The Spa Blog

In a recent blog I shared what you can do on your own to clear your skin. Now let’s talk about what should happen in an acne treatment!  The following are key components of a good problem skin facial or acne facial.

1. Skin analysis. Your esthetician should examine your skin closely under magnification and discuss with you what you’re using on your skin daily, in detail. Like a detective, your esthetician tries to piece together the culprits for your breakouts. They may not be the usual suspects, especially if you have Adult Onset Acne. You may have enjoyed clear skin all your life, even avoided teenage acne, and suddenly find yourself breaking out, for no apparent reason. Adult Onset Acne is harder to clear than teen acne, which is very straightforward.

Regardless of your age, acne is never the result of just one factor, such as excess oil or bacteria. It’s almost always a combination of issues, and each one must be addressed in order to get your skin clear.

Your esthetician will evaluate the type of eruptions and impactions you have. For example, you can have very clogged pores but no breakouts. Or you can have breakouts that seem unrelated to any pore impactions. Then again, you may have classic clogged-pores-with-breakouts. This is one of the easiest problems to treat; clearing your pores will usually end your breakouts.

2. Exfoliation. For someone with clogged pores, a deep exfoliation is the first step in loosening the debris that are blocking the follicle. Skin cells have an adhesive property that enable them to cling to the surface of the skin. The protective “horny layer” forms the outermost layer of the skin. Your pores are not holes in the skin; they’re tiny indentations in its surface. That’s why this layer of sticky surface cells is present inside the pores as well. And if you have clogged pores, you’re cursed with extra-sticky skin cells, which clump together inside the pores, forming impactions that block the natural flow of oil out of the pore. Acne bacteria show up to feast on this oil.

Sometimes “super sticky” skin cells are caused by your own skin’s adhesive properties, and sometimes it’s caused by the products you apply to the skin. If this is the cause of your acne, you have an easy-to-remedy condition called acne cosmedica. It’s simply a matter of figuring out which product in your routine is gumming up your pores. Usually it’s your moisturizer or sunscreen.

Exfoliation can be accomplished with an enzyme that dissolves dead skin cells (fruit enzymes from papaya and pineapple do this.) A more intensive way to do this is with an alpha hydroxy or beta hydroxy acid peel. Scrubs are a crude way to exfoliate and tend to cause more inflammation and irritation for acne conditions. The use of AHA/BHA formulas at home will help the cells on the follicle wall continue to slough off. A serum with a combination of salicylic acid and glycolic acid, like our Clarifying Serum, produces an excellent synergistic effect.

Benzoyl Peroxide (BPO) also helps to keep the follicles free of debris, and it kills the anaerobic bacteria which cause acne by introducing oxygen. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to use high concentrations of BPO to clear your skin. A 5% BPO like Wynne Clinicals Oxygen 5 will usually do it, but the ingredient should be micronized for best penetration and it must also be of very high quality. (Most mass marketed BPO products aimed at teens are neither.)

3. Proper massage technique. For true acne conditions, the less friction the better, but there are  massage techniques, including Manual Lymphatic Drainage and a manipulation called Jacquet (a gentle pinching/rolling) that are beneficial. They help to detoxify the skin. As an excretory organ, the skin is responsible for evacuating waste. Sluggish skin, sometimes referred to as “asphyxiated” skin, needs a bit of encouragement. If your skin texture is normal to thick, and your pore impactions resemble “waxy yellow buildup,” you’ll probably respond well to massage. When dealing with inflamed acne, most skin care experts omit facial massage altogether.

4. Proper extraction technique. Here’s where I get on my soapbox. Expert extraction is essential to clearing problem skin, but few estheticians employ the proper technique. It must be precise and targeted to the “offending” pore. For example, most estheticians wrap their fingers in gauze, cotton, or tissue and simply squeeze the area around a pore–hard. This is the exact wrong thing to do to skin in which there are inflamed pustules. The walls of these inflamed pores are compromised and weak from the infection, and squeezing can cause them to rupture, spilling bacteria-laden debris into the deep, living layers of the skin. When this happens, your skin will form “tombstone scars,” trapped pockets of infection buried deep in the skin that periodically re-inflame as stubborn, painful bumps. They can never be extracted and they will haunt you for years (hence the name.)

