MYTH: Chocolate makes your skin break out

It’s not the cocoa in chocolate that makes your skin break out. But when you eat chocolate, it is inevitably made with sugar (like a candy bar), and it is the sugar that is most likely causing the breakout. So this myth is partially true, depending on how you are defining chocolate. Dark chocolate has less sugar in it than milk chocolate. There are even very high percentage dark chocolates with very low sugar content.

For more information, see:

• MYTH: Food doesn’t affect skin
• “I don’t eat much sugar”—really?
• I’m sensitive to sugar—are you?

Colorado Horse Rescue on Fox31 News

Fox31 News came to Colorado Horse Rescue, where I volunteer, last Saturday to do a segment on the rescue. They happened to be there during my shift that day. I was one of the volunteers they miked up and interviewed although, as these things go, none of that made it into the piece. No biggie—I’ve been on many TV shows for my books in the past, and this segment was all about the horses anyway. Still, I am in the video, which is fun. I hope you will CLICK HERE to be taken to the video. Below is the article that accompanied the video on Fox’s website.

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LONGMONT, Colo. --  Fifty-five horses call Colorado Horse Rescue home. That’s near capacity with room for only five more. “We are here to rescue, rehab and find forever homes. It’s similar to a human society for horses,” Carol Brice said. But these animals are different than cats and dogs. They’re expensive to feed and to care for, and their lifespan can stretch 30 years.

“Many don’t know there’s a crisis in America,” Brice said. “There are 170,000 unwanted horses in the U.S. About 6,000 in Colorado alone.” One horse, Lil Bit, came to Colorado Horse Rescue unwanted and neglected, much like a quarter of the horses that have come through. The other 75 percent are relinquished by families who can no longer care for them.

“What we see is a horse gets ill or injured, too old to ride, and they get discarded. That’s unfortunate,” Brice said. “They should be honored and cared for.” That’s what the volunteers at Colorado Horse Rescue strive to do each day. And in the process they get attached. “I have learned not to fall in love because they get adopted out, which is great, that’s the whole point,” Brice said. [I actually said that, but whatever!]

This is Kyle, a beautiful Arabian bay and the first horse I fell in love with at CHR. He was adopted 2 years ago, but I still pine for him!

But it can mean heartbreak, especially knowing they can only help so many of the animals. Their hearts can be bigger than their wallets so they’re counting on the public to take a horse home. “All kinds of horses wind up in this situation through no fault of their own,” Brice said. “We have all breeds, ages, sizes all ranged in training, come out and take a look.”

It costs $500,000 a year to keep the operation, which is in its 30th year, running. Colorado Horse Rescue is working to open a second facility where older horses can come to retire. Donations are being accepted to help make that dream a reality.

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Thanks, Fox News. Any and all publicity for the safety and care of these special animals is always appreciated!

CLICK HERE to be taken to the video

For more information, see:

• Colorado Horse Rescue website
• PLEASE: Don’t take Premarin!
• Animal Rescue: all links so far

Fed Up with Chin Hairs?

How can I prevent chin hairs? Why are they starting to grow, and how do I get rid of them?

Chin hair growth usually starts around perimenopause when a woman’s hormone levels are starting to go through yet another change. During this time, estrogen levels start to wane, leaving more testosterone to run wild, creating such things as coarse, dark hair on a woman’s chin. Who said getting older isn’t all fun and games?

You can’t magically prevent chin hairs any more than you can prevent hair on your body from growing. Electrolysis and laser hair removal are two procedures that can help keep hair from coming back once it is treated. Read the posts under hair removal (see link below) on these two procedures to find out how to help get rid of these unwanted hairs. I don’t recommend waxing the area; you will be removing too much innocent hair and may set yourself up for darker hair growth in the area. And tweezing usually winds up in disaster—especially if you are the type of person who doesn’t know when to leave things alone once you’ve gotten started tweezing.

I have seen many clients over the years who are concerned about hair growth on their chin. When I inspect this area, may times I find they have been shaving the hair there. What this does is create a very obvious coarseness to the skin (a razor is too harsh for that delicate skin), and just like the stubble growing out of a man’s face, stubble will result from shaving any area, including your chin. Usually the offending hair is dark, but I have occasionally seen white hair growth on the chin. Whichever color the hair is, it can be coarse and even causing some irritation, neither of which is desirable.

When I find a client who is shaving her chin for this or any reason, I implore her to stop shaving immediately! When you shave an area to get rid of a few (or many) stray hairs, you are indeed shaving off all hair in the area. And contrary to some people’s belief, the hair then has the potential to grow back darker and thicker than it was before. Since it is usually only a few hairs that are growing in the area, you run the risk of stimulating even more hair growth if you shave. Some people are lucky and dark hair doesn’t show up after shaving the chin, but it can affect the skin there as well as affecting all the hair in the area, not just one or two stray problem hairs.

My recommendation is to find a good electrolysis technician and to give this hair removal technique a good try. It would be more expensive than shaving, obviously, but the results could very possibly be long-lasting or permanent. (Laser hair removal for light-colored hair is available, where in the past it was only effective on dark hair.) If you have experienced irritated skin where you have been shaving, this will improve if you stop shaving, and having electrolysis treatments can take care of the reason you were shaving in the first place.

