How Does Diet Affects Our Skin?

Diet is an ongoing debate in dermatology. I am a firm believer in treating the whole person and not looking for a quick fix. The things that we do over and over and over again, surely affect our body and mind. Since the skin is the largest organ, it stands to reason that the fuel we put into our system affects our skin. Today, we will take a closer look into sugar, caffeine, alcohol and iodine.

Sugar and glycation

If you’ve guessed that sugar can cause breakouts in the skin, you are correct. But what is more frightening than that is what happens underneath the skin that you do not see. The excess sugar in the skin binds to the collagen and elastin in the skin, causing it to become hard and rigid instead of supple. When your face moves, the bounce back effect slows which is when fine lines and wrinkles begin.

I always recommend a balanced diet; low in the white stuff (sugar, processed, starches, etc.) and more in the colorful stuff (fruits, veggies, etc.) That being said, I heard recently that it’s important to have a healthy diet, but that cookies are good for the soul. If you like to indulge in sweets, just remember that moderation in sugar is a good thing.

Caffeine and hydration … Alcohol and redness

It’s not all about what we eat, but what we drink. We know that both caffeine and alcohol are stressors for the body. Caffeine (for many is the nice little perk in the morning) can dehydrate your body. Water is very healing and a large percentage of what we are made up of. The skin gets the leftovers of everything we ingest, but it also is the first place that can be taken from when the body needs something. I am the first to have dry lips. Part of this can be curbed by being mindful of the amount of caffeine you consume as well as the water that you intake.

Alcohol has inflammation effects in the skin, causing redness, puffiness and also dryness. It too can also cause acne. If your skin has a tendency already to be more red or your have rosacea or flushing in the cheeks, it’s my recommendation that you limit alcohol. After you have a night of drinking, you’ll also need to step up your hydration game. Carry a water bottle with you and continue to drink as much water as you can the next day or too.

Iodine and acne

This has been a long debate that is ongoing. Dr. Mark Fulton shared that there was a correlation between acne and iodine in the production of acne. Since then, Laura Cooksley has also shared the same thought. However, Dr. Mark Lees has challenged that thinking and believes that you would have to consume A LOT of iodiode food, such as sea kelp several times a week.

My thought is that it is relatively easy to keep this low (by using Himalayan salt instead of iodized salt, choosing low sodium foods, and not eating too much sea weed), so why not give it a try IF you are having issues with acne. Salt is also going to increase the puffiness in the skin, so if you are looking to rid yourself of those bags under your eyes, this will be a good idea too.

Don't forget to 

Breathe. Let Go. Relax.

Zoey Jolley, LE 

What Causes Wrinkles? Preventing Aging by Slowing the Clock

Every year, the cake comes complete with candles, family and friends, and the traditional song, right! And each year, we are aging. <clear throat> Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear beautiful! Happy birthday to YOOOUUUUUUUU! As we see the numbers go up, we also see a loss of the fat pads in the face and additions of the wrinkles. Other things also become more noticeable. 11s in between your brows, the long horizontal lines on your forehead, short lines around your twinkling eye, and the marionette lines around your mouth. Simply put, wrinkles are caused by a breakdown in the elastin and collagen fibers. Over time, our muscles continue to make contractions when we smile, laugh, frown, or wink! This movement in the muscle will eventually form a small fine line. The fine lines over time become deeper and create a wrinkle.

So now that we know the basics of how a wrinkle is formed, let's dive into how we can slow the aging clock, but externally and internally.

Three External Slowing Recommendations

#1 - Sunscreen/SPF

The sun is the number one external aging factor, so it stands to reason that the number one suggestion should be using a quality sunscreen or SPF. You need to apply daily (and repeat applications if you are outside.)

#2 - Antioxidants

Antioxidants in skin care help protect the skin against free radicals and pollutants that are found in our environment. One of my current favorites is Vitamin C. While this ingredient may be in a lot of over the counter options, this is one not to skimp on because many are not shelf stable, can be pore clogging and inflammatory in the skin.

#3 - Retinols (aka - vitamin A)

Yes, you’ve heard my back and forth through the years on this ingredient. But the skinny is that if you find a high quality product that contains retinol and doesn’t irritate your skin, USE IT! When you start using a Retinol product, let’s ease your skin into the routine. Definitely get with your Esthetician to find the right product and routine for you!

