for all the moisture that
soaked into the skin to evaporate. If you bathe
frequently, a moisturizer is doubly important. The
moisturizer is what holds the water in.
Many
think the reason for applying moisturizers is to put
oil back into the skin, but that's not totally
true. Just
remember that dry skin is a function of water loss,
not of oil loss.
Everybody
knows how easy it is to cut the toenails or
fingernails after they've been in water. That's a good
example of hydration, of what happens to the skin when
you bathe. Moisturizers applied after the bath help
keep water in the skin and therefore prevent
drying.
Dry yourself damp--then stop.
It's much more effective to apply moisturizer to damp
skin immediately after bathing than to put it on
totally dry skin.
That's not to say you have to
hop from the tub or shower soaking wet and immediately
apply lotion. But a couple of pats with a towel will
make you as dry as you want to be before you apply the
lotion. You're trying to trap a little water in the
skin, and that's the fundamental rule of fighting off
dryness.
Don't get greased
by ad hype. Nothing beats plain petroleum jelly
or mineral oil as a moisturizer. NOT!! Some of you have seen the
cracker in the mineral oil we have here in the clinic.
It's been in?there petrified for 8 years!! The cracker
on the inside is bone dry as the oil leeches any
moisture it had and prevents any from getting in. I
recommend a rich cream with natural oils and
ingredients.
We just happen
to have one!! Unscented $14 Scented $16 for 250ml
(8oz)
Use oatmeal
to heal. Some researchers believe people first
discovered the skin-soothing effects of oatmeal nearly
4,000 years ago. Many folks are still discovering it
today. Oatmeal can work in the bath as a soothing
agent. Just pour 2 cups of colloidal oatmeal (like
Aveeno, available at pharmacies) into a tub of
lukewarm water. The term colloidal simple means the
oatmeal has been ground to find powder that will
remain suspended in water.
You can also use
oatmeal as a soap substitute. Tie some colloidal
oatmeal in a handkerchief, dunk if in water, squeeze
out the excess water, and use as you would a normal
washcloth.
 Select super fatted
soaps. Most soap has lye in it and while lye is
great for cleaning, it's very irritating to dry skin.
People with dry skin should avoid strong soaps such as
Dial or Ivory. Superfatted soaps have extra amounts of
fatty substances--lanolin, cocoa butter, coconut oil,
-- are added during the manufacturing process.
We have a wonderful shower
gel with no lye that gently cleanses the skin.
$6.50 120ml scented $6.00
(unscented)
Don't soap as often. There's
nothing therapeutic about soap. We in Canada (my
opinion) are the great over washed, over deodorized
society, and we as Clinicians see more problems from
the overuse of soap than we ever do from the lack of
it.
If it's not dirty, don't wash
it.
 Let a
humidifier help. Part of the problem with dry
skin and itching is dry heat in the wintertime.
Furnace-heated air can reduce the humidity level
inside your house to 10 percent or less, whereas 30 to
40 percent is closer to ideal for keeping moisture in
your skin. For that reason, experts all recommend the
use of humidifiers during those dry winter months--but
with a caution.
Many think that if they put a
humidifier in their place, that'll take care of it but
? humidifiers are like air conditioners--you would
really need a huge unit to do the whole house.
However, if you put a smaller unit next to your bed,
that can help.
If you put a humidifier in your
bedroom be sure you close the door to keep moisture
in. And keep out those night critters!
Keep it cool. One good way to
combat winter itch is as easy as reaching for your
thermostat and turning it down. Keeping your house on
the cool side in the winter might help not only your
skin but also the environment. That's because cool air
has an anaesthetic effect--it makes your skin feel
good. When you heat your house too much it makes blood
vessels dilate, and when blood vessels dilate, the
itch/tingle cycle begins. When you cool skin, either
by cool water or cool air, it feels good and skin
tends to be less itchy if you keep it on the cool
side.
 With these tips, you can
avoid those expensive trips to those tropical places
and keep your skin
moist!!
Cheers, Kristie
 Introducing Jennifer
Smidt
Our Christmas
angel joined us in December to help with those little
details that help make your experience at Enhance
Studio that much nicer. Jenn is a local who moved away
to find the "bright lights", and found that things are
just bright enough here in the Okanagan when she moved
back.
Kristie was Jenn's instructor when she
was taking her training in
Clinical Esthetics. They
developed a working relationship while in school that
has carried into the Stud?o. We are certainly glad to
have her!
Beating the
"Winter Blues"
If you are reading this
newsletter from one of the sunnier climates down
south, the chances are that you won't be troubled much
by this phenomenon. For the rest of us who stay in the
Okanagan and the northern climates through the months
of January, February and March, can be affected by the
"Winter Blues". Winter blues, seasonal affective
disorder, S.A.D -- no matter what you call it, it can
make you feel dull and lethargic, irritable and
depressed, for almost half of every year. The
following are some tips to help, if you can't fly
south for the winter.
1.
Phototherapy, or bright light therapy, has
proven very effective. Ask about the use of
fibro-optic pads taped to the backs of the knees.
2. Get outside, go
for a walk or do some light exercise when the weather
permits, especially on sunny days.
3. Reduce the stress in your
life.
4. Increase the
light in your house. Make sure windows are
uncovered, and use larger bulbs or fluorescent lights.
5. Have a brighter
house. Paint walls light colors. Get a light
colored carpet.
6. Reduce
fats. Eat lighter meals that are low in
carbohydrates, especially sugar and sugary foods..
7. Talk to your
doctor about the use of vitamin B12 and
melatonin supplements and ask for suggestions about
medications you might try.
8. Watch your diet and get as much
exercise as you can manage to keep your weight
down.
Other
Tips:
1. Don't let the blues get you down.
Winter does end and spring does return.
2.
Don't overtax yourself or become discouraged when you
aren't able to accomplish the things you can do in the
summer.
3. Best tip of all: If you can manage
it, take a winter holiday every year in someplace warm
and sunny.
In the
Background
Happy
New Year!
Thanks everyone for the
emails and suggestions to resolve the heath issues
that have been plaguing me. I never realized that
there was such a wealth of knowledge out there, or
that so many folks were willing to help!! Thank you
all.
Luckily, a combination of
"medical science", natural science, some of the
suggestions and just plain time have me back on the
road to health.
I look forward to getting back into
the swing of things this year with enthusiasm and
joyous abandon!
Some of you may have noticed
that Kristie or Jennifer have been filling out
paperwork as you come in for your appointments. It may
seem a bit redundant to those of you who have been
clients of Enhance Studio for years, but Lynn and
Kristie have very different methods of keeping
records. Lynn had total faith in the computer and had
very little paperwork in "hardcopy". Kristie on the
other hand, likes some paperwork that is easily
accessible when the computer is not. (You know this
happens) This way we have all the bases covered. Thank
you for your patience as we keep everything up to date
and flowing.
2008 looks to be starting
off on a high note. The year of the Rat was looked
upon in ancient times to be a year of material
prosperity and of spiritual changes. I look forward to
sharing it with you.
Namaste,
Shannan |
