B Indulged Blog
Have a question about lashes, brows or skin? Our B Indulged Blog is your go to!
If you have any questions not answered here, please contact us and we will take care of your query.
ABIA AWARD WINNER
We are so excited to announce our amazing boss babe Jessika, won an incredible award in Sydney on Saturday night!
The ABIA is the national beauty industry awards, where all of the industry experts and leaders come together to be recognized for their hard work. Jessika was nominated for her work as a Cosmetic Tattoo Artist and after being named a finalist, took out the win for National Cosmetic Tattoo Artist of the Year! We are so proud of her achievements and can't wait to continue to see her grow in her career.
The awards night was a magical night for the team, with Jessika even having a fan girl moment with one of her biggest idols in the brow industry, Kelly Baker (the brow boss who takes care of Kim Kardashian!). Jess is truly honored to be representing the Australian Cosmetic Tattoo Artists and Queensland, raising the bar and setting a great example.
She would also like to take the opportunity to thank each of our amazing clients, team members, family and friends who have been on this journey with her. We can't wait to keep bringing you the best.
SKIN QUESTIONS?
Why does my skin itch after applying a watery skin care product?... You may have Rosacea!
In recent years a steady increase of skin conditions such as disorders of the connective tissue and rosacea are afflicting a growing proportion of our community. It appears that frequent fruit acid (AHA) and chemical peelings have significantly contributed to this problem.
People who have had such treatments reported a temporary itching after applying Oil in Water (O/W) emulsions. In most cases the skin feels dry (barrier disorder) with a tendency to itch, dilated blood vessels and displays weak connective tissue. The effects can be compared with the feeling when "rubbing salt into sore wounds" (slang expression) or in more technical terms, water-soluble substances penetrating below the horny layers of the skin and beginning to irritate the skin.
DMS® based products (Derma Membrane Structure) are beneficial in this case provided that they are used moderately. Frequent or even excessive application may increase the local concentration of water-soluble substances - particularly in winter with cooler outside temperatures and heated rooms. In these cases it is recommended to (a) reduce the application of water-containing products, (b) apply base cream High Classic Plus + NMF concentrate + hyaluronic acid and (c) use Oleogel Plus (water-free).
Strongly disturbed skin is susceptible to infections caused by micro-organisms. Typical symptoms are itching and feelings of tension followed by inflammations which will not only affect the cheeks and nose but also spread to the brims of the eyelids and to the perioral area between upper lip and nose and around the chin. Even Oleogel Plus will be no relief for the acutely inflamed skin as the fatty substances provide excellent living conditions for anaerobic bacterial strains like propionibacterium acnes or in other words, bacterial strains that can live without atmospheric oxygen. The dermatologist will prescribe azelaic acid products (liposome concentrate plus) which are effective against anaerobic bacterial strains and unicellular organisms, or alternatively, antibiotics like erythromycin and metronidazole. Metronidazole also stabilizes the blood vessels in skin-neighbouring areas.
Weak connective tissue is predominantly a hereditary condition and can also be impaired by external circumstances such as excessive peelings and environmental damage from our harsh climate. Rosacea skin cannot tolerate peeling procedures. The first rosacea symptoms become visible around age thirty and for women, increasingly in the late forties with hormonal changes and the onset of menopause. Recommended particularly for the preventive care of the rosacea-prone skin is base cream High Classic, liposome concentrate plus (contains 1% azelaic acid), echinacea extract and butcher's broom serum. Both the latter mentioned active agent concentrates have vessel and tissue stabilising effects.
What can I do to combat oily skin?
Oily skin can generally be treated with low fat skin care products with liposomes that are rich in linoleic acids. As liposomes increase the permeability of the skin to receive the active ingredients, it makes sense that these, products are free of preservatives and perfumes in order to avoid sensitisations. Emulsifiers are widely used in cosmetics and can cause bad skin or acne particularly after sun exposure due to the wash out effect explained above..
What does an emulsifier do to my skin?
Emulsifiers are widely and very commonly used to bind water-based ingredients with oil-based ingredients to form a stabilised, creamy suspension. As technology has advanced, cleansing the skin “reactivates” the build up of these emulsifiers, causing them to dissolve our natural lipids. Over time this can create sensitive skin. It also causes our skin care regime to have a “wash-out effect”. This can cause water loss and barrier disturbance.
I have extremely dry skin, How can I solve this?
The phenomenon of dry skin is occurring more and more frequently. Experts agree that today's skin care habits play a significant role. As such, particular care should be taken to select products that have a specific focus on the composition of the products used in treating dry skin. Those to be avoided include:
Mineral oils (the most frequent components besides water), vaseline and mineral waxes may well leave a pleasant and smooth feeling on the skin. However, their long-term use will slow down the natural recovery functions of the skin.
Emulsifiers are additives with the very useful characteristics of combining lipid substances and water into a cream and transporting them into the skin. On the other hand they have also been shown to leach the cream components and natural protective substances out of the skin. Consequently, frequent cleansing with products containing emulsifiers will lead to dry skin.
dermaviduals DMS dermal membrane structure creams can significantly alleviate dry skin. DMS will realign the lipid bilayers of the skin and the pure concentration of active ingredients can deliver a powerful range of targeted products to your skin without sensitising it as DMS is FREE of preservatives (including parabens), mineral oils, colours, fragrances, silicones and amines.
