Men’s Health Awareness Month

June is Men’s Health Awareness Month. Skin is the largest organ in the body, but men's skin health in particular needs more attention. Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, is one of only three cancers with an increasing mortality rate for men. Within melanoma cases, young men account for 40 percent of cases, but more than 60 percent of deaths. In fact, from ages 15-39, men are 55 percent more likely to die of melanoma than women in the same age group. According to a study done by the Skin Cancer Foundation, nearly 1 in 2 men surveyed said they had not applied sunscreen in the past 12 months, and only 32 percent considered themselves very knowledgeable on how to properly use it. Skin health isn’t just about protecting against skin cancers, it is also about getting your skin as fit as you can. Give your skin a workout with cardio, ...

Myth: Using Collagen Creams Will Firm the Skin

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Today, we are going to address a very common myth: collagen creams that claim to firm the skin. Unfortunately, the collagen molecule is too large to penetrate the skin, and even if it could, applying collagen does not produce more collagen. Collagens creams can be good moisturizers, but to get any collagen benefits, the skin needs to produce it itself. Collagen is the infrastructure of the skin that gives it fullness and form. As we age, the skin's ability to produce collagen on its own diminishes as a result of slowed cell production and sun exposure. Stimulating the skin to increase new cell production can result in increased collagen and firmer denser skin. Glycolic AHA in concentrations of 15% or higher, when applied to the skin, creates pathways from the epidermis to the dermis (where collagen is formed). When the dermis is stimulated it causes the functional activation of fibroblasts (needed ...

Melanoma & Skin Cancer Awareness Month

May is Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month. For many, May is just the beginning of a long summer, filled with days spent at the beach or lake, lounging by the pool, or out at sporting events in the sun. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of getting a tan, but are those compliments on your “vacation glow” worth all of the risks and consequences of UV exposure? Luckily, sunless tanners have continued to improve over the last few years, so it is as easy to safely achieve that bronzed glow as it is to put on lotion. But even if you have started religiously applying sunscreen and taking precautions to limit your sun exposure, you still need to be on the lookout for warning signs of skin cancer. Here are some important prevention steps and warning signs: SPF 15+ should be used every single day. Whether you are outdoors, ...

Sunless Tanners — How do They Work?

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Although many people still desire a suntan, we now understand just how damaging exposure to the sun can be. Repeated sun exposure greatly increases skin wrinkling and may even lead to skin cancers. Adding wrinkles while trying to improve appearance is obviously counterproductive and has led to the popularity of so-called sunless tanning products. The active ingredient in sunless tanners is the compound dihydroxyacetone (DHA). DHA is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in externally applied cosmetics intended to impart color to the skin. A three-carbon sugar, DHA reacts with amino groups in the proteins of the top layer of the skin, called the stratum corneum (SC). The first step is known as the Maillard reaction, the same process that leads to the caramelization of sugars and the browning of bread. Sunless tans do not absorb ultraviolet light in the range that causes sunburn. They therefore do not protect ...

Brighten Up!

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  Brightening Serum from Skin Authority on Vimeo. You know I love to share my tips about the one product that I can't live without, that always has to be in my bag. For me, that is definitely the Skin Authority Brightening Serum. The editors at Shape Magazine agreed with me because they voted it Best New Product! What makes this product so amazing and the go-to product that you need in your bag is that we combine three very powerful technologies into one formulation that makes an easy, single-step you can do to lighten, brighten, tighten, and even out your skin tone. So how do we do that? First, we tackle that red, inflamed, blotchy surface of the skin with a very advanced oligopeptide that calms inflammation, brings down the redness, and has an anti-inflammatory, soothing effect on the skin. We add to that a natural melanin disruptor using Alpha Arbutin to tackle ...