When shaving (and waxing as well), you are getting rid of so many unoffensive hairs in the process of removing the few bad ones. I recommend looking into electrolysis or laser hair removal before using these other, less effective and potentially harmful procedures.

For more information, see:

• Shari’s (chin hair) waxing story
• Hair Removal Options: Electrolysis
• Hair Removal: all links so far

Ladies, please—don't!

Yonka’s HYDRA+: For Extra Hydration—without adding oil (formerly Hydralia; formerly Dermol)

UPDATE 4/2017:
Yonka has once again changed this product. Hydralia, which was the rebranded Dermol, is now called HYDRA+. It works essentially the same as Hydralia/Dermol.

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Does your skin feel tight after you put on your moisturizer? Do you have true-dry skin—skin that doesn’t secrete enough oil? Do you have oily skin, but your skin still feels dry? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you might want to consider adding Yonka’s HYDRA+ to your skin care routine. 

The main ingredient in this super-hydrating elixir is glycerin. Unlike a true oil, glycerin adds moisture to the skin without leaving your skin feeling oily. Hydra+ can be added to both your day and night cremes, helping to super-hydrate your skin. This product is a must have in winter and a great addition to your program—anytime.

Essential ingredients:

• PCA, vegetable glycerin, brown algae, lactic and citric acids—hydrating 
• Indian chestnut, raspberry, blackcurrant, vitamin B5—soothing 
• Vitamin C—antioxidant 
• Magnesium—revitalizing

Directions for use:

• Clean your face with your favorite Yonka cleanser  
• Then spray liberally with your Yonka Lotion toner  
• Next, add a few squirts (equaling approximately 4-8 drops) of HYDRA+ to whatever cream you are using—both morning and evening  
• Apply mixture to your face and neck Finish with eye cream

 
Mixing Hydra+ with your day cream allows your makeup to look fresher and last longer, and you won’t have to worry about dry, flaky skin.

Enjoy using Hydra+ and say bye bye to dry, dehydrated skin. This one product will make a great addition to your healthy skin care routine.

For more information on other Yonka products that will help keep your skin hydrated, see:

• Is your face in need of extra hydration?
• Yonka’s ELIXIR VITAL (formerly Serum Vital)—regenerating, restorative complex 
• Yonka’s discontinued Serums and their replacement Boosters to learn more about this and the other new editions of these wonderful hydrating elixirs

Products and rosacea: What to AVOID

Trial and, possibly, error...!

If you have rosacea, when it comes to what products to use on your face, mild is the one word that comes to mind. You want to find non-irritating, mild products to use on your rosacea. You will want to avoid anything that is going to irritate your skin. This may seem like an obvious recommendation, but I still get people who come into my office who don’t heed the most obvious advice. Even if they know they shouldn’t do something, many times they do it anyway. Thus the saying, “Throw caution to the wind.”

For any of you with rosacea, your daily routine won’t really change; you will still do your cleanse, tone, hydrate (The Basics 1-2-3) program morning and night. What you use will be the biggest trial and error experiment you have had to date. Even if I could give specific product recommendations here, they wouldn’t work for everyone. I know it is frustrating not knowing what to use, and no doubt you have already gone through a lot of different products—hopefully finding some that work for you and your rosacea.

Soap may be an irritant if you have rosacea. I’m not a very big fan of soap—in fact I’m not a fan at all. I recommend using liquid cleansers (milks and gels) over soap any day—every day. The ingredients that make soap soap are too harsh for the skin on the face, especially if you have a condition like rosacea. In other words: Don’t use soap! (Read MYTH: Soap is a good cleanser, link below.)

Although I never recommend anyone use products that contain alcohol (the bad kind: SD and ethyl), rosaceans want to be especially careful to avoid this harsh and reaction-causing ingredient. Your toner should not have alcohol in it. Again, this is true for anybody, but especially for those with rosacea. Look for soothing ingredients like allantoin, camomile, and lavender as good ingredients to have in a toner. Some natural-type products may say for sensitive skin, which would be the toner you would naturally reach for, right? But still, look at the ingredients.

See category toners for more information on this essential step

The toner for sensitive skin in the Yonka line (Lotion PS) is also for a drier skin type. It contains special ingredients in it to moisturize a true-dry (oil-dry) skin, which would be a disaster for an oilier skin type. So if you tend to have an oilier complexion, you will want to use extra caution when choosing a toner for sensitive skin. If you do end up with a toner that is too much for your skin, take it back and try one for a skin type more closely related to your own. Remember: your skin type is first and foremost based on oil content.

Moisturizers will vary, and the trial and error method may be what you have to go through in order to find the perfect moisturizer for you. Know that you will want to avoid AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids). I would also avoid glycolic peels in a facial, retinoic acid products like Retin-A and Renova, and most vitamin C products, which will probably be irritating to your skin.

Basically acid compounds, like AHAs, citric, and retonic, will worsen the symptoms of rosacea. Acids tend to dilate and irritate skin they are used on, so avoid them in the products you use. If you get facials, make sure the aesthetician has an awareness about rosacea and how to treat it in a facial.

For more information, see:

• The Basics 1-2-3 Program for proper skin care
• MYTH: Soap is a good cleanser 
• What causes rosacea to flare up? Rosacea triggers