Author: Vivian Moreno

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ANTI-AGING VS. HEALTHY SKIN….WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

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Aging is inevitable, baby boomers are trying to defer the aging process and  are willing to spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars each year searching for hope in a jar.  Amid all the forever young scams – how do you determine what is hope or hype.  There are some power-boosting, disease-shattering, anti-aging strategies that can really benefit you and some that can really hurt you. But how do you sort them out with thousands of products and treatments available.

The baby boomers are buying into anti-aging procedures and products as: “cosmetic surgery” at $10,000 or more, “human growth hormone” treatment at $15,000 per year and a skin-care product called “Peau Magnifique” that costs $1,500 for a 28-day supply, anti- aging at any cost.  Treatment -based ingredients  like Glycolic Acid and Retin-A are already approaching $20 billion a year.

The Generation Y or Millennial folks are trying never to age at all.  Thirty-nine percent of women ages 25–34 state anti-aging is an important benefit they look for in facial skin care products.  They are buying up anti-aging or preventative-aging products at alarming rates.  Some of the top skin care products used by Generation Y include facial cleansers, lip products, facial/neck moisturizers, eye products and facial exfoliators/scrubs.  Women, age 25–34, represent 18% of all facial skin care users in the U.S., and use an average of three facial skin care products in a day, with facial cleansers topping the list.  More than any other age group, these women are seeking and searching online looking for information.  Could the information they are pursuing and the products they are purchasing actually create the aging process to occur faster?  Yes it can!  The knife cuts both ways, your dammed if you do and dammed if you don’t.

This Statement comes from the National Institute on Aging, they state that, “no treatments have been proven to slow or reverse the aging process” — therefore, “anti-aging” is a misnomer.  Yes, you may look younger by undergoing cosmetic surgery or using Botox,  filler’s or other temporary treatments.  But these products and treatments aren’t turning back the hands of time, nor can any type of supplement make you grow younger rather than older.  I personally don’t believe this statement to be completely true, and  you will never hear me talk professionally to my clients about anti-aging.  I do believe women who chase anti aging products will only feed the 20 billion dollar Skin Care Industry and the wrinkles on their face will still be there tomorrow. However I do believe that there are products that can S L O W down the aging process.

It is my experience as an esthetician for 20 years that we have to take a different approach to skin care as a whole.  I have reclassified myself as a “Personal Trainer for the Skin.”  I believe the goal for great skin is to have proper balance and movement of the skin.  Just as you have a healthy diet for your body you have to have a healthy diet for your skin and I don’t mean food, I mean ingredients. You have to make your skin work-young like when you were 20 years old and you have to keep it working.  Some of us will have to work hard at it, and others will hardly work.  I have to work hard it… I’m old.

Is it possible to keep our skin silky soft, supple, and forever young at any age?  I look at wrinkles, discoloration, and sagging skin like being overweight.  Can you lose 5 lbs, “yes,” can you lose wrinkles and tighten the skin “yes.”  The first thing I teach my clients is that you have to have healthy skin first and then you have to have a work- out program for your skin like you would have for your body.

When we start a new skin care program, for most of us, it will work for a while and then it stops working.  In order to achieve the most out of a Skin Care program you have to learn how to use skin care and find what ingredients are best in achieving your goals.  Your overall program has got to make sense.  Just as when you exercise and properly feed the body to lose weight, you need to move and properly feed the skin to maintain health and precise balance.  Skin health plays a crucial role in our overall well-being, after all, we must remember the skin is the largest organ of the body.

The skin speaks to us it tells us when it’s dry,hungry, sluggish, and thirsty … Just as our body does.  We’re not listening!

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WINTERTIME: THE BEST TIME FOR CHEMICAL PEELING

By Vivian Moreno, Esthetician

This is one question I get a lot, simply because everyone wants to have a chemical peel in order to improve their appearance.  We’ve been told it’s an easy and quick solution for our facial woes.  But depending on the season, a peel may not be conducive to receiving optimium results, and aren’t results what we expect?  Therefore, the time of the year is important because Chemical Peeling  is as if your putting your skin thru a major workout, its trauma to the skin and the conditions for recovery is what’s equally important.

