Laura Skin Care

Phone: 707-295-8905

 

Author Archives: Laura Pagliaroni

Your Menstrual Cycle and Your Skin: A Tough Relationship

   Skin Care  Nov 16, 2016  Comments Off on Your Menstrual Cycle and Your Skin: A Tough Relationship
Your Menstrual Cycle and Your Skin: A Tough Relationship

You’re already well aware of how your menstrual cycle affects your body with cramping, bloating, and other side effects, but you may not realize that your female hormones also impact how your skin looks and feels. There’s a good chance that you find that you start breaking out around your period, becoming just one more thing that you have to deal with in an already aggravating time, but learning about this relationship will help you conquer your skin regime.

Menstrual Cycle and Skin Timeline

For many women, there’s a decided calendar of events that happens when you get your period. You know that when you start feeling bloated or cramping in your back that it’s only a few days away. You can start having these same thoughts for a timeline with your skin. Day one of your cycle is probably presenting itself with skin that is more greasy than normal and more acne prone. By day five of your cycle, your skin has started to go in the opposite direction with it being more dry and flaky. Day 11 of your cycle is going to usher in the period of time when your skin looks and feels it’s healthiest. Day 22 has brought you back full circle to having skin that is similar to how it was on your first day being more greasy leading to acne breakouts. Those that suffer more from premenstrual syndrome may find that their skin starts to backslide out of the healthier period quicker with it happening sooner than day 22.

Treatments to Help

There are a number of things that you can do to help with your skin at a particular point in your cycle.

– When your skin is in the dry portion of the cycle, you should keep hydrated with water and increase the amount of healthy fat in your diet to help your skin become more supple.

– If you find that your skin tends to enter the greasy portion of the cycle quickly due to stress, find ways to incorporate more relaxation in your schedule with yoga, meditation, or other stress reducers.

– Exercise can be a good way to relax, and it can also help during the greasy portion of your cycle. Sweating helps to clear pores.

– A facial can also work wonders for your skin care regime if grease is a problem as the aesthetic will work to exfoliate your skin and help keep your pores clear. This can also be a wonderful time to ask for skin care advice on how you can tweak your daily regime to work better for you.

Take control of your complexion by learning about how your menstrual cycle impacts your skin. You’ll be able to start leveraging your knowledge to prepare better for how you go about your daily routines to get the best skin health.

Tips to Improve your Skin’s Elasticity

   Skin Care  Nov 09, 2016  Comments Off on Tips to Improve your Skin’s Elasticity
Tips to Improve your Skin’s Elasticity

 

What is Skin Elasticity?

Skin elasticity, or skin turgor, is the capability of your skin to change shape and return to its original state. You can notice this phenomena when you pinch a section of skin and then let go to see how quickly it will return to its original shape. The faster it smooths out, the better skin elasticity your dermis will have. Most commonly, your skin’s elasticity will decrease as you get older; however their are a slew of other reasons for poor turgor, including:

  • Severe Fluid Loss

  • Decreased fluid intake

  • Diarrhea

  • Dehydration

  • Diabetes

  • Heat exhaustion

  • Extreme Weight Loss

  • Vomiting

  • Edemas

  • Connective tissue disorders (scleroderma and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome)

  • Aging

How to Improve Skin Elasticity?

While some causes of poor turgor are inevitable (aging, weight loss, etc), there are ways to help your skin regain its strength and vitality:

1. Drink water.

Many doctors tell you to drink plenty of water to keep you healthy overall, but water is also good for your skin. This fact is especially true if you are dehydrated or have a condition that causes severe fluid loss. If you don’t necessarily enjoy drinking water, for whatever reason, try infusing your favorite fruits into it. No sugar is added, but you get the water you need along with the fruit’s nutrients.

2. Have a Good Diet

Collagen and elastin are the two key factors in skin elasticity. As mentioned, natural aging can cause the destruction of those two factors; however damage caused by environmental factors can also destroy them. Fried foods, sun damage, and cigarette smoke are just some of the aforementioned factors. To combat the loss of collagen and elastin, your body needs antioxidants, so you’re going to want to load up on Vitamin A, which can be found in carrots, apricots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and watermelons. Foods rich in Vitamin C, D, and E are also helpful.

3. Vitamins

Some of these can also be included in your diet, but the following are vitamins that are helpful in repairing skin elasticity:

  • Vitamin C is important in the creation of collagen and elasticity. Aging and sun exposure can deplete your Vitamin C levels.

  • Vitamin E is an antioxidant, which as mentioned before, helps protect against damage caused by sunlight and free radicals.

  • Vitamin D helps develop new skin cells so that they can create that protective barrier that holds in moisture to maintain flexible skin

  • Vitamin B (12 and 6) and folate help collagen and elastin function together. Biotin and Niacin also contribute to healthy skin.

4. Creams and Lotions

A more topical solution for improving turgor is using the correct skin products. Essential oils such as chamomile and neroli are great for this purpose. Chamomile helps smooth broken capillaries to increase elasticity, and neroli helps cells regenerate, which along with increasing skin turgor, also helps reduce varicose veins and scarring. Cocoa butter is also a good tool for healthy skin elasticity.

Are Eyelash Extensions Right For You?

   Eyelash Extensions  Oct 28, 2016  Comments Off on Are Eyelash Extensions Right For You?
Are Eyelash Extensions Right For You?

Been thinking of ditching mascara for long, luxurious eyelash extensions?

Are Eyelash Extensions Right For You?

Here’s the scoop:

How do they do it? Eyelash extensions are individual lashes that a professional attaches to each of your existing lashes. The procedure usually takes one or two hours, and most salons make it less tedious and relaxing by offering music and massages.

How long do extensions last? In fact, eyelash extensions actually last a long time with proper care. Most salons recommend a touch up every three weeks, but extensions usually last for about 6-7 weeks. Just be really careful to not get water or oils on your extensions.

Yes, you can wear eye makeup, but liquids will damage your extensions, so use powder-based products and oil-free makeup removers carefully applied to the lids–not the lashes! Some people do use liquid eyeliner, being careful to not apply it right on the lash line. Completely stay away from mascara because it will definitely cause damage; some people use mascara only if they are getting new lashes in a few days.

What are they made of? The extension lashes are usually made of natural materials like silk and real mink, and some are even made from real human hair. There are also synthetic material choices like faux mink or fox. Honestly, there is little difference in how these all look, and the synthetic materials are the most reasonably priced.

Details, details: You can choose the length of your extensions in the range of 9 mm (a natural length) to 15 mm (really long and luscious). Lashes in the range of 10-12mm are the most popular. You can also pick your “curl”–a J-curl for a more natural look, and a C-curl for that dramatic look you get with an eyelash curler. Some people mix the two, using a J-curl on the inner lashes and a C-curl on the outer lashes to achieve a “cat eye” look.

Extensions can ruin your natural lashes, but this usually happens when a person decides to remove their own extensions. If you don’t know what you’re doing, the natural lash will come out too when you remove the extension. It is extremely painful, to say the least, and it can take two months for them to grow back. Always have professional removal, which is quick and painless and offered at every salon. Sometimes they will fall out naturally, too.

Some people do have allergic reactions to the adhesive used to attach the lashes, and may wake up the next day with swelling, redness, itching and burning. Reactions to the lashes themselves are far less common, as are reactions to the cleansers or primers used to apply the lashes.