The Art of the Cleanse.

By now, you probably understand that gently cleansing your facial skin one to two times per day removes pollution, dirt, excess oil, sunscreen, makeup, and unwanted substances you’ve accumulated throughout the day. Water alone cannot get rid of that kind of grime, no matter how ‘clean’ your skin looks. 

 We’ll spare you the science lesson (unless you want one, go here → lab muffin beauty science, we love her and respect her point of view https://labmuffin.com/how-to-choose-gentle-cleanser/ ). Suffice to say that cleansers need surfactants to do their jobs effectively and there are many kinds of surfactants out there. Ideally, you’re using a mild one so as not to damage and inflame your skin.

 Master-level cleansing can yield even better results for your skin and maximize your investment in cleansers with great ingredients.

 Follow these five steps to earn your masters in cleansing:

_01 Grab your cleanser and check for these ingredients

(excerpted from https://labmuffin.com/how-to-choose-gentle-cleanser/ )

Ones to avoid: Harsh surfactants with both these characteristics include:

• many soaps (e.g., “sodium XXate” – sodium laurate, sodium cocoate, sodium tallowate)

• sodium lauryl sulfate (aka SLS)

Scan your label looking for these much gentler surfactants. Bonus points if they have more than one of these, which is a good thing:

• sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), especially in combination with cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB)

• sodium cocoyl isethionate

• alkyl sulfosuccinates (“XX succinate” in an ingredients list)

• alkyl sarcosinates

_02 Use tepid water

The hotter the water, the more it strips your skin.

_03 Remove your makeup before you cleanse

• Many women who wear makeup do a double cleanse. Once with a balm or creamy cleanser and a second cleanse with their ‘cleanser.’

• You are working to remove grime and irritants, you have to get the makeup off before you can properly cleanse your skin.

_04 Do not use soap or bar soap

This where pH comes into play, your cleanser should match your skin type, and the higher the pH, the harsher the cleanser is. It should be below 6. Googling can usually help you figure out what yours is. Soap always has a very high pH.

_05 Do not scrub aggressively

Ferocious cleansing for an extended period of time might feel beneficial or therapeutic, but all it will do is leave your skin red and angry. Lather with tepid water, emulsify your cleanser in your hands, apply all over face and neck, focus gentle circular motions at your t-zone and u-zone, rinse, pat dry with a clean towel.

Congratulations! You’ve not got a(nother) master's degree! Not sure about what cleanser to use? Ask us the next time you’re in. We love to impact your at-home care because it amplifies the aesthetic care we’re giving you.

Pssst: our top-selling, and our go-to cleanser at the Studio?

GM Collin, PURACTIVE+ CLEANSING GEL

Pssst: our top-selling, and our go-to cleanser at the Studio?

 GM Collin, PURACTIVE+ CLEANSING GEL

It contains SODIUM LAURYL GLUCOSE CARBOXYLATE,  which is approved for use in certified organic cosmetics by both Organic Food Federation and EcoCert, COCO-BETAINE, and LAURYL GLUCOSIDE, which are glucose and coconut or palm-based surfactants that are very gentle, respect the ph of the skin, and will not strip the healthy oils from the skin’s surface. 

Neck Rejuvenation Without Surgery

We all notice that with maturity, the neck can become lax, and wrinkles start to appear. As the skin thins, underlying muscle structures become more visible. Just like with the skin on your face, your neck and décolleté area show the signs of aging as time passes. However, this skin may be quicker to show these effects because it’s thinner than the skin on other parts of your body, and it’s also an area that sees a lot of sun exposure, which further damages the skin and cell structures.

Many men and women think this thinning skin makes them look older than they are and certainly older than they feel. What they don’t realize is that the scalpel is not the only method for achieving improvement in this area. Other good options exist that are much less invasive. Our current favorite is dilute Radiesse, and we have been seeing good results with minimal downtime. 

Radiesse is a sterile dermal filler that was initially approved by the FDA in 2006. It is made from synthetic calcium hydroxylapatite, which is a particle that is naturally found in the body. These particles are suspended in a sterile gel carrier. Radiesse has well documented bio-stimulatory effects that cause an increase in collagen and elastin.

As the lower face and neck start to give way, Radiesse is one of our favorite go-to products. Our technique suspends the particles in a sterile saline mixture and places this solution under the skin like a thin veil. Because we use a round-tipped cannula, there is usually minimal bruising and a high level of safety. To get the best effect, we recommend receiving this procedure three times, spaced apart by 4-6 weeks. We have noticed an improvement, however, with just one treatment. Winter is the perfect time to get your neck in shape because we want you to feel good about your neck again!

Radiesse Neck Treatment SPECIAL. FEBRUARY - MAY 2020 ONLY!

