5 ways to get Spring Skin

Spring is upon us, the weather is warming up and we are coming out of our Winter hibernation. Now is the time to get your Spring Skin ready!
Here are my top 5 tips on how to get Spring Skin. 

1. The inside workings of our body play a major role in what condition our skin is in. Now is a good time to do a little health check and make sure that you are attending to anything that is out of the ordinary. The skin is the largest organ and essentially it is a excretory system. Here are some pointers that will help you get started:

• address any fungal, yeast or bacterial infections, such as thrush.
• if you have recently been on antibiotics, taking a course of acidophilus will help to strengthen our immunity and maintain our acid levels in the body. 
• start your exercise regime. Sign up with a personal trainer, or resume your pre winter routine. Exercise is fantastic for the skin. This is a way to really help toxins to be eliminated from the body. Make sure you rehydrate after exercising and take it easy when you first start up again!
• any medical concerns: now is the time to see your doctor and put your mind at ease. 
• see a naturopath, chinese doctor or herbalist to make sure your body is in harmony and functioning at is optimum
• drink plenty of water - add a little lemon juice to your water to help alkaline the body. This is great at the start of your day
• have an alcohol free month
• enjoy a daily cup of green tea, preferably Matcha Tea - 100% unoxidized. 
• make sure you have frequent bowel movements, if not this needs to be addressed with you health care practitioner to find out way and how to get this happening. An easy way is to reduce stodgy foods like fast foods and eat more leafy green vege's, fresh juices and fibre. 
• assess your sugar intake. Are you having too much. This is especially important for clients who suffer from acne. 

2.Visit your Skin Care Professional for a skin consultation and skin treatment and put together a skin care plan that suits your budget for the months of Spring and Summer. You want your skin to look its best, so take the guess work out of it and seek the advise from someone you feel comfortable with and trust. We want results, there is no time to find out what you are using is doing nothing for your skin. This point is well worth your investment.

3. Some home care tips that you can start on now for your skin care are:

• make sure you are cleansing morning and night
• if you cleanser leaves your skin feeling tight - change! This is not a desirable outcome of a cleanser. Overstripping your skin with harsh ingredients will not benefit you at all over time. 
• exfoliate at least once a week. Choose between a facial scrub with granules, or an enzyme mask such as the Polish from Osmosis. The enzymes exfoliators are especially fabulous for clients with rosacea/sensitive skins and for those that do not like the scrub exfoliators. By exfoliating the skin you encourage your skin to renew quicker, you allow your products to absorb more efficiently, your make up will sit beautifully on the skin and open pores will appear smaller. 
• do a weekly mask IF you are not using medical grade skin care serums such as Osmosis and Cosmedix. These serums are designed to penetrate deep within in the skin, so doing a weekly mask is not as vital as you receive daily serum nourishment. Do a mask under all circumstances though if your skin feels tight or is flaking from post treatment side effects. Cosmedix have a good one called Rescue that will help to alleviate any peeling or sensitivity. 
• moisturise morning and night, even if you have oily skin, you still need water hydration. This is very common that I see clients who have acne, but their skin is dehydrated because the client thinks all moisturisers will clog their skin. You will need to ask your skin care professional for a suitable light weight, water dominant moisturiser to prevent dehydration. I find that this also helps with acne conditions better than no moisturiser at all
• wear a non chemical sunscreen daily, prevention is better than cure

4. Ditch products that are not working for your skin

• sometimes we do more harm than good by using up what we have even though our skin has become a lot worse since using them. If your products aren't working - seek advise and get on a routine now to get your skin where you want it to be

5. My all time favourite skin treatment - Microdermabrasion. If you want this glowing skin NOW and cannot wait any longer and want quick results. Book in for a microdermabrasion treatment, following by some LED light therapy. Once you try you will be hooked!

Feel free to ask me any questions you have here

Happy Skin Days,

Sarah Wilkinson
Skin Matrix

How to get rid of lines around the eyes?

The eyes are one of the first areas that we notice a change in the skin as we get older. So the big question is: How to get rid of lines around the eyes??
There are several ways that you can help promote skin elasticity, integrity and tone around the eye. But firstly why do we get lines around the eyes?
Well, throughout our life our skin is exposed to the sun, the elements, free radicals and lifestyle impacts. All of these factors will determine how we age, along with genetics of course. Genetics do play a role, but our lifestyle along with the sun are the main factors that determine the rate at which someone ages. There is not one solution, but many solutions that you can undertake.



