How to Microcurrent

what is it 

As we age impulses slow down, causing the skin to sag. Muscles may not completely contract after use. Microcurrent is used to tone the muscles by stimulating motor nerves and contracting the muscles. Microcurrent (wave therapy) helps stimulate motor nerves until a contraction of the muscles can be seen. Has ability to firm muscles and boost cellular activity by using low-voltage electricity to stimulate the facial muscles to lift and sculpt the face. It improves blood and lymph circulation and can assist with product absorption. 

Treatments are given one time per week for at least  10 sessions to see visible results. Each session will vary some are 80 minutes, 60 minutes and 30 minutes, depends on what your skin needs. You will see instant results that last for a few days, with each session the results build up and last longer. Touch ups must be given every 4 weeks to maintain the benefits and results for firmer and healthier skin. Treatments include tighten and firm the skin, stimulate collagen growth, define cheekbones, and lift the eyebrows.

 

Benefits of using Microcurrent Professionally
  • Reduces signs of aging / wrinkles 
  • Improves blood circulation
  • Produces Collagen & increases ATP (adenosine triphosphate) 
  • Instant results 
  • Lifts and enhances features
  • Contours and defines skin
  • Lymph drainage
  • Treats sun damage
  • Increase elasticity

A gel (water-based gel) such as a collagen ampoule is placed on the skin before beginning the treatment (microcurrent helps with product penetration) , may be combined with light therapy as well. The at home microcurrent tools work for maintenance between sessions and keep the results longer, they are not as strong (won’t deliver as high amounts of current as with an esthetician) as the professional tools. If you don’t want saggy skin, ever, or you see aging and changes in your skin getting a professional (more intense electric pulsations) microcurrent facial will benefit you best. 

Before / After Treatment

Getting a microcurrent facial should not be painful, but if you are uncomfortable during the session talk to your esti about it. It’s best to stop using your retinol/retinoid seven days before treatment . Don’t wear makeup to your appointment, it will be washed off and cleansed. Eat a healthy meal and relax. Read below to know which conditions as to why not do a microcurrent facial. 

After your treatment avoid harsh products and ingredients, and avoid any harsh physical rubbing. Be very gentle with your skin, use mild and hydrating products. Use mineral (chemical free) sunscreen daily.

For Aestheticians 

Conduct a consultation before treatment as well as a complete client health history. Same contraindications as those for all electrical devices. Those include: Pacemakers, epilepsy, cancer, severe acne, pregnancy, phlebitis or thrombosis, Botox or fillers (wait 2 weeks or more), or anyone currently under a doctor’s care for a condition. 

This treatment pairs really good with other treatments as well

  • LED light (Use your LED light first to relax the muscles before the microcurrent treatment)
  • Targeted serums & facials (helps with product delivery)
  • High Frequency (kills bacteria on the skin, microcurrent works deeper into skin)
  • Microdermabrasion (exfoliates and removes dead skin cells, microcurrent works under the skin to stimulate collagen)
 

Is it really Oily?

Oily skin (lipidic skin) is a blessing in disguise, it means aging is a bit delayed for people with oily skin. It can be hard to deal with and balance the oil, especially if there is no knowledge as to what ingredients or products are being used on the skin. For oily skin you never what to over do it, or under do it in any treatments/ products/ or ingredients. Balance is key, and letting the oil escape is part of that balance. 

Here is how you determine oily skin. 

– Excess oil (sebum) production

– Pores (follicle) are larger and visible over most of the face, particularly on cheeks and forehead, that contain more oil.

– Prone to sallow and thicker skin, because pores get clogged with dead skin, oil and dirt.

– Blemishes and breakouts are very common.

– Acne

Oily skin needs balance through treatments and products. Over cleansing/ exfoliating or under cleansing/ exfoliating can make skin worse by stripping skin’s acid mantle and causing irritation. If there isn’t enough oil, it will be unbalanced which causes the skin to produce more sebum (oil) to compensate the surface dryness.

