I would like to introduce you to a person whom I love dearly…. she is a constant in my life and I am soooo thankful…. she is one of my oldest (as in longest) friends…. she IS the longest skincare client I have… I have watched her children grow up and become these amazing, successful, talented men….and she did most all of that by herself. She has been with me through the best and worst times and everything in between. You deserve someone in your life like Mary!

I am so blessed in my life to have so many wonderful friends and I love them all… Mary is on my mind today and she deserves a little bright spot in her day…..no particular reason, except that she is just Mary, she just deserves it…… so do me a favor and take a moment, if you will, and send her a little good juju by means of energy, love, warm thoughts… whatever….and trust me you will get it back times 10! I love you dearly Mary…

Check these before and after shots that a patient sent me this weekend. They are my favorite types of shots… not done in a lab and even possibly touched up… One she had from a family shot… and then someone snapped the after picture about a year after she started coming in for treatments.

Kristen is diligent with her skincare… she’s not obsessive about it… but she makes it a priority. She had a few things that bothered her when she came in. One was her eyebrows…. she had, due to a few reasons, had lost brow hair and they truly had no shape…. none… and she is beautiful… but those brows were not doing her justice. And then there was the pigment, skin laxity and a lack luster sallowness to the skin. It had lost it’s radiance.

So we started her on Retin-A and hydroquinone (at a prescription level) and she was off and running. She came in regularly for peels and we worked up to pretty consistent Retin-A Peels. We also started her on Latisse! She needed some of that brow hair back in order for me to reshape them. They had become very straight with no evidence of an arch. I told her that in order for me to reconstruct the “frame” for her face… it was going to take a long time. She agreed and we started. Over the next several months… we tweezed and waxed and trimmed and groomed and Latissed those brows into the shape they are today. All the brow you see in the next shot is her… full of hair, her brows are arched and really do their job to enhance her features. Not overdone… just what fits her face.

She has make up on in both shots….. but not much…. she hardly has to wear any… just a little powder and lips and eyes and she is outta there.

Thank you Kristen… for your patience and your trust.

Hopefully everyone knows that sunscreen is the most advantageous product that you can invest in, for your skin. You have probably heard enough about it that you feel inundated with types, SPF numbers, ratings, recommendations, and advice. The bottom line for sunscreen is just put some on… some is better than none. And for most people that get an average daily dose of Vitamin D…. that will suffice. However, for those who are slightly more aggressive with their skincare or have issues like hyper-pigmentation (brown spots), that is simply not enough.

Simply put… multiply the SPF number by 10 and that is how many minutes of coverage you will get in an average situation. There is no such thing as waterproof sunscreen…. it all comes off… so re-apply if your in or near the water. Have someone else apply it… it’s more fun that way!

In addition to sunscreen there is something that is available now that will help you be more protective of your skin… even when your not thinking about it.

Vitamin C!

No, not the tablets or drinking extra OJ…… Topical…. applied directly to your skin….where you need it the most. Vitamin C belongs to an important group of antioxidants that fight the free radicals that age your skin. Studies have shown topical Vitamin C, in the most effective form (L-ascorbic acid), can help improve sun protection, repair sun-damaged skin, reduce fine lines, stimulate collagen-building, and potentially reduce discoloration of the skin. This is a prescription strength dose of pure Vitamin C that acts as a protector, much deeper in the tissue than sunscreen can reach. It is not used in place of sunscreen as it can’t shield you from the sun… but it can repair the fragile cells below the surface.  It is the only topical antioxidant proven to stimulate collagen synthesis and protect your skin by minimizing future skin cell damage.

Basically strengthening the cells so that they can withstand more accidental exposure than before.

I apply this solution to nearly every patient after their skincare treatment in my office, right before I apply their sunscreen and send them out into the elements. It is very similar to taking a vitamin of any sort,  in that it is giving your body more of what it needs to help you help yourself!

It comes in different strengths and you will want to start out lower and work your way up. Drier patients usually start with 10% and work their way through and then past 15% to 20%. Normal/oily skinned patients bypass the 10%, because their skin is thicker and start with 15% and on to 20%. It has quickly become one of the most used products on the celebrity scene…. It’s what was suggested for Anne Hathaway’s skincare regimen on MSN…. click photo below to connect to the story.

You need only a few drops of this serum-type liquid applied to the skin once a day. Many of my patients that come in and really have skin that is just starting to show a little damage…. they aren’t ready for a retinoid program or anything to aggressive….. these are the ones that I start on Obagi-C RX products. It’s the Bentley version of skincare for the 18-40+ year old patients… depending on previous damage levels, of course. So whether you have very little damage and need nothing but this “C”…. or you have damage that your treating already…. “C” is the antioxidant you need to meet!

What an honor!

I have just received top billing as Medical Aesthetician in Oklahoma for Oklahoma Magazine’s Best of the Best Issue for 2010!

Joey Manduano, D.O., F.A.C.O.S was also named one of the top three Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, in the same issue. It is a unique privilege namely because it’s our patients and the public who vote!

We are grateful and now even more driven to provide honest, reliable care for our patients. We have been in this profession for many years and are quite aware of the in and outs of what is good for skin and what is less effective.

Thank you Tulsa and the surrounding areas for this honor… we look forward to many more years of service!

Gabriel

on behalf of our entire staff.