My Name is Free Radical and I Suck!

All you hear people talk about are free radicals, and antioxidants.  So what are these pesky little blood suckers?  I decided to write this post because a lot of every day consumers have no idea what free radicals are.  All they know is that FR are bad.  I was also surprised to find that many estheticians only know a small bit about FR.

Brief Information About Atoms(I know, I know, trust me this will help you understand)
The basic building block of all cells is the atom.  All Atoms have protons, neutrons, electrons and a nucleus.
Electrons hold atoms together to make a molecule and orbit the atom in one or more shells (rings around the atom)  The inner shell is full when it has two paired electrons. When the first shell is full the electrons move to the second shell.  The number of electrons in the outer shell determines the chemical behavior of an atom. The goal of an atom is to always be balanced.

How Free Radicals Form
Molecules create cells.  Free radicals are created at the molecular level and then when the damage is not repaired it affects living cells.  A free radical is any molecule that has one or more unpaired electrons, they react with a healthy molecule in a destructive way.
The goal of an atom is to always be balanced. Free radicals are molecules that have at least one unpaired electron and then go around just taking electrons from other healthy molecules causing damage (oxidative stress).

Did You Know: The body produces free radicals naturally.

- Breathing- Oxygen is a potential free radical accelerator.

- Inflammatory Immune Response

- Production of Energy- when the universal energy  molecule used by the body is produced, free radicals are

released.

A healthy body can naturally neutralize free radicals, but a body under stress must have help to neutralize them.  The damage that free radicals cause can be minimized by antioxidants.

How Do Free Radicals Damage The Skin

Free radicals cause damage to the DNA in the cells and the fibroblasts that produce collagen.  Free radicals also produce biochemical damage that can lead to eventual skin cancers and abnormal growths.  The end products of this inflammatory biochemical reaction can cause the skin to produce self-destruct enzymes such as collagenase, elastase, and hyaluronidase, which destroy collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid (hydrates our skin and cells).   This destructive assaults to the skin happen every day.  When enough of this damage accumulates, we see signs of wrinkles, elastosis (sagging skin), dehydration, and skin cancer.

A Short Film About Free Radicals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn8TvZxTqow&feature=g-upl

Antioxidants- What are they?

Last week I talked about free radicals.  If you didn't get a chance to read it or watch the video you should. Now I would like to talk about Antioxidants.  We all know that they are found in vitamins, minerals, fruits, and vegetables.  As I discussed in my free radical post, antioxidants stabilize damaged cells by giving them electrons. Antioxidants are naturally occurring chemicals in foods that help to counter the harmful effects of oxygen free radicals, which form during normal metabolism and through external factors.
Did You Know

• A healthy body can naturally neutralize free radicals, but a body under stress must have help to neutralize them.   The damage can be minimized by antioxidants known as free radical scavengers.
• Not all antioxidants will neutralize free radicals.  If an ineffective antioxidant is used, higher damaged producing free radicals will be converted.

Nutrition and Skin
How the skin reacts to diet and hormones is important for the esthetician to understand when designing a healthy aging program for the client.  An acupuncturist once told me that we need to start thinking of food as medicine.  It's so true, everything we take into our body shows in our skins complexion.  Food is the best way to get all over our antioxidants. It is recommended that a blend of multiple antioxidants be taken internally to minimize free radical damage. Every fruit and vegetable has a variety of different antioxidants. These nutrients are designed by nature to work together in your body, and research studies have shown that antioxidants are much more powerful when they are consumed in combinations.

• Beta-carotene -- Found in dark green, dark yellow and orange vegetables and fruits.
• Selenium -- Found in meats, fish, cereal, dairy products, Brazil and some other nuts.
• Vitamin C - Found in orange juice, kiwi, grapefruit, strawberries, watermelon, green peppers, cauliflower and broccoli.
• Vitamin E
  

Brightly colored foods like tomatoes, broccoli, blueberries, and apples are excellent sources of antioxidants.
Almost all fruits and vegetables lose at least some level of antioxidants while cooking. The smallest loses were recorder with artichoke, green beans and garlic.
The fruits that are very rich with antioxidants are popularly called „super fruits“. Blueberries are usually most talked about super fruits.
Herbs and spices are excellent sources of antioxidants which means that adding them to your food may protect your organism against different diseases.