I have already begun my chemical peel for the winter.  Because of my age I will try to fit in at least 3 peels for the season. I will Include some spotting especially around my mouth and eyes. Check with your Doctor or Skin Care Professional if you are planning to do your eyes. I recommend the eyes for some of my clients but not all of them. People want  to peel and get the results, but what they don’t  realize or understand is the healing process.  The detail is in the healing not the peeling. No one teaches us this, even the professionals don’t, some clients will freak out during recovery. The whole idea with a chemical peel is to create a wound so that the skin can go through the healing process. There are 3 to 4 stages of healing (depending on who you ask) so it does take some time. If the skin heals up properly the collagen will rebuild and strengthen the skin, Awsome! If the skin is left vulnerable and  healing is interrupted problems can occur.

Skin redness, heat bumps, tightening, itchiness, and dry cracked peely skin, are all common after a chemical peel.  The deeper you take your peel the more activity will occur.  This is the natural inflammation process at work, which initiates the process of healing.  All these sequences need to be understood in order to make the final goal productive.

Now lets look at why Winter peeling  is more beneficial than Summer Peeling.   The Summer Season consist of more sunshine therefore more heat and sweat. which is not as conducive to a chemical peel, especially in regards to the healing aspect. With heat there is more opportunity for infection as well as its effect on nerve endings, causing more pain, discomfort, and irritation.  With more sunlight there is the opportunity for skin complications including discoloration. In the summer I like to use a light glycolic acid or a pumpkin enzyme for maintenance. If I am in need of a peel I will stick to a lunch time peel or a light peel that I really won’t have any down time or problems.

The Wintertime is the  perfect time to prepare your skin for the following summer by doing a peel. I will in fact try to get as much peeling in as possible.  It’s the perfect time and seasonal environment to build skin strength and skin immunity which leads to skin health.  What I mean, is that if you have skin health, your skin will have the strength and ability to endure and absorb the challenges of the following summer season.   The cool temperature of winter feels better on your skin and  is less irritating when your skin is healing. There is a reason why most surgeries are done in sub normal temperature environments.  A cooler surgery room means less chance of infection and other anomalies. In the cold winter months you are more likely to stay indoors and out of the sun during the healing process.

If you decide on getting  a professional peel this winter, be sure your Skin care professional is highly skilled.  A chemical peel performed correctly will lift and tighten the skin, add amazing clarity, reduce and eliminate fine lines and wrinkles, and most importantly, bring your skin back to better health.  That’s why the professional you choose to perform this procedure is important.  A Chemical Peel done wrong may cause deeper wrinkles, dry your skin out, increase the opportunity for discoloration and age the skin faster by the very anti-aging methods used, causing faster sagging of the skin. Remember the detail is in the healing not the peeling.

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WINTER DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR SKIN

WWWintertime is not only a beautiful season but an unforgiving one when it comes to skin care. Depending on what part of the country you are from will directly relate on the severity you will experience. Indoor hot, outdoor cold, your skin is constantly exposed to variations in temperature. Outdoor winter weather comes low humidity, cold temperature, icy snow, cold rain, sleet and wind. Indoors, your skin is exposed  to hot temperatures, low humidity, and dry heated air. All the moisture is sucked out of the environment causing an uncomfortable dryness to the entire body. Some people experience more sever problems in the winter the skin becomes so dry it will flake, crack, peel and itch. Even worse it can become inflamed,  irritated,  and possibly infected.

A skin care regimen in the winter  is all about hydration, hydration, hydration.  Do you apply cream on dry skin and your done? Most of us do. Its not enough especially if your over 40. My recommendation would be to use a 5% or 7% glycolic body lotion this product you can use on your face as well. Then moisturize with the Skin Water . If you live  in Aspen, New York or Montana,  you need to seal it all up with a bit of Waterscreen.

