Mr. Skin Care Guru's Blog

  Expensive Cleansers that cost $20 or higher are really such a waste of money, and as I mentioned in my title is truly money going down the drain. The actives in certain cleansers such alpha hydroxy acids/beta hydroxy acids or other touted ingredients from the formula don't remain on the skin long enough to make a difference or take into effect. However, an ingredient such as Salicylic Acid purpose of as an antibacterial in a cleanser can be helpful though in cleanser. The purpose of "cleanser" is just to simply cleanse and balance your pH level. Spend more money on your products that are leave-on products, such your essences, serum, & moisturizers. Those are the most important, they have contain the most benefits for your skin & stay on to repair & treat your skin. Having consistency with your skin is also the golden key for healthy skin & results! Yours truly always, Mr. Skin Care Guru

  You may have heard many things about the all-star ingredient Hyaluronic Acid, its' benefits exceeds anything imaginable. It is also the same ingredient in facial dermal fillers that practitioners use to increase volume definition in the cheeks to replace hollowness as well as used for lips and under the eyes. However, topically applied this ingredient has great benefits though & it's in MANY ingredients lists for skin care moisturizers & serums out on the market. It holds 1000x its' weight in water and in other words locking that moisture in and pulling it from the air as well, so it won't escape. The ingredient can be found under as Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Hyaluronic Acid, and Sodium Hyaluronate (mostly these 3 anyways) on ingredient lists.   "Sodium Hyaluronate" is the most commonly used one however, it is the salt-formed version of Hyaluronic acid and absorbs and penetrates easier into the skin than the others do. There are low, medi...

  Microneedling is a very big trending treatment at moment also which helps with almost every skin concern imaginable, in terms of fine lines/wrinkles, scarring, acne, discolorations, sun damage, some skin elasticity and even enlarged pores. Which it has included new things that can be added into the mix of this treatment as well & which in fact I will also go over... How it works is with a pen with a few fine needle points on the end that gets dragged onto the surface layer of skin, almost like stamping the skin (which is pretty neat! LOL) creating microscopic tears or pricks you can say into the skin, creating wounds for then the skin to be able to notice "injury", which is automatically telling itself to heal... (think wound healing) which in return produces more collagen & elastin and making skin healthier and in reducing the signs of aging, scarring, acne, and more.    With this treatment you can use your skin's very own platelet rich plasma, as...

  Acne is a struggle for most in society & even as adults as well. Women sometimes experience acne due to hormones. There's still so many treatments out there but I feel there could be so much more for many who struggle with it, and there's honestly so much you can do for the clogged pores and bacteria on the outer surface. There are certain ingredients that have been considered to be tried-and-true for treatment of acne. Benzoyl Peroxide (best used temporarily and every once in a while in segments to treat acne), Salicylic Acid, Sulfur... as well as natural ingredients such as Honey (which has antibacterial properties) and Tea Tree Oil. Many of these formulas are in rinse-off cleansers, they can somewhat help with the cleansing process, however the ingredients don't stay on long enough for them to "activate" or have much effects on the surface. Sulfur is mostly used tho in Spot treatments and Acne facial clay masks. Acne ingredients can be quite dryin...

   I'm able to discuss one of my favorite topics! This topic is constantly ever-evolving, it gives me pride in knowing that it's always taking further & newer technological advances. Unfortunately, we can't become anti-aging unicorns... 🦄 (As much as I would like to be! LOL! 🤣) There are however ways to turn back the clock... Retinoids: The gold-standard ingredient for lines/wrinkles, dark spots, texture. Also, it's OTC form "Retinol", they both convert into retinoic acid, however as mentioned in a previous post, OTC formulas just takes a bit of longer to see results. Other Ingredients: Hyaluronic Acid (also listed on lists as Sodium Hyaluronate as its' salt form, for better penetration) is a wonderful skin plumping ingredient for fine lines & wrinkles, it's in the same ingredient in dermal fillers, however it can reap incredible benefits topically, also for some can even promote firmness. Not such a bad to addition to have. ...

  Hyperpigmentation & dark spots are such a buzzword right now. They are largely cause by sun and damage accumulates over time and show up on the surface as time goes on. If you see your skin under ultraviolet light, you can see all the sun damage and spots that haven't even reached the surface yet! An interesting thing to see, when I was in Esthetics school, I was able to get to do this using a device called a "wood lamp". It was really fascinating for me to see as well! There are ways to treat it tho and before it even surfaces to start treating and so the visual effects aren't as harsh or troubling for what it may be for someone.   Hyperpigmentation is also cause by post-acne scars and melasma that can be caused by pregnancy, the widely used term for that is the "pregnancy mask".There are different kinds of pigmentation issues and their causes for it. Acne will leave post-acne marks behind. There's plenty of OTC (Over-the-counter) treatme...

     The one thing many Dermatologists recommend and your first line of defense and the most "anti-aging" (think lines/wrinkles, dark spots, and loss of elasticity) thing you could for your skin is wear an SPF! Preferably an SPF 30 or higher up to 50, maybe even to a 60. Any higher than that is truly a waste (of money as well!), since there's no evidence that anything higher will protect you more after that point. Sunscreen in reality should be used 365 days of the year, the UV rays penetrate through even dark clouds, rain, and even snow! Even when it snows the flakes and snow on the floor reflect off the UV rays and can be more intensified. Which is why you may hear of certain people who go on Ski trips that get sunburned, they are on high altitudes and with the sun possibly beaming and with the snow reflecting off the those harmful UV rays. Although, many people feel it's just to be used only during the summertime, which is a false perception, the ch...