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BASIC OR TREATMENT: WHICH FACIAL IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

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BY: Vivian Moreno
How many times have you looked in the mirror and thought you might need a facial? Where would you start looking and which facial would be right for you? In my many years of experience as an Esthetician I have found there are 2 main categories, a Basic Facial or a Treatment Facial. Under the main categories of Treatment and Basic, there are thousands of sub categories. So where do you start? You have to ask yourself do you need cleaning, hydrating, or rejuvenating?

A facial is one of the best ways to take care of your skin especially if given by an experienced and knowledgeable Esthetician. Any facial program is aimed at the overall improvement of the skin regardless if it’s a series of cleaning and relaxing or peeling and painful. A really good Esthetician can point you in the right direction.

A Basic facial consists of deep cleaning, light exfoliating, moisturizing, and massaging. There are many variations to a basic facial. You could ask for a simple Basic European Facial to a Super Duper Free Radical Fighting Facial loaded with Anti-oxidants, Vitamins, and maybe a little Gold. The Basic Facial comes in many shapes and sizes and are usually found at resorts or Hotel spas where it’s all about the feel-good luxury experience. The benefits are plentiful, it can enhance the immune system, aid in detoxification, reduce the amount of fluid that has built up in the face and aid in stress relief especially when aromatherapy and Lymphatic drainage is added.

A Treatment facial is designed to help with the repair of certain skin conditions and to aid in the rejuvenation process. Your treatment may consist of Deep Cleaning, Oxygenating, Microscrubbing, Chemical Peeling and Hydrating. The results and benefits of a Treatment Facial far out weight that of a basic facial. It really is the most least-invasive way to get good solid results. Chemical peels help rejuvenate or correct the face by increasing the production of new skin. Some benefits of Chemical peeling are, it stimulates collagen and inflammation which results in skin contouring, improves discoloration, age spotting, removes fine lines, some wrinkles, and provides for a general superficial resurfacing of the face. All of which provides better clarity, texture, and youthfulness to the skin.

In my own career I am totally a Treatment Esthetician for sure. My facials are anywhere from pleasantly painful to extremely uncomfortable. I don’t do a Basic Facials at all. I work with a couple Estheticians and Physicians in my community that I can refer to if I have a client that needs something lighter or stronger than what I do.

There are different chemicals an Esthetician can use in his or her practice. My standard for almost 20 years has been Glycolic Acid. I have recently added some Pumpkin Enzymes which contain a combination of Lactic Acid and Glycolic Acid. Other chemical agents are Retin-A, TCA Trichloroacetic acid and Phenol Peeling. In my opinion Phenol and Retin-A should be only used by a Physician or a Medical Aesthetician.

When looking for the right facial experience it’s better to start off consulting with an experienced and knowledgeable Esthetician. Consult with a couple if you feel you need to. Start off slow, whether it be a light peel or a basic facial no one should start out with a full blown Chemical Peel. Finding the right Esthetician, with the right skin care plan can provide you with amazing, long lasting results.

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ACNE

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I had to include Acne as part of the chemical peeling process because it’s the first thing everyone wants to try regardless of the side effects. A chemical Peel is the last thing I would do to treat acne. In most cases the skin is so badly over processed I have to balance it first. Starting with a chemical peel will only create more over processing and possibly make matters worse.

Acne comes in all shapes and sizes. I had acne when I was 16 until I was 33 so I have some experience. Most of you know my story of how my husband taught me how to use glycolic acid to fix my own acne problem. In my skin care practice I have seen so many different types of acne, Cystic, Black heads, Milia, Small Nodules to large Nodules. I have treated minor cases to extreme cases.

As a facialist Acne is not my passion but I have learned to treat it with much success.  One case in particular comes to mind probably the worst case I have ever seen. It was the middle of December, cold in California when I received a call from “Nicole the actress” that’s how I list her on my cell phone. She told me she had acne and she was desperate to fix it. She believed she needed a chemical peel and if I was willing to do it. I told her I would have to see her first  then I would decide how to treat her.