Squeezing is also poor physics, unless you’re dealing with large, open pores such as those on the nose. When you’ve had squeeze-style extractions, you’ll notice that the skin sloughs like mad around the extracted areas in a couple of days. That’s because the pressure of the squeezing literally pulls away the upper layer of skin and causes it to peel off.

Good extraction technique is about precision, applying the right amount of pressure at exactly the right spot. At Preston Wynne we use a special surgical steel extractor that can address one pore at a time. This is not the big, crude comedone extracting “loop” or “dish with the hole in it”, but has a very tiny curve that is placed around the clogged pore. Then the debris is pushed, from the back of the pore to the front, guiding it toward the “exit.” This enables the complete evacuation of the comedone.

If you find that you break out after facials, the culprit is usually improperly performed, or incomplete, extractions. If the esthetician breaks up a comedone while extracting it, the remaining debris in the pore will run wild, creating a blemish.

If an esthetician ever tells you that you’re supposed to break out after a facial, run, don’t walk, in the opposite direction. The classic claim is that post facial breakouts are “impurities coming to the surface.” Believe me, your skin excretes impurities and waste all day long–that’s what it’s designed to do. It does not have to erupt to cleanse itself. It is possible to overstimulate the skin during a marathon extraction session, and every esthetician has done this at one time or another, but that’s not the right outcome. If you’ve had a lot of extractions, we’ll often advise putting an ice cube in a plastic bag and massaging the skin during the hours after the treatment. You can also mask your skin again the following day to help sedate it further.

5. Calming and sedating. After extracting comedones, it’s good to give the skin a chance to calm down. We use a clay-based healing mask that has antibacterial sulphur and also acts like a poultice to draw out impurities from the skin. This mask can be used as an overnight spot treatment for blemishes as well.

Many skins will also benefit from a quick pass with a high frequency electrode. This elongated glass tube, which glows blue-to-violet and makes an unsettling buzzing sound, looks like something straight out of science fiction, but it works wonderfully. The esthetician can actually create a “spark gap” between a blemish and the electrode to zap it, destroying bacteria. And yes, that little zap feels not-so-relaxing–don’t worry, we’ll warn you. Not everyone prefers to “nuke” their blemishes with high frequency, but it really works.

6. Recommend the proper home care regimen. No matter how good the facial treatment, the key to clearing skin is using the right home care regimen. This is the product that touches your skin daily. The new Wynne Clinical Skin Clearing System is a targeted regimen that is gentle enough to use daily and effective enough to deal with even stubborn acne. If you’re not able to visit us, call us at 408.741.5525 to set up a personal skin care consultation by phone with one of our very friendly and very knowledgeable estheticians.

7. Recommend the right interval, right length facial treatment program. Any time you want to change the behavior of your body, you have to repeatedly challenge or treat it, over a period of time. Imagine trying to get in shape by working out once a month, and you’ll have an idea of how unrealistic it is to think that a periodic facial, without proper home, can clear acne. Don’t be surprised if your esthetician asks you to come in once a week for four to six weeks when you kick off your skin clearing project. We offer an affordable Express Cleanse ($79) and Teen Express facial ($74). The gold standard for intensive professional skin-clearing is our Cosmedix Purity Peel ($184) These are all available in a discounted series of treatments. The good news is that once you’ve gotten control of your skin, you can drop back to a maintenance schedule that may be as little as once a month. But you have to do your part, and stick to your regimen at home.

It takes a comedone (blackhead) 90 days to form. That means you should allow at least 90 days to cycle through all the existing, built-up debris and get your skin cleared, but professional treatments really accelerate this process. The more you participate–masking at least twice a week, using your home care faithfully, and following our clear skin guidelines–the faster you’ll see results.

“I don’t have time to do that kind of makeup. I only have five minutes in the morning to do my face.”

I used to hear this protest every time I did a makeup lesson. But half the time we spend on our “face” is spent hunting for the brush or the cosmetic we want to use. That’s because for a lot of women, the makeup bag is the preferred cosmetic storage unit. The only good thing about a makeup bag is that it is portable. There’s nothing else remotely good about them.

