DERMASPACE friend and fellow Iderm Facial practitioner Hannah Sowd posted this great little blog post and we wanted to share.

BLOG.HANNAHSOWD.COM published a new post entitled “Antioxidants: Who? What? When? Where? Why?” on 3/20/2013 12:56:00 PM, written by Hannah Sowd.

Antioxidants: Who? What? When? Where? Why?

Antioxidants are the trendy skin care ingredient right now. Here’s a simple breakdown to determine if they are something you should be adding to your routine.

Who?

Everyone. Especially those over the age of 30, smokers, and sun worshipers.

What? 

Superfruits like Goji berries, Acai berries, coffee berries, white and greens teas and COQ10 are examples of ingredients that neutralize free radical damage. Damage from free radicals is the common denominator is most skin issues.

When?

Every day. Use an antioxidant product  under your SPF to enhance it’s protective properties and at night under your moisturizer to repair cellular damage while you sleep.

Where?

On your face, neck and decollete.

Why? 

To neutralize environmental damage from free radicals, reduce inflammation,  calm acne, moisturize the skin and prevent wrinkles.

DERMASPACE and the Iderm Facial was recently featured on King5’s Evening Magazine…check it out.

BLOG.HANNAHSOWD.COM published a new post entitled “Soothing Menopausal Skin” on 3/9/2013 8:40:00 AM, written by Hannah Sowd.

Soothing Menopausal Skin

This post is from guest blogger Renee Iverson:

When your skin changes, you must change your skin care!

Just as every woman has a different coming of age story or perhaps a unique birthing tale, so it goes with every woman’s journey through menopause.  One thing is common among almost all women – they experience changes in the skin. 

The hormonal shifts experienced during menopause can wreak havoc on the skin.  Where skin was once plump and dewy, often becomes sunken and lackluster. Acne once again rears its ugly head and wrinkles, crinkles and spots seem to appear over night. 

In my personal experience, bone dry skin, increased facial hair and deep cystic acne eruptions have become my constant foes.  What I have learned in my journey from your average American Mom to Hot Flash Mama is that when your skin changes, you must change your skin care! Soothing your hot skin and hot body is a must to bring relief and quickly heal hormonal breakouts.  

Any time your body is having a hot flash, the inflammation cascade is kicked into high gear. One of my favorite soothing products is  Soothing Gel Mask. This mask brings comforting moisture and repair-support to any skin type in minutes with an instantly cooling high potency blend of hydrating Panthenol, calming Allantoin and ultra-soothing Sea Whip.  

To gently exfoliate, clear up cystic acne and cool at the same time try Purifying Comfort Mask. This gel mask purifies skin’s surface, dissolves dead cells, cools heat and redness and encourages skin to repair itself. It contains a form of Chinese licorice that interrupts the biochemical cascade that leads to redness and other discomfort. This gel also decreases lipase, an enzyme that increases inflammation and irritation in the skin.

Many women experience increased facial hair during menopause.  One thing I find, is that most women with unwanted hair are master pluckers! Acne is often the result of plucked hair because it inflames the dermal tissue around the hair follicle causing it to close down and create a pimple.  Again the Soothing Gel Mask and the Purifying Comfort Mask are must-have products to soothe the area around the follicle.  Pore Purifying Astringent is a wonderful product for cleaning the skin before and after you pluck.  Follow that with either of the masks and you will rarely get pimples. 

Exfoliating menopausal skin is a must, but many of the methods used in the past can be too harsh and cause unwanted inflammation – the number one cause of aging in the skin. If you find that your skin is not happy with your current routine, it is time for a change! Perhaps you should try Radiance Boost Exfoliating Toner for any skin type needing light exfoliation.  This mild exfoliating freshener can be used once or twice daily to brighten, revive radiance and minimize pores. 

There are so many variables that go into creating healthy vibrant skin. It is so important to be educated about what is happening with your skin so you can make informed choices about its care. A facial with a licensed aesthetician and skin care expert - someone who knows skin care ingredient chemistry and skin physiology is an essential step on your journey to beautiful skin for the rest of your life! 

Renee Iverson  is the resident Aesthetician at Mountain Sun in Kirkland, WA.  She is all about focusing on techniques to improve the look, feel and function of the skin with an emphasis on long-term healing and rejuvenation modalities.  She has earned continuing education credits from UCLA Extension studying ingredient chemistry, skin physiology, and advanced skin care ingredients for specific skin conditions. You can follow her on Twitter.