A hot delicious shower can be the worst thing for your skin in the wintertime.I know you don’t want to hear  this but you need to shorten the shower time; yes hot showers feel good, but they also draw all the  moisture out of the skin, a warm  5 min. showers is the best. A regimen I use at BioKorium is to seal the skin before a shower  especially in the winter. Before showering apply  a quarter size amount of Waterscreen to the face neck and chest.  If you have areas of the body that tend to have dry skin issues like exema or psorsis seal them up as well.this will help to retain moisture in your skin.
It’s all about the weather your skin is exposed to, not only outside but indoors during the wintertime. Low humidity environments suck the moisture  right out of your skin, creating dry wrinkly skin. Weatherizing your skin is essential to your over all health.

We recommend and use glycolic acid, because of its safety, extraordinary results and its hygroscopic ability to draw even the littlest amount of moisture from  the air to increase skin suppleness. Use glycolic on healthy skin, check with your physcian for use  on severely dry, scaly or irritated skin. After applying  glycolic, your skin will have a greater ability to absorb moisture from lotions and hydration creams such as our Skin Water. Don’t forget the  lips, Use soap free washes to prevent stripping your skin such as our Original Facial Wash.

Its important to remember hydration is  the answer to healthy winter skin. You must exfoliate correctly with the proper product, such as  glycolic acid, and seal with  products  to maintain moisture . Skin health is power to resist environmental challenges, and in the end, this would be the ultimate result most people are looking for, because the ultimate skin care is no skin care at all..

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HOW TO SELECT THE BEST PRODUCTS FOR YOUR SKIN

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With the hundreds of thousands of ingredients available to a normal consumer how do you decide what is the best fit for you?  Even before you select the right skin care products you have to decide what your skin care goals are.  Just as you would set up a healthy diet plan to lose weight, you have to set up a regimen plan for healthy skin.

Do you need treatment, moisturizer, peptides, anti-oxidants or peeling agents?  Do you need to see the family doctor, Dermatologist or a Skin Care Professional?  And above all, what’s this going to cost?

The array of skin care products can be overwhelming.  How are you going to choose when every product claims to be the latest and greatest?  Many products are overpriced, make claims that they can’t support, are misleading and ineffective.  You can pick up a product that works great for a couple of weeks then it stops working.  Skin care is not one size fits all.  The skin care consumer has to be educated enough to know what ingredients work and how to work those products to get the maximum benefit for your skin and your overall health.

Here’s the thing, you have to know what your skin care goals are before you can pick the right product.  A product that has the statement ANTI-AGING is just one piece of the puzzle.  What ingredient makes it anti-aging?  Is it a treatment ingredient like glycolic acid, that make the skin move?  Or is it a peptide that’s a cell communicator.  Purchasing skin care products is like grocery shopping.  You know what you want to ear.  You should know what ingredients you need to apply to your skin.  Choosing the wrong product can cause more skin care problems even accelerated skin aging.

My personal Skin Care Plan and the products I use deliver the results I am looking for.  I’m very specific about how I want my skin to perform.  I don’t want my skin wrinkling, sagging, or discolored, I want a healthy glow and I want to look 40 when I’m 60.  Be specific about your goals even if you think there unattainable.  Just as a diet plan whereby you set a goal to lose 10 lbs in 1 month, you have to create a regimen plan for healthy happy skin.

The first step is to ask and answer a couple of question:

  • What are your skin issues?  Such as acne, acne scars, rosacea, dark spots, wrinkles, pigmentation etc.
  • Do you have any sensitivities?  Is your skin on the red side?  Does your skin burn easily?
  • What is your age?
  • What color is your skin?
  • What’s your nationality?
  • What skin program have you been on for the last 6 months?
  • Have you used a treatment product in the last 6 months?  Such as glycolic acid, Retin-A, microdermabrasion etc.
  • Are you taking any medication for your skin?
  • What brand of make-up have you used in the last 6 months?
  • What skin type do you think you have?
  • Do you just need a simple skin care maintenance program?
  • Do you need a complete skin makeover?