“Mise en place” is a French term that refers to the way that cooks set up their ingredients and equipment  at their station in order to work more quickly and efficiently. To do your makeup quickly and efficiently, you need to have “mise en face.”

One of the easiest ways to do this, if you’re a cosmetic bag lady, is to lay out (er, dump out) the contents of said black hole onto a washcloth on your counter. The washcloth provides a soft landing, keeps things from rolling around, and enables you to dump it all back again in one easy move.

And there it is…all your stuff, in one place, and every bit visible. No more rifling.

Great makeup doesn't have to take forever to apply. These tips will get your face on fast.

Another great “mise en face” trick is to set up a custom palette with the colors you use most. At Preston Wynne, we have magnetic, refillable makeup palettes in various sizes but I use the biggest one, which is only about 4 x 6 inches and skinny as a smartphone. My Jane Iredale powder foundation,  9 pans of shadow–base, contour, accents–and my blush, are in one place. I am not unscrewing lids or opening teeny compacts with morning-impaired motor skills. One lid opens and it’s all there. The mirror is big and useful.

I also like to keep tall, skinny items like brushes and pencils in a small but heavy jar (a chunky votive candle holder works great because smaller pencils don’t disappear.) Brushes get mashed and trashed in a makeup bag. Neatniks, a brush jar can go into a cabinet. Bohemians, it can sit on the counter as testimony to your artistic flair.

That same precious five minutes in the morning can now be spent on makeup application–not makeup-searching. You’ll be amazed how great you can look in 300 seconds.

How often do you spa? Even if you’re a frequent spa guest (once a month or more) the “half life” of your spa visit is almost certainly less than 30 days. You’d be fortunate indeed if the results of your treatments stretched for a month–if the knots in your muscles didn’t retie themselves, if all that dead skin decided to just stay away, if your fingernails remained perfectly polished, unruly cuticles obediently at bay.

Alas, we may be good, but we’re not that good.

Your spa visits are really just the beginning. To borrow a favorite phrase of Silicon Valley, they’re a self care “inflection point.” A jumping-off point. What you do between your visits matters at least as much. And what you do every day, faithfully, matters most of all.

This is actually good news. The ability to de-age and de-stress in in your hands (polishing your own nails, well, that’s another story.)

Spa treatments work best on a foundation of good self care practices. Try as we might, even the best esthetician can’t clean out all those pores and even the most talented massage therapist can’t run down all those stubborn kinks in the course of one visit. But when we’re working on folks who faithfully deploy the products in their skin care regimen, or hop up from their computer to stretch every 30 minutes at work, the results are noticeably better. Amazing, even.

Here are my top 5 springtime self care practices for stress reduction:

1. Once weekly or more: Take a warm bath with 6 drops of Lavender essential oil (we carry the purest one in the world, from Elizabeth Van Buren). I know, I know, you’re a shower person. Get over it. Or take a quick shower and then get in the tub–Japanese style!

2. Go to bed between the hours of 10:00-10:30 p.m. or when you start yawning in the late evening. If you miss the sleep train that arrives around this time, it’s a looong time before another one shows up.

3. Do 15 minutes of journal writing daily. I do it before I go to sleep. It helps me process the day and keeps the day out of my sleep. I think hand-writing a journal is the best, but do whatever works best for you. If you can stand having your innermost thoughts auto corrected, do it on your iPad.

4. Spend at least 30 minutes outdoors daily, and at least 30 minutes exercising. It’s spring. The birdsong alone is fantastic!

5. Start your day by breathing. Take a few minutes before you get up. Breathe through your nose: three relaxed slow counts on the inhale, five relaxed slow counts on the exhale. A few minutes of this and you’ll have an entirely new attitude and energy level. Do it anytime during the day you feel stressed or scattered.

If you faithfully do these things for the next thirty days, you’ll find your stress level drop dramatically. And your massage won’t hurt nearly as much next time.

If you need ideas for ways to work self-care into daily life through the seasons of the year, check out my book, Four Seasons of Inner and Outer Beauty: Recipes and Rituals for Well-Being Through the Year (Random House.) If nothing else, read the absolutely crucial chapter on spring. Based on principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, the book is full of practical advice for living in harmony with the unique energies that influence the natural world–and us. There’s a copy for you to browse in the spa when you visit us next.

