• Summer is over. What should you do with all that left-over sunscreen? Don’t eat it. Nano particles in some sunscreens can be harmful to your insides according to the fabulous Beauty Brains.
• Are you a dirty girl or is it just your makeup that’s dirty? Dr. Baumann gives you tips on keeping cosmetics clean.
• Ewwwwh! Bedbugs are everywhere. What the heck are bedbugs anyway? And no, they are not from undocumented immigrants.
• Bad, bad, Botox. Bella Sugar breaks down Botox maker’s bad behavior. How often do you think Big Pharma goes too far in marketing their drugs?

Related posts:

1. Eeeewh! Bedbugs What’s the first thing you should do when you...
2. The Dangers (or not) of Botox A recent post from The Daily Green has the...
3. The Dangers (or not) of Botox Part II I posted earlier this week on the recent Botox®...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

“All natural. Certified organic. Made from natural ingredients. Pure botanicals. Chemical free.”

You might guess I’m standing in the farmers market. Nope. I’m in the health and beauty aisle at Target. The ubiquitous all-things-natural trend has overtaken the cosmetic industry. How do you know what is real and what is marketing hype? Here are 5 things you should know about organic beauty product labels:

1 – Labels that say “natural ingredients” or “botanicals” are not certified organic. These statements are not regulated. Most natural ingredients used in beauty products are actually modified in a lab. Truly botanical ingredients, like you’d pick in your garden, are usually unstable and would spoil like food.

2 – Natural doesn’t always mean better. Would you buy: Poison Ivy Eye-Cream? Stinging Nettles Anti-Itch Gel? The most toxic and allergy-inducing ingredients are naturally occurring substances, not manufactured ones.

3 – There are many standards of “organic.” USDA Certified Organic is the gold standard. Products with this label must be at least 95% organic and must not contain toxic ingredients. Products that are less than 95% but at least 75% can be labelled “made with organic ingredients.” If your product is not certified by the USDA, then inquire who certified it — some businesses will certify a product for a fee, which some people find improper.

4 – Organic products can still contain non-organic ingredients that are harmful. Your shampoo might be mostly organic, but it can still contain preservatives or fragrances that can cause a rash.

5 – All natural and organic beauty products are not necessarily more effective. The most potent skin care ingredients are prescription products, which are not organic.

There is value to choosing beauty products that are labelled organic — they may be better for you, and they’re probably better for the planet. Ultimately, the choice is yours. So now that you know what “organic” means on a label, at least it will be an informed choice.

Which of your products are organic? Do you think they are better? Why?

Photo: Rick Harrison

Related posts:

1. A 3,000 Year-Old Beauty Trend While most women go to the latest Vogue or...
2. Gluten-Free Skin Products And Cosmetics I just returned from the International Association of Culinary Professionals Conference...
3. Do Peptides in Skin Care Products Work? Many skincare products use peptides to treat wrinkles. But...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

You think Apple’s new 4G iPhone is hot?

I was at a coffee bar in Redwood City yesterday, minding my own business when I found a tube of medication. Someone had accidently left a tube of topical Botox at the bar. Was this a plant? Is this the real prototype or just a fake? What should DermodoDoc do? I just had to blog on it.

Botulinum toxin is the most common cosmetic treatment with millions of patients injected every year. Brand names like Botox and Dysport are injectable drugs that cause temporary paralysis of the muscles in your face smoothing wrinkles, sometimes dramatically.

Injected botulinum toxin is also a good treatment for excess sweating in your underarms or on your hands, which is called hyperhidrosis. The toxin blocks the signals that turn on sweating thereby preventing you from sweating.

Up to now, the only way to use Botox has been to inject it. That may change. There is a topical botulinum toxin gel being developed. If the toxin could penetrate the skin, then  it could work without having to be injected, which is a good thing since there are people out there who really don’t like needles. Topical botulinum toxin would likely be most effective in places where the skin is thin, such as the underarms. Getting enough medication to penetrate your forehead might be difficult. How effective it will be for treating wrinkles is yet to be seen.

We will have to wait to see when the product is finally released. Until then, I’m waiting for Steve Jobs to call me personally to ask for his Botox back. It must be his, right?