If you have skin issues or are aging over 40 you have to treat the skin.  If you don’t have issues and are young, you need to moisturize.  There are all kind of variables that I have to take into consideration when designing the right skin care regimen for each and every one of my clients.  The product, plan and percentage of ingredients has to be the right fit.  I use 6 products for almost everybody I treat.  A facial wash, Glycolic, microdermabrasion, Skin Water, Waterscreen, and an Anti-Oxidant.

Here’s a simple regimen I would design for a person with light color skin, age 19 to 25 with no real skin care problems:

Morning:  No facial wash, after shower gently dry off the face.  Apply a bit of Skin Water and a bit of Anti-Oxidant.

Evening: Original Facial Wash, apply a bit of Skin Water.

Here is a daily skin regimen that is for a client with more skin problems:

Morning Regimen: Before shower or bath apply just a bit of Waterscreen.  This is probably the most important step to take.  (Do not wash your face in the shower).  After shower, gently dry off the face.  Apply a bit of Skin Water and a bit of Anti-Oxidant.

EveningRegimen:  Facial wash.  Apply 5% Glycolic Acid, apply a bit of Skin Water, Seal with Waterscreen.

The following is a Treatment Plan which can be done twice a month:

Evening: Facial wash.  Apply Microscrub, massage into skin until all waxy build up seems to be gone, then rinse gently.  Apply 7% Glycolic Acid, let sting for 3 to 5 minutes.  DO NOT REMOVE.  Apply Skin Water like a mask.  Let set on face for about 20 minutes. Gently dry off any excess with a dry towel.  Apply a bit of Waterscreen.

Skin Care Products/ Ingredients have to make sense when applying them, and have to deliver the results.  If you would like me to write you a Skin Care Plan, answer the questions above, include your skin care goals and send me a photo to biokorium.vivian@gmail.com

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BIOKORIUM® SKIN WATER® WITH HYDRO-FORCE® TECHNOLOGY… WE HAVE YOUR BACK!

BioKorium Skin Water is the first hydrating product which can be used for Skin, Hair and Scalp…. Now with Hydro-Force Technology….We have your back!

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BIOKORIUM ORIGINAL FACIAL WASH: NO WATER NEEDED

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BioKorium Original Facial Wash was developed for our Glycolic Acid Line. As a Registered Clinical Pharmacist I looked at cleansers that were being applied to bed ridden patients, and noticed that some of them were never rinsed-off, just wiped with a soft cloth. Our Facial Washes were based on the concept that they could be applied to the skin without rinsing, remove dirt, oils and skin debris. Further, the products were designed and formulated for better feel, texture, and ease of application. They are non-comedogenic, will not affect the natural pH balance of your skin, fragrance free, and Pharmacist developed and formulated. We feel our facial washes our the best on the market today.     The American Medical Association and Dermatologist state that soap and water will serve the same purpose as cleansing creams and lotions, is less expensive, and offers less risk of allergy.  However,soap can be more drying and irritating to the skin.  For this reason, I developed this Sulphate-Free Formulation 17 years ago when sulphate-free wasn’t even popular.

Our facial wash gently cleanses to remove oils and debris without the drying properties of other soaps and facial cleansers.  In addition, for those undergoing laser or chemical peeling, you will find this wash ideal for lightly cleansing tender skin of exfoliating skin debris in the post-op healing stages, while leaving skin clean and moisturized.    BioKorium’s Original Facial Wash is non-comedogenic, fragrance free and can be used on the most sensitive skin.  It’s been designed to be non-lathering, therefore allowing it to rinse easily, it can even be used to cleanse your hair if you forget your shampoo.  Many people our unaware that lathering has no purpose other than esthetic purpose and the illusion that the product is effective.  The non lathering character in no way hinders character. For Men, it can be used as a shaving lotion.  Because of its silky and gliding character, many have been using it as a base to shave with great results. Get in on the opportunity to experience our Original Facial Wash for the price of $19.00 for a 16 floz bottle.