Acne doesn’t discriminate–you can be a teen or an adult with acneic skin. If you’re frustrated by skin that’s breaking out, here are some simple guidelines that will help your skin to heal and will prevent, or reduce the severity of your breakouts.

1. Drink a lot of water. Your skin is an excretory organ and requires a lot of water to function properly.

2. Avoid salty foods and if you add salt to your food at home, use kosher salt. Iodine is an acne-aggravator.

3. Other iodine-rich foods, like seaweed (hello, California roll) and shrimp, should be avoided.

4. Dairy can be the cause of deep, nasty breakouts, especially for skins of Mediterranean descent. Try eliminating all dairy for a week (even whey, which shows up in lots of prepared foods) and see what happens. If your skin improves, it’s a good idea to eliminate dairy. Make sure you’re getting enough protein and calcium from other sources.

5. Eat a diet rich in fruits, veggies and whole grains–fiber is crucial to clear skin. If you’re constipated, your skin is more likely to erupt.

6. Nuts and foods rich in Omega-3, such as avocado, reduce inflammation and nourish the skin. Watch the salt, though!

7. Don’t tan your skin to “clear” it. Breakouts temporarily subside when you bake your skin in the sun, but they don’t go away, they just retreat under a layer of dead skin–only to re-emerge with a vengeance.

8. Don’t rub, scrub or grind your skin with harsh exfoliants, cleansing cloths, loofahs or other implements. Acne is an inflammation and acneic skin needs to be handled with TLC.

9. Don’t use hot water on eruptive skin–it will inflame it further and over-stimulate the sebaceous glands. Tepid to warm is just fine. Rinse with cool water.

10.  One of the best quick fixes for a red, inflamed breakout is an ice cube. Slip one in a plastic bag and massage the affected area for a few minutes.

11. Benzoyl Peroxide oxygenates acne bacteria, which are anaerobic (thrive in an oxygen-free environment.) This is why it’s such an effective treatment. Our new Wynne Clinical Oxygen serum contains BPO. Remember to use white bedding and pillowcases when you use BPO, because it acts as a bleach. It will bleach hair and brows, too.

We are asking ever more of our opposable thumbs these days. Our hands, those amazing instruments, are working hard, mastering new devices requiring ever-finer motor skills on tablets and smart phones–with those infernal touchscreens and their *%$#@ auto-correct!

(“Infernal touchscreens” was helpfully auto-corrected to “internal tortoises.”)

But when was the last time you treated your hands to a massage? I don’t mean a soothing massage-during-a-manicure (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but a serious, therapeutic massage.

After ten hours on the keyboard yesterday my “mouse” hand was in an uproar. I scheduled a session with Ellen today. She is the Sherlock Holmes of injury and trauma, tracing it gently and deliberately to its source and then inviting the rebelling tendons and muscles and nerves to play nice together. This is not your ordinary invitation, mind you. It’s like getting an invitation from

Her Masterwork Massage therapy at Preston Wynne is called “Rewind and Restore.” Having a treatment from her is a bit like an interactive anatomy lesson, but reeeeallllly relaxing.

Perhaps not surprisingly, a good hand massage begins just below your elbow. Turns out there’s a lot going on in this crucial intersection. You know how wonderful a terrific neck massage feels? A great hand and lower arm massage feels just as good, maybe better.

“Rewind and Restore” is not your typical bodywork session. It’s subtle, it’s lovely and it’s incredibly effective. There’s deep work, there is gentle work, but what’s most gratifying is feeling your body respond to her “invitation” to return to its healthy, normal state. If you’re mechanically inclined, and love to watch “How It’s Made,” you’ll be in heaven during this treatment.

What we often forget when we’re experiencing pain and loss of range of movement is that our bodies really prefer to be functional and happy. When they receive a good invitation, they’ll accept it. When someone is willing to show your body the way back out of pain and limitation, it will follow.

As we conclude, Ellen shows me some exercises that I can do to help relieve the tension caused by hours and hours of keyboarding. She reminds me of the importance of taking breaks. As I often do, I fantasize about having her hang out in my office all day, correcting my appalling keyboarding posture and enticing me to take my needed breaks by offering massage.