Photo: Izaeus |Argazkiak, flickr

Related posts:

1. Botox Might Help Shrink Pores, Reduce Excess Oil Botox® (botulinum toxin A) is a popular and effective...
2. The Dangers (or not) of Botox A recent post from The Daily Green has the...
3. Your Brain on Botox Botox can get into your head. Literally. Researchers from...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I just returned from the International Association of Culinary Professionals Conference in Portland, OR with @foodblogga (she was at the conference, I was just there to eat Voodoo Doughnuts). One of the hottest topics in food now is the gluten-free diet.

Gluten sensitivity isn’t new; it was first described in the first century AD. Celiac disease (the medical diagnosis for gluten-sensitive patients) was known in the 1880′s.

Despite the recent attention, true gluten sensitivity is uncommon and affects < 5% of the population. People who are sensitive to gluten develop an autoimmune reaction to wheat, barley, rye and other grains which leads to inflammation of their small intestine. Some gluten-sensitive people actually develop a rash called dermatitis herpetiformis (we derms love the big names, don’t we?).

Being the only dermatologist at this food conference (weird, huh?), people wanted to know: “If someone is gluten sensitive, must they also avoid applying cosmetics or using products that contain gluten?”

No.

Gluten sensitivity is specific to your intestines; applying gluten to your skin will not trigger a gluten reaction. You can trigger a reaction if you eat your cosmetic, which is not that crazy when you consider that lip balms or toothpaste can contain gluten.

Other gluten-free products including shampoos, conditioners, makeup, etc. are unlikely to have any significance. If you develop a rash from your cosmetics, then see your physician — allergic contact dermatitis to fragrance or preservatives might be the cause for your rash.

If you develop a rash after eating several Maple and Bacon Voodoo Doughnuts, it was the gluten.

Photo: Bern@t (flickr)

Related posts:

1. 5 Things You Should Know About Organic Beauty Products “All natural. Certified organic. Made from natural ingredients. Pure botanicals. Chemical...
2. Do Peptides in Skin Care Products Work? Many skincare products use peptides to treat wrinkles. But...
3. Allergic to Nickel? Eat a Nickel Free Diet. People who are severely allergic to nickel, as from...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Copper is beautiful, but can copper make you beautiful?

We have a 10,000-year-long history with copper. We’ve used it to make jewelry, tools, plumbing, wiring, roofing, coins, cookware, and even the Statue of Liberty. Now we’re using copper to make pillows.

Why? Why make a copper pillow? Two reasons:

First, copper is antimicrobial. Putting copper in fabrics or on surfaces has been shown to reduce bacteria. If your partner is a serious night drooler and you’re afraid that the pillows might get accidentally switched, then a copper pillow might reduce your exposure to some of his (yes, I’m assuming here) germs.

Second, copper induces collagen production and promotes healing. The idea is that if you sleep on a copper pillow some of the copper will absorb into your skin, induce collagen, and smooth your wrinkles; it’s also supposed to have other anti-aging effects.

Published company data showed that wrinkles improved after 2 weeks of sleeping on copper pillows. This is interesting, but it would be helpful to see the results replicated outside of the company. Wrinkles are caused by loss of tissue under the skin, fragmenting of collagen, loss of elastin, and muscle activity (i.e., smiling, talking, etc.).  It’s difficult to understand how sleeping on copper (or gold or silk) would have a significant impact, especially in just a few weeks. If additional studies support a cosmetic benefit, it might be worth the $40.

For now, you might want to simply mark your pillows “His” and “Hers” and save the money for a good copper peptide cream instead.

Has anyone used copper pillows? What was your experience?

Photo: Annia316

Related posts:

1. Do Peptides in Skin Care Products Work? Many skincare products use peptides to treat wrinkles. But...
2. 10 Ways to Prevent and Treat Crow’s Feet Crow’s feet are the wrinkles that form on your...
3. Behold, The Holy Grail of Wrinkle Creams: A Topical Botox You think Apple’s new 4G iPhone is hot? I...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Botox makes you happy. So does a new Lexus, but I can’t prescribe that.

Botox® temporarily freezes dynamic lines such as crow’s feet and forehead wrinkles. When Botox is done well, it can raise your eyebrows and make your face appear well rested, younger, happier. Botox also makes it difficult to furrow your brow or frown.

Too much Botox freezes your face, making it expressionless (which could be seen in both winners and losers at the recent Golden Globes: Were they happy? Sad? Shocked? Who could tell?).

Because Botox can make people look better, it’s no surprise that people who get Botox are happier afterwards. A review in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology actually looked at the cost of treating depressed patients with Botox. Here’s the reasoning: If you cannot frown because of Botox, then your mind will interpert this as you feel less angry or sad. Preliminary studies showed that people treated with Botox had more positive emotions and felt less depressed after their treatment.

