How To Improve The Skin Around Your Eyes: My 3 Top Tips

How To Improve The Skin Around Your Eyes

Today I am talking about the area that is often a topic of conversation in the clinic and very often an area of concern for many people.

The eye area.

The skin around the eyes is noticeably thinner than the rest of the face. It’s delicate, refined and actually can be as thin as 0.5mm. It’s where we tend to have a lot of expressions, so when we smile, frown, and squint, we tend to create lines around this area.

As we age, we obviously get that collagen breakdown, the quality of our collagen isn’t as good, and these lines eventually become lines of rest.

As well as the rest of the face, the eye area is exposed to UV daily.

The following are my top tips for treating and protecting this area:

1 Always Wear Sunscreen

With many old sunscreens, you typically can’t apply them right up to the eye. However, more modern sunscreens make it possible for you to apply them over the eyelids to ensure that area is nicely protected. It’s also a great idea to wear sunglasses when possible, which will give you that extra protection.

The sun is one of the main factors in ageing on the skin, so it’s essential to use sunscreen to prevent this ageing from occurring.

2 Use Products Specifically Formulated For This Area

Compared to the rest of the face, the region around the eyes has a highly distinctive skin type. As a result, the treatment of this region requires the use of distinct formulations and active ingredients in order to avoid causing any unwanted damage or discomfort.

This means you need the invest in products which are suitable for the eyes, which will prevent the look of ageing from around the eyes.

3 Massage The Areas Around Your Eyes

This area, especially the under the eye, can be very immobile; therefore, we get a slower circulation here, which can cause a buildup of fluid and darkness under the eyes.

Giving this area under the eyes a light, gentle massage every day is always advisable. Doing it in the morning can really wake those eyes up and help stimulate that circulation and lymphatic system, helping drain away any fluid that may build up in that area.

Conclusion: How To Improve The Skin Around Your Eyes

Following the three tips above, you can keep the skin around your eyes protected and looking its best.

One last thing, we have an exciting new treatment launching next week. You will find all about it in next Friday’s email.

We can specifically target this area as well as the neck, which is also very delicate. Myself and Kayleigh did our training on Wednesday this week, and immediately waking up the next day, my eyes looked better. They felt less hollow on the under-eye area and not as dark.

I tend to be quite vascular under there, so can look darker or almost take on a blue tone. I always have to wear concealer in this area.

Thursday morning, waking up, I just didn’t need quite as much.

If you want more helpful information to improve the look of your skin, subscribe to our mailing list by clicking here.

If anyone is interested in this procedure, or any other type of procedure, contact us here.

My Top Picks To Go With My Top Tips

Want to know 3 top products to improve
your skin?

Let’s admit it! We would all like to have beautiful skin. But there are occasions when we might not be sure which products would be best for our skin or even which adjustments would be most beneficial. This week, Rebecca from ReSkin Clinic will share with you some of her favourite products that might assist you in following the suggestions and leave you achieving fantastic skin.

Dermaviduals Cleansing Milk

(If you know, you know) I am completely in love with this cleanser! Most of my customers will agree that this is the best cleaner I have ever had the opportunity to keep in stock. The DMS cleansing milk is gentle enough to use on even the most sensitive skins. Because it has a dermal membrane structure, it is skin-identical. There is not a single ingredient in this cleanser that the
skin cannot recognise, and there is also nothing that can disrupt the skin’s natural protective barrier. Remove impurities and makeup, including mascara, in a manner that is extraordinarily delicate but still highly efficient. Do not pass up the opportunity to cleanse with anything like this. It fulfils all the requirements one would have for an effective cleanser.

Dermaviduals Enzyme Skin Renewal

Another best seller! The very outermost layer of the skin can be gently sloughed off with the help of this enzyme powder. It loosens and eliminates any skin cells lingering around a bit longer than they should be, but it leaves the rest of the skin cells alone, ensuring that the barrier is maintained in a healthy and robust state. It works wonders on under-the-skin bumps that won’t go away for people with sensitive skin and those with other skin types. This is the product for you if you want your skin to have a clear and smooth appearance.

