Refissa

March 15th, 2010

Refissa is a prescription wrinkle cream that has been used as an alternative to injections, surgeries, and otherwise procedures that we generally think of when we think of prescription wrinkle care. These require recovery time, these come with serious side effects and complications, these offer you serious results, but also serious issues.

But you would assume that when you get a prescription option, despite all the risks and otherwise, there are clinical studies backing it up. Ultimately speaking, it means that you will see clinically proven results in the end, whether you like it or not. So the main question becomes, is this going to give you side effects, benefits, both, or neither?

How does Refissa work?
Refissa is a prescription wrinkle cream using an ingredient called tretinoin. Tretinoin is a prescription wrinkle ingredient that has been commonly used as a derivative of vitamin A to eliminate acne because it helps the skin to better shed away dead skin cells and other problems in general. This being said, recent clinical studies have shown that by shedding away these dead skin cells, it can reduce fine lines.

How effective is Refissa?
Unfortunately, the clinical studies have shown that vitamin A or tretinoin reduces fine lines. It does not really have a noticeable impact on wrinkles, and it does not eliminate fine lines by any means. This being said, the results are minimal at best, and they are nothing compared to other prescriptions by any means or even over the counter options.

What are the risks of Refissa?
Refissa is a double edged sword. As many acne fighters have found out, any form of vitamin A will irritate skin, cause redness, peeling, etc, and obviously your skin does not look good. Should you get it around more sensitive areas such as the eyes, it can cause more serious burning obviously. But the interesting thing is that vitamin A has also been known to cause greater sensitivity to the sun, which ultimately breaks down skin cells causing faster aging. So ironically, it could be said that this formula could ironically accelerate the aging process.

Should you use Refissa?
In other circumstances, I may well say yes, you should use it, it’s a better alternative even if the results are smaller, to things like botox. But with all the innovations in the over the counter market that work far more effectively without serious side effects or anything else, the simple fact is that Refissa is easily outdone, and there is no reason to pay this much for it or even close.

Actifade

March 15th, 2010

A line of products, Actifade actually has 3 different formulas. They have 3 different formulas that are all ultimately made to eliminate age spots, liver spots, discolorations, darkened scars, and otherwise things that stand out from the skin in coloration. They show pictures of hands without liver or age spots after using Actifade, and frankly there are many ways to achieve this effect.

So how does Actifade work?
Actifade uses one active ingredient and only one: hydroquinone.

What is Hydroquinone?
Hydroquinone is an active bleaching ingredient. It bleaches out the skin, and when applied to areas that are darker than the rest, it will put the color closer to what it should be in comparison to the rest of the skin. Hydroquinone has been used in many general lightening creams including those that are used for the whole face in certain Asian countries. So therefore, if you have dark liver spots, it could lighten them out.

What are the dangers of hydroquinone?
Unfortunately, nothing is ever perfect, and there are certain problems with this formulation. When you think about bleaching, you think about burning, about altering the cells of whatever is being bleached, sometimes eating through clothes, etc. Bleach definitely does damage skin cells, therefore breaking them down and accelerating the aging process in terms of wrinkles, sag, sometimes age spots, etc. And unfortunately, at best it causes redness, irritation, and otherwise side effects in general. And it obviously will not do anything good for lines, wrinkles, crow’s feet, and it may also further bleach the skin, bleaching it too far and otherwise causing more problems than good, creating little light spots rather than dark spots.

Does Actifade have anything better?
Unfortunately, hydroquinone is the only active ingredient found in Actifade products. This means that you will only see bleaching effects that often go too far, especially with the average user. It is open to mistakes. This being said, Actifade products don’t really treat age spots, produce more collagen and elastin, or otherwise really alleviate the problem. The only thing that Actifade products do is ultimately further damage the skin. And so in order to achieve greater age fighting effects, Actifade is not something you really want to consider ultimately speaking.

Eyeseryl

March 15th, 2010

Eyseryl has been a little recognized ingredient to some degree, not because it doesn’t work, but because eyeseryl is ultimately speaking one of the more expensive ingredients on the market. It works best when used in amounts of 1-10%, which seems relatively small. But most manufacturers simply are not willing to use the amounts required.

So what is so special about eyeseryl anyway?
When it comes right down to it, things like botox are expensive too, and though they work, botox is quite dangerous, especially when you have companies actually making imitations that are more dangerous than ever before and doctors are passing it off as the real thing. So what about eyeseryl? Does eyeseryl have all of these problems along with the price tag? Obviously they wouldn’t be able to sell it on the over the counter market in that case. But the major question is, is it just cost that is holding them back?

