Sage Advice Skin CareJ: Everyone seems to be on the anti aging bandwagon. I am always seeing advertisements for products such as Hydroxatone and many others that claim to have Alpha Hydroxy Acid. I understand that you have been creating anti aging products for over 20 years. What are some of your most successful products at eliminating wrinkles and making the skin look and feel years younger, and how do they differ from the advertized over the counter products?
B: That is an interesting question. My original products Smoothing Cream and Smoothing Gel started out in the early 90’s with Alpha Hydroxy acid in them. Since then we have added salicylic acid, Hyaluronic Acid, and L Ascorbic Acid. I started a new product with Coneflower and Acetyl Hexapeptide 8 or Argireline called Firming and Brightening Crème. They are now combined in one product: Smoothing, Firming and Brightening Crème and Smoothing Gel with Acetyl Hexapeptide 8, and both contain 10% Acetyl Hexapeptide 8. These ingredients really work well in brightening the skin along with firming and eliminating fine lines and wrinkles. However, the addition of SPF 27 or 40 to your skin care regime is the major preventer of these symptoms. Mother Strickland’s Instant Line Reducer is absolutely amazing because it works immediately to tighten and firm the skin. Also, the ingredients Essenskin and Acetyl Hexapeptide 8 (Peptides) work extremely well on long term tightening and firming. The more you use these products consistently the better results you receive! Again the products are pure and only minute amounts are needed to produce results. We tell you to use pea-sized and or flat dimes worth amounts on damp skin because we hydrolyze the ingredients to penetrate on contact, making the products last a long time.
J: You have mentioned sun block and its importance in the anti-aging process. However you have a different philosophy than most. I know you feel that SPF is a product that needs to be applied alone to the skin and not combined in other products. It seems as if many cosmetics and moisturizers contain an additive SPF, but not yours. Why are these products ineffective and why do you feel so strongly about applying SPF as a separate product?
B: If anyone is unsure about why to use SPF just look at the photographs on the American Academy of Dermatology’s page on skin cancer, wrinkles and lines. Skin cancer can metastasize and spread throughout the body to other organs. I make my SPF particularly to do one thing and that is to protect the skin from UVA and UVB Rays. It goes on as a separate product, applied first with all other products following for continuous protection. Nothing under SPF 25 or 27 works on UVA rays, which are the skin cancer wrinkle and discoloration rays. I don’t combine SPF in other products since there are so many products for so many kinds of skin .