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MY SCALP PEELING REGIMEN

by Vivian Moreno, Esthetician

I will be scalp peeling Today I have not peeled my scalp for some time. I will be using:

Microscrub Cream, Glycolic Acid 7% Cream, SkinWater Cream, Javier’s famous Scalp Serum, and a color brush (for the application process) .  This process will cleanse the scalp and pores, allowing optimum follicle health with resulting hair growth.

1.Apply Microscrub Cream directly to scalp with the color brush, as if you would be applying color.  With your fingers gently scrub your scalp for about 15 min.  At the very end of your gentle scrub session, your scalp may feel a little raw or sore,  that’s OK, because that is the sensation you are looking for.   Then rinse off.

2. Next, apply 7% Glycolic Acid Cream directly to scalp as if you would be applying color.  I’ve decided to try to leave this on for about an hour today.  The Glycolic can be left on from 15 minutes to a couple of hours.  I have even tried overnite. The longer you leave it on the flakier your scalp will become.  The flakes will look like dandruff.  It is a personal preference you will only be able to handle the sting for a while.  Today there is a definite sting happening on my scalp.  I will see how long I can handle it.  Last, rinse off ( If I only leave the Glycolic on a short time, sometime I will not rinse off.  I will just apply the SkinWater Cream.  The Skin Water Cream will neutralize the Glycolic Acid Cream).

3. Apply Javier’s Magic Scalp Serum, and let set for a couple of minutes DO NOT REMOVE.

4. Apply Skin Water,  AHHH this will cool everything down.  I will leave this on for an hour.  Then I will Wash and Condition my hair.

5. Then Style to perfection!!!  WOW ! AMAZING HAIR…

6. Now my husband will have to take me out…

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MY WINTER PEEL: THE HEALING

by Vivian Moreno, Esthetician

My forehead looks really dry and flaky today, almost blistery. Anything I put on at this time is going sting.  But I still need to clean and cover it.  I don’t want to wipe the residual skin off my face right away, because I rather the skin fall off on its own.  This is one of the biggest mistakes that women make, is that they pull or remove the peeling skin before its time.  This will just cause more irritation, because they will expose the new tender skin below and extend unnecessary healing time.  But at the same time, I still have to clean my face, but I don’t want to use the facial wash on my face.  Less wiping means less healing time.  So I will use my Skin Water Cream for cleaning and hydrating.

My Regimen:

  1. I will apply a heavy coat of Skin Water Cream, and let set for only about 3 minute because yes it does sting.
  2. Then remove gently with a wet cool towel, and I mean gently.
  3. Then apply a good coat of Waterscreen Ointment.  It will look goopy  and shiny. About a fifty cent size.

I’m finished, my skin does feel itchy today, but not to bad of an itch. But overall it really looks good and progessing beautifully.  I’m expecting four days of healing time based on what I see.  This is my photo Journal of Winter 2011 Chemical Peeling.  I peel my skin about 3 maybe 4 times in the winter because the cool weather is more comfortable.

by Vivian Moreno, Esthetician

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MY WINTER PEEL: THE TREATMENT

by Vivian Moreno, Esthetician

Its time to Peel! ..and Winter is the best time to do a peel.  My recomendation is for those of us 45 and older should Peel at least 2 times this season. Make sure you have a skin care coach, esthetician, or trainer, that can help and direct you. I will be posting my regimens daily. DO NOT PEEL unless you have Skinwater and Waterscreen.  This is my photo Journal of Winter 2011 Chemical Peeling.  I peel my skin about 3 maybe 4 times in the winter because the cool weather is more comfortable.

Today I am just going to peel my forehead I will be using Numbing gel (fresh mint gel toothpaste) because I hate the sting, 5% Glycolic Acid Cream, Skinwater, and Waterscreen. Make sure with any peeling that you figure in down time for healing. At least 3 to 4 days.

1.  I will apply the numbing on my forehead for about 3 minutes, then Rinse off with cool towel.

2.  I am going to start applying the glycolic at 15 min intervals. It should feel like a cool tingle at first. My goal is to get it to feel like a bad sunburn. I may need to layer this 3 to 4 times. I do not remove any cream during this process, I just keep layering. When it becomes to hot to handle! (This normally takes me about 3 hours with 5% glycolic acid cream or lotion.)