What do the studies say?
The most recent studies on eyseryl show one thing and one thing only. They show that eyeseryl works. The last study was a 45 day study in total. Within 15 days, 70% of the test group saw noticeable reduction in wrinkles and otherwise. By the time the 45 days were up, 95% of the test group saw significant results.

But what results did they see?
The test group saw a significant reduction in 3 things. They saw a reduction in bags under the eyes due to its anti-oedema effect in the skin, even in that delicate skin around the eyes. But in addition to that, there is ultimately speaking more when it comes to eyeseryl. Studies also showed a significant reduction in dark circles by reducing the pooling of blood, and it was shown to increase feelings of elasticity as well as collagen, ultimately leading it to get rid of some rather significant crow’s feet and other wrinkles around the eyes.

What are the side effects of eyeseryl?
With eyeseryl there are no known side effects. Most ingredients don’t work around the eyes, and you cannot put them around the eyes because they can cause severe irritation. This is not a risk with eyeseryl. With Eyeseryl, you really get a safe ingredient that can work and keep your eyes relatively safe in and of itself. So as you can see, all in all, it’s a good idea to actually choose an eye cream that happens to use eyeseryl.

Direct Mail Lists For Small Business

October 19th, 2009

If you’re running a small business, you know how hard it is to get good clientele or business in general, especially in this economy. But you don’t want to spend excess amounts of cash, especially if you are not going to make it back with the clientele you get after spending all that money. It’s just not worth it and it’s not smart business. But now, people are often using direct mail lists. I mean of course, those annoying spam companies use direct mail lists.

But think about it, as much as we hate spam mail and all of that, it works. Spam mail works, and they use direct mail lists to do that. You can of course design your business to be more than spam mail, to be quality, to have a high reputation, and I honestly hope that you do. But if you don’t have good advertising you are going to fail, and frankly direct mail lists are generally relatively cheap and affordable, and they work if done right.

I have never personally used direct mail lists. I rely more on word of mouth. But at the same time, I don’t mind my business being small, I really don’t mind going by word of mouth, which by the way takes considerably longer, and I started out with a better base than most. So for the business that is more of a business than mine, direct mail lists are a good way to go.

Dangerous Ingredients In Skincare

October 2nd, 2009

There are plenty of dangers out there to worry about. We worry when our child does not have a fenced in backyard, we worry when they go to school, we worry when we have eaten the wrong foods and are now putting ourselves at risk for heart disease. We worry about a lot of things. So when it comes to skincare, sometimes we leave it on the back burner, because we are worrying about other legitimate problems and issues in our lives. But this being said, there is no reason to think that skincare should be hard. Something as simple as actually using a cheap moisturizer in the morning could make a huge difference.

But when looking for the best skincare products, you have to consider dangerous ingredients in skincare. These ingredients could ultimately be detrimental and harmful to your skin, and they could even cause your skin to age at an accelerated rate instead of slowing it down! So what do you look out for?

First of all, look out for glycerin. It’s commonly used as a moisturizing ingredient. But basically speaking, it’s toxic in large doses, and it works by trapping moisture inside the skin. Unfortunately, it also traps everything else inside the skin, including bacteria, dirts, toxins, and other harmful ingredients. Minerals oils, which are preservatives, have the same effect and the same problem.
You also want to look out for propylene glycol. This is a small amount of antifreeze, which is obviously toxic in larger amounts. But despite FDA approval for use, even in small amounts, this causes the breakdown of skin cells, redness, irritation, cracking of the skin due to dryness, and otherwise.

Eliminating Wrinkles With Plastic Surgery

September 30th, 2009

I can’t honestly say that I’ve never been against plastic surgery. I am against plastic surgery. I just don’t think that the benefits of plastic surgery weigh up against the virtual risks. But with this in mind, I am willing to give you a fair assessment and give surgery a fair chance.

There are a number of different types of surgeries to choose from. Some are more proven, more FDA approved than others. They can range from a tummy tuck, which is really the only way to get rid of excess levels of loose skin, to a facelift or botox for that matter. Now there are obvious problems with botox ranging from freezing facial expressions in a bad way to even death. But you basically take your life in your hands no matter what kind of surgery you have.

This being said, while botox doesn’t really give you a lot of the results you want, other surgeries can be botched. But if you go to a qualified physician, with a facelift for example, they should be equally pulling back all parts, not pulling things back too tight, etc. In fact, actually, when looking at plastic surgery patients, I will admit I have seen a number of different successful cases of facelifts. They got the right doctor who really did the job right, and they used preventative measures before as well.