While the logic is easily followed (and is emphatically supported by people who ordinarily pay cash for their Botox), the science is absent. There are no studies that show Botox improves depression as compared to placebo, therapy, or antidepressants. Much more research would have to be done to show that there is a real benefit (it would be  interesting to compare Botox to simply giving people $500 in cash and teaching them to frown less).

Depression is a disease and is never fixed quickly. Treating depression always requires effort, often requires therapy, and sometimes requires medication. I doubt that medication will be Botox. Or a new Lexus.

Photo: Geekadman Flickr.com

Related posts:

1. Behold, The Holy Grail of Wrinkle Creams: A Topical Botox You think Apple’s new 4G iPhone is hot? I...
2. Your Brain on Botox Botox can get into your head. Literally. Researchers from...
3. The Dangers (or not) of Botox A recent post from The Daily Green has the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Grace Miller* is a 76 year-old woman who came to see me for a skin screening exam. I knew her age and history because I perused her electronic medical record at my desk before I met her. She was a midwestern girl who came to San Diego years ago with her husband, who was in the Navy, and decided to stay rather than fight another Chicago winter. He has since passed-away and she now lived alone in the house they built overlooking the Pacific.

She had sandy-brown hair and sparkling blue eyes and wore a beautiful gold sweater and stone necklace. Dangle earrings sparkled under the exam lights. Her appearance belied her age — she looked 20 years younger than 76.

She had a few crows feet around her eyes and lines around her mouth. Her eyelids were slightly overhanging and her neck had soft wrinkles. Her jewerly and designer bag suggested that she had the means to live comfortably. She laughed when I asked her what her secret was to looking young. “I’ve used Oil of Olay for as long as I can remember,” she admitted, but that was all. As I examined her, she thought aloud about my question:

She avoided excess sun, but never wore sunscreen.

She never smoked.

She walks regularly, but does not adhere to any prescribed diet.

She has never used antioxidant, antiaging, or antiwrinkle creams.

She has never had Botox.

And she looked fabulous.

“The secret,” she replied after thinking it through, “I guess it’s not wasting a lot money trying to look young, but spending plenty of money to look beautiful.” I’ve got to write that down, I thought.

No antioxidant cream, low glycemic diet, sunscreen, or cosmetic procedure will stop you from aging. Anti-aging, aging backwards, age-defying, and age reversal are unreal concepts and false promises made up in board rooms on Madison Avenue.

Do you want to know the secret to looking young? Walk away from the antioxidant cream counter and walk into the shoe section. If you want to look young, then be beautiful — it is a much better use of your money.

*Grace Miller is not her real name.

**I received no free women’s shoes to write this post.

Photo: Litmuse (flickr)

Related posts:

1. Melanoma Rates Jump 50% for Young Women All types of skin cancer are on the rise...
2. Aging Reversed By Blocking Critical Regulator in Skin Researchers from Stanford have reversed the effects of aging...
3. Look Beautiful, Save Money Save your money. Dermatologists agree, spending more money on...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and noticed how much you’re starting to look like your mother or father? It happens to all of us: much of aging is determined by the genes we inherited from our parents.

But surely not all wrinkles, sagging, and brown spots are due to “bad genes.” So, how much of aging is due to choices we’ve made over a lifetime and how much is out of our control?

The way to answer these questions is to study adult twins. Twins have identical DNA but experience different lives. Different habits and life experiences over years should affect they way they look. A study of what causes aging in identical twins published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery examined how a lifetime of good or bad habits made twins look younger or older compared to their once identical counterparts.

The 186 pairs of twins in the study looked remarkably alike, but there were differences. As you might expect, the longer people smoked, the older they appeared compared to their non-smoking twin. Also, the more sun exposure people had, the older they appeared compared to their sun-avoiding, sunscreen-applying twins.

Being divorced or taking antidepressants also made people appear older, suggesting that a stressful life can take a toll on your appearance.

Some things in life, like the genes you inherited, you cannot help, but choices you make can make a difference. Make 2010 the year you wrestle control over bad habits like smoking and excess sun and resolve to fight the ubiquitous stress of life by eating well, sleeping well, and exercising —  you’ll save yourself a lot of money in Botox later.