Permalink: blog.hannahsowd.com/2013/03/09/soothing-menopausal-skin.aspx

Beginning March 10th…..available on Sun, Mon, Tues….book online at www.dermaspace.com  

Holly MacGregor has been a licensed skin care professional for over four years. 

 Growing up as the daughter of a Dermatologist, Holly was afforded the opportunity to work in a medical skin care practice throughout her high school and college years which allowed her to experience the unique relationship between Skin Therapist and client.  Naturally she decided to take the next step and become licensed herself.

What Holly enjoys most about skin care is the positive effect that clear and healthy skin has on a person’s mind and spirit. She believes that everyone can have more beautiful skin with the right help and care. 

Having the experience of working both independently as an esthetician as well as in a medical skin care clinic Holly is committed to providing excellence in skin therapy.

She is excited to be working closely with Jody Leon as a new member of the DERMASPACE team, and we are pleased to have her as a skilled esthetician performing the Iderm Facial Treatment.

HALLOWEEN MAKEUP (REMOVAL) TECHNIQUES!

http://blog.hannahsowd.com/2012/10/26/halloween-makeup-removal-techniques.aspx

What an awesome yelp review - thank you!!!!

I can’t say enough about Jody Leon, aka “The Extractor,” aka “Provider of the Best Facial in Western Washington” (even if Gene Juarez and their stacked deck tipped the official poll.) 

A lot of times when you receive a facial the esthetician will be mildly invested in the method of treatment, but Jody is not an every-day esthetician. He is truly committed to the Iderm Facial Treatment. Beyond his passion and expertise, he’s a pleasure to chat with. He makes me feel extremely comfortable, even while placing leather masks on my face. (Watch the video on his website to see what this looks like. Not scary. Science!)

What I appreciate about Iderm is that it’s not simply aromatherapy or surface exfoliation or moisturization. It’s a grown-up corrective skin treatment, and it requires some time to work properly, but it does work. Even though I haven’t seen a 180-degree turnaround in my skin’s texture, I have seen immediate, actual results from each of my sessions. That’s still big for me. Now comes the part of the review where I list what I’ve tried in the past: salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide, glycolic acid, different fruit enzymes and organic cleansers e.g. Say Yes to Blah and Burt’s Blah, various Vitamin A solutions in whatever incarnation, tea tree oil, and most everything else in a certain aisle at Bartell’s. Nothing has made my skin glow like the Iderm treatment. 

Try it, try it, try it. Easy scheduling through the site. - Jena E.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/dermaspace-seattle#hrid:0ZsyH9vpw_DthhYnOYzr8w

Gene Juarez Salon and Spa = 10 Western WA Locations, hundreds of employees, support staff, etc….

DERMASPACE = 1 location. 1 technician (me) and 1 assistant (Jeffrey Will),

DERMASPACE won “Best Facial in Western WA” last year and I am currently in third place this 

Check out this article about diet and skin care by Dr. Cynthia Bailey.

Posted: July 11, 2012 by Skin Inc. Magazine

Drinking more cups of caffeinated coffee could lower a person’s risk of developing the most common form of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma, according to a recent study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“Our data indicate that the more caffeinated coffee you consume, the lower your risk of developing basal cell carcinoma,” said Jiali Han, associate professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston and Harvard School of Public Health.

Han and his colleagues conducted a prospective analysis of data from the Nurses’ Health Study, a large and long-running study to aid in the investigation of factors influencing women’s health, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, an analogous study for men.

Of the 112,897 participants included in the analyses, 22,786 developed basal cell carcinoma during the more than 20 years of follow up in the two studies. The results revealed a decrease in the risk for basal cell carcinoma as coffee consumption increased. Similar results were seen with other caffeinated products such as tea, cola and chocolate. Caffeinated coffee also reduced risk for other serious conditions such as type 2 diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

However, consumption of decaffeinated coffee was not associated with a decreased risk of basal cell carcinoma, the study found. Also, neither coffee consumption nor caffeine intake were associated with the two other forms of skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer.   

Still, Han said more studies in different populations are needed before the group can make a “definite” determination on the impact of caffeine on these serious health conditions. 

by Geri Walton ~ November 13th, 2008