3.  I will layer a heavy coat of skinwater Let it set for 20 min. ( This time my skin absorbed so much Skinwater that I had to reapply a second coat).  Then rinse off with a cool towel gently.

4.  Apply a good coat of Waterscreen.

With this treatment I will experience a lot of flaking and it will really “ITCH.”   I will post my after care and explain why I do this.

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HAIR LOSS: THE FAMILY CURSE

By Vivian Moreno, Esthetician, My Hair loss Experience

     Reminiscing of my child hood from a very young age I remember my family as close, with an even closer extended family.  Growing up I remember listening to family members talk about the ‘family curse’, Hair Loss! Today 50 years later at our family gatherings 99.9% of all of my sisters and cousins have some form of hair loss, some more than others.  I have one cousin that is almost bald, and another with a full head of hair at 60 something, with everyone else in between. 

     I guess I was getting pretty close to bald, and would not even have notice if on one family occasion, my cousin greeted me and asked what was going on with my hair.  That’s when I became self conscious of my predicament, and began to increasingly take notice of this on more than one occasion.  There was one time I was having a conversation with someone, and notice their eyes moving up looking up at my blank scalp.  Well, it began to effect me so much that I would limit my exposure to normal living, and that wasn’t good.  I wouldn’t want to go anywhere or do much of anything, and would say to myself, “I had the worst hair on the planet”.

     Fifteen years ago my mother of all people, started wearing wigs religiously.  She told me that her hair loss started effecting her life, just as it had mine, and wigs were an option for her. She tried on Human hair, Synthetic Hair, Long hair and Short hair.  I tried to see the light in it when my mother would get complements on her hair, and my sister and I would just look at each other knowing it was the infamous #33, The Mona Lisa Wig at $39.95.  I had to hand it to her, you could not tell she was truly wearing a wig.  My Grand Children didn’t even know her secret, they never knew she wore a wig, and always knew my mom as having a lot of hair. Last Christmas my mom stayed with them for the holidays and when she came down the stairs one morning without her wig, they were traumatized by the sight of her with almost no hair. 

     I said to myself wigs were not going to be an option for me. I WANTED MY HAIR BACK! and I wanted all my hair back…

     I decided to conduct an experiment on my scalp and keep a photo journal. I knew enough about the skin and how it worked, so I started to apply those principles to the scalp, because after all, the scalp is skin, and my hair grows out of skin. My goal was to make my scalp as healthy as possible, because my theory was that if I made my scalp healthy my hair would grow back.  This I would do by removing all and any build up that would impede hair growth thru the follicle.  I went to my husband “the Pharmacist” to design and concoct a hair and scalp serum.  The final hair serum product was 3% Minoxidil, 60% Grapeseed Extract, Açaí Extract- produced in our lab, a Japanese extract with studies behind it- Eriobotrya Japonica (Loquat) Extract, Saw Palmetto Extract, Gingko Biloba Extract, Panthenol B-5, and some impressive French Extracts noted for hair growth-, Lupinus Albus Extract, Juglans Regia (SwissWalnut) Seed Extract-from a 400 year tree, Fractionated Soy Protein in Peptide Form.  All had some study to describe increasing follicle activity with of course, the end result, new hair growth.  This concoction would be an addition to the other products designed to  be incorporated into the planned hair regimen. This was my plan, and based on everything I believe to be true about Skin Care, it should work.

      I started taking pictures Bi Weekly, then monthly, then I got crazy and would photos daily  many photos daily. There were some days that I thought it was working and some days I thought It wasn’t working at all I stayed on course and I just let it happen. My hairdressers would let me know if they felt it was getting better or not. Only sometimes they felt it was getting better. I had highs and lows. Some days I believed and some days I didn’t. I started this experiment the beginning of August 2009 and here are the results as of December 2010.

With continuing the same treatment plan, here are the most current results as of March 2, 2011.