What is the difference between unhealthy & healthy skin?
Homeostasis is the term given to our body’s natural state of health or balance.
A healthy skin can only be achieved by ensuring the skin’s stability in response to fluctuating external factors. At dermaviduals, we are able to achieve this by first assessing the skin’s specific requirements and then by prescribing use of certain actives in conjunction with a basic dermatological skin care regime.
The following are components of healthy skin.
Smooth Texture
If you look closely at healthy skin, its surface is "regularly irregular." This means that the skin is not smooth like glass but has tiny peaks around hair follicles and pores, and tiny valleys in between the peaks. These peaks and valleys are consistent throughout the skin giving it a uniform appearance. On the other hand, unhealthy skin does not have a uniform texture.
Hydration
Healthy skin is well hydrated. It is natural and normal for the skin to regularly slough off its cells. In hydrated skin, this sloughing is not noticeable. In poorly hydrated skin, to many skin cells slough at the same time creating problems such as:
Flaking skin
Dermatologically tested, What does that mean?
Dermatologically tested means that a dermatologist has overseen product tolerance tests, which are carried out during product trialling, generally using human volunteers.
However, many products will claim to be dermatologically tested without providing any further information on the tests themselves. They may not provide information on the product contents, method of testing, control studies (if any), application of the product, where it has been applied, how often and on which body parts. Other hard data may not be supplied such as tolerance levels, efficacy and efficiency.
Without appropriate detail, the term ‘dermatologically tested’ has no practical value. It should always be possible to ask the manufacturer for details on the test design and the results.
Interestingly, every product on the Australian market is dermatologically tested with or without this statement printed on the container or within its label.
According to the Cosmetic Decree in Germany (KVO) tolerance tests are a significant basis for the safety assessment of cosmetic products besides the declaration of the toxicological data of the ingredients..
Apart from sun, what causes dark spots?
Dark spots on the skin, also called hyperpigmentation, are a common skin problem. There are a variety of conditions and agents that can cause them to develop. One of the most under-recognised causes of dark spots is post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. This occurs after some type of trauma to the skin - especially infections like acne.
What is the cause of Acne?
All acne is a disorder of the pilosebaceous unit, which is made up of a hair follicle, a sebaceous gland and a hair. These units are found everywhere on the body except on the palms, soles of feet and the lower lip. Pilosebaceous units are in greatest numbers on the face, upper neck, and chest.
Sebaceous glands produce a substance called Sebum, which is responsible for keeping the skin and hair moisturised. During adolescence, sebaceous glands enlarge and produce more sebum (under the influence of rapid hormonal changes), also called androgens. After about age 20, sebum production begins to decrease.
Acne & Bacteria - a bacteria, known as Propionibacterium acnes (p-acne), is a normal inhabitant of the skin. It uses sebum as a nutrient for growth, therefore increases in follicles during puberty. People with acne have more Propionibacterium acnes in their follicles than people without acne. The presence of bacteria attracts white blood cells to the follicle. These white blood cells produce an enzyme that damages the wall of the follicle, allowing the contents of the follicle to enter the dermis. This process causes an inflammatory response seen as papules (red bumps), pustules, and nodules. The bacteria also causes the formation of free fatty acids, which are irritants, increasing the inflammatory process in the follicle.
Normal Follicles - sebum produced by the sebaceous gland combines with cells being sloughed off within the hair follicle which "fills up" that follicle. When the follicle is "full", the sebum spreads over the skin surface giving the skin an oily appearance. When this process works correctly, the skin is moisturised and remains healthy.
Obstructed Follicles - problems arise when the sebum is trapped in the hair follicle. The sebum is produced, but gets trapped on the way out, and the cells that are normally sloughed off become "sticky" and plug up the follicle. The process of obstructing follicles is called comedogenesis. It causes some follicles to form comedones, more commonly known as blackheads or whiteheads.
What causes wrinkles & sagging skin?
Chronological Ageing and Wrinkles
As people age, their epidermal cells become thinner and less sticky. The thinner cells make the skin look noticeably thinner. The decreased stickiness of the cells decreases the effectiveness of the barrier function allowing moisture to be released instead of being kept in the skin. This causes dryness. The number of epidermal cells decreases by 10% per decade and they divide more slowly as we age, making the skin less able to repair itself.
The effects of ageing on the dermal layer are significant. Not only does the dermal layer become thinner, but less collagen is produced, and the elastin fibres that provide elasticity wear out. These changes in the structure of the skin causes it to wrinkle and sag.
Sebaceous glands start to get bigger but produce less sebum, and the number of sweat glands decreases. Both of these changes lead to skin dryness.
The rete pegs of the dermal-epidermal junction flatten out, making the skin more fragile. This process also decreases the amount of nutrients available to the epidermis by limiting the surface area in contact with the dermis, which interferes with the skins normal repair process.
In the subcutaneous layer the fat cells get smaller with age. This leads to more noticeable wrinkles and sagging, as the fat cells can no longer "fill in" the damage from the other layers.