Photo: Simon Whitaker, flickr.com

Related posts:

1. Aging Reversed By Blocking Critical Regulator in Skin Researchers from Stanford have reversed the effects of aging...
2. Heat from the Sun Causes Aging We know that ultraviolet light from the sun causes...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

There are some lucky people who don’t get poison ivy or oak. If you’re like me, you do. Here are some poison plant pointers:

Ivy block cream prevents poison ivy or oak, but only if it is applied 15 minutes before exposure. It doesn’t work after you’ve been exposed.

The intensely itchy, sometimes frighteningly-bubbly rash is an allergic reaction to oil, urishiol, found on poison ivy, oak and sumac plants.

You can wash off the oil with soap and water. Do not use laundry detergent, alcohol, or expensive poison ivy soap — any ordinary bar of soap will wash off the oil. However, the oil is quickly absorbed into your skin, like olive oil into nice piece of Italian bread, so time is of the essence. Once the oil is absorbed in your skin, you cannot get it out no matter what you use.

• You can wash off 50% of the oil within 10 minutes
• You can wash off 10% of the oil within in 30 minutes
• After 1 hour, no amount of washing will make any difference. Nothing will prevent the soon to be rash.

Whatever you do, don’t touch your groin in the first hour or so. You could end up in the hospital; I’ve seen it.

After one hour, you cannot spread poison ivy to someone else. Scratching or breaking the water blisters does not spread the poison ivy or the rash.

The rash lasts for 2 weeks, sometimes less if it is not severe. No cream or treatment, however expensive, can shorten the duration. The rash must run its course.

Once your arms and face turn into wet tapioca pudding, use a drying astringent like Domboro soaks to dry it out.

Once the blistering dries up, apply a topical steroid like hydrocortisone 1% cream or anti-itching lotions like topical Calamine or Benadryl. Cool baths with collodial oatmeal will also help. Super hot showers will relieve the itching, but only temporarily, and in the end, only makes it worse.

If you have a severe case of poison ivy, defined by your mother doesn’t recognize you or you are unable to sit, stand, or lie down, then see a dermatologist for prescription drugs to help.

Photo: Jim Frazier (flickr)

Post by Dr. Benabio, copyright The Derm Blog 2009.

Related posts:

1. Get Rid of Your Jock Itch Once and For All I’ve been seeing a lot of jocks lately. The...
2. Five Things You Should Know About Facial Redness Despite its association with passion, love, and vibrancy the...
3. Skin Care Myths: Drinking More Water Will Hydrate Your Skin This is a popular one, perpetuated by fitness and...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Last week one of my patients complained that she gets facials every month for her wrinkles, but that she still has prominent wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. “What,” she asked, “is she doing wrong?”

Facials are the third most popular treatment in spas after nails and massage. They come in many flavors like: mineral masks, steam treatments, microdermabrasions, LED light treatments, blu-light, and even oxygen facials.

Facials can be beneficial; they extract clogged pores, exfoliate dull, scaly skin, and give you a deep, invigorating cleansing, leaving your face smooth and silky. But facials cannot treat wrinkles, broken blood vessles, or brown spots.

Facials are done by aestheticians who are not licensed to practice medicine. Aestheticians cannot administer treatments that penetrate the skin or have  biologic effects (by definition, this would be considered medicine and must be administered by a licensed practitioner such as a physician or registered nurse).  Deeper problems such as wrinkles require invasive treatments which cross the line from cosmetics to medicine.

Facial massages or electrostimulations, which are supposed to tone your skin, don’t. Toning or building muscle requires intense and repeated activity. Just like building biceps, firming musles on your face would require working out. The problem is that wrinkles on your face are caused by contracting muscles — crow’s feet are caused by contracting muscles around your eyes; frown lines are caused by furrowing your brow; lip lines are caused by contracting the muscles around your mouth. Any treatment then that firms facial muscles would only make wrinkles worse.

Other treatments such as oxygen facials and mineral treatments have no evidence to support them, (unless you count “Madonna said so” as evidence). Save your money and have your daughter apply a mud mask the next time you go to the beach.

Photo: Arkansas Shutterbug (flickr)

Related posts:

1. Oxygen Facials: A Lot of Hot Air? Oxygen facials and products touting oxygen as a skin...
2. Skin Care Myths: Antioxidants Treat Wrinkles Antioxidants will reverse your wrinkles. This is a common...
3. 10 Ways to Prevent and Treat Crow’s Feet Crow’s feet are the wrinkles that form on your...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.