Now is a great time to revive and renew your skin. Restore that youthful glow and glory to your skin with Retinol. I have always thought that using topical Retinol is rather like taking your skin to the gym!
Like exercise has health-giving benefits for your body, Retinol can do the same for your skin. It is full of benefits and assists you skin to become healthier, function much better, become more resilient and slow down the process of ageing. It will also leave the skin clearer, smoother and bouncier. And it’s scientifically proven to improve fine lines, reduce pores and even treats acne.
Did you know that cosmetic surgeons in the USA prefer their patients’ skin to be in its best condition prior to surgical procedures? The canvas of the skin can be prepped by the use of the correct medically-graded skincare, in order to boost the effectiveness of the surgical enhancements being carried out.
Topical Retinol needs to be gradually eased into your skin; too much too soon will leave your skin with side effects of peeling and redness, tightness and maybe feeling a little sore. I liken these to the similar symptoms your body will experience post exercise, such as sore and achey muscles.
At your first visit to the gym, you wouldn’t try to pound out a 10k run without at least warming up first or having put in weeks of shorter distances to build your body up to it. So it makes sense not to treat your skin so quickly either. Retinol comes in different strengths, graded in percentages. You would begin with the lower percentage of active ingredient and you would also start by using a small amount and gradually increase this as your skin acclimatises to it. Any side effects can be controlled by decreasing frequency of use until your skin settles down.
Tretinoin (or Vitamin A) and Retinol are pretty much the same product. Tretinoin is the stronger cream, while Retinol is a derivative and may contain emollients (a type of moisturiser) for more sensitive skin types.
Returning to my theme of the gym, of course we could implement both types of gym work – and aim for a fabulous figure along with bouncy, baby-fresh skin for a flawless face!
I have always taken an interest in my skin care and even more so after I started the menopause. Regrettably, I was a sun worshipper in my 20s and now, together with the ageing process, I have developed sun spots/age spots and uneven skin tone. Plus my skin is dry!
Over the years I’ve tried most skincare products, both cheap and expensive, in addition to my regular use of fake tan. I felt it gave me the appearance of a nice healthy glow, which I tended to hide behind. But then I became increasingly aware of the medical grade products from Obagi. I was reading a lot about the Obagi Nu-Derm System and had seen the great before and after photos and impressive reviews. So I decided to ask Laurie for a full skin consultation via FaceTime to see exactly what she would recommend for me. She thought the medically prescribed products in the Nu Derm Skin Transformation Trial Kit would indeed be a very good route for me to go down.
So, what did I have to lose? Laurie prescribed my kit and arranged for it to be delivered to my door. I was ready to embark on my journey to happer skin. Apart from the great reviews, Laurie picked this trial kit because she felt it would be best suited to tackling the old sun damage. You’ll be pleased to hear I don’t sit in the sun all day long these days. I worship my skin, not the sun!
I was super excited when my kit arrived, comprised of 6 products (Gentle Cleanser, Toner, Clear, Exfoderm, Blender and Sunshield in a beautiful white Obagi make up bag). To ensure I had the full recommended regime, I also purchased Obagi Vitamin C 15%, Obagi Tretinoin and Obagi Hydrate Luxe. I was all ready to go! I applied the products in the order as stated, both morning and night. Each product in the kit was labelled 1 to 6 and with AM or PM indicated on them, which helped me quickly get into the correct routine.
At the beginning…
Week 1
Great! First week completed and here are my skin diary findings:
My skin felt very clean, smoother and slightly tighter. My pores looked smaller, especially on my nose. Some brown spots had reduced a little in colour. I did experience some irritation above my eyebrows in the form of red patches which felt slightly itchy. Overall my skin felt nourished; despite the irritation.
Week 2
With not a hint of fake tan in sight, my skin had colour! Now I had a healthy, rosy, glow of my own. Finally the blood was flowing back into my skin!
I experienced some flakiness, redness and slight irritation and my skin felt dry. I had visible fading of my brown spots, the darker ones looking reduced. Some smaller ones had completely gone, my pores seemed smaller and the irritation had subsided. Overall, very impressed!
Week 3
This week was a different ball game. On waking, my skin was flaking/shedding even more and was very dry, again with slight irritation and redness. However, once I’d popped on my products, all seemed nourished and smooth again. I felt this kit was really working and I can honestly say I was starting to get the results I’d hoped for. And in just a short time. So far, so good!
Week 4
Over halfway through the trial kit. This week my skin was looking great and very clear. Pores were almost non-existent and my brown spots had faded some more. The bigger brown spots were still slightly visible but as I said before, my smaller ones had gone! Still some slight redness, dryness and shedding but my skin looked healthy with its natural redness and glow. Overall, my skin looked even clearer and with minimal side effects.