AlumierMD Moisture Matte Sunscreen

I usually say products can’t multitask, but this one can. On the one hand, it is an excellent broad-spectrum sunscreen with antioxidants, providing essential protection against the sun. On the other hand, the antioxidants give it an additional anti-ageing kick. And the other, it’s a basis for everything! Therefore, using this product will allow you to maintain the colour and coverage of your makeup while keeping it in place. It’s possible that you won’t ever need to buy another foundation again! This product can help prevent premature ageing of the skin by providing the skin with additional moisture, thereby making the skin appear more youthful and revitalised.

Conclusion to prevent premature ageing

There you have it! The three top products that many of my clients and I have in their skincare armour. The health of your skin ought to be your primary concern when it comes to using skin care products. Don’t fall for the marketing hype around new-to-market products. And instead, spend time looking at the details and, where possible, speak to a skin care professional like
myself or anyone in my team at ReSkin Clinic. Some of the products above can only be sold after a consultation with us, so please get in touch and book a short consultation. Don’t let this put you off. See it as a positive. Our skin is literally the biggest organ in our bodies and one of the most complicated. It acts as the barrier keeping everything in via an airtight, watertight shield. You must protect this. Thank you for reading, and as ever, I or anyone at the clinic is here for any advice. Just get in touch with
any questions.

Is botox really the answer?

Botox before and after.

Wow! We’re now into June and finally getting the summer weather shining down upon us. This week, while writing this, it has been an absolute scorcher so like me I hope you have managed to stay cool and topped up with your sunscreen applications! If you need any advice regards to being out in the sun and why sunscreen is so important, please read my recent blog on skin cancer. I wrote this for Skin Cancer Awareness Month but it’s still very relevant and really important.

Let’s talk about Botox

In this blog we want to talk about Botox. I had a conversation with a client this week and she told me her friend was thinking of getting Botox to “improve her skin.” Obviously, my well-educated client put her friend right and said this was not the correct approach. Which got me thinking about the importance of getting the right message across and prompted this blog. The subject of Botox is always coming up in clinic and it should be carefully discussed. I feel that PR often creates a narrative that Botox can fix anything and although it was created for medical purposes it wasn’t designed to slowdown or stop the natural process of ageing.

Love it or hate it

Botox, whether you love it or hate it due to personal experience, the PR it receives, or just because it’s the word around town, it does have a huge place in the aesthetic industry. In fact, around 18million pounds worth! But when it comes to improving skin health it doesn’t really do a great deal.

So, let’s consider Botox before and after its introduction as a cosmetic procedure. It was first discovered around 1920 and became the centre of many people’s research. The largest discovery coming around 1950, when learning that it could help muscle spasms. But it wasn’t until 1989 that it became licenced in America for medical use and 2002 for cosmetic procedures. The UK followed similar pace. I think most people are aware of the cosmetic reasons for Botox, frown lines and crow’s feet, but not its medical implications and its use to treat excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis), muscle spasms of the eyelids (blepharospasm), cross eyes and other medical conditions such as cerebral palsy, Overactive bladder and migraines.

So what does it do

There’s a common myth out there that Botox can heal all wounds and rejuvenate the skin, but that’s not entirely true. Botox is a protein that is injected directly into the muscle temporarily paralysing or weakening it for three to four months, on average. But it can vary depending on the person and how much they use it. This process stops the signal from the nerves to the muscle preventing the muscle from contracting and therefore no more lines. But that’s where its benefits end. Yes, it gives you a nice smooth forehead, or reduces those crow’s feet, but it can not give you glowing skin.

This is why Botox and skin care go hand in hand. In fact, we know some aesthetic doctors that refuse to administer Botox to clients that aren’t taking care of their skin.

