Skin Reading Blog

The facial is over. Your skin has received a deep cleansing, a thorough professional strength peel, and (if it’s a Bioelements facial) a Custom Blended Massage, Power Treatment and Mask that’s designed to target your skin’s exact needs and concerns.  Your complexion is clear, glowing, radiant and younger-looking. Lucky you! So of course you’d want [...]

We’ve all heard the story. A friend of a friend, or a celebrity’s mom, or a co-worker’s grandmother who “had the most beautiful, smooth, porcelain, wrinkle-free skin” in all the world. “AND THE ONLY PRODUCT SHE EVER USED WAS A BAR OF SOAP. THAT’S IT!” Now, depending on the story, there may be a brand [...]

Did you wake up this morning with blah skin? Dark circles around your eyes? Puffiness? A dull complexion? Ultra-dreariness staring you in the mirror? If you’re seeing blah skin, don’t go back to bed. And don’t gulp down a gallon of coffee. Just put on your shoes – your running shoes. When I have a [...]

As the clocks turned back an hour last Sunday morning for Daylight Saving, I wasn’t thinking about the extra hour of sleep I was getting (although it’s better than losing an hour). I was thinking about my skin. Confession: I’m pretty much always thinking about skin. I can’t help it. But that extra hour made [...]

Mascaras have come a long way from their flaky, smeary past. Formulas today are pretty intelligent – packed with ingredients that coat each lash, making them look longer, darker, fuller and thicker. So how did I realize these formulas have become so advanced? My face towel told me. You see, for years, my nighttime skin [...]

I must own a dozen bottles of half-used perfume (eau de toilette, actually) purchased over the last few years on impulse. What happens is that I absolutely love the scent in the store, then detest it within a few months. Sure, the bottles look good in my bathroom, perched on a glass serving tray repurposed [...]

A question I hear frequently is “Can I make my pores smaller?” Before I answer, let’s delve into pores (not literally) and discover what they do. The pores we are talking about produce sebum, or oil that excretes to the surface of the skin from a gland housed within the pore known as the sebaceous [...]

Are skin care products able to penetrate into the bloodstream? Do they stay lodged inside the body? Do we urinate out the chemicals and extracts they contain? We are not talking about topical prescription medications, pharmaceutical dermal patches or over-the-counter drugs here. We’re talking about cleansers, moisturizers, serums, exfoliators and other products that do not [...]

Do you know your skin type? I mean, are you absolutely sure, or just guessing? If you’re  not sure . . . read on. Skin type primarily refers to the oil production level of your skin. Do you have high oil producing skin (oily skin type) or low oil producing skin (dry skin type), or [...]

Imagine walking down the aisle in a gorgeous designer wedding gown, carrying a bouquet of white orchids and wearing a two-karat sparkly diamond ring. Now add to that a face full of small, under-the-skin acne bumps. Kind of ruins the whole scenario, doesn’t it? This is exactly what an acquaintance of mine was facing for [...]