1)  I encourage everyone from their early 20's to get started on a basic antioxidant hydrating eye cream. Even though you may not see any fine lines beginning, it is crucial that you hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. A healthy skin is a hydrated skin!
Look for CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid, retinyl palmitate, tocopherol (vit e).
If you would like to take it to the next step in terms of strength of eye cream, you will be looking for eye creams that are hydrating, contain antioxidants, contain some collagen stimulating ingredients to rebuild the matrix (dermis of the skin) such as copper peptides, retinol (vit a), retinaldehyde (vit a), ascorbic acid (vit c), niacinamide (B3), beta glucan 1,3 and MMP (matrixmetalloproteinases) inhibitors that will prevent unnecessary collagen breakdown in the dermis  such as butchers broom, resveratrol and lipoic acid.

Do not be fooled into buying Collagen Creams. Unless it is injected into the skin, it is virtually impossible to get Collagen into the skin topically. The molecular size of Collagen is too big to penetrate into the Matrix or Dermis of the skin where our collagen lives. It will simply be sitting on the surface of the skin and washed down the drain.

Try Refresh PM from Osmosis Medical Skin Care Today

Affirm Serum

2) Get an additional topical dose of the above mentioned vitamins, minerals and antioxidants through serum applications. For my clients, I will encourage them to use a serum all over first, then apply their eye cream, followed by a moisturiser. If you are serious about looking after your skin, below is the minimum routine that you would aim for:
AM - cleanse, serum, eye cream, moisturise/sun protect
PM - cleanse, serum, eye cream, moisturise

The serum and other products will be determined by your Skin Care Professional.
Here are my suggestions for a Serum if you cannot get into see someone to advise you:
Antiageing - renew, refine, defy
Sensitive/Rosacea Skin - calm
Acne/Breakouts - clarify, clarity
Antioxidant - affirm, replenish


3)Undertake Cosmetic Treatments such as:
a) Dermaroller - Dermaroller is THE genuine skin needling device and is what I recommend. It is the most advanced and safest anti-ageing and skin correction treatment in the market today.If you want thicker skin around the eye area (and the rest of the face), meaning a more youthful appearance, then the Dermaroller is the cream de la cream.A massive amount of collagen is formed post treatment which in turn smooths lines and tones the skin as elastin is increased. Read more on the Dermaroller here: www.skinmatrix.com.au/dermaroller.html

b) Infusions - such as the Cosmedix and Osmosis Peels. These are designed not to strip away layers from the surface of your skin, but to infuse vital ingredients to stimulate your own collagen and elastin resulting in a thicker matrix, smoother and diminished lines and a more youthful appearance. Read more on these infusions here: www.skinmatrix.com.au/peels.html

c) CACI Eye Lift and Toning: the CACI system uses microcurrent to stimulate and re-educate facial muscles, leaving them toned once again. Over use of the obibularis oculi (the eye muscle) leads to crows feet and unfortunately as we get older the muscle around the eye is not as strong as it used to be in our younger years. The CACI will retone and strengthen your eye muscles and other surrounding muscles to create a lift and toning the eye area. CACI is a fabulous treatment that I highly recommend. You will need a course for long term results. 10-12 sessions, 2 sessions a week. Read more on the CACI eye lift here: www.skinmatrix.com.au/eye-lift.html

4) Lead a healthy lifestyle - lack of sleep will deprive the body of the time it needs to rejuvenate and repair. A balanced diet based on the basic food pyramid is what I recommend. Try to decrease fast foods, high carbs and fatty, sugary foods as much as possible. Did you know that sugar causes our protein (yeap thats collagen) to become sticky and break down?? A diet high in sugar is one way to age quickly, along with many other health issues. Smoking goes without saying ..... it is not going to do you any favours. It strips your body of healthy nutrients and vitamins increasing MMP - enzymes that breakdown proteins - too much MMP means that they start breaking down healthy proteins = collagen breakdown

5) Cosmetic Injectables - Botox and fillers are a quick fix, so if you can't be bothered with the above. Book in for a consultation with a reputable Cosmetic Clinic who will advise you how they can assist you. If you are in Sydney and want to see the most reputable person in the industry. Email me on my email below and I will give you details. 

