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Eye Creams
By Jennifer Flaten
They say that your eyes are the windows to your soul, and whether that is true or not, they are certainly the first thing to betray your age and well-being.
Any woman who has spent a restless night and woken up with dark circles under her eyes knows this to be true. If you do not take steps to cover the dark circles your colleagues will spend the day asking after you.
Besides betraying exhaustion, your eyes give away your age more then any other part of your face.
All those squints, smiles and frowns show up right there in your eye area. When you factor in all the damage we do to our eye area everyday, it is no wonder it needs help.
Let's face it, we heap abuse our eye area. It comes from all the tugging and pulling we do as we apply and remove makeup. More abuse comes when we rub our eyes, and let's not forget all the times we forget to wear sunglasses or sunscreen.
All these things contribute to major stress on our delicate eye area. The stress shows up as dark shadows, wrinkles and puffiness. We try to concur it with home remedies like tea bags and cucumbers but that only goes so far.
Enter eye creams, those tiny little jars that promise to contain the magic potions that will erase all the late nights, smiles, frowns and other abuse heaped upon our eye area.
Unfortunately, you can find yourself easily overwhelmed by the dazzling array of eye creams out there.
Stroll the make up counters at any department store and you will be amazed by the selection of eye creams offered. Every major make up line offers at least one if not more types of eye cream.
Add in the fact that you can buy an eye cream from the health and beauty aisle at the grocery store and it becomes impossible to decide.
It doesn't help matters that every eye cream claims it contains the perfect mixture to fix all your problems.
Everyone from the $10 national brand to the $100 private label eye cream claim to have the perfect combination of ingredients all mixed together in a complex formula that promises to give you a flawless eye area.
The ingredients are as varied as the manufactures. Grab any jar of eye cream and you will see a wide variety of claims about what the magical ingredient are, from extreme hydrators to shitake mushroom complex.
Okay, every brand claims to have the secret to great eye cream and with all the different concoctions out there, how do you know which formula is best?
You certainly cannot tell from the price or believe the wild claims on the packaging.
You need to scan the ingredient list to make sure the formula contains ingredients that will actually help maintain or improve the quality of your eye area.
The best ingredients in an eye cream or any moisturizer for that matter are natural moisturizing factors. These factors mimic properties found in the skin.
An eye cream that contains items such as ceramides, glycerin, collagen, and elastin help bind the eye cream to the skin. This makes your skin smooth and it helps plump the skin up, which minimizes the appearance of fine lines.
Next come anti-oxidants which stop the oxidative breakdown of the skin, meaning they fight the free radicals. An eye cream with anti-oxidants will ensure your skin looks healthy.
The last items you should look for in your eye cream are Retin-A, which is a proven wrinkle reducer, and Alpha-Hydroxy Acids (AHA). With these two items you can say bye-bye to wrinkles and dark circles.
One thing to keep in mind, it is important to stay away from creams that containing irritating properties like peppermint, witch hazel, menthol and eucalyptus. They will only irritate your delicate eye area.
Whether you go with the expensive major label or the more affordable drug store brand, make sure they contain the right ingredients, and you will have the perfect formula for a great eye cream.
Skin Tightening At Dermatique Medical Center
The Perfect Gift for Mom
The Skin Tightening by Syneron™ is the newest non-surgical facial tightening treatment. It uses elôs technology. This revolutionary elôs technology is the first and only combined energy technology using the power of bipolar radio frequency and light energies. It is designed to be the safest, most effective and comfortable aesthetic technology available today. It takes the best quality of Titan and of Thermage and combines them in one machine.
Elôs uses a combination of radio frequency and light to isolate the treatment area and leave the surrounding skin free from potentially harmful side effects. This unique Matrix heating produces results at both the surface and deep dermal levels. That means that the combination of energies treating at multiple levels makes it possible to treat fine wrinkles at the surface while penetrating into the dermis to treat deeper wrinkles - all in the same procedure. There is no downtime and patients can return to work or their daily schedule with no problem.
The procedure takes between 30 and 60 minutes. Most patients will see significant improvement following 4 treatments. The number of treatments needed will depend on each individual's skin type, the area being treated, the condition of the skin and level of skin damage. Like all skin treatments you should avoid sun exposure and tanning (including artificial tanning products and procedures) before and after your treatments. An SPF of 30 or higher should be used on treatment areas before and after the procedure. For more information call 805-230-1111 for a free consult. Gift certificate are available for Mom.
Sweet Bliss
By Pam Froman
When you walk into Sweet Bliss, you are immediately enveloped into a sense of serenity. Soothing music plays, candles flicker, and owners Irma Lozano and Kari Rubio are there to meet your every skin care need. It is obviously a Mecca for relaxation.
Lozano and Rubio have a combined 16 years of experience, so they know just how to soothe you. The spa offers several yummy facials, as well as waxing, sunless tanning and special occasion makeup and tints. They also offer at home skin care products for any skin type. These "Sweet Bliss" products are made from natural ingredients with high concentrates of anti-oxidant plant and fruit extracts, vitamins and minerals. Using them is an easy way to take the salon home with you.
The Blissful European Facial is utterly amazing. It truly is a wonderful occurrence. The treatment begins with a soothing cleansing lotion spread across your face, massaged into your skin. Then your esthetician gently exfoliates. A seven minute steam spray follows to open your pores after which extractions remove any blackheads that mar your skin. Then a specialty masque is rubbed in which is specially designed for your skin type. A toner and moisturizer, as well as a hand and neck and shoulder massage complete the facial. The whole facial is so relaxing you will find it hard to stay awake. ($80).
Other facial options available at Sweet Bliss include the Quick Fix Facial, which is a 30 minute facial that cleanses, exfoliates and hydrates all skin types. ($50). The Deep Pore Cleansing Facial is specially designed to remove impurities from clogged pores. ($60). Or you can treat your teen to her first facial with the Teen Clean Facial ($45).
Airbrush tanning and Bridal and Special Occasion Makeup are another part of the Sweet Bliss experience. Their tanning presents the most natural looking tan at a very reasonable price. Brides get a free consultation so they can plan the makeup they want for their special day. All makeup is from top makeup lines. Waxing for men and women is also available.
Sweet Bliss also takes into account these hard economic times. They have recently lowered their prices to ensure that their patrons can still maintain regular facials. They also honor teachers with $10 off any facial or back treatment every day of the year. That's way better than an apple on your teacher's desk.
Jump into their facial of the month, such as their Super Fruit Facial which uses the most potent antioxidant fruits including gogi, noni, acai berries, pomegranate and more to ensure brighter, younger-looking skin. It's guaranteed to relax and sooth you. There is a different facial each time.
Sweet Bliss's treatments and atmosphere create a beautiful balanced sense of calmness and serenity. They are definitely a "blissful" event.
Sweet Bliss Skin & Body
17557 Chatsworth St.,
Granada Hills
(818) 363-1122