Reading Ingredient Listings on Skin Care Product Labels

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Questions answered by Celeste Hilling Why does every skin care product contain a list of two-dozen or more ingredients?  What are the common ingredients every skin care product contains? Today, most products are expected to: Be multipurpose (i.e. sunscreen moisturizer, shampoo/conditioner in 1, etc); Have a long shelf life; Be cosmetically pleasing (needs to apply smoothly, not change color, smell nice, etc). To meet these requirements, most formulations include several key ingredient families: Humectants, Emollients, Occlusives, Protein (Plumping) Agents, Surfactants and Preservatives. Humectants are used to draw moisture up to the surface layers of the skin. Common humectants ingredients are: AHAs, Glycerin, Glycerol, Elastin, Methyl Gluceth-20, Ceramide, Propylane Glycol, Lecithin, PEG-20, Urea, Sorbitol, Lanolin, Panthenol Vitamin B-5, Ceramide. Emollients create the feeling of smooth skin by lubricating or filling the cracks in the skin. Common emollients are: Oils from Avocado, Almond, Grapeseed, Sunflower, Jojoba, Sesame, Coconut, Cetyl Alcohol, Isopropyl Isostearate, Isostearyl Alcohol, Propylane Glycol, Squalene. Occlusives form a moisture barrier ...

Myth: You Can Get Rid of Cellulite

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Trying to navigate and smooth out cellulite fact from fiction isn’t easy but there is a small amount of good news: there are options that may make a difference. The bad news is that even the treatments that have some potential of working rarely live up to the claims asserted, but improvement as opposed to merely wasting your money is definitely a turn for the better. A great way to start is to straighten out some popular myths about cellulite. Men don’t get cellulite. To some extent, that’s true. Physiologically, women are far more prone to accumulating fat on the thighs and hips while men gain weight in the abdominal area. In addition, for women, the connective tissue beneath the skin has more stretch and is vulnerable to disruption, which is the perfect environment for developing cellulite. Some men do get cellulite, just statistically not as much as women do. Drinking water helps. If ...

Ask a Skin Coach: What is your favorite product?

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Our skin coaches are constantly connecting with you via email, phone, FaceTime, and Skype to help you reach your skin care goals. While helping you, we often get asked questions about our own skin care routines. One of the most common questions we are asked is about our favorite products from Skin Authority. While it is really, really hard for many of us to narrow it down to just one, we're bringing you  a look into some of our favorite Skin Authority products and why we cannot go a day without them. Carrie, Skin Coach: "My favorite product ever is the Sunscreen Moisturizer! I love that it has a Dry Touch TechnologyTM finish and you can’t smell it on during the day. It is the most important product in preventing skin damage, which it is why it is my favorite anti-aging product! I always remind everyone to apply it to their neck, décolleté, ...

Spring Revival: Getting a Safe Sunny Glow

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Is there a better time of year than spring? Everything is coming alive and people are so happy to escape from their winter cocoons. With the sun shining and the warmer temps, we’ve been receiving several questions about safe tanning. I am so thrilled that the message of safe, sunless tanning is resonating with today’s teens and 20-something’s as well as those of us who are a bit older and probably spent too much time in the sun when we were young! I invite you to check out and these quick tips to keep in mind with sunless tanning: Frequently Asked Questions About Sunless Tanners. I also have a short video on how to apply sunless tanners to get the best result. Here are some of the commonly asked questions I get about sunless tanners: Will the tan from a sunless tanner protect me from sunburn? No. Sunless tanners might provide up to an SPF 2 or ...

Seven Sun Safety Fails: Oops I Did it Again!

Do any of these sound familiar? Skipping sunscreen because you are running late. Digging to the bottom of your beach bag for last year’s bottle of sun protection and actually using it. Putting on self-tanner and sitting in the sun immediately after. You are committing sun safety fails! There are a lot of misconceptions and wives’ tales about sun safety, which can definitely harm you. One in five Americans are found to have skin cancer in their lifetime. While that number is epidemic, what is more epidemic is the fact that only one in five people wear sunscreen on a daily basis. (Source: Harris Interactive). I want you to be healthy, educated and free of sun spots. Here is the scoop on sun safety fails. These seven tips will help you be healthy, educated and free of sun spots Learn to read a label. Check the SPF number; those with SPF 15 or ...