10Jan

Your skin is bombarded with assaults day in and day out: pollution, stress, smoke and unhealthy foods. That’s why antioxidants such as vitamin E as your skin’s own battalion.

Concentrated in the sebum and in the membranes of skin cells and the lipid-based ‘glue’ holding them together, vitamin E is helps to maintain the integrity and beauty of your complexion. By both consuming foods loaded with the nutrient and using products that contain E you’re actively protecting and nourishing your skin.
Vitamin E’s role

  1. IT HELPS PREVENT SIGNS OF AGEING
    Vitamin E fights the effects of free radical attacks by neutralising the free radicals. The process of protecting your skin depletes your stores of the vitamin quickly, though. Research has shown that even after a small amount of UV exposure, vitamin E levels in the skin drop by 50 percent. Hence the need to replenish this nutrient.
  2. IT COMPLEMENTS YOUR SPF
    Vitamin E also absorbs UVB light which is responsible for burning and ageing skin. Research shows that vitamin E together with vitamin C may increase the amount of time it takes SPF-free skin to burn, so it has a protective effect. This doesn’t mean you can skip the sunscreen though!
  3. IT KEEPS SKIN HYDRATED AND CALM
    Because vitamin E protects cell membranes, it indirectly helps skin stay moisturised and supple. Plus, it fights inflammation.

HOW MUCH?
Both men and women require 15 mg of vitamin E per day, a quota you can easily meet by cooking with vegetable oils, snacking on almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds and wheat germ. Spinach, kale, Swiss chard and broccoli also deliver healthy doses.

Choosing vitamin E products
Vitamin E is especially beneficial in sunscreens, daily moisturisers, treatment serums and after-sun products. Check ingredient lists and choose a product with alpha-tocopherol, a potent form of the vitamin. Better yet, consult with the Lasermed team to identify which skin product you should use.

4Dec

May peace, joy and beauty be with you this festive season. Kindly note that we close on 20 December 2019 and will reopen on 6 January, full of vigour to treat your concerns and/or rejuvenation requirements.

4Dec

a. Solar photo-ageing (dyschromia, lentigos, hyper pigmentation, poikiloderma)
b. Skin sensitisation and vascular resultants (erythema, rosacea, couperosis, diffuse redness, flushing)
c. Dermal and epidermal structural changes (large pores, elastosis and collagen changes)

IPL photo rejuvenation gently treats all these conditions simultaneously and leads to a gradual and natural skin improvement without downtime. Face, neck, cheek, hands are the premium areas for this treatment. The number of sessions depends on the body location and will also vary from one skin type to another. On average, one treatment includes in between 3 and 5 sessions to recover a uniformly coloured complexion and a smooth skin texture. After this initial treatment, 1 or 2 maintenance and follow-up sessions might be necessary in the coming year. Your solar habits will highly influence the long-lasting results. he minimum interval to observe between two consecutive sessions is 3 weeks. However, a longer interval wouldn’t impact on the treatment efficacy.

27Nov

Available as serums, vitamin C has a range of benefits on the skin, such as balancing skin tone, reducing hyperpigmentation and minimising the signs of ageing. Skin care manufacturers package vitamin C into serums because thus higher vitamin C concentrations can be absorbed by the skin.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant, meaning it reduces the damage that free radicals (particles that cause inflammation) may otherwise inflict on the skin. According to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, antioxidant effects Vitamin C has on the skin include:
• reducing premature cell death
• reducing the release of cytokines, which are inflammatory compounds
• reducing damage resulting from exposure to UV light

But remember, sunscreen shouldn’t be replaced with topical vitamin C for skin protection!

Although vitamin C can’t reverse the appearance of wrinkles, it can help reduce premature ageing by protecting the skin from the skin wrinkles caused by sun exposure. It also helps reduce premature wrinkling by stimulating collagen growth. Thicker, collagen-rich skin is less likely to show wrinkling than thinner skin.

Researchers from Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University have indicated that vitamin C may help reduce melanin production (a pigment responsible for the darker appearance of hyper-pigmented areas). This is why vitamin C helps in treating hyperpigmentation.

Lasermed stocks a few vitamin C serums, one of which is from the Obagi range. These serums should be applied to clean skin, prior to applying moisturiser and sunscreen.

Please be aware that because vitamin C can be acidic, it may cause skin irritation in some people, particularly in high concentrations. When using a vitamin C serum for the first time, apply a thin layer every other day and gradually increase to daily applications.

Also, combining vitamin C with retinol has the potential to irritate the skin further. If using retinol in your skin care routine, you may wish to use vitamin C serum in the morning and retinol-based products at night. This method maximises the sun-protective effect of vitamin C while minimising retinol’s potential to increase sun sensitivity.

4Nov

A client of Lasermed’s Alta van der Merwe wrote the following: “After seeing a Lasermed advertisement last year, plus comment from an acquaintance who regularly visits Lasermed for IPL treatments, I too took the plunge late last year. Subsequently, after a few weeks of compliments left, right and centre I decided that the bit of discomfort was worth the results. This year I had a follow-up treatment and my hands were also treated. The result was amazing. The sunspots are virtually gone, wrinkles disappeared and a thoroughly rejuvenated look is achieved. I strongly recommend Lasermed’s IPL treatment – especially for older persons.”

24Oct

With summer upon us, we’ll definitely be exposed to more sun. You can bask in the warmth, but will forever regret exposing your skin to the UV light without sunscreen.

Sunscreen blocks and absorbs UV rays through a combination of physical and chemical particles. Physical particles, such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, are used to reflect UV radiation from the skin. At the same time, complex chemical ingredients in sunscreen react with radiation before it penetrates the skin, absorbing the rays and releasing the energy as heat.

A combination of blocking and absorbing UV radiation is especially important to combat both UVB and UVA rays. UVB radiation is the main cause of sunburn and skin cancer. But UVA rays penetrate more deeply into the skin. It was previously thought that these rays only cause skin ageing and wrinkling, but recent research has confirmed that UVA rays also play a significant role in developing skin cancer.

Now that UVA dangers are well known, broad-spectrum sunscreens provide clear information on product labels about protection against both UVB and UVA.

Another factor to consider in sunscreen is the sun protection factor, or SPF – commonly misinterpreted as the strength of protection. However, it actually refers to how much longer it takes for UVB rays to redden the skin with sunscreen compared to without sunscreen. For example, an SPF of 15 means it will take 15 times longer for skin to burn while using the product compared to without the product.

So, look for a sunscreen that offers both UVA and UVB protection with an SPF of 50 or higher. Thus you can enjoy some time in the sun (until 11h00 and after 16h00) without worrying about sun damage. And if you are an outdoor enthusiast in terms of activities, a water-resistant sunscreen is essential. Unfortunately, no sunscreen is waterproof; they all eventually wash off. Sunscreens labelled water-resistant are tested to be effective for up to 40 minutes of swimming, while very water-resistant sunscreens stay effective for up to 80 minutes in the water.

Sunscreen should be applied every single day – about 30 minutes before venturing outside to allow the sunscreen to bind to your skin. Reapply every two hours and immediately after swimming or excessive sweating.

Even when it’s cloudy, up to 80 percent of the sun’s UV radiation reaches the earth. Going unprotected on an overcast day can lead to skin damage.

Ref: yalescientific.org