Don't forget to brush your face?

The Clarisonic is just like an electric tooth-brush... but for your face. (It actually is made by the same company that invented the Sonicare toothbrush.)

Consisting of an electronic spinning brush, the Clarisonic Skin Cleansing System uses revolving brush bristles to uniformly exfoliate your skin. It feels good, massages your skin, and when you are done-- your face feels smoother and because of the massaging nature-- you are left with skin that is slightly glowing. (Depending on the Clarisonic model you have, there are even different brush attachments so that you can exfoliate your various body parts in addition to your face.)

Promising to remove 6x more makeup and dirt than washing your face with just your hands alone, an added benefit to using the Clarisonic face brush is that afterwards, your skincare products will work more efficiently because they can be absorbed into the skin more easily thanks to the removal of the layer of dead-skin cells.

If you have normal skin, this is a perfectly fine product that will not cause any harm, and can be an enjoyable way to exfoliate your skin.

Those that should avoid this product, however: anyone with very dry skin, or acne prone skin.

Even though the Clarisonic works off a timer so that no facial area can be too aggressively scrubbed, the revolving bristles may still rub away too much skin for those suffering from dry, flaky skin. Uncomfortable, raw skin can result, and the Clarisonic is supposed to lessen the amount of skin care products needed-- not cause extra usage to combat the excessive drying that will occur.

You should also definitely avoid using the Clarisonic if you are suffering from any sort of Acne breakout. The revolving bristles will be too abrasive for the delicate, inflamed skin, and will interrupt the healing process--potentially causing scarring. (Can you imagine scouring the skin pictured to the left? A bloody, infected mess would be the end-result!) In addition, by disrupting active Acne with the Clarisonic, you may inadvertently make the situation worse by adding new bacteria (that is on the brush bristles) into the wound.

Another type of person who should avoid the Clarisonic Skin Cleansing System: those who want to avoid the $150-$225+ price-tag. If you have normal, healthy skin and are looking for an easy, inexpensive way to achieve similar results, invest in a $3 baby hair brush instead. The soft bristles, combined with your regular face wash (or body wash), will achieve the same massaging/exfoliating effects as the electronic Clarisonic face brush, for a fraction of the cost.

A couple of good uses for this product that Clarisonic doesn't seem to have tapped into yet, are the other benefits derived from a good exfoliation. Whether on the face or body, a thorough, even exfoliation is a great precursor to a smooth shave. Also-- especially relevant with the warmer weather approaching-- the Clarisonic could be a great tool for evenly exfoliating the body before applying sunless tanner. 

The bottom line is that there are some benefits to using this device, however, those with sensitive skin should keep the Clarisonic use to below the neck, only.

Elle Fowler, a huge supporter of Isolaz acne treatments, had this to say about the Clarisonic face brush:

The key to glowing skin that's in every kitchen cupboard?

Baking Soda is the king of reinvention, and one of their latest incarnations has put this kitchen product square in the middle of at-home skin care.

Initially a seldom used product that non-the-less could be found in every kitchen cupboard, a household could buy one box of Arm & Hammer baking soda and have it last for years on end. In order to increase the frequency of sales, marketing geniuses began to promote the product as a way to keep your refrigerator odor-free. Sales sky-rocketed. 

Then, once every refrigerator in America had an open box of baking soda in it, sales flat-lined again. The marketing force then decided to advertise the product as a way to keep your freezer odor-free too, and sales again shot through the roof. 

Baking soda is a very inexpensive product, that can be utilized for a plethora of uses. In order to keep the company profitable, Arm & Hammer's marketing team has to constantly evolve and promote the different ways that baking soda can be useful to a wide variety of people.  

One of their most recent forays is currently being advertised amongst the glossy pages of In Style magazine, as a cheap, miraculous skin care product.

Apparently Secret #33 amongst the countless ways that Baking Soda can benefit you, is that Arm & Hammer Baking Soda can allow you to have healthy-looking glowing skin. By exfoliating your entire face and body with Arm & Hammer, you can allegedly remove your dead skin-cells and expose the healthier skin underneath, courtesy of baking soda. 

Their on-line description of this practice is as follows:

Are you a fan of the self-tan? Before applying products that give you a ‘glow’, give yourself an invigorating, yet gentle, facial and body scrub with ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda. Removing dead skin cells will leave your skin soft and smooth, perfect before application. Make a paste of 3 parts ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda to 1 part water. Rub in a gentle circular motion to exfoliate the skin. Rinse clean.

If anyone has tried using Arm & Hammer Baking Soda as an exfoliator,  please share your findings. From personal experience, baking soda is not abrasive enough to physically slough off skin cells, and all that will occur is a messy shower... with a need to buy* more baking soda for the kitchen.

