Skin Care FAQ
What’s so bad about Sodium Lauryl Sulfate? It’s in everything!
Well, for starters, Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLS) denatures protein (skin and hair are made up of protein). It is also a mutagen. This means that it is capable of changing the information in genetic material found in cells. It is also an eye irritant. One study, to determine the effect of SLS in the eye, found that SLS is rapidly taken up and accumulated by eye tissues and retained for up to five days which is particularly harmful to the developing eyes of young children (and I thought it was just about tears!).
SLS can damage the outer layer of skin, causing dryness, roughness, and scaling, fissuring, loss of flexibility and can reduce the barrier function of normal healthy skin.
Sodium Laurel Sulfate is also a comedogenic. It is the cheapest surfactant (sudsing agent) available to formulate products. It’s in everything from dish washing liquid to driveway degreasers. There are other options available for surfactants that are gentle and effective, so we don’t believe SLS should ever be used on the skin.
SIRCUIT®, Cosmedix & Aspect Cosmeceuticals are never formulated with SLS.
Do you have to pay a steep price for a good product?
If you’re asking, “do you get what you pay for”, then the answer is “not always”. Ingredients and technology determine how good a product will be and unfortunately too many skin care products, regardless of price, are composed of what we call “roses and vaseline”.
By that we mean they’re comprised of petroleum, mineral oil, wax, a great fragrance and only token amounts of active ingredients. Use of these products may give you what you believe to be a good result because the petrolatum and mineral oil will make the skin feel moist, the wax will coat the skin making it appear smoother and the fragrance makes you feel good.
Unfortunately, these ingredients are also clogging the pores, and interfering with the skin’s ability to breathe and eliminate; which are 2 very important functions of the largest organ of our body.
If you doubt what I’m saying, just check out the ingredient list of the products in the stores. Recently, I discovered a very elegant cream selling for $350 a bottle. The main ingredients… Petroleum, mineral oil, waxes, and lots of fragrance! Another “therapeutic” cream selling for $125 was so loaded with wax that the only way it would spread was to hold it between my fingers for a few seconds in order to soften it.
Of course, the salesperson was quick to tell me that this was a very special treatment cream which was why it couldn’t be spread over the face without first holding it between the fingers. Yeah right! Great marketing story! And for those of you who believe it is possible to purchase an effective product for $12.00, think again.
Not only are the raw materials required for an effective product more expensive than that, the “big-business” manufacturers are charged a hefty fee to place their products on the shelves in the major stores and to produce huge ad campaigns. They, therefore, need a substantial mark-up. That $12.00 product probably cost no more than $1.50 to make and that’s including the packaging, etc. How good could it be? You may even think it to be very good because of all the “wonderful herbs” it contains. Yes, there are 20 different beneficial herbs listed on the label, and it does contain all those herbs, but not in the way you might think. It contains only a few drops of an infusion of those various herbs. In other words, 20 different herbs were brewed into a “tea” and then a few drops of the “tea” were added to the product formula. If the product is inexpensive, the manufacturer cannot do it any other way.
What causes skin aging?
The number one cause of skin aging is from sun damage (excessive exposure to UVA and UVB rays) and environmental pollution such as cigarette smoke (one puff on a cigarette or breathing in second hand smoke introduces several trillion rampaging free radicals into your body and doesn’t allow oxygen to reach the skin, and depletes the body of Vitamin C).
Other contributing factors are smog, and chemicals. These factors cause cross-linking of collagen and elastin (the fibers become disorganized bundles instead of fibers that are lined up properly), which often results in a free radical cascade, causing your skin to age. The end result is sagging skin and deep facial lines. Additionally, the lack of circulation, lack of proper nutrition and/or lack of sleep are other reasons. Your family genes can also play a significant role in the way your skin responds to the aging process.
The general public is starting to demand results driven skin care rather than just pampering products – what sort of results does your skincare give? What skin problems can it help?
This is a very good point. The general public is becoming increasingly aware of what they put in their bodies and what they apply topically to their skin.
SIRCUIT®, Cosmedix & Aspect Cosmeceuticals are more than just skin care – it’s skin health! Our products are geared towards giving the user the healthiest skin they can possibly have. We’ve gone way beyond skincare at the cellular level – we work at the molecular level! Our products are anti-aging, gentle, effective and great for all skin types.
Does using your skincare replace having professional facials?
Using Cosmecueticals as your daily, weekly and monthly skin care regime will augment your visits to the salon and leave you looking better between visits. Our therapists have access to stronger strength products than can be purchased for home use and will often use a combination of treatments in salon to boost the results from your skincare regime and, after all, nothing replaces the human touch. P.S. It’s always best to leave extractions to the professionals. Doing extractions at home can result in ugly scarring, and often creating new, larger breakouts right next to the spot you were trying to fix!
What makes our Cosmeceutical skincare products more effective than the brand I was using?
One reason is the ingredients we use and how they are formulated. SIRCUIT®, Cosmedix & Aspect products contain the highest concentrations of the newest, most effective, active ingredients. Unlike so many products on the market that contain only token amounts of active ingredients, our products virtually overflow with state-of-the-art ingredients. Concentration is the key. We’re also proud of the ingredients that are missing from our product ranges. They’re free of artificial colors, artificial fragrance and artificial preservatives.
The second reason is that SIRCUIT®, Cosmedix & Aspect products are more effective is that the formulations are Chirally Correct. When a skin product’s ingredients are Chirally Correct, the ingredients have the unique ability to link up properly with the skin’s cell receptors (for better absorption) meaning that the product can deliver the most effective results with the fewest possible adverse reactions. It’s a fact that Chirally Correct ingredients have the ability to deliver outstanding results – far superior to ordinary products you may be used to using. Often clients will comment “But I haven’t seen these products advertised anywhere” like this is a bad thing. Cosmetic and make up companies blow up to 90% of their budgets on huge advertising campaigns using the latest fad celebrity to make unaware consumers, believe that their product is superior. 90% on marketing leaves 10%… Yep, that measley 10% is all that’s left for research.
Most of your ‘big name, department store’ products have had the same formulations for at least 10 years, if not longer!! But I guess if Hollywood’s latest and greatest are paid millions to tell you it works, then I guess it must! Ha!