Three Internal Slowing Recommendations

#1 Reduce your stress

Again, since stress is our number one internal factor of aging, reducing this component of course would be number one! Find what helps you to reduce your stress - like meditation, yoga, breathing, etc. What works for one person, won’t necessarily work for you, so keeping trying and looking.

#2 Low stress diet

Yes, you read that right! Think high in fiber and greens and low in white stuff. Sugar creates glycation in the skin and makes the collagen and elastin brittle … which causes fine lines to become wrinkles, etc. So pay attention to what goes into your body. It will thank you for years to come in many aspects!

#3 Pay attention to your cues!

If something doesn’t feel right in your body, don’t ignore it! Address it! See your doctor, read quality articles about it, and then figure out what you can do to make small and simple changes that will help. Again, added stress in all formats will lead to faster aging.

Using both external (SPF, Antioxidants, Retinols) and internal options (stress, stress, stress - haha), you can definitely do your part in slowing what your mother and father passed down to you. Let’s do our own evaluation and see what we can do better, and then start today! I look forward to pointing you to the right direction for skin care that will work to slow your aging clock.

Don’t forget to

Breathe. Let Go. Relax.

Zoey Jolley, Le

How Long Will It Take For My Acne To Clear?

How long will it take for my acne to clear? Wow! That's a loaded question. But I will do my best to answer your question and help you get to your goal of clear, glowing skin. Let's dive right in on what we need to do to get you there as quickly as possible.

There are many factors on why you may be experiencing acne, one of which is the build up of dead skin cells. Babies skin cells turn over every 14 days. This process happens so quickly that you rarely seeing flaking or peeling on their precious skin. As you begin to age, the process of the dead skin cells sloughing away takes longer and longer. The optimal amount of time that we aim for in adulthood is 28 days for that process of the dead going away and the new skin cells reappearing. Our skin however will not be able to do this process and it's own and needs help. Exfoliation is a great way to help speed up the process to try and achieve the 28 day cycle.

What we put on the skin also affects if the skin can get rid of acne or if it makes it worse. There are many products that say that they are FOR acne that can actually aggravate acne. A couple of the ingredients that are NOT good for acne prone skin are: coconut oil, isopropyl myristate, butyl stearate, PPG2 myristyl proprionate, and D&C pigments to name a few. When looking at your skin care products, you'll want to focus on the first 8 ingredients in a product. These are the most important because they are the bulk of what the product contains. Cosmetics are also many times like poison on the skin and should be avoided if possible. 

Internal factors are also key here! Think stress, diet and even vitamins and supplements. Stress is the number one factor if our skin will respond to the treatment that we can do on the outside with products. Many times, clients are in school, have small children, or are experiencing a rough time in life. Our whole body responds in different ways to stress! Diet is also a contributing factor. Many will think chocolate or greasy foods, but in my research, the most important factor is the iodine content in the foods. Dairy is also considered to be a big culprit here. Vitamins and supplements are taken by many to help the skin, but too can have a negative impact. Biotin and skin vitamins are highly discouraged as they may fuel the acne to continue.

After explaining all of this to you, hopefully you understand that we become detectives in figuring out what some of the triggers may be to your skin. We work together to check every nook and cranny and to experiment. Changing up products and make sure that you include the right type of exfoliation, learning meditation to combat the stressors of life, switching vitamins and perhaps your diet and more may be part of the solution for clear skin.  Because it can take 90 days for a pimple to reach the surface of the skin, it takes a minimum 3 to 4 months to clear up the skin (if we figure out all of the triggers and can make the necessary corrections)... because each skin cycle is 28 days! Receiving regular treatments with your esthetician can help to speed up the process, perform extractions on whiteheads and blackheads, and help to guide you as a mentor through this process.

If you would like to set up a consultation to review what we could do for your skin, please use the book now button. We'll go over where to start and get you a free acne booklet as a cliff notes of the right things to do and the things to avoid. Here's to the start of beautiful, clear skin with more confidence than you ever thought possible.

Don't forget to 

Breathe. Let Go. Relax.

Zoey Jolley, LE