Enough with the sun damage … bring on the diamonds!
With the immense amount of publicity sun damage receives you’d think wearing sunscreen would be second nature by now. However, a lot of us still neglect to protect ourselves from the sun’s rays on a regular basis. For some, it’s just lack of habit. For others, they simply crave that deep, dark tan and deliberately avoid sun protection. I’ve been a sun worshipper all my life, especially upon moving to South Carolina, and I’ve definitely been guilty of skipping the sunscreen in the past. But these days, anti-aging has taken priority over the fastest, darkest tan. And here’s why it should be yours also.
Linda Lopez,licensed esthetician and owner of the Cara Linda esthetics studio in Summerville, says that correcting sun damage is the most difficult part of her job. She explains how the UVB rays from the sun are the burning rays that increase the melanin in our skin, which we call a tan. Over time this results in hyper-pigmentation spots or “age/sun” spots. But even more damaging are the UVA rays because they break down the collagen and elastin in your skin, causing wrinkles and sagging.
Even though we’ve heard these facts over and over again, for some it still doesn’t hit home. But Linda has a tool that would make anyone think twice — a Skin Scope. I went to Cara Linda to check out her Diamond Tone Microdermabrasion service (I’ll get to that later!). The first thing she recommended was an analysis of my skin via the Skin Scope which uses black light technology to highlight and identify skin types that co-exist on one’s face, including sun-damaged skin. With Linda on one end of the machine and me on the other, she pointed out why my face glowed slightly purple (dryness) and where sun damage had occurred.
The idea of seeing your sun-damaged skin through a black light machine is scarier than the analysis itself. it’s actually very eye opening. Not only is this an important tool for early detection of melanoma in the skin, it easily and effectively tells Linda exactly what type of skin you have so she can tailor a treatment specifically for you. Definitely worth checking out and why not, because Linda offers a Skin Scope analysis free-of-charge by appointment to anyone and everyone.
What you see under the skin scope may or may not surprise you. But if you see your sun damaged skin and have a freak out, Linda has a few suggestions. According to her, the best way to reduce sun spots (hyper-pigmentation) is with chemical peels and skin lightening products. Then, implementing a daily sunscreen routine is key to keeping the sun spots at bay. She does say, however, that the wrinkles and sagging caused by sun damage is even more difficult to address but finds LED light therapy very helpful in stimulating collagen and elastin production which creates a firmer, smoother complexion. Using red or blue LED depending on the goal at hand, this service is the latest and best answer to anti-aging and not only helps with fine lines, wrinkles and pigmentation spots, it can treat rosacea, broken capillaries, large pores and acne. Linda says that most of her regular monthly clients have seen how LED boosts any treatment and makes it even better. This is her most popular treatment, frequently added on to just about every service.
This was the first time I had ever had a professional microdermabrasion and it was absolutely amazing. It significantly helped promote the growth of healthy new skin after spending the last few months in the hot summer sun. Typical microdermabrasion machines exfoliate using aluminum oxide crystals that shoot out at the skin and are vacuumed away. It can be messy, irritating and the eye and mouth areas need to be avoided. However, Linda uses Diamond Tone microdermabrasion which includes actual diamond chipped wands with varying degrees of coarseness. The wands are selected to best suit each client and then used to gently exfoliate the outer layers of skin while simultaneously vacuuming away the dead cells. With the diamond wands, Linda is able to exfoliate the eye and lip areas which is an added bonus.
Linda’s number one tip is to wear some sort of sun protection on a daily basis. That being said, she also recommends everyone exfoliate weekly and keep skin well hydrated with the proper moisturizer. Check out her website for other tips: www.cara-linda.com
Find a Cara Linda studio in Summerville and James Island. Not only does she have a wide variety of facial services to suit every skin type, she carries an extensive line of advanced skin care products including SkinCeuticals and Kinerase.
Check it out! Your skin will thank you!
-Shauna
Charleston, SC
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I have only done microdermabrasion one time but really liked it. I would love to go back and do it again very soon as many people I have talked with share the same positive opinion about its effects. I also enjoy using products that promote great looking skin (specifically some of the brands you mention at the end of your post). Skinceuticals is a wonderful line. I found it here http://www.dermstore.com/profile_SkinCeuticals_100113.htm and I know you mentioned being able to buy it at Skinceuticals.com. Does anyone have any other recommendations?
Chemical Peels may be dangerous specially if you use those high concentrations of Glycolic Acid.””
chemical peels are also damaging if not properly administered~”,