“That ‘clunk,’” explains Ellen, gently rotating my elbow until I feel the very pleasant sensation of things shifting back into their natural position. “That’s what we’re looking for.”

I feel the release all the way down to my fingertips.

One of the simplest rituals in our daily lives is also one that many of us get wrong. Yes, there’s a wrong way to wash your face. Here, then, the Six Dirty Sins.

Sin #1: Applying creamy or milky cleanser to wet skin.

Oil bonds with oil, and water with water. Massage the cleanser over the skin, allowing it to break down surface oils. Then add water. It will rinse much cleaner and leave very little residue.

Sin #2: Not leaving cleanser on your skin long enough.

In order for any cleanser to break down oils and makeup, massage it into your face for at least thirty seconds. If you’re using a good milky cleanser, take a pump of the cleanser, massage it in, then add another pump and continue to massage. The second helping of cleanser helps to emulsify the first. Then add water.

If you left cleanser on your face all day, as you do moisturizer, you would probably end up with irritated skin. Cleanser is different from moisturizer; it has a pH that is higher than the skin’s. That’s just fine. Cleanser is designed to trigger a very mild reaction from your skin. This is also called a purge response and it helps to flush your pores of debris and activates blood circulation. This is the same thing that happens when you use a mask. When you whisk cleanser on and off your skin doesn’t get a chance to react to its chemistry.

Sin #3: Using water that’s too hot.

Hot water causes blood vessels to expand. Lots of hot water, day after day, causes blood vessels to expand a lot. As long as those vessels are elastic, they will contract again. But eventually, like old socks, they just stay expanded. Wondering why you have lots of little dilated capillaries? Heat and friction are the main culprits. Warm water gets the job done perfectly well. And a cool rinse is like dessert for those delicate little capillaries.

Sin #4: Using overly rough washcloth or exfoliation implements.

I think it’s the frustrated Puritan in us that makes us want to scrub our poor faces to bits. There are two exfoliation tools that I let touch my skin: my fingertips (which are remarkably effective exfoliators if you’re a little patient, and using a low-grit exfoliant like AcquaCures Fango) and my Clarisonic brush. A little gentle friction is fine. What makes the Clarisonic so wonderful is that it is giving you vibration, not just friction. This doesn’t overstimulate the skin–in fact, it stimulates it in a way that the skin really loves. Clarisonic users are fanatics for good reason.

Sin #5: Not cleansing twice a day.

Clients still ask me, “Do I have to wash my face at night?” Let’s see. You’ve got sunscreen, makeup, sweat, dirt and pollution stuck to you. Of course you have to wash your face at night, silly.

Does this mean you can take the morning off? I’m afraid not. When you’re sleeping, your skin is performing a self-cleansing ritual, pushing waste and debris out through the sweat glands and pores. I call it “taking out the trash.” There is a residue of waste left on your skin in the morning. So yes, you gotta wash twice a day. Make peace with this.

Sin #6: Not using toner after cleansing.

For the generation that grew up on alcohol-based, acetone-laced Clinique Clarifying Lotion, a mild toner is the skin care equivalent of kissing your sister. Why bother if it doesn’t burn or sting?

And while we’re at it, why use something that burns and stings?

You shouldn’t. Toner is not supposed to hurt. A properly formulated (that is, alcohol-free, hydrating) toner is the most under appreciated skin care product in the world. (Do you ever see full page ads in Allure for toners?)

Most people think we use toner simply to wipe up whatever was left behind by our cleanser, and that’s certainly a fine reason to use toner, if you happen to be practicing sins #1-2.

If that’s not it, why use toner? For the same reason you use a squeegee in your shower. The nasty stuff that dries on the glass is drying on your face, too. Mineral salts, chlorine, you name it–all forming a nice, drying crust on your skin, even as you trowel on the Extra-Super-Hydrating Moisturizer and wonder why you’re so darned flaky.

So that’s reason #1 for using a toner. The second, equally important reason is that pure, clean water is about 100 times more alkaline than the pH of your skin. So this means that water itself is drying. (I’ll wait for a moment while that sinks in.) The acid pH of your skin also protects it from bacteria and yeast. When you leave it alkaline, you leave it vulnerable to critters without conscience, who think nothing of leaving you with a big zit on your nose just in time for that job interview or romantic dinner.