Anti-ageing

Now we’re not against Botox, we regularly have specialists working with our clients from our Skincare Clinic in Sheffield. There is a place for Botox, but it has its limitations when it comes to your look, including anti-ageing. That’s why we continuously push for clients to see the relationship between Botox and good skin health and act accordingly. With Botox, your lines may disappear, but if you aren’t feeding your skin with the right actives or protecting it daily from the sun, as well as having your in-clinic treatments, your skin is in fact still ageing and Botox will only temporarily cover the issues.

Conclusion

So, by all means if you want to go for the injectables, then do. But just like buying a car without maintaining the engine. It may always look good but without oil and water it’s breaking underneath.

If you want to know more about Botox, skin care or how the two align, please reach out and contact the clinic as we’ll be happy to explain further and help where we can. We will never judge you on your appearance or personal choices. There are a lot of false information around Botox and it can be hard to know what’s right or wrong.

Have you experienced winter skin?

I appreciate winter has passed, and everyone is looking towards the summer sun, particularly as Easter and the recent bank holiday has been so warm, but in this blog we really wanted to take a step back and discuss your winter skin. For some winter is a daunting time, and we think now would be a good time to discuss some of the issues many people experience over winter so those who do can prepare.

One of the biggest issues to our skin is the heating that we’re all quick to crank up when feeling cold. Now we’re not saying don’t, as heating is important to our wellbeing and survival, but realise that you may start to experience dryness, or your skin may be feeling a little more sensitive than normal. This is because the central heating makes the atmosphere super dry, and we get a higher level of trans epidermal water loss than normal. Team this with walking out of our front door into the cold temperatures plays absolute havoc with our skin and barrier.

As it’s unrealistic to tell you to turn off the heating during those cold winter months, we advise trying to keep it a low as possible, which will help. If you are like us and like to feel quite Mediterranean, investing in a humidifier for the room you’re in, which is great for helping with hydration levels within the skin.

Also look for products containing those barrier lipids to reinforce the protective barrier reducing the risk of trans epidermal water loss. So, look for ceramides, cholesterol, and omegas. The Byonik Seal product is amazing for this, full of ceramides it helps to lock in that hydration, and is suitable to reapply throughout the day, even over makeup!

If you skin is feeling more dry than normal it might also be worth dropping back on the actives such as retinol, vitamin C and AHA’s. These are what we call the spicy actives that can be very stimulating and skin that is experiencing dryness may not be as tolerant to these.

As always this is general advice and it’s always advised to get recommendations tailored to your skin, but these steps should help if you have experienced ‘winter skin’ and want to avoid it this Christmas.

At Re-Skin Clinic, we’re always here to support you on your skin journey. It’s never too early to ask questions and get prepared, and your skin care consultant will be there to get you on the right path.

Please reach out to us anything for support, guidance or to book a consultation.

Treating Acne with Nutrition – Video

Acne is a common skin condotion I see in clinic with around 50% of my clientelle suffering from some degree of acne, be it a long term issue, hormonal breakouts around the ‘time of the month,’ or the more recent ‘Maskne’. Its a condition that can really affect confidence, and leave people feeling really down or stressed about their skin.

A lot of my ladies will say “I’m an adult and I cant beleive I have acne, it’s something that happens to teenagers.” But in fact statitics show that around 80% of adults will suffer with acne at some point in their adult life.

So, yseterday I was lucky enough to be joined live on Instagram by Emilia Papadopoullos. Emilia is a nutritionist specialising in treating acne through nutrition.

Myself and Emilia recently worked together with a client to help her achieve clear skin.

By taking a holistic approach, treating the condition from the inside (Emilia) and from the outside (me) it can really accelerate results.

Press play below to watch the live replay of us discussing the subject.

Do You Have Realistic Skin Goals???

This month I’m talking all about skin goals. It’s one thing I try so hard to help my clients with, but I also have to give them realistic expectations on what can actually be achieved with their skin. Every skin is different so goals and expectations will be different with every client too.