Oily skin (go see an esthetician) : knowledge and education will help big time, knowing personal food triggers and to avoid that. The right treatment, exfoliation and products/ingredients  to help keep skin clean and balanced.

Recommend a deep cleansing facial. 

This 1 product is all you need for hydration.

Hyaluronic acid is the key to instantly plumping fine lines and making skin look youthful.

here are 3 reasons you need Hyaluronic acid on your skin.

1. holds 10x its size in water. adding instant hydration and boosting subtleness to your skin.

2. makes your skin look more youthful. hydrated skin will make you look younger and healthier.

3. it is in many products and easy to use.


Wrinkle Depth

Ok, if your like most people, you look in the mirror and suddenly you see lines, lots of line, small lines, soft lines, deep lines and lines going in all different directions. You look loser in the mirror, stick your face so close your eyes will need a break from looking too hard. What are those and where did they come from? You start freaking out, thinking so negatively about yourself, and from that point on you think to yourself that you are old. But your not, and good news if you do see a line and at most times you are the only one that sees those lines, they are preventable and if anything delayed and minimized. Even the worst ones…..

DEEP WRINKLES – 3 main causes. 

The ones with the deep grooves, how do they happen and how did they get there. You never have seen it coming. These lines are the hardest wrinkles, and the most stubborn, because the skin is so damaged. In a lot of cases most of these deep lines did go away and were minimized, it takes time and lots of work and discipline, which if you are reading this, I’m sure you have self discipline and want to see how to prevent those lines or how to reverse those grooves. And both of these goals are amazing and you will do your best to get and see results. 

– First offender is the sun. STAY out of the sun, try to avoid it, and even when your indoors, still protect your skin from the sun rays. ultraviolet light causes the skin to break down its collagen and elastin, and that causes saggy and deep lines. Prevention is to always use sunscreen, SPF 30 is a good range of SPF and use according to the sunscreen you are using. 

– Second offender is facial expressions. Now don’t hate me, and don’t skip this. Facial expressions are amazing, and uncontrollable to a degree, and they bring life to you and your surroundings, I mean imagine living a day without laughing or smiling, sheesh I can’t. But unfortunately they do contribute to deep wrinkles. So it starts out this way, you first see a very very fine line, this is not a wrinkle its called an expression line. Now imagine 20 years with that same expression and not treating the first sign of the fine line. It will only get deeper, starts off as a fine line and over the years and amazing laughs and expressions, that fine line will turn into a deep wrinkle (especially if combined with lots of unprotected sun exposure and smoking).  OK, but now you are wondering what to do. This is never an easy one, but one thing you can do is to be aware of your facial expressions and where you are creasing when you talk, laugh, smile, cry, fear, surprised, talking in general, do you lift your eyebrows, do you lift just one eyebrow, do you smile to one side, do you smile with your eyes, those are all things you should consider. Study your face, and try to limit or control those expressions. If you can not, or give up too soon, Botox is an option. Now to treat the fine lines so they don’t turn into deep grooves, first use and exfoliator, exfoliate daily or every other day, then use a Retinal (see your dermatologist), eat healthy, and limit those expressions, don’t fake laugh as hard. 

–Then comes smoking, ahh smoking is all around a no no. If you are a smoker you are more likely to see winkles sooner and deeper then others around your age. This is always a sensitive subject, so just hear me out. If you are a smoker and you are concerned about your skin health and wrinkles, then try your best to stop. You will see dramatic differences in you skin and skin health. Smoking deprives the skin of oxygen, simple as that. 

 

I will always say this, having wrinkles or lines in general is nothing to be ashamed of, I think it is a beautiful thing, but if we can control them and minimize or prevent them, then why not. Just a disclaimer I am not a doctor, or a dermatologist. To consider anything from this post, I suggest you ask your doctor for further information, and personal assessment. 

 

Much healthy smiles 

Reena. 

 

Exfoliation 101

In other words exfoliating! Skin cell turnover is a process that keeps going, as the the cells are formed at the bottom of the epidermis and rise up through the epidermis cells die and soon shed, and replaced by cells that went through the same process. 

