How to Avoid Plastic Surgery

This article is designed to teach you the GREATEST BEAUTY SECRET known to man. . . an almost daily grooming habit practiced by nearly every man in the civilized world which may explain (besides the fact men have 1/3 more oil glands and 1/3 thicker skin than women) why women age more dramatically than men. When I developed this technique back in 1988 at the beginning of the Anti-Aging evolution in Skin Care Products, I was just trying to find a way to remove hair from my upper lip and between my brows, waxing being too harsh for my (thanks to Retin-A and Glycolic Acid) baby soft skin. I stumbled on this in frustration of any other method of hair removal on those areas. The first few weeks I shaved my upper lip and between my brows using shaving cream. Later, just from a time saving measure, I shaved those areas dry. As months went by I began to think those two places (where profound wrinkles occur as we age) were looking smoother,less wrinkled, and, well, younger than the rest of my face. When my husband commented on this as well, I became intrepid and boldly went where no American woman had gone before! In 1991 I introduced it as "Dry Exfoliation" in my Anti-Aging Skin Care Clinic and it has become the pivotal emphasis both in the clinic and at home for nearly all my clientelle. A few years later, BioMedic came forth with Dermaplaning, in which I became certified and later still Microdermabrasion was introduced into the Esthetic Marketplace. Twenty years later, I still prefer my own method to epidermal removal. I teach my clients to do this at home between facial treatments to keep their skin looking lustrous and to enhance the penetration of their products. The only caveat is active acne and rosacea. Otherwise, I even teach my male clients how to Dry Exfoliate their forehead. Using a blade to scrape off dead skin was historically recorded by the ancient Egyptians as a health ritual and more than likely was practiced by the Sumerians before them. But why encourage the removal of dead skin cells? After the age of twenty the reproduction of new cells slows down, about ten days per decade. This causes the top layers of skin (the uppermost epidermis) to thicken and increase. Scraping off the dead skin cell layers has both short term and long term benefits. Firstly, it rids the complexion of that grayish or yellow cast, the dullness that besets older skin. Secondly, it prompts cellular regeneration to speed up, engaging the skin's primary function: to repair itself. When forced to replicate itself quickly, the skin's natural response is to do so efficiently. This is the description of young skin, a twenty-one day turnaround from birth to death. Most aging skin is hanging around months after it should have retired! Old skin cells are slow, slothful and prone to disease. Young skin cells respond quickly and grow old in a timely, healthy manner.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Disposable Razor
• Talc or Baby Powder
• "Tinkle" razor (available at http:://www.ulta.com
• moisturizer (without an SPF)
• 1% hydrocortisone cream such as Aloe Cort (available at http://drugstore.com
• Dish Detergent
• Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