Why So Blue? Aging & Self-Esteem Part 2

I JUST WOKE UP ONE DAY AND I WAS OLD!- What your client is going through.
“Mid-life astonishment is characterized by an amazement and despair at loosing one’s physical and sexual attractiveness, multiple losses accompanied by age, awareness of accelerated aging both physically and mentally, and recognizing our culture’s stigmatization of aging.   This process can lead to a loss of self-esteem, shame, depression, and social isolation.”
In our culture there’s a great deal of emphasis on youthfulness and appearances.  Clients often describe appearance changes caused by aging this way: “ I woke up one day and all of a sudden I looked old.”  They come to the esthetician to try to change this before trying something more invasive.   For some, the thought of getting work done or going under the knife is uncomfortable and vain.  They feel some guilt when starting to focus on themselves and are unsure about what’s normal for an aging face. 

What We Can Do.
Working with clients that have hit the realization that they are getting old can sometimes be difficult because they want it fixed now.  It doesn’t help that our culture gives women a false sense that all of their aging problems will be going in one bottle.  It is our job to be honest with clients on what we can help with and what we can’t.   The goal of a standard esthetician is to improve how the skin functions.  We cannot take a person that has elastosis, and hyperpigmentation and make it go away, it’s not possible.  I have an apron that says, “Esthetician not a magician”.  When I started practicing, I noticed every time I had a new client that was dealing with age related issues, they would leave happy with the results, but there was always a small level of disappointment.  I quickly figured out that clients experience a level of disappointment after a facial, because in the back of their mind they believe that when they get up from the table all of their wrinkles will be gone.  They are happy that their skin is glowing and feels great but those gosh darn wrinkles are still there.  Clients see on TV that they can get great skin from a 30 dollar bottle of moisturizer, and they just paid you 60 so they should be looking good when they leave your table.  It's our job as estheticians to help them understand that it takes time to help improve their skin, and know that we cannot fix 30 years of damage in one day.

In Summary 
1) Educate your clients
2) Be Honest - Set realistic expectations
3) Take before and after pictures so they can see the changes
4) Be Compassionate- Listen to them and be compassionate

WHAT!! MY ANTI-AGING PRODUCTS ARE AGING ME FASTER!

How can my anti-aging products be aging me faster? There is a little saying that states, "too much of a good thing can be a bad thing."  Just look at diet cookies; just because they are only a hundred calories does not mean the whole box is a hundred calories, same goes with skin care.

Real Life Scenario:

• Esthetician- So what brings you in today Mary?
• Client- I just turned 35 and my skin is going crazy with acne, I have never had it before! I think I have adult acne.
• Estheticain- Ok. So you have never had a problem with acne before besides your monthly breakouts.  What has changed in your skin care regimen?
• Client- Nothing.
• Esthetician- Ok, so you have not changed anything. What product line do you use?
• Client- I use this product line from the drug store called Aging Eraser (not a real line). I also have a prescription for a retinoid.
• Esthetician-  How long have you been using it?
• Client- 1 Month.

BINGO!  Did you know that the majority of Anti-Aging products on the market today are meant for women 60 and older.  30 year old skin is still producing oil and functioning properly, 60 year old skin does not produce much oil, and their cell life cycle slows down.  Anti-Aging products are ment for skin that does not produce oil.
Once a women hits 35 she start to see cumulative damage to their skin and begin to freak out.  It doesn't help that product companies put at 20 year old on the cover of an ad for aging products (which makes our job a lot easier, NOT)    We as estheticians and the public haven’t quite accepted that too many topical anti-aging products with active ingredients might actually do more damage than improvement. Retinoids, alpha hydroxy acids, peptides and vitamins, to name a few, can all be extremely effective in fighting signs of aging like wrinkles and hyperpigmentation. But when used incorrectly, they can be harmful.
"Using too many products on your skin, especially more than one anti-aging product, tends to irritate the skin which in turn may make aged skin more noticeable. "Applying more than directed can cause clogged pores, a blotchy complexion or other unwanted effects," says New York dermatologist Susan C. Taylor, MD."

WHY DO WE DO THIS?
So why are we all slathering on tons of anti-aging beauty products? Because we are impatient. As consumers we are told to want and expect instant results from active ingredients, but most products and ingredients take time to work. "It’s very important that you allow time for a product to work. While a moisturizer can immediately plump up fine lines, most products take at least six weeks to work and sometimes, it can take up to three months."

If you don't see results from active ingredients after six weeks, or if you believe the product you know and trust has "stopped working," talk to your dermatologist and then and only then should you consider trying a different product. THIS GOES FOR ESTHETICIANS AS WELL!  Do not give your client more products just to make a cheap 10% commission.  Our job is to take care of the client.  The best thing I ever adopted in my practice was taking  before and after pictures.  When we look in the mirror we see everything wrong  with us, we don't focus on the good things, or even the small changes, hell we just want to look 20 again.
Just be beautiful in your own skin, and accept things you can't changes. Products can only do so much, it's up to you take care of your skin inside and out.