10 Tips to give your skin a makeover!

I was looking in the mirror yesterday and I decided that it was time for me to give my skin a makeover! Of course I turned to the amazing Renee Rouleau who is a true miracle worker! This local lady has celebrities coming from near and far to work her magic on them. She is very generous with her tips of the trade so follow her on twitter or check out her blog. Here are her ten tips for a skin makeover:

GIVE YOUR SKIN A MAKEOVER WITH THESE 10 SKIN CARE TIPS

Okay, enough is enough. You’re tired of your skin woes and feeling frustrated every time you look in the mirror. You’re ready to do something…anything…but what? Skin Care Expert and Celebrity Esthetician, Renée Rouleau gives expert advice to makeover your skin and to get it looking and feeling its best.

SKIN TIP #1: Assess Your Skin Care Products.

We all have more skin care products in our cabinets than we are actually using on a regular basis. And many of us have things that we don’t even know how or when to use, let alone when and why we even bought it! Pull everything out of the cabinet and look at every product.

TOSS IF...

-if the product is older than two years. The preservative system in most skin care products products has a shelf life of 2 years.

-it contains Mineral Oil, Isopropyl Myristate, Isopropyl Palmitate, Petroleum or Petrolatum. These ingredients can be pore-clogging and can suffocate the skin. See our list of skin care ingredients to avoid.

-it contains SD Alcohol, synthetic fragrance (listed on the ingredients as “fragrance”). These are common skin irritants and can cause skin sensitivity.

-the product has or is changing color or consistency (a sign that the product is losing its effectiveness).

*At the Renée Rouleau Skin Care Spas, we gladly accept gently-used skin and beauty products to donate to local women’s shelters.

SKIN TIP #2: Find a reputable skin care professional.

You can’t go it alone and you’ll need expert advice along the way. Start by looking for a reputable esthetician/skin care professional that can develop a game plan for your skin. Ask friends and search on-line to see who the best in your area is. It’s important to find a spa or salon that offers a wide range of skin care services to give your skin everything it will need.

SKIN TIP #3: Schedule a consultation.

Once you have a few recommendations of skin care facilities, schedule a consultation. What may be fabulous for your friend may not be right for you. The key to a good consultation is to ask a lot of questions; particularly the cost of treatments, side-effects and the results that they can guarantee. Also, bring in your collection of skin care products to let your esthetician assess what you are using to determine if your products will give you the results you are looking for.

SKIN TIP #4: When starting a new skin care program, be sure to do a patch test if you’re trying out new skin care products.

Allergic reactions can sometimes take up to two weeks to heal, so rub a small amount of product on the side of your neck and wait 24 hours. If redness or irritation occurs, avoid using the product. To prevent allergic reactions, avoid products containing synthetic fragrances (the #1 cause of allergic reactions) synthetic dyes and SD Alcohol 40. All of the Renée Rouleau products do not use these ingredients.

SKIN TIP #5: Get started with caring for your skin.

For skins with break outs: The first rule is: Make a commitment to not pick at your skin. Break outs usually last just 3-5 days, but when you pick at a blemish, the red mark that lingers can be there for 1-2 months! We know it's tempting, but you can make problem skin much worse by forcing bacteria deeper into the skin, resulting in scarring and further break outs. A better solution for problem skin is a regular monthly facial, where your pores can be cleaned professionally.

To prevent break outs: Go easy on the use of harsh, acne products. Unless your case of acne is severe, most acne products can make it worse. These products can be extremely drying, and although they will help dry-up and heal the individual breakouts, they will over-dry other non-broken out areas resulting in dead skin cell buildup. The cell buildup will then act as a barrier to trap oil under the skin causing more clogged pores and breakouts. So your effort to clear up your skin will actually cause you to break out more!

The three most important elements for controlling clogged pores and breakouts are:

Exfoliation -- this will keep off dry skin cells to reduce clogged pores and also help fade red, post-breakout marks

Disinfecting -- it is important to eliminate bacteria to help prevent the spread of breakout as well as drying up infection

Hydration --water-based moisture to keep cells healthy to discourage dead skin cell buildup

For skins with discoloration/brown spots: Brown spots usually come from sun, age, hormonal changes in the body, and genetics. And if untreated, these “spots” or “patches” tend to become more apparent and darken as the skin ages. Not to worry--if you start addressing this skin problem now, with the right skin care routine, some chemical peels, exfoliating facials and a little patience, you’ll be on your way to lighter, more even-toned skin.