1. Mineral Make Up is still foundation, whether wet, dry or Wet to Dry. If you are wearing foundation, powder or Mineral Make Up, remove using a Milky Cleanser. Remember this: A cleanser that foams or suds up cannot chemically remove any pigment based product including Oil-Free Make Up and Mineral Make Up. This step MUST be done before going to the next step as well as routinely at night when cleansing the skin. Remove make up with Milky Cleanser. If your complexion has had an oily day, go on to a foamy cleanser next. If your skin is very dry by nature, use the Milky Cleanser again, this time for the skin. ALWAYS remove milky cleansers with a warm wet washcloth two times. Rinsing WILL NOT remove it and a residue will remain to hinder effectiveness of the cleansing and penetration of following products.
2. Inadequate cleansing is responsible for over 47% of skin problems! Cleanse your skin using a mixture of Dish Detergent and Baking Soda as a facial scrub. The object is to dry out and "lift" the top cuticle or fluffy layer of the epidermis so it will be easier to see, feel and remove. Let the skin air dry. Your skin will feel uncomfortably tight. If you have used Retin-A or any of the second generation Retinoids such as Renova, Micro-Gel, Differin or third generation products such as Avage, Tazoract, or other, your complexion will be extra fluffy and extra sensitive. It may respond very easily to removal and it may redden easily. The same with users of any of the Alpha Hydroxy Products and Antioxidants such as Prevage (idebenone), Copper, Vitamin C, Co-Q 10, Kinerase, and less so, Alpha Lipolic Acid. This procedure was developed for you so don't shy away, because your skin feels more sensitive. It is more sensitive, but that is a good thing!
3. Disposables are better than a replaceable blade razor. You do not need nor want the bells and whistles of a more expensive razor such as pivotal head and three or four blades. Simple works Best! Pour a small amount of talc into your hands and massage the complexion. This performs two tasks. First, talc, any talc, is soothing to the skin. It will "sedate" it a bit from the harsh chemicals in the Dish Detergent and the activity of the Baking Soda. Secondly, it provides "slip" to the razor and the Tinkle Razor much as shaving cream would provide "slip." The chemical Ph of both the Dish Detergent and the Baking Soda is alkaline, contrary to skin's natural acidic Ph. Altering the Ph of the Skin radically like this promotes oil production as the skin tries to neutralize itself back to acidic. You'll need this natural oil lubrication for the underlying cells beneath the dead layers that are coming off. This is what keeps the skin supple, soft and glowing. Oily skin will do this more quickly than drier skin as it is "triggered" by alkalinity much faster than dry skin. However, sensing the epidermis is thiner and does not require the amount of oil to lubricate itself, oily skin becomes less oily as your retrain it to think about itself.
   Being skin then use a big powder brush to get off any excess. Set yourself down in front of a magnifying mirror with some good lighting. Take the disposable razor(i like the schick razor myself) and remove the hair from the face. Bevel it down to just below the neck and up to just short of the hairline. Move cautiously around the eyebrows. Now get your Tinkle razor (available at http://www.ulta.com).
4. Look, really look at yourself. See how unattractive gestures have prematurely aged you. Smiling and laughing are the only lines that make a woman beautiful! Look into your magnifying mirror and look, really look at your skin. Identify wrinkles and fine lines. Notice where you see age or brown spots. Notice where the skin feels thicker and where it feels thinner. Observe that the left side of your face is more aged than the right side of your face. Make a note to yourself to get an appointment with a dermatologist for that ever neglected annual skin cancer check up.
   Smile, frown, laugh, concentrate into the mirror and notice how these gestures have affected your skin.
5. Ever wonder why men look younger than women their own age?? Holding an area about of about one inch square between your thumb and first or second finger, take the razor in your dominant hand and holding it at a 45 to 90 degree angle "plane" the skin. It doesn't matter which direction you go, any which way but loose. Holding the skin tautly does two things: It prevents any chance of nicks and it forces those fluffy cells to stand up and be easily removed. This part of the technique primarily gets the downy facial hair out of the way but also removes some of the loosely bound skin cells. Shake out your razor frequently
6. Is your physical age older than your chronological age? When you have removed all the facial hair and the "floating" skin cells, add a tiny bit more talc to your complexion and take another good look at your skin. This is when you really see how unattractive gestures have prematurely aged your face. Take heart and remember it is never too late to acquire a good attitude. A famous quote about aging attributed to the French goes, "At twenty you have the face God gave you, at fifty you have the face you deserve."
7. Your skin is more receptive to products so less is more! Now, pick up your Tinkle Razor and hold it and your skin as you did in Step 5. Go slowly and methodically. You'll get the knack of it in no time at all! Try one or two passes in one direction and if there is no visible "lift" of skin cells, try another direction. Skin cells don't lie uniformly from the forehead in a neat overlaping pattern like roof tiles! They are all in varying degrees of thickness and aging. You'll find some areas are overpopulated like the jaw and the forehead because there is less mobility than around the eyes and lips. Don't be afraid to gesture to hold an area tighter. And don't over do it, you don't want to abrade the skin, you just want to free it of that tightly compacted useless epidermal tissue that impedes penetration of products, makes the skin look gray or dull and increases the depth of fine lines.
8. A woman cannot grow a beard because she doesn't have the male gene to do so! No, you are not going to grow a beard after Dry Exfoliating your skin! Cleaving off the hair on the face mid line (the middle of the hair) CANNOT turn fine downy facial hair into beard hair. Their is simply no message sent to the papilla that anything has changed. And these are two different kinds of hair growing on two different places of the body on two different kinds of sexes. But will you have stubble? A hair cut mid shank will feel ever so slightly different. A naturally pointed tip of a hair feels different than a hair with a blunt tip but facial hair grows so slowly I doubt you will notice it. This is a beauty ritual for your skin, not a hair removal system. The hair just happens to be a victim of the process. It is like the good news/bad news joke. If you don't like the hair on your face, that's the good news. If you do like the hair on your face, that's the bad news. You will find, though, done bi-monthly or weekly as part of your beauty and grooming ritual you really never give the hair a thought one way or another.
9. You have taken your beauty into your own hands. Go buy yourself a $200 Kate Spade Purse with the money you have saved! When you are finished stroke your face and notice the difference in the texture of the skin. Note how lines and wrinkles look less apparent. Feel how soft AND how firm your skin is! This is the manipulated blood supply rushing to your complexion to nurture it. And this is not an optical illusion. The epidermal skin, the top layer is thinner, therefore the "divot" of the line or wrinkle is more shallow, de-aging the aging process by five to fifteen years. From now on, you are controlling the cellular turnover of the skin cells, encouraging them to return to the pre-twenty year old youthful twenty-one day turnaround!
10. Your skin will feel soft, supple, strong and silky. And your problem with this is....? When finished, mix 1/2 part hydrocortisone .01% cream and 1/2 part moisturizer in your hands and massage into the skin, avoiding the nose. (The nose has plenty of oil, it never or rarely needs a moisturizer.) This may sting for a few minutes and make you blush but is completely normal. Do not wet the skin or wash it again before applying the moisture mixture. No Retin A, AHA's, or strong Anti-Oxidants for 24 hours after Dry Exfoliating your face. You can apply make up immediately. Wear a sunscreen (preferably chemical-free) if going outside. Bring your driver's license and prepare to be carded.

Tips & Warnings

• I've been doing this on myself since 1988, on clients since 1992. This little BEAUTY SECRET gives your skin a phenomenal glow and vitality! And by the way, put $200 in your piggy bank every time you give yourself this treatment. It's Microdermbrasion and Dermaplaning in one!
• Take your time. Don't decide to do this for the first time when you really don't have the time to WATCH and PAY ATTENTION to what you are doing.
• Hold the skin tautly. You CANNOT nick yourself if the skin is tight. The blade simple slides over the skin, catching only dead skin cells.
• This procedure for home use has a learning curve of about three times.
• If using Retin-A, any of the AHA's or powerful anti-oxidants (topical), take a 48 hour break from them.
• Be careful around the eyebrows!
• You may begin to get carded when you go out!