Protect Yourself From Premature Aging

By Ken Simpson, Founder, CEO & President Skin 2 Skin Care

IS YOUR SKIN BARRIER PROTECTING YOU FROM PREMATURE AGING?

What the heck, you may ask, is a “skin barrier?” Simply put, it’s the top layer of your skin. Its function is to protect your skin against chronic inflammation that destroys skin structure and prevents normal skin repair. Think of it as a magical shield that locks in moisture (good) and locks out damaging external influences such as radiation, harmful microbes, viruses, toxins, allergens, irritants and pollutants (bad) – all of which can accelerate the skin’s aging process, making you look older, faster.

So, what you put on your hard-working skin barrier is vitally important. To slow or reverse the aging process, you must keep the barrier intact and healthy.

WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR IN ANTI-AGING SKIN CARE PRODUCTS?

Look for products that have this optimized mixture of ingredients:

Lipids (found in soy-glycerin)

Shea butter

Olive oil and Avocado oil

Linoleic acid (an omega 3 fatty acid plant), identical to fish omega 3 found in sesame,olive, palm, flax and coconut oils to repair the skin’s barrier and keep it healthy

If you don’t find this combination in your product, look for alpha lipoic acid at 1%. This helps stimulate the skin to repair the barrier.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO REPAIR THE BARRIER AFTER A SKIN TREATMENT?

Medical procedures: It takes approximately eight weeks to repair the barrier of the skin after an AHA treatment, dermabrasion, enzyme peels or just about any type of invasive treatment that removes skin using an acid, freezing, burning, enzyme or laser treatment. Many doctors perform these treatments and send clients home without products that repair and strengthen the barrier, causing more damage in the long run.

Over-the- counter products that strip the skin with AHAs or enzymes for daily use will eventually cause premature aging. If you use these products, opt for a rotation system of one month on and five months off, followed by a barrier repair anti-inflammation/anti-aging cream.  

Heavy exfoliation/resurfacing treatments are best when they are performed no more than once or twice a year. Monthly treatments damage the skin and make you look older before your time.    

HOW CAN YOU PREVENT ONGOING INFLAMMATION OF YOUR SKIN?

Once you have the barrier repaired, chronic inflammation and outbreaks will decrease.  But the environment is constantly attacking your skin from every direction, so a healthy barrier isn’t enough. You need products with the best possible combination of ingredients. A one-sided product like vitamin C, a good anti-inflammation ingredient, cannot do it alone to stop inflammation or aging. By using limited ingredient products, they stop working over a period of time.

The most effective skin products have a formulation of multiple anti-inflammation inhibitors found in a combination of extracts and vitamins. The best known are green and white tea, pomegranate, honeysuckle, olive oil, aloe vera, comfrey, wild chamomile, horsetail, rose hips, mallow, ginger, cucumber, lavender and Vitamins C and E.

By making sure that you are using products properly and in the right anti-aging multi-formulation, you help ensure the ideal end-result: a skin that has normal structure and function, is healthy and radiates a youthful glow.

Ken Simpson, owner of Skin 2 Skin Care (www.skin2skincare.com) has been helping men and women attain healthy, beautiful, and youthful skin for over 25 years.  In 2009 Ken launched his own line.  His vision was simple: to create a product line that would improve the skins appearance while slowing and reversing signs of aging.  Skin 2 Skin Care is about more than just anti-aging; it is about smart anti-aging.  Using peptide technology combined with certified organic and natural botanical ingredients, Skin 2 Skin Care represents the future of advanced, anti-aging skin care while remaining natural, free of any harsh chemicals and toxins, and PETA and vegan approved.

Growing up in Honolulu, Ken was introduced to the all-natural products that were incorporated into so many of the homemade products he used on a day to day basis.  This spiked his curiosity for understanding ingredients and imagining up new ways they could be used.   Ken got his official start and honed his creative talents at prominent establishments including Neiman Marcus, Stanley Korshak Dallas, Henri Bendel NY, and Felissimo NY where he was V.P. of product development and merchandising.  He played an integral part in the creation of KSL Resort & Spa’s Signature Brands.  It was his job to research every minute detail regarding ingredients, what was healthy, what was effective, and what to avoid. 

This information would come in handy during what would turn out to be one of the most trying times of his life.  Ken was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent extensive proton radiation therapy.  The radiation combined with the drugs wreaked havoc on his skin, aging it overnight.  A skincare expert, Ken was on the hunt for the magical product that would get his skin back in shape as he got his life back together.  It was then that he stumbled upon a realization that would shape the rest of his career: there was simply no product line on the market that was gentle, ethical, natural and totally focused on aging repair and prevention.  Ken decided to start his own line that would be healthy and deliver actual visible results.  No hype or marketing ploys included.

Using smart peptide technology and green ingredients, Skin 2 Skin Care is about helping people achieve the best skin possible.  “When your skin looks good you feel good about yourself by showing off your best face at any age,” says Ken.  “That is why I chose the motto ‘beauty at any age is beauty.’  As a society we need to start celebrating the innate beauty that comes with every year we live.”  Ken notes that hearing how his skin care products led someone to muster the courage to go on a job interview or ask someone out on a date is the most rewarding part of what he does.  “Healthy skin is as psychologically life changing as it is physically beneficial,” he states.