Cell turnover slows down with age, a good and a fast process takes around 28 days, but the longer the dead skin hangs on your skin it can flak, build a thick layer, and dry out giving skin a dull rough texture. Which with time it can cause damage to the skin barrier, so to keep the barrier strong you have to remove that excess layer of dead cells. By Exfoliation.

Physical Exfoliation is when you physically scrub your skin with scrubs, sugar, granules, and other products that you have to use force to exfoliate and remove the dead layer. This process is good to do 2-3 times a week, depending on your skin type.

Chemical Exfoliation is using acids, peels, and chemicals to dissolve the dead skin cells and make skin barrier stronger. Using a low % of AHAs and BHAs daily will give a better result in the long run. When using acids to exfoliate pay close attention to your skin’s sensitivity and make sure to never skip sun protection. 

Overall exfoliation is recommended daily by the majority of dermatologists and estheticians, constantly removing the top layer of your skin will in contrary thicken and strengthen your skin. Thick skin is essential to a healthy and supple complexion that will suit you well.

3 Wrinkle Myths Busted

Wrinkles are a beautiful part of life that shows experience, happiness, hurt, wisdom and maturity. But with a world possessed with youthfulness and fresh looking skin, we dread the thoughts of lines appearing and grooving our skin. Wrinkles are nothing to be ashamed of and should be proud to have them, if they come with age. . (what do I mean if they come with age.)

There are a few misconceptions about wrinkles and how we get to be blessed with these fine lines and deep line that come with age. 

1- Wrinkles are caused by aging. We tend to believe that wrinkles happen and show up with age (age as in number alone causes a really small % of wrinkles) there are many other factors that contribute to the cause and depth of winkles as well as how early they will show.

  •  SUN is the main offender that will damage the skin wall, and provide many new free radicals that will ruin your skin in many ways (including dark spots, hyper pigmentation, burns. etc), the sun causes deep wrinkles that start to show at a younger age. Pollution / environment is a huge factor when it comes to how much deep lines and sagging will form on your skin as well, if you are constantly hit with airborne toxic chemicals, bacteria,  etc, city air and lack purified and clean air, your skin cells and pores will not breath right.(Read the Research)  
  • Diet in short, as we all know, we are what we eat. Eating a diet rich in anti-oxidants to combat and prevent the damage that will be the result of free radicals (which are the main reason to extrinsic and intrinsic aging) will keep our skin looking youthful for a long time to come. 
  • Lack of Hydration, water is an essential factor in having and maintaining a supple and pump youthful looking skin. Dehydration deprives your skin from water and causes your skin to look pale and leads to sag, dry, and early signs of aging. ‘other miscellaneous way to cause lines like touching face, smoking, alcohol, stress, constant rubbing of face, using wrong skincare products etc.’

2- Wrinkles can’t be prevented. Wrinkles can and should be prevented, in a few simple ‘but not easy to implement’ steps and series through you way of living. A bad life style will show on your way sooner than later, and you will regret all the smoking and drinking and lack of skincare routine. There are many ways to prevent wrinkles, but one thing that is for sure and can’t be controlled are your genes, but we can delay and minimize the over all turn up of lines and wrinkles. We can delay and minimize early signs of ageing by using a sunscreen, healthy balanced anti-oxidant rich diet, avoid smoking and alcohol, and always use skincare products that you need (learn to read your skin), getting adequate amounts of water in (through water and water rich foods ‘fruits&veggies’), avoid fried foods and any processed foods, exfoliation. Etc.

3-Winkles are permanent and can’t be reversed. Any damage and further damage to your skin can be limited, reversed and further prevented. By taking action right now to protect your skin from the sun (avoid being under the sun rays, broad spectrum sunscreen reapplied according to packaging, SPF clothing, hats, etc.). Start eating a healthy balanced diet. See your dermatologist, for a customized plan and take action. As well as facial exercise to strengthen your facial muscles. *You are beautiful regardless* 

Overall, aging is a beautiful thing that we all experience and you should embrace everything that comes with it, but if there is something you can do to boost your confidence and make you happier with who you are, then there is a solution for everything.