To summarize my praise of the humble toner, it is the second step in cleansing and the first step in moisturizing your skin. It should be packed with moisture-attracting humectants, to hydrate your skin. If your skin is well hydrated, it doesn’t need as much moisturizer. And that’s generally a good thing–for your budget and your skin tone. Over-moisturized skin loses its tone.

Fatigue is one of the main health challenges facing women today. Much of it is due to insomnia–some of it “voluntary,” (trying to squeeze in everything on your “to do” list) some of it hormonal. Sleep is essential to good health, and more research is showing that a naps, properly scheduled, can improve well-being and increase alertness. (Insert “duh” here.)

Visiting a spa may be the one time that our guests actually get to unwind during their busy week (or busy month.)  I know how I feel after a massage. What? It’s over? I have to leave? I was just starting to relax. At the end of a facial treatment, I have heard many clients sigh, “Can I just sleep here for another half hour?”

Well, yes, as it turns out.

Beginning this week, when you enjoy a massage, body treatment, facial or pedicure, we’ll tuck you in for a nice 15-30 minute post-treatment nap if you like. And no, you won’t be in a public lounge, where you might worry about disturbing someone with your (quite charming) snoring. Or, heaven forfend, drooling. No, you’ll be in a private treatment room, blissfully alone, ensconced in fresh linens with a comfy pillow. And we’ll be very gentle when we wake you. No need to set that cute iphone alarm.

Spa naps are offered on a first-come, first-snooze basis. You can also reserve a nap when you schedule your treatment, on a space available basis! Best nap practices suggest that late-afternoon-to-evening naps should be avoided because they can disturb your natural sleep cycle. Of course, if you haven’t slept more than five hours this week, that point may be moot anyhow.

We’re planning to offer a little menu of “sleep tapas,” including Relief Gel with a Heated Neck Pillow, etc. Let us know what would make your nap heavenly. And please, try a spa siesta and tell us what you think.

I just saw an ad for a popular TV acne product line last night, in which Katy Perry displayed a “before” shot of her bumpy cheeks. Poor Katy, she didn’t seem to notice that the only bumps she had were right where her cheek color was applied. Katy was suffering from acne cosmetica (acne that’s caused by cosmetics–who knew Latin was so easy to read!) The Red D & C pigments commonly used in powder and cream blush (as well as lipstick) are notorious for causing acne. Katy’s condition is so widespread, it should be called acne blushika.

Why are these synthetic, acne-causing pigments still in use? Because the natural alternative, carmine, is more costly. Per Wikipedia, “Carmine may be prepared from cochineal, by boiling dried insects in water to extract the carminic acid and then treating the clear solution with alum.” Yes, we’re enhancing our beauty with boiled, dried insects. But hey, they don’t cause acne, unlike petroleum-derived synthetic pigments.

Carmine is the only red pigment that is used in eye shadows, as synthetic red is not safe to use around the very-permeable membranes of the eyes. (Every few years some silly makeup artist advises the use of blush for eye shadow. Not only is this not healthy, it’s unflattering.)

Here’s how to get rid of those cheeky little bumps:

1. Switch to an all-mineral blush. They used to be hard to find; in fact, prior to the “mineral” makeup craze, we had to substitute eye shadows in similar shades. Be aware that natural pigments are not as brilliant as synthetics. You’ll need to apply a bit more if you’re using mineral blush.

2. To get rid of bumps, you have several choices:

• You can let nature take its course and in about 90 days all the impactions (bumps and clogs) will have worked their way out of your pores.
• Have a facial with expert deep pore cleansing. We have a treatment called the Express Cleanse (45 minutes) which focuses on extraction of pore impactions. You can always add extra extraction to any facial protocol we offer (Deep Pore Purifying Session, 15 minutes.)
• You can apply a product containing glycolic acid or salicylic acid to those areas, to help peel the epidermis as well as the inside of the pore, releasing the debris. We have a range of these in serums; ask your esthetician for the best one for your skin type.
• If your bumps have progressed to actual pimples (become inflamed and pus-filled) you can apply a 5% Benzyol Peroxide treatment to kill the anaerobic acne bacteria that have set up shop in your pores. Finish your evening cleansing with a three minute ice cube massage (put the ice cube in a plastic bag.)
• Acne is an inflamed condition, and inflammation can be caused by hot water, hot compresses, over-exfoliating, squeezing and all the stuff you do when you want to banish bumps. You may unwittingly be making the situation worse. Whatever you do, treat your skin gently!

