Thursday, November 19, 2009

Dermatologists' Tips for Your Beauty Budget

Leading dermatologists Susan H. Weinkle, M.D. and Heidi A. Waldorf, M.D. have shared their expert tips on getting the most out of your beauty budget. The key is to invest wisely and know where you can compromise and where you can’t. The two said the three essential items to keep your skin in top shape now - in order to avoid expensive corrective procedures later - are sunscreen, an antioxidant moisturizer, and a product containing retinoic acid.

Here are their product tips, along with some notes from me.

Worth the Price
  • Prescription retinoids (tretinoin, tazarotene, adapalene) – Nothing else has been show to do as much for photoaged skin, and one tube should last several months. I sure wish I could use this stuff!
  • Certain cosmeceuticals, particularly idebenone (Prevage MD shown above) and coffeeberry (RevaleSkin products) – These are available online, and you just have to try them to know which ones will work best for you.
Where You Can Save Money
  • Cleansers – If you need to save, a gentle over-the-counter non-drying lotion cleanser will do the job (for example, Cetaphil).
  • Sunscreen – Drugstore options with appropriate ingredients are plentiful, and you need to use a lot of sunscreen to get maximum effectiveness. I like Anthelios from La Roche-Posay.
  • Eye cream – The doctors say if you’re trying to save, you can use your face cream for your eye area too. I say that depends! Some face creams will migrate into your eyes, so be careful!
If you have to make choices about where you spend your money, these are some good tips to remember!

Photo courtesy of Amazon
Press release courtesy of the Women's Dermatologic Society

7 comments:

Unknown said...

thanks for the tips.
I was always wondering if its just a marketing ploy to make us buy eye and face creams. Awhile ago, person at El counter told me under no circumstance to use face cream under my eyes and also not to put eye cream on the top lid. I was always wondering if there was any truth to those words...

Charlestongirl said...

I guess I'm a rule breaker! I use eye creams both under and over, and if one migrates into my eyes, I deep-six it.

I think you can use the right face cream under your eyes - if you don't get it too close to the lash line or outside corner - but I wouldn't use a face cream on my upper lid area unless it is specifically endorsed for such use.

Miss Brahms said...

At a recent LaRoche Posay training, I was indeed told that the two things that dermatologists recommend above all are 1. SUNSCREEN and 2. ANTI-OXIDANT. Of course, LaRoche recommends their Anthelios sunscreen line and their powerful antioxidant serum DermAox, but this combination is essential to "correct and protect," as it were. THe combination of Pycnogenol (a derivative of the French Maritime Pine tree), an antioxidant 30 times more powerful than Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Vitamin C, and Carnitine, an amino acid used to prevent skin glycation- is extremely powerful in serum form and works to impart youthful radiance while reversing some of the signs of photoaging - dark spots, uneven skin tone and texture, etc. Dr. Brandt, Kinerase and Chanel all have antioxidant serums as well as Prevage by Elizabeth Arden, but DermAox is the only serum that also inhibits glycation in skin - the stiffening of collagen fibroblasts that is caused by sugars in the blood.
That said, consuming antioxidants like Reservatrol (grapes)and Theanine (green tea), Lycopene (watermelon and tomatoes) is also a healthy and fantastic way to help your skin stay young as well.

The only creams I don't use near my eyes are ones with sunblock chemicals - I have very sensitive eyes and the avobenzone makes them tear and sting. So I do use various eye creams for different reasons - puffiness, wrinkles, etc., but then again, I will try anything.

Another thing I add to the regimen of correct and protect is a rich night moisturizer - no lifting or firming, just hydration to combat flaky skin. That and a chemical or mechanical exfoliant once or twice a week and I am set!

Charlestongirl said...

Oh my, Pro,

Just reading about sunscreen near your eyes made mine water. How's that for the power of suggestion?

As always, great advice! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with BTiB readers.

KayBee01 said...

I just found these postings and at the perfect time! I'm having a terrible time finding an eye cream because they all migrate into my eyes during the night. I was reading what DrugstoreBeautyPro said and wondered if you could suggest an eye cream that would not creep into my very sensitive eyes.
Thanks so much

Charlestongirl said...

Hi KayBee,

There are many good ones. I have the same problem with migration, and here are some choices that don't migrate into my sensitive eyes. I use all of these.

1. Either Kinerase eye cream (Intensive or Under Eye Rescue)
2. Striking Skin Care's eye cream
3. La Mer's eye concentrate
4. Prevage Eye
5. Armani Crema Nera for eyes

I don't use drugstore eye creams, but I'll ask DrugStoreBeautyPro to weigh in here tomorrow when we are all snowed in!

KayBee01 said...

Thanks so much for the suggestions. This has become such a problem for me and I definitely need cream around my eyes!