 Receive your first Radiesse neck treatment for $350 ($50 off, normally $400)

Your second for $325 ($75 off, normally $400)

Your third for $300 ($100 off, normally $400)

Tweakments: Non-Invasive Mini Services That Youthify on the Sly

While some tropes about ‘frozen face’ and ‘bursting with filler’ still exist, today’s preferred aesthetic and the type delivered by top-notch medical professionals, (RNs, PAs, and MDs) rely on treatments that are much more subtle and sustainable.

Botox, Newtox, and fillers can offer a sly tweak that brings just enough change to  achieve that more youthful look without obviously looking like you’ve had ‘work.’

Today, these treatments are referred to as ‘tweakments.’  They are the opposite of the ‘tight & puffy’ look of overly frozen and filled faces and are instead a gentle approach with genuinely natural-looking results.

When you’re ready for a fresher look and are already using the right skincare, a tweakment restores a youthful look almost immediately. One of Dr. Julie Seaman’s clients recently said this: “My friends were questioning me about my amazing skin (their words, not mine. Thank you, Leah!), but they kept pushing for information. Since I’m 45, they wanted to know what my secrets were. I told them I only had three secrets, skincare, Botox, and a skosh of filler. They almost fell over because they had no idea! They couldn’t believe there were any needles involved and that injectibles could look so natural.”

A Tweakment regimen typically includes a combination of skin peels, microneedling, med-facials, stellar skincare, and injectibles from a pro known for their advanced knowledge of facial structure -- like Julie and Krissy. The combo is the ultimate youthifier.

How to Store Your Valuable Skincare

When you’re buying high-efficacy products built with scientific potency and delivery methods, you want to protect your investment but more than that, you want your products to work the way they’re supposed to!

Environmental factors such as heat, light and air exposure can accelerate the breakdown of many of the essential anti-aging ingredients that your skincare products contain.

Vitamin C, for example, can help brighten skin, stimulate collagen and defend against UV damage but it is also known to be unstable (which is why we so carefully choose the Vitamin C products we carry and recommend for clients.) This means that choosing the right brand, formulation, and storage method is the key to Vitamin C efficacy -- and all other actives.

For Most Skincare There are Three Storage Guidelines:

ONE_No sun, treat them like vampires!
Direct sunlight can accelerate the degradation of many anti-aging compounds, so keeping your products in your car or near a bathroom window may lower their effectiveness.

Instead, choose a dark location, such as underneath your bathroom countertop or in another cabinet or drawer where they’ll be protected from the light. Look for opaque containers and airless pumps when available. Both of these packaging methods help protect products.

TWO_Not too hot, not too cold
While keeping skincare products cool in the fridge can help to improve their shelf life, freezing temperatures has the opposite effect. Freezing products can render active ingredients ineffective. Eye creams, retinoids, and Vitamin C products can benefit from moderate refrigeration at home -- which is probably why the ‘skincare fridge’ is suddenly popular because running to the fridge AM and PM to retrieve your skincare seems a little cumbersome.

If you live somewhere with cold winters, like Colorado, make sure you’re not storing any products on window sills or other areas where the air temperature might drop below freezing.

THREE_Avoid Steam
A lot of people simply store skincare products on the bathroom countertop or in the shower, but these are some of the worst places to keep your products. The steam from the shower can break down key active ingredients, not to mention the fact that steamy environments provide the perfect breeding ground for mold and mildew.

Keep your products out of the shower. If you are going to keep them in the bathroom, use a cabinet or storage area that opens and closes and be sure the cabinet is closed while showering.

Cannula + Filler for Cheek Augmentation. Now FDA Approved.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Juvéderm Voluma XC, a hyaluronic acid gel dermal filler, with a TSK STERiGLIDE™ cannula for cheek augmentation to correct age-related volume deficit in the mid-face in adults over 21. A cannula is a thin, flexible tube with a rounded tip that can serve as an effective delivery system. The use of a cannula allows for the injection of Juvéderm Voluma XC in the cheek area with natural results and beautiful precision. The TSK STERiGLIDE™ has a unique design compared to other cannulas available on the market and features a patented tip design with a near-tip delivery port for precise product placement.

At Leah Nickie Advanced Aesthetics we have been using this method for years and have perfected the use of cannulas for fillers. Now the technique of cannula injection is being nationally recognized as the most preferred method for the best results. 

“As a physician specializing in facial structure and rejuvenation, I am very happy to see this receive FDA approval. For fillers in the mid-face, there is no better approach than the use of cannulas. We have been using cannulas for several years and find they help achieve smoothly sculpted results with much less bruising. ” said Dr. Julie Seaman, a Board Certified Physician and Medical Director for Leah Nickie Advanced Aesthetics.