*Ding, ding! The real reason Arm & Hammer wants you to cover your body with their product is revealed...!

The ONLY 5 skin care tips you need to know

I see it everyday... people who desperately want clear, healthy skin, and yet don't know the simplest ways to ensure achieving it. 

It's easy to be over-whelmed or confused, as different sources constantly relay different information, and it's hard to know what to believe versus what to dismiss.

Below are the simplified rules of what you need to do in order to give yourself the healthiest skin possible. (Some of which you have probably heard, others you may have not.) 

By just taking a few extra moments to read the list below, you can help prevent years' worth of premature aging, wrinkles, brown spots, pimples, acne scars, and all of the other dreaded skin maladies that constantly plague my patients:

1. Always wash your face before bed! 

Just as your body needs sleep to renew and refresh itself, so does your skin. Your skin uses this downtime to repair itself from the assualts it experienced over the course of the day, however the skin cannot properly rejuvenate itself if it's still covered in a day's worth of grime, pollution, oil, and dead skin cells.

"Sleeping with dirt, oil, and makeup on causes acne and enlarged pores," says Audrey Kunin, MD, an associate clinical instructor of dermatology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

Realistically, it only takes a few minutes to wash your face, but if you absolutely cannot muster the energy to do so-- at least keep some face wipes in your nightstand so that some of the gunk can be removed from your face at night.

2. SPF should be used everyday, regardless of season!

I wish I had a nickel for every-time I've heard, "I don't need sunscreen, it's winter!" 

Granted, most people aren't lying out and sunning themselves when the temperature drops, but just because you're not wearing a bathing suit doesn't mean that the sun's rays are any less damaging. 

UVA rays are present all year long, and they happen to be the primary culprit behind premature aging. Exposure happens constantly, whether you're aware of it or not-- walking, driving, even if you're indoors the UVA rays can affect your skin through windows. (If you can feel the heat of the sun on your skin through a window, UVA damage is occurring.) 

The #1 way to guard against this constant sun damage, and keep skin looking youthful for as long as possible, is to use a sunscreen with an SPF 30 that's labeled broad-spectrum, EVERYDAY! For the best protection, choose one that contains either avobenzone, Helioplex, Mexoryl, titanium dioxide, or zinc oxide.(Everyone at my office is currently in LOVE with SkinCeuticals new SPF 50.)

3. You don't need expensive skin care products

Many La Mer (a skin cream that costs $230 for 2 oz.) devotees come to us, seeking help for their various skin problems. After reviewing their recommended treatment plans, they are astounded to hear the prices of the skin care products they might want to use following a treatment. Once it's all tabulated, it comes out to something like a year's worth of great skin care products (face wash, moisturizer, sunscreen, etc.) can be purchased for about the same cost of one 2oz. jar of La Mer. After the make the switch, they cannot stop raving about how good the less expensive products are... and how good it feels to be saving that $230!  

Lesson to be learned: you don't need to believe all the hype-- just because it's more expensive does not make it automatically better. To that affect, you  should perfectly confident shopping for good skin care products at the drugstore! Studies show that mass products are as effective as (and sometimes more so than) the super-expensive lines.

"Look for active ingredients, not fancy labels," says David E. Bank, MD, an associate professor of dermatology at Columbia University/Presbyterian Hospital. And he's 100% right-- it's what is in the product that determines it's effectiveness, not it's price-tag or packaging. The most effective ingredients to look for should include retinoids, AHAs, peptides, vitamin C, and hydrators such as hyaluronic acid.

4. Results may not occur immediately

In today's age where the Internet has made it so that we can access anything exactly when we want it, our culture has come to be extremely result driven, and patience can be hard to come by.

Keep in mind that when you are trying something new, or incorporating an additional component to your skin care routine, it can take at least 8 weeks to see the results of many ingredients. 

Give your skin care products time to deliver their benefits before discounting their effectiveness.

5. There are options even for the most unique skin types

A lot of times patients will be reluctant to try new products or treatments for fear of their skin being too ___________________ (fill in the blank; sensitive, dry, oily, etc.) to tolerate whatever is being recommended. However, with beauty technology advancing as rapidly as it is, these days there is a solution for any type of skin. 

For example, something as common as "exfoliating" is a necessary part of maintaining healthy and clear skin, that a lot of people are hesitant about. A lot of sensitive-skin types are extremely wary of exfoliating due to unpleasant past experiences. For those with this type of skin, the more aggressive scrubs should definitely be skipped so as to avoid unwanted side-affects, and instead a gentle chemical exfoliator or cleansing beads could be used. (There are multiple varieties of both.) 

It is a good idea to always keep in mind your skin's unique attributes, and choose your options accordingly.