How to: By combining exfoliation, skin lighteners and daily use of an SPF, the pigmented cells will slowly start to break down and fade their color. Exfoliation (like Renée Rouleau Glycolic Serum) is beneficial for breaking up the pigmented cells and the use of a skin-lightening agent like Vitamin C (Renée Rouleau Vitamin C & E Complex) or Hydroquinone will suppress the melanin cells and accelerate the fading process. For those with discoloration, it will always come back if ignored, so it’s important to be ready to commit to proper care for keeping it under control. Both professional facials with a focus on exfoliation and a proper home care routine will make a huge improvement.

For skins with redness, sensitivity or Rosacea: Getting redness under control is easier than you think. You simply must use products that are specifically formulated for this type of skin. Using products with ingredients like Chamomile, White Tea and Sea Whip all help to reduce inflammation to sedate redness. Many products formulated for sensitive skin simply means they removed the fragrance. But to actually reduce redness, you must look for anti-redness ingredients. Check out our nine skin types to have products recommended exclusively for your skin.

SKIN TIP #6: Practice good skin care habits daily.

Every day must-do’s:

-Use products formulated exclusively for your skin type. This will ensure you get the best results. (Renée Rouleau offers skin care products for nine different skin types.)

-Always wash your face both morning and night.

-Use a mild facial scrub 2-3 times a week.

-Use a moisturizer with SPF every day on both the face, neck and chest.

-Always leave your alcohol-free toner damp before applying your moisturizer to hydrate the skin. Your skin cells are like fish. They need water to live.

-Use an acid or enzyme exfoliant at night regularly.

-For skins with redness, keep your products (especially alcohol-free toner) in the refrigerator. The cool temperature will lower the temperature in the skin reducing redness.

SKIN TIP #7: Go through a series of light chemical peels.

Most skin types can benefit from light chemical peels. There are many different types of peels available depending on your skin concern. Deep chemical peels are usually only performed once, but the side effects are great causing you to hibernate for a week in the house. We feel that a series of lighter chemical peels will offer you not only minimal downtime, but you’ll get a better result by treating the skin several times with the exfoliation they provide. Renée Rouleau offers a Skin Repair Program and an Acne Repair Program. It’s a series of peels and repair treatments performed once a week for six weeks to smooth and even out the skin tone.

SKIN TIP #8: Get regular professional facials.

Using a good skin care regimen at home is a necessity, but regular professional facials every 4-8 weeks can dramatically improve the results of your skin. It’s recommended to change up the types of facials regularly depending on the season or how your skin is behaving. Example: Vitamin C antioxidant facials are great during the summer to reduce aging from the sun, while exfoliating facials work well during the winter months to remove dryness caused from the heat in the house.

SKIN TIP #9: Eat a good, healthy diet.

What you put in your body can negatively or positively affect your skin.

Limit your intake of these…

-Dairy. Many people have heard that greasy foods and chocolate cause breakouts. Breakouts, especially those that are cyst-like in the chin and jaw line area, most often are related to too much ice cream, yogurt, milk and cheese. Try cutting back and watch your skin clear up! Try Renée Rouleau Anti-Cyst Treatment for hard, sore cystic break outs.

-Alcohol. It leads to under eye and skin puffiness, as well as dehydrated skin. For every alcoholic drink, follow it with a 4-8 oz. glass of water.

-High salt foods, like Chinese. Especially the day before a special occasion, you’ll want to avoid high salt foods as it can lead to skin and under eye puffiness.

Eat lots of these…

-Food with color (not from dyes). The more color we eat, the greater variety of antioxidants and nutrients we obtain from our foods. Berries, yellow squash, spinach, oranges, and red apples are all good choices.

-Avocados. These great little packages of green contain something called glutathione, one of the body's master antioxidants. Great for anti-aging.

-Fish. The best fish to eat is cold-water fish. Include sardines, tuna, mackerel, cod, herring, and trout as well. All of these have the best essential fats for smoother, more moisturized skin, increased energy, improved immunity and all are very beneficial for your heart.

SKIN TIP #10: Practice self-acceptance.

You have to remember that we all have to deal with the genetic cards we’ve been dealt. For example, some people are going to be prone to a weakened elasticity in the under eye area (the polite way to say “bags”). All the eye creams in the world will not tighten that up. Rosacea, a skin disorder resulting in redness is also troublesome and cannot be “cured”. The goal is to control skin conditions using good products and practicing good skin care habits to prevent the symptoms from getting worse. You are beautiful!