We see so many filtered, unrealistic images these days, and as a skin specialist, I see so many people with misconstrued opinions of their own skin, normally exaggerated further by the use of the dreaded magnifying mirror…if you are reading this and you own one, please throw it in the bin!

The important thing to remember is our skin is an organ that is as individual as we are. Here are just some of its functions:

Protection
Sensation
Regulating temperature
Waterproof
Excretion
Reduces harmful effects of UV
Produces Vitamin D

So, taking all those functions that the skin constantly performs into account, do you really think getting it to look flawless like a filtered photo is really possible????

Now, don’t get me wrong results I see in the clinic can really blow me as well as my clients away, but it’s never an overnight success.

If you have suffered with a skin concern for many months or even years this is not something that can suddenly be reversed, making real changes in the skin take time and most importantly consistency.

It starts with a professional that knows the skin, takes time to understand your skin, and can support you on your journey to improve your skin’s health and work towards your goals, but also someone who will tell you if you are being realistic with what you want to achieve.

In my next blog, I will talk all about the skin journey and what you can expect.

If you’re ready to start your skin journey and work towards your skin goals, its starts with a consultation. Click here to book yours, I am accepting new clients from September. For any questions you may have please don’t hesitate to get in touch here.

Pollution and our Skin

Research has shown that air pollution is now a major cause of premature ageing and poor skin health, as it has a major impact on the skins barrier, integrity of the skin, pigmentation and wrinkles.

Each day up to 7 million toxins accumulate on our skin. These are then absorbed through our pores and hair follicles resulting in inflammation and then the formation of free radicals in the deeper layers of our skin. A high level of free radical activity within our skin cells can then result in further inflammation, hyper-pigmentation, premature ageing and a worsening of any pre-existing conditions such as acne or eczema for example.

After sun damage pollution is the main factor to cause skin disorders and premature ageing.

Skin affected by high levels of pollution needs little more care, and its certainly something to take into consideration when having rejuvenation treatments as the skin’s healing capacity will be slower than a skin that does not experience high levels of pollution.

If you do live in a area with high pollution levels, there are skincare products and some treatments that can cleverly help to protect against these toxins.

I have listed a few of my favourites below

AlumierMD Alumience A.G.E Serum

Providing the ultimate in daily protection from pollution, this serum hold on to 80% of pollution that enters our skin and when you cleanse in an evening it gets washed away. This products s a state if you are living or working in a high polluted area.

Byonik Concur Anti-Pollution range

This range from Byonik has an advanced anti-pollution detoxifying properties. It contains powerful antioxidants such as detoxiquin that helps to reduce DNA damage caused from pollution and detoxify the cells.

It also contains Ectoin another multifunctional protective active that gives a strong anti-inflammatory effect and will wrap around and protect the skin cells from environmental aggressors.

If you are working or spending time in a high polluted area you can keep the Concur Face Mist in your handbag and spritz though the day for optimal protection.

With pollution affecting our skin within the lower layers we need to try and protect those skin cells within those deeper layers as well. The most effective way to do this would be through supplements. The Advanced Nutrition Programme Antioxidant Supplements are the perfect partner to your antioxidant skincare.

Formulated with plant nutrients and antioxidant botanicals, bilberry, turmeric, green tea, and grapeseed. The Antioxidant supplements safeguard your skin form the inside out, protecting from the free radical activity caused by pollutants.

Clinical Treatments

When we are finally back having our clinical treatments the Byonik Pulse Triggered Laser treatment is great for fighting and repairing the skin from the effects of pollution. The low level laser will repair environmental damage, reduce inflammation and has a strong detoxifying action on the skin cells to eliminate toxins from the skin. The Byonik Cellular Rejuvenation Treatment uses powerful antioxidant gels that are infused into the skin cells to then protect the cells from further pollution going forward.

If you feel you need help or advice with your skin then please get in touch, you can email me here or book your online consultation here, we can discuss your current regime and skin concerns and help you improve your skin health and put a plan in place to keep your skin protected from the damaging pollution levels.