However, there are two that I would recommend against every time. I would first of all recommend against botox. Botox is a serious problem and deaths are not just because of risk on the table, it’s because they use toxins. But I also would never recommend chemical peels to anyone. It’s too easy to get it wrong, and frankly you are basically peeling off layers of skin, killing off layers, and making the skin especially prone to further damage.

Are Peptides effective for dark circles and puffy eyes

September 28th, 2009

Peptides have been widely known for their ability to produce more collagen and elastin.  They have been widely known for their ability to get rid of fine lines, wrinkles, and for that matter even crow’s feet if you are using the right peptides.  They are naturally occurring substances in the body, and they decrease with age.  The question for many is are peptides effective for dark circles and puffy eyes?  After all, some young people have them, and they are not necessarily caused by a lack of collagen and elastin.

 

To that I would say yes and no.  The simple fact is that the skin around the eyes tends to be thinner than the skin around the rest of the face and body.  The skin isn’t as able to hold onto collagen and elastin, and it’s in part because of this papery consistency that some would say that the staining associated with dark circles is able to show through and for that matter why so much water can build up around the eyes, causing puffy eyes to go with those dark circles of yours.

 

This being said, if you have the right amounts and the right peptides that can target that thin layered skin, you can also get rid of dark circles and puffy eyes.  This is not only in theory.  They have actually proven it.  They have conducted valid and substantiated clinical studies that prove that the right peptides such as eyeseryl for example, can target these particular problems.  This is because, by thickening and strengthening the skin, you are making it more similar to the skin around the rest of the face.  It is better able to repair itself, cover up the blood stains causing dark circles, and keep water from building up under thin skin.  So yes, if you are asking are peptides effective for dark circles and puffy eyes, they can be, if you are using the right ones.

Botox

September 25th, 2009

Botox is literally one of the most common ways to deal with your wrinkles in the country.  There are even doctors accepting different imitations of botox, which are often toxic in even greater ways, because they want to save money and frankly they don’t want to buy strictly from Allergan.  This being said, botox is basically a small amount of the botulism toxin in all truth, which is scary in itself. 

I mean you are basically injecting a toxin into yourself.  But they say that because it’s just a small amount, it’s safe.  Well, there would be others that would beg to differ.  Between 1997 and 2006, there have been 180 cases of life threatening conditions, 16 deaths, 87 hospitalized, and you get the idea.  Botox has many uses keep in mind, not just wrinkles.  So 4 of the deaths were actually in children. 

This being said, there have been 658 other reports of adverse side effects and problems, and they keep coming in.  The most common are things like an eye drooping or something like that.  But sometimes it gets into constricting the airways, causing serious irritation, allergic reactions, and things like that which eventually lead to hospitalization or death.  So botox is definitely not something to be taken lightly.

Placenta Wrinkle Treatments

September 19th, 2009

I’ve heard of some crazing things being used in wrinkle care and so on and so forth.  But this being said, frankly placenta cosmetics come extremely close to taking the cake.  They are found in various skincare products, skin patches, acid peels, and otherwise, and they started injecting it a long time ago actually, in the 1930’s.  So it’s not exactly a new thing at all. 

This being said, placentas are obviously the thing that helps to nourish the fetus, and they are thought to be high in everything your skin needs for greater cell renewal among other things.  They have used it in the rich and famous and apparently Jennifer Lopez has used it with injections costing around $5000.  It all seems a bit ridiculous to me at least.  I mean we inject things, but they get eaten away, and frankly none of the injections really have ingredients that reproduce and regenerate themselves. 

So what is the point when it will only last so long?  Maybe a year if you’re lucky, but in most cases a few months at best.  Me personally, I would not pay $5000 or really anything to get placenta injected into my skin or otherwise get some kind of placenta product.  It’s a bit nasty to me.  But there are of course people who would and do every day.

Oxygen Wrinkle Therapy

September 11th, 2009

Oxygen therapy has been used in Europe before, and so it has to be the latest craze of course in anti aging and otherwise.  They claim that it can treat everything from zits to wrinkles to more complicated conditions such as autism.  I have my reservations to say the least, especially with autism, there are no known cases of curing autism in any respect for a reason. 

That being said, oxygen is necessary for the brain.  You need it flowing throughout your skin and body in general.  And it can help you to heal wounds to reduce scarring among other things.  It is often used in a hyperbaric chamber, and they expose you to an extremely high level of oxygen.  Of course, with certain patients they use this, but often with those patients their blood oxygen levels are extremely low. 

Those who have normal oxygen levels can greatly benefit from this experiencing greater skin, energy, endurance, concentration, an easier time sleeping, and overall a general sense of wellbeing.  So in other words, in the way of wrinkle and other health treatments, the oxygen therapy method is not a bad way to go.  You should definitely check it out if you can use it.