Week 5
My skin was totally acclimatised to these products now. Hooray! Minimal shedding, no redness or irritation. Wow. My skin was so much clearer and the larger brown spots had really decreased in colour and nearly disappeared. (Believe me, I always had a lot of brown spots hidden away under my make-up!)
Week 6
… At the end of week 6!
My last week of the trial. I had absolutely no peeling/shedding , irritation or redness. Everything looked great. I had been a little concerned about my anti-wrinkle injections being overdue during lockdown and about how long I might have to wait for my next treatment. But my forehead now felt tight. On raising my eyebrows, there was hardly any movement. I was feeling quite a bit better about the wait for clinics to re-open. There was a natural rosiness to my skin, which was smooth and clear and it looked and felt tighter with hardly any visible pores. Fantastic results…. I was very happy!
I have to add that I religiously stuck to this programme morning and night in order to achieve these results. If you do purchase a kit for yourself, please be sure to stick with it for the entire trial period!
My tip: If you do get a lot of skin shedding (around the nose and chin are the most common areas) or a slight feeling of soreness or stinging, stop the Blender and Tretinoin for a night or two. I did this and everything completely settled down again and I re-started the complete regime.
So in summary, after the six weeks of the trial kit, yes you are able to see some great results if you’ve followed it fully. I’ve been advised that for even better effects, 18-24 weeks is the recommended protocol. So I may do kit number two soon, as I was so pleased with the initial outcome and really want to keep this going.
The Nu-Derm Skin Transformation kit has not only made my skin clearer; the pale and pasty face that used to look back at me in the mirror after my fake tan had worn off is no longer staring at me. I actually have some natural colour to my face. Laurie is also very pleased to hear this too, as she’s been subtly nagging me to give up the fake facial tan for a while now!
The Obagi Nu-Derm System Skin Transformation Kit
If you’re interested in trying out this trial kit for yourself please contact Julie!
Firstly, I have to say I had always hated looking at my eyes in the mirror or in photographs. In all the photos of me without my glasses on, all I could see was these eye bags so prominently staring back at me!
I needed these gone… and soon, please! For years I’d hidden behind my glasses (which I also dislike wearing, by the way!) while contemplating whether I should have laser treatment to correct my eyesight. But why, when I would still have these awful eye bags staring back at me? So of course I asked for Laurie’s help. What could be done? What would be the best treatment for me?
Laurie recommended I have two to three ablative Tixel treatments (ablative is the highest device setting) to blast the fat pads away from my eyes. Thank goodness I had some hope!
Tixel treatments for my eyes
Tixel is a thermal fractional skin rejuvenation machine
Tixel employs a hot titanium tip which transfers direct heat to the upper dermis.
Treatment is nearly painless, healing is fast and downtime is short.
My Tixel Treatment Experience
After my initial wince – it felt a bit like very briefly being flicked with an elastic band -Laurie performed the treatment with gentleness and precision. This was relatively pain free and to my surprise was all over within 15 minutes. I did experience some slight redness and heat I can only describe as the heat feeling being similar to when you have caught the sun. However, this was minimal and disappeared within a few hours.
And Afterwards
On waking the next morning, my eyes were slightly swollen, which was to be expected. However this did go within a few days. Great, I was on my way to the eyes I wanted!
Over the next week I did get some dryness and tiny little micro crusting. Laurie told me not to touch these…so I did what I was told and left them well alone and over the coming weeks these minute little crustings disappeared. Hooray!
The Results
My eyes looked positively great. My eye bags had flattened, plus the whole eye area looked generally more rejuvenated.
On Lauries recommendation I went for Tixel treatment no 2 (treatments are recommended 4 to 6 weeks apart for the best results.) Of course another ablative treatment was advised…so I went for it! I must say I’m so so happy I had the 2ndTixel, as not only have my eye bags flattened even more but my whole eye area looks fresh. I’m now ready to face the world and not hide behind my sunglasses!
Would I Recommend a Tixel treatment?……
I would definitely recommend this treatment if you suffer with any under eye bags, fine lines or crepiness. I’m so impressed, that I will be booking in for Tixel no. 3 once we are out of lockdown. Here’s hoping it will be soon!
The link to our Tixel Treatment page is below, for anyone who’d like to know more:
At your first visit to the gym, you wouldn’t try to pound out a 10k run without at least warming up first or having put in weeks of shorter distances to build your body up to it. So it makes sense not to treat your skin so quickly either. Retinol comes in different strengths, graded in percentages. You would begin with the lower percentage of active ingredient and you would also start by using a small amount and gradually increase this as your skin acclimatises to it. Any side effects can be controlled by decreasing frequency of use until your skin settles down.
After my initial wince – it felt a bit like very briefly being flicked with an elastic band -Laurie performed the treatment with gentleness and precision. This was relatively pain free and to my surprise was all over within 15 minutes. I did experience some slight redness and heat I can only describe as the heat feeling being similar to when you have caught the sun. However, this was minimal and disappeared within a few hours.