So let me set the serino up. Nicole was 22 years old , Malaysian, olive skin tone,  and quite beautiful. She was set to start filming a movie and she had 15 days to get her skin into shape or the film company was going to recast her because her skin was soooooo bad and they couldn’t cover it with makeup. Her skin was so bad it itched all the time and she wasn’t able to sleep. Not only was her face itching but the skin on her entire body was itching.  Her skin would keep her up at night. She had these little tiny white liquid bumps all over her face and her face looked swollen from all the inflammation activity that was happening to her. The first thing I told her was that a Chemical Peel was out of the question it would only make her condition worse. Our first step was to find out why she was itching then I had to get the itching to stop. I knew that anything I would do to treat her would only make the itching worse.

Our first meeting was a discussion about her itching. There was no way I could treat her at all. The condition of her skin was so bad. How can a young 22 year old beautiful, olive skin tone girl be so itchy? EASY, the first thing I asked her was how many times do you bathe or shower a day. I was shocked when she told me she bathes 5 to 6 times a day. I told her to STOP bathing, that was her problem. She told me she was addicted to the water and she loved bathing. What she loved more than bathing was acting so I explained to her that she was destroying her skin and she wouldn’t be young and beautiful for very long. She was accelerating the aging process of her skin by stripping the natural oils away. What I also explained to her was that she created this problem and it was what I call BEHAVIORAL ACNE. Her skin was fighting back from the constant stripping, scrubbing, and bathing.

The Four Step Skin Care process I would set up for her would go like this:

1. Stop the Itch.

2. Balance her Skin to a healthy normal Ph.

3. Pull all the Acne under the Skin to the Surface.

4. Clean up any Pitting and Scaring that was left.

Now, remember I had a 15 day time line to get her skin in shape to film her current movie project.  I explained to her because of the condition of her skin it would take about 6 to 8 weeks to get to step 3.  But as long as she followed my plan she would be able to see and feel the healing process happening and she would know we were on the right track.  I also believed that the liquidly bumps on her face would start going away enough she should be ok for filming.  Our first meeting she agreed to follow my directions and no bathing or makeup for 3 days and I would see her again in 3 days.  She agreed, This was her plan:

Morning: Apply SkinWater Hydration Cream

Apply Waterscreen

Evening: Apply SkinWater Hydration Cream

Apply Waterscreen.

If she felt she needed to clean her body (not her face) she could use our facial wash and gently wipe clean with a soft towel. Absolutely no bathing.

If she needed over the counter anti itch ointment that would be okay.  The reason I didn’t have her washing her face was that her skin was so depleted, and I just needed her to stop everything she was doing and add a little moisture to her skin and then seal it up.  She called me the very first day that the Skinwater Hydration Cream was burning her face so for the entire 3 days all she could use was the Waterscreen.  Her first 3 days out of the bath tub or shower her skin stopped itching on her body but her face was still a little itchy.

We started her facial very slow.  She had bumps every where on the surface and under her skin she was a HOT mess. After her first mini facial which  I was just cleaning and trying to hydrate.  Her skin was still so sensitive I could hardly wipe her face because her skin was so weak and painful . (I want to also remind everyone she wanted to start with a chemical Peel.) That evening Nicole started itching all over again.  It took me two weeks to stabilize her skin I saw her  3 times a week for 2 weeks.  In that 2 weeks it was just enough  time to calm down her skin a bit so she would be able to wear makeup again and film the movie.

ALTHOUGH every one around Nicole…her agent, the film makers, her friends, and her family, were still concerned with the condition of her skin and every one had a suggestion or a name of a Dr. for her to see.  She would politely explain that she was going to follow the Biokorium Acne plan for her recovery.  One thing I have to say about “ Nicole the actress” is that she did follow my plan exactly.

One day I was treating Nicole and she walked in with her sister, who had beautiful skin.  I of course had to comment and Nicole told me she does nothing to her skin she doesn’t even wash it much.  Well, that comment spoke volumes to Nicole herself. Her acne was a behavior issue.  She was over washing, over cleaning, over scrubbing, and over stripping her beautiful skin away.

It took us 12 weeks to really get to step 3 and it took us almost 8 months to get to a chemical Peel. In which she had 2 of them. A weak one then a strong one. I would always proceed with caution in this case because it took so long to rebuild her skin.