Thank you for reading

Rebecca x

What Does a Compromised Barrier Look Like?

When we have a compromised barrier function our skin becomes more vulnerable to external attacks from things such as pollution, pathogens, microorganisms, the weather etc. It also loses the ability to hold onto the natural hydration in the skin. This hydration is vital to keeping our skin healthy, inflammation down, and its ability to fight attacks from those external forces. Our overall cellular functioning throughout the skin also requires moisture, and I always find a more hydrated skin is more tolerant to most things especially active skincare.

So what are the symptoms of a compromised barrier function? I have listed these below, this list is by no means exhaustive but these are the most common signs.

Skin tightness (constant/after cleansing)
Flaking, dehydrated skin
Oiliness combined with flaking/tightness
Redness or sensitivity
Dullness
Breakouts
Under the skin bumps/spots
Premature ageing
Dermatitis

Desquamation

I thought it was important to mention this as this process in the skin can be dramatically reduced due to our barrier being disrupted. The process of desquamation is the natural shedding of those old skin cells on the surface of the skin to allow for the cycle of the epidermal cells to keep going. Our epidermal cells start off at the base layer of the epidermis and move up, as they do this they become hardened and more resilient to allow for the protective ability needed at that top layer. Once they have reached the top, a chemical process dissolves the bonds between these cells to allow them to shed off and become house dust. This chemical reaction requires moisture to happen, and if our barrier is impaired we lose that all-important moisture and the desquamation process is affected. This results in our skin looking dull, flaky, and our whole epidermal skin cycle slowing down.

What can impair your barrier function?

You might have read the list above and thought that your skin is experiencing some of the signs of an impaired barrier, but what might be causing it?

Below I have listed a few factors that can cause the skin to become compromised, again this is not an exhaustive list but if you feel you are currently suffering from the symptoms it is always a good idea to get professional advice.

Over-exfoliation
Incorrect cleansing products
Sun damage
Pollution
Cold weather/wind
Hormones
Stress
Smoking
Diet
Dry atmosphere
Medication
Diet

As you can see there are many elements that can affect the resilience of our skin, and we probably encounter more than one of these on a daily basis. Our skin is designed to cope with a lot and sometimes all that is needed is to maybe just stop using a certain product and leave your skin to repair and rebuild on its own, other times it may need help. I have included a few products below that are my go-to remedies for compromised skin. But remember this is a general recommendation and without a skin assessment you won’t get individual advice.

Dermaviduals DMS Cleansing Milk

I see so many compromised skins due to incorrect cleansing products used, so your cleanser is the foundation of your skincare regime and a big player in the integrity of your barrier. The Dermaviduals cleanser is gentle, effectively removes makeup and impurities without negatively affecting the skin. There is nothing in this cleanser that the skin doesn’t recognize or that can upset the protective element of the skin.

Skin Omegas

Our skins natural lipids are made up of these essential fatty acids, so adding these supplements into your diet will help keep those lipid levels high and your lipid bilayer making up the skins barrier function nice and strong.

Byonik Supreme Seal

This product is a must for repairing barrier disruption. Containing a high content of ceramides, fatty acids and cholesterol that make up our barrier lipids. It reduces that water loss and restructures the skin’s barrier. It’s also a great product for healing conditions such as eczema and dermatitis.

Byonik Concur Cream

Another product full of those essential lipids, the Byonik anti-pollution Concur cream Contains repairing, healing, and hydrating actives as well as the powerful anti-ageing peptide Matrixyl Synthe 6 promoting the production of collagen, elastin and the all important Hyaluronic acid for hydration.

These are just a few of my recommendations for compromised skin, but my advice is to always see a professional that can give you individual recommendations for your skin and investigate why your skin is behaving the way it is.

To make an appointment to see myself please click here, I offer virtual consultations during lockdown or for anyone that cannot get into clinic to see me. If you are interested in purchasing any of the recommendations above please email me here.