Why day creams don't work in place of night creams.

A lot of my time in the treatment room is spent educating my clients on their skincare routine and usually we’re talking about undoing the habits they already have in place. My first question is always “what do you wash your face with?” – not because I want to literally know the brand of their face wash, but because if they are able to somewhat quickly answer this question, I know they are washing their face. And then I ask what they moisturize with…again to see if they are performing the two MOST important steps in skin care: washing your face and applying moisturizer. Finally I ask them if they are doing this when they wake up and before they go to sleep. Sometimes it’s a little like getting your child to admit they didn’t brush their teeth before bed or wash their hands after using the toilet. You have to trick them into giving you the truth. My clients like to believe that they are taking care of their skin and they don’t know why they’re breaking out-dry-sensitive-dull-congested (insert verb here). If you want your skin to remain youthful for as long as possible you MUST wash your face in the morning and moisturize/protect with a sunscreen made for the face. And at night you MUST wash your face and apply a night cream. Use a washcloth too! The face is so much dirtier at night than in the morning. Once you have this routine down, you can start adding serums, peels, eye cream, spot treatments, masks, exfoliants, etc. I like creamy cleansers in the morning because the skin is just waking up and sleeping doesn’t make you too dirty, but cleansing is still a must. At night your skin goes to work while you sleep and it’s basically running a marathon. So while you’re going through your four phases it is repairing everything that you did from that day. It is killing free radicals which causing aging, fine lines, wrinkles and cancer. It is also producing collagen which fights the affects of gravity and keeps your skin "bouncy." You skin loses moisture and it needs water and a night cream in order to do its best work. That being said, this is why night creams cost more than a daytime moisturizer. Night creams have more concentrated and stronger ingredients than day creams. Same with night serums, a la Lancôme Absolue Night Serum, Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum, DDF Restoring Night Serum and a slew of others. These products are created to help your skin perform its repair functions. Smart, right?

Alpha Beta Glow pads from Dr. Dennis Gross

Our new LA rep for Dr. Dennis Gross popped by last week to drop some knowledge on us about Dr. Gross’ exfoliating pads, professional peels and upcoming products. I’m ALL for exfoliation – in the right time and the right place so I was of course eager to go to this meeting. Dr. Gross uses Alpha Hydroxy Acids and a slew of other amazing exfoliating acids to gently but effectively - almost professionally remove dead skin cells (see the "Gross" picture!), increase cellular renewal, break down free radicals and a few other amazing benefits. The products are also cruelty free, vegan and paraben free! Now for the important part: does it work? I applied the product via small handy wipe, onto my face and neck for approximately 30 seconds. It didn’t tingle or itch or feel like anything really. A chemical exfoliation that doesn’t hurt? Psht, it must be crap, but only time will tell. I will tell you this, the little wipey was chalk-full of my dead skin cells when I was finished applying the product so that’s good! I applied my night cream brushed my teeth and hit the sack. The smell woke me up a few times but that’s a self tanner for you. When I got up this morning I went to the mirror and had a looky. My skin looked really smooth and glowing and felt really soft, the “11s” looked less visible, which I love but my looked like it was kind of stretched tight. A little like a facelift – which I don’t really care for, but washing my face and applying moisturizer completely eradicated that issue. The effects of using the Glow Pad seemed to actually last for a couple of days and my cousin even noticed how good my pores looked and said I had a nice tone. I’ll take that!! I’m giving her a Glow Pad to try today, we’re hitting the red carpet tonight and I’m hoping the effects will be visible by then. We’ll see!

You've got LA on your face.

You’ve got LA on your face

I have to give my mother a shout-out for my obsessive tendencies and love of skin care; without her I'd be...a secretary.  That being said, she also passed on the unyielding rule that you wash your face EVERY night.  When I was a kid I hated how long it took her to get ready for bed and now I realize she was just washing the day off of her face.  Now that I'm an esthetician in Los Angeles I see clients every day who have congested, dry, dehydrated, broken-out skin and they don't know why.  There are two ways to wash your face: your AM routine which as not as invasive but still important - your skin runs a marathon while you sleep - it cleanses, sheds, turns over, sweats and repairs and that by-product needs to be washed away.  And then there's the PM routine. Like I said, the AM is important but listen to what we're doing in the PM.  There is now makeup, dirt, sweat, germs, spit, food, car exhaust and air pollution stuck to your face.  Not only do you need to wash that off, you need to make sure you remove ALL of it.  This is what causes clogged pores, aging skin and a "dullness" and a lot of my clients don't really care for that.

So here’s the deal, wash your face in the morning with a creamy cleanser like Cetaphil or Esthederm Cleansing Milk. 

Either one of these products will gently but effectively cleanse all of the sleepy-time gunk off of your face.  Apply your eye cream, antioxidant serum and sunscreen followed by a great foundation as well as the rest of your makeup and you’re ready for the day. 

When you’re ready for bed, wash your face with a foaming cleanser – you want something that will get in there a bit more and wash the city off your face.  I like the Pomega5 Moisturizing Bar, it cleanses and has a great foam but it’s not drying at all.  I also like Aveeno Ultra-Calming Cleanser.

Wet your hands, wet your face and work the cleanser into a lather, all over the face and neck.  Next, wet a wash cloth and gently rinse your face, making sure to include the edges as well as your neck.  If you’re still feeling build up, use a toner to get the last bits of makeup and dirt.  I like RareMinerals Moisture Burst facial mist, Mario Badescu (this could get rid of past lives!) or Neutrogena Clear Pore toner.  Most of them are great as long as it fits your skin type. 

Apply the toner to a cotton ball and give your face a sweep to get the remainders of the day.  Before the toner dries, apply your peeling serums or hydrating serums like Dr. Dennis Gross  Alpha Beta daily face peel or SKII Facial Treatment Repair C.  Follow this up with your night moisturizer and an eye cream.  You look younger already.