Nicole had tried everything: Medications, Over the Counter applications, Facials and Spa Treatments.  Her condition just continued to get worse, and no one had ever looked at her behavior, “ bathing”, the one issue that kept the acne condition reoccurring.

While searching for the latest Acne cure or her next Acne Fix, at 22 years of age, “Nicole the actress” was so frustrated and almost ready to lose her dream job when she found BioKorium.

Today her plan is really simple:

Take quick short showers.

Stay off make-up whenever possible.

Her BioKorium products are Facial Wash, 5%Glycolic Acid Cream, Anti Oxidant Cream, Skinwater Hydration Cream, and Waterscreen.

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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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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.

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IT’S THE SEASON! BIOKORIUM PUMPKIN & CRANBERRY LOTIONS

Don’t forget to order BioKorium’s Pumpkin and Cranberry Lotions for the Fall Season and Winter Season.  Our Pumpkin is made with pumpkin extract and natural moisturizing pumpkin oil in a delectable Holiday Pumpkin Scent. Our Fresh Cranberry Lotion is made with real Organic Cranberry Extract Fruit Juice produced in our lab and mixed with natural moisturizing Cranberry Oil in our own signature Holiday Cranberry Scent.  All holiday lotions will be reduced to $12.95

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POMEGRANATES: FRUIT OF THE GODS, I GET IT!

In ancient times, the Greeks and Egyptians used the fruit of the pomegranates to heal and revitalize the body.  Then, Pomegranate was also known as the fruit of the gods, because of the belief and myth that the fruit could transform and heal a person’s body and mind to be closer to that entity, and a secret to beknownst only to them.

     Until recently, scientific studies indicate that pomegranates have benefits far transcending ancient symbolism and leading them into the realm of true medical literature. Early on, a Reuters article dated  Oct 29, 2003, reported, “that compounds found in fruits such as Pomegranates and Grapes may help protect against the changes that can lead to skin cancer”, researchers told a conference of the American Association of Cancer Research. These were proven by test on mice which demonstrated that these extracts can slow down or prevent the damage done to skin by chemicals and sunlight.   

     Like all other antioxidants such as Green Tea, Grapeseed and the Açaí berry;  Pomegranate extract was found to help in mediating ultraviolet light damage.  In other words, this meant that your skin attained the ability to be more resistance to damaging ultraviolet rays.  By this, your skin may burn less or recover much more quickly than without it.   Interesting enough, this was a phenomenon we were seeing early on with our first antioxidant product of Grapeseed creams and serums.  Our clients were coming in after a day of sunning or going to areas such as Hawaii and telling us they weren’t getting burned as much with our product, compared to other times without it.    

     The reason for this protective factor, is that Pomegranate Extract is rich in polyphenols, a potent antioxidant also commonly found  in Green Tea and other antioxidants. One of the most powerful of the Pomegranate polyphenols is Ellagic Acid, which has been shown to be promising in a study for it’s anti-cancer and healing benefits.  

     One study confirmed that Ellagic Acid effectively protected cells from damaging free radicals of ultraviolet light.  In addition, it was found that other antioxidants in the fruit of the pomegranate combined synergistically with Ellagic Acid to greatly  increase pomegranate’s potency as an antioxidant.  In other words, it was found that this red fruit contained more than one antioxidant which worked together in a cascade effect to counteract the damage done to cells by chemicals, radiation and sunlight.  It did this by significantly lowering the swelling in damaged skin tissue and further, decreased the overgrowth of unnecessary skin cells, which could turn cancerous.

      In another study at the University of Wisconsin, a team tested pomegranate extract against a tumor causing chemical called TPA. In the skin of newborn mice.  In the TPA treated group, all the mice developed tumors at 16 weeks; whereas the mice treated with Pomegranate extract only 30%  exhibited tumors at the 16 week point.  BioKorium has been always been on the cutting edge of Antioxidant development since 1994, interpreting and understanding  what clinical studies reveal regarding the importance of certain fruit extracts and their relation to skin health. 

     At BioKorium we are proud to offer what we feel is the best handmade pomegranate fruit extract products in the form of facial creams and lotions formulated,developed and produced in small batches by Dr. Javier Moreno, PharmD, RPh , available since our conception 17 years ago.