As always, send me an email if you have any questions or want to share you thoughts and experiences for what has worked for you in the quest for smooth skin around the eye area. Sarah@skinmatrix.com.au 

Happy Skin Days,
Sarah Wilkinson
Skin Matrix
0417 404 700

Cosmedix Medical Skin Range NEW LOWER PRICES!!

 
   
 ON COSMEDIX SKINCARE





To all the Cosmedix lovers out there! 
You will be jumping up and down for joy with the news that Cosmedix have drastically reduced their RRP on their medical skin care range here in Australia.
Over the past few years, I have to admit the prices of the Cosmedix products have been steadily increasing whilst my clients were steadily decreasing purchasing the Cosmedix Range.

Cosmedix was one of the very first premier Medical Skin Care Ranges that hit Australia and it did so like a tsunami! The percentage of active ingredients where something we had not come across before and WOW what an effect they had on the skin!

10 years ago I think was around the time I was introduced to Cosmedix, and I remember it being the FIRST skin care range out of all my experience that I could actually see a change in the skin within a short period of time.

The basis of Vitamin A and the delivery system was next to none and my clients were addicted along with myself. A few years later there have been other Medical Skin Care Ranges that have hit the market and cosmetic and plastic surgery clinics alike.

Now, Cosmedix are back and in a MAJOR way. You won't be able to find a better price than here for your Cosmedix purchases. In some cases you are looking at around 50% off!!

Unfortunately I am restricted to publishing the new prices on the net and cannot sell online as per instructed by the Australian Distrubutors. BUT if you email me here what you are interested in at sarah@skinmatrix.com.au, I will gladly respond with the prices and you can purchase over the phone with free postage over $90.

Don't spend more than you need to!

Email or call me on 0417 404 700 to order your Cosmedix Products today.

If you are new to the range, email me and I can advise you through discussions the best products for you.

Happy Skin Days,


Sarah Wilkinson
Skin Matrix
0417 404 700
sarah@skinmatrix.com.au
www.skinmatrix.com.au

My favourite Cleanser for Oily Skins

This has to be one of the most effective cleansers on the market for oily and problematic skins. I find that a lot of my clients who come in to the salon are using everything OIL FREE, so their skins are quite often extremely dehydrated, tight, flaky and irritated and with breakouts. This causes much frustration to my clients because they feel they are doing everything right. If you have skin that is breaking out, then oil free products are the way to go right? Wrong.
Time after time after time, I see countless clients with extensive dehydration damage to their skins from the over use of harsh chemical based products that strip the skin.
The thing is, our skins barrier (the acid mantle) is there to protect us. To protect our skin from the environment, wind, sun, and bacteria and foreign molecules from entering our skin. When you remove the acid mantle regularly, problems will arise.
The key is to find the balance between oil and water in the skin and nurture that. Provide the skin with nutrients and minerals that it needs to heal, recover, eliminate bacteria and become strong again.
Usually if you can't pronounce the ingredient name, or it looks like something that was made up in the lab, then there is s good chance it has been. Your skin does not like being abused with these harsh ingredients and it will let you know about it.
Purity Clean from Cosmedix is not for people who get the occasional spots, but for the people who have a combination to oily skin and their skin presents more than 5 spots at any one time. Purity Clean contains Lactic Acid (derived from yoghurt) and is only suitable for those oily in skin type. I have a dry skin, and I love the product for around 1-2 weeks, then I get pink, dry and irritated. It is not designed for me, I instead use the Benefit Clean (also a fabulous cleanser).
The Purity Clean is antibacterial, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory. You will love the Peppermint smell and the feel is yummy and cool on the skin. (makes me wish I had oily skin so I could use it all the time!)
Now you will need to use a sunscreen during the day when using this product as there are some ingredients that may increase your skin's sensitivity.
Some key ingredients are:

• Shea Butter - hydration and calming
• Lactic Acid - pore cleansing, skin smoothing, spot healing
• Peppermint Oil - anti-bactierial, cooling
• Spinach Leaf Extract - minerals and nutrients

HOT TIP:

• Cleanse the face (1-2 times a week depending on your skin)
• Apply a pea size amount to the entire face
• Massage in with wet fingers 
• Leave on like a mask for 15 minutes
• Splash off mask with warm water
• Presto - smooth, rejuvenated skin

Happy Skin Days,

Sarah Wilkinson
Skin Matrix