"At Allergan, we are committed to driving innovation in medical aesthetics as well as providing best-in-class injector training to our customers," says Carrie Strom, Senior Vice President of U.S. Allergan Medical Aesthetics. "With this approval, Allergan will be able to educate on facial anatomy and injection techniques that will help healthcare providers administer treatment with Juvéderm Voluma XC safely to achieve optimal patient satisfaction."

A multicenter, split-face, investigator-blinded, non-inferiority study was performed to assess the safety and effectiveness of Juvéderm Voluma XC for correction of age-related volume deficit in the mid-face with the use of a TSK STERiGLIDE™ cannula versus a needle. The 12-week study took place in seven sites across the U.S. with 60 subjects. 

Within the Juvéderm Collection of Fillers, this is the first approval for the use of cannula. Juvéderm Voluma XC was first approved by the FDA in 2013 and is formulated with Allergan's proprietary VYCROSS® technology, which blends different molecular weights of hyaluronic acid, contributing to the gel's duration and is proven to last in the mid-face area for up to 24 months with optimal treatment. Juvéderm Voluma XC is currently the best-selling Juvéderm product in the US.

Reach out to info@leahnickie.com if you want to set up a consultation appointment and learn more about facial fillers and the use of cannulas.

What You Need to Know About the “Gentler Facelift” Called a PDO Thread Lift

The rise of noninvasive procedures has shifted the aesthetic culture. Patients now are asking for less invasive, less painful, less expensive procedures with short recovery times. Thread-lifts are one of the most popular and last for up to six months. 

Conceptually, the thread-lift is the suspension of falling facial soft tissue via a thread subcutaneously inserted in the skin. It is an easy, fast, in-office procedure in which a barbed suture thread is inserted via a cannula into the skin through a needle puncture. The thread is essentially “hooked” to the skin and, with a minimal amount of tightening, the skin is lifted and the suture is cut at the insertion point. The sutures dissolve and, over time, produce scar tissue, forming a scaffold, lifting the skin.

The thread-lifts initially came onto the market in the late 1990s but were difficult to use and the technology was not as good as what we have now. The newest technology threads – NovaThreads and the Silhouette Instalift – have recently received Food and Drug Administration clearance and grown in popularity because of their “lunchtime” appeal and their ease of use. 

Until recently, the only way to address problems caused by facial skin laxities—such as jowls and drooping cheeks—was facelift surgery. After all, while skin resurfacing treatments can help to restore some degree of firmness, once loose skin is present, only a scalpel can truly remove it. However, while the approach of relying on injectable compounds and skin resurfacing until facelift surgery becomes necessary works for many patients, not everyone is willing or able to have surgery. If you're in this group, you'll be happy to know that a new type of procedure has been developed to fill in the gap between noninvasive facial rejuvenation and facelift surgery: The "thread lift."

Primarily marketed for the neck, jowls, and lower face, these threads – available in various sizes, lengths, and diameters – can be used almost anywhere. The sutures dissolve over time and do not need any anchoring, making it a very simple in-office procedure.

Side effects include mild procedural pain, swelling, bruising, and rarely, suture granuloma formation.   If not done properly, buckling of the skin can occur and superficially placed sutures can be visible. It’s important to work with a provider who can provide a sterile technique, has experience with PDO Thread Lifts, and an experienced approach to facial anatomy.

Similar to fillers that provide a “liquid face-lift,” the downtime is minimal. Bruising is rare on the face, but more common on the forehead. Soreness, particularly in or near the hairline or jawline, is common and can last up to 2 weeks. Patients should refrain from heavy exercise and opening their mouth wide with chewing for 5-7 days (such as eating a large apple). Minor dimpling on the skin can occur and usually resolves on its own.

Thread lifts are low risk, thanks to how noninvasive they are. There is virtually no risk of significant scarring, severe bruising, bleeding or other complications after having a thread lift. In rare cases, patients may experience irritation, infection or their sutures becoming visible under their skin. If this occurs, however, the sutures can be removed and the patient's face will return to its prior state.

The ideal thread lift candidate is usually in his or her late thirties to early sixties. Thread lifts have more subtle results compared to facelifts, therefore, the procedure is not indicated for severe laxity and volume loss. The tissue is not released from its underlying attachments, and skin contraction and gravitational pull limit its extent of improvement and its longevity.  The ideal candidate is one who is looking for gradual improvement, minimal downtime and mild lifting.

When used in combination with Kybella to decrease the size of the jowl, dermal filler to restore volume loss, neuromodulators to soften fine lines and PDO sutures to lift lax tissue, the results can be impressive.  Over time and with repeated treatments, these modalities promote your own natural healing processes to build scaffolding and collagen for a longer-lasting, natural-looking you.

If you have questions or are interested in a PDO Thread Lift, Dr. Julie Seaman and Krissy Melvin PA-c have openings in the Fall and a free consultation is easy to get set up. 

Sources:

American Society of Plastic Surgeons

MD Edge

NY Post

Allure Magazine