2008: mooie huid in acht stappen!

Een Amerikaanse journaliste doet in de online versie van de New York Times een fijn boodschappenlijstje van de hand met ultieme tips, waarmee je al eenvoudig een gezonde huid kunt bewerkstelligen. Benieuwd? Lees verder! Een tipje van de sluier licht ik alvast op: was je gezicht en wees spaarzaam met al die zure peelingproducten!

(gekopieerd van NY Times.com)

Fountain of Youth? Go Wash Your Face By NATASHA SINGER

IN my job as this newspaper's resident beauty skeptic, I receive a lot of books about longevity with preposterous titles like "Stop Aging, Start Living," "The New Anti-Aging Revolution: Stopping the Clock" and "The Science of Staying Young."

These books contain some practical advice. But at this stage of medical knowledge, you have about as much chance of thwarting time as you do in personally preventing an ice storm, so you can start your resolutions for the New Year right now by forgoing such books and saving about $24.95 (for a hardcover) apiece.

There is no way around the fact that every body – skin included – ages biologically over time, a process over which humans have forever grieved. "It is the blight man was born for," the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote in 1880, anticipating the Botox era.

Still, many skin experts recommend practical steps to maintain skin as it ages and to mitigate external factors – like sun exposure and chronic stress – that could accelerate changes.

These eight skin-care resolutions for 2008 are simple and inexpensive. Research in medical journals supports some of them. Others are based on the experience of skin doctors.

DISCARD OLD, USED BEAUTY PRODUCTS

Because people may transfer bacteria from their fingers to pots of face cream, possibly leading to the growth of micro-organisms, some dermatologists recommend discarding products one year after opening them. Because micro-organisms may also grow in mascara tubes, creating the risk of eye infection, experts recommend replacing mascara three months after opening it, according to the Web site of the Food and Drug Administration www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-207.html.The agency does not oblige cosmetics manufacturers to print expiration dates on product labels sold in the United States. But European regulations require products whose minimum durability is less than 30 months to display an icon – a graphic of a jar with an open lid – indicating a product's shelf life after it has been opened. Some brands sold in the United States now display this icon.

STOP SMOKING

What's good for your lungs may also may have positive effects on your skin.

Some dermatologists, for example, said that the nonsmokers among their patients generally had younger-looking skin than smokers, whose skin appeared to have aged prematurely.

"You often see more vertical wrinkles above the lip, where smokers pucker, and lines around the eyes because smokers tend to squint to keep the smoke out," said Dr. Hema A. Sundaram, a dermatologist in Rockville, Md., and Fairfax, Va. "And sometimes smokers have sallower skin."

But the research into such observations is conflicting. One study published in England, based on interviews and physical examinations of elderly patients, suggested that smoking a pack a day over decades was associated with skin changes like wrinkles that added the equivalent of almost a decade of chronological aging to the face. But another study in Finland, in which researchers performed biopsies on the arm skin of volunteers, found no difference in skin elasticity between smokers and nonsmokers.

Several other studies have linked smoking to an increased risk of skin cancer. But doctors said it is not clear whether smoking per se may increase the risk of skin cancer or whether smokers tend to sunbathe more than nonsmokers.

UNHAND THOSE PIMPLES!

For those who can't help squeezing their pimples, think again.

"People think they are squeezing something bad out, but they could actually be pushing bacteria deeper into their skin, creating an infection," said Dr. Bradford R. Katchen, a dermatologist in Manhattan. Subsequent inflammation could cause pigmentary changes, or worse. "It could scar your face," Dr. Katchen said. The same goes for your zit-popping beautician.

MORE SLEEP, LESS STRESS

Psychological stress may impair the skin's barrier function, which keeps bacteria out and water in.

In one study, for example, researchers used tape to strip a small patch of skin from 25 women who volunteered to participate in mock interviews and 11 women who volunteered for one night of sleep deprivation. Such temporary stress caused the volunteers' skin to recover more slowly than without stress, according to the study, published in 2001 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

"Studies have shown that the skin of people under chronic stress – caregivers of Alzheimer's patients or medical students during exam time – will heal more slowly," said Dr. Ladan Mostaghimi, an assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Dr. Mostaghimi published a study in 2005 in the Journal of Sleep Research reporting that severely sleep-deprived lab rats developed lesions on their paws and tails while rested rats did not.

In humans, stress can contribute to flare-ups of alopecia areata, a form of hair loss, and skin diseases like psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, a form of eczema, Dr. Mostaghimi said.

WEAR SUNSCREEN

Clinical studies show that using sunscreen regularly can impede the development of squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer. Less conclusive evidence suggests that sunscreen might also hamper basal cell carcinoma and melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

But dermatologists encourage patients to make sunscreen a habit for another purpose: vanity. Sunscreen use may inhibit sun-induced changes to the skin's pigment and texture.

"If you look at your derrière when you come out of the shower, it's obvious that the texture is smoother and the coloration is more uniform than your face, which gets regular sun exposure," Dr. Katchen said.

Look for sunscreens that contain zinc oxide, titanium dioxide or Mexoryl SX, ingredients that work against both the sun's longer- and shorter-length rays.

SIMPLIFY YOUR BEAUTY

Some dermatologists advise their patients to restrict skin-care regimens to no more than three or four products daily.

"People use too many acidic things at once – vitamin A, lactic acid, ascorbic acid, salicylic acid – and then they wonder why their faces are inflamed," Dr. Katchen said. "I am against poly-pharmacy at home because you can over-treat yourself, leading to irritation."

Dr. Katchen's prescription: a mild cleanser; a sunscreen or moisturizer containing sunscreen; a product that contains antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E, pomegranate, soy and green tea; and an antiwrinkle product containing ingredients like retinoids, a form of vitamin A, or protein fragments called peptides.

WASH YOUR FACE

Doctors say that skin picks up environmental debris during the day. Washing off minute dirt particles, along with makeup, every evening gives the skin a rest from exposure to possible irritants.

"As a general hygiene principle, it's good to wash your face at night," Dr. Sundaram said. "But if you apply a greasy night cream after that, it is just going to clog your pores."

Those about to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging test should also remember to remove makeup; imaging devices can mistake metal particles, used in some mascaras, for ocular diseases, according to reports in medical journals.

RETHINK PRODUCTS THAT COST MORE THAN $30

The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates cosmetics, does not require beauty manufacturers to publish rigorous studies on the efficacy of their products. So consumers do not have a proven, objective method by which to determine whether more-expensive beauty products work better – or whether they simply look fancier and emit more exotic perfume – than less-expensive items containing similar ingredients.

(Manufacturers of prescription products must submit clinical evidence of their efficacy before receiving approval from the F.D.A.)

"Your chances of achieving good skin are not directly proportional to the amount of money you spend," Dr. Sundaram said. "All too often, what you are paying for is the packaging, the advertising and the celebrity endorsements."

I'm declaring 2008 the Year of the Drugstore.

 

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