There’s a lot of concern in the beauty world about the use of preservatives. The general consensus is that reducing the amount of preservative in products is a good thing–and I agree, up to a point. Preservatives are used in cosmetics for a very good reason–applying spoiled or contaminated products to your body is risky. Yeast, mold and bacteria are real threats to skin–and especially to your eyes. The problem is, it’s not always possible to tell when a product is spoiled. Some of the most dangerous bacteria in the world are the best at hiding their presence. So what’s a skin care user to do?

Once you’ve opened a “wet” product (a skin care product or foundation, as opposed to a powder blush, for example) the clock starts ticking. How do most people apply a moisturizing cream? By sticking their finger in it. You’ve just introduced bacteria. Even if you use a spatula to avoid contamination, you need to use a sanitized spatula. Germophobes can use a metal spatula (a small butter knife or cheese spreader works fine), wash it and immerse it in a jar of isopropyl alcohol (a “wet sanitizer” in the parlance of the Board of Cosmetology) between uses. (Yeah, I didn’t think you were going to do that.)

Another simple way to avoid contamination when applying small amounts of a creamy product is to “tap” your fingertip lightly on the product and use just what adheres to the fingertip as you lift it away. The product that touches your finger is lifted out, along with more uncontaminated product that clings to it. This only works with fairly “wet” creams that have body but will cling easily. This can get tedious if you need more than a small amount.

Here are some easy ways to keep your products fresh and safe.

• Once you’ve opened a skin care product, use it within one year. If you’re concerned, you can write the date you open it on the container with a Sharpie. If you’re using your skin care regimen properly, this should not really be an issue.
• Organic products and those with all-natural preservative systems may have a shorter shelf life. Consider refrigerating them. (Brrrr!)
• Products that can be dispensed with a pump or spray have a longer shelf life, but the maximum time I ever keep a skin care product is 18 months.
• Unopened products generally have an 18 month lifespan. (Why anyone would keep an unopened product for 18 months is a mystery to me!)
• Discard old products regularly and ruthlessly. People tend to accumulate samples, thinking they will try them “someday.” Be sure to date these. Generally speaking, the tinier the container the faster something will spoil.
• Throw away mascara at 90 days. This is one of the most important products to monitor for freshness. An infection in your eye can blind you.
• If a lipstick or gloss smells like rancid oil, throw it away. Rancid oil is one of the most carcinogenic substances you can ingest. I notice that not many people know what rancid oil smells like. Educate your nose!
• If you have foundation, body oils or lotions that smell even slightly rancid, throw them away. Rancid oil subjects your skin to a horrifying amount of free radicals.
• Don’t re-use or refill skin care containers unless you can sterilize them first. That means boiling a glass bottle or jar. (Yeah, I thought so. Recycle it.)
• Powder products (mineral foundation, eye shadow, blush) last longer than wet products. But even these are vulnerable to contamination. Don’t keep powder products longer than 24 months. The oils that are used to compress powders into cakes can rancidify too. It’s a good idea to sniff your powder products periodically to see if you can detect any rancidity.
• If you keep a set of products in a travel case or at a vacation home, be sure to date them and discard them when appropriate. If you are transferring products into travel containers, get fresh containers yearly. Products that are filled by manufacturers are done so using rigorous sanitation standards. Products you transfer are probably not! An empty travel container purchased at a drug store is not sterile.

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, January must be the month we build a superhighway there.

In January, New Year’s Resolutions dance in our heads like those visions of sugarplums did the month prior. Writing resolutions down helps make them come true. But actually scheduling them is even better.

I had a sensational massage with Amber on Tuesday. She is what I call a Mechanic. She is curious about the source of discomfort. She devotes a lot of focus to problem areas, drilling down through the layers of muscle to figure out what’s going on. Amber combines strength and precision in her ruthless pursuit of The Knot. She worked on some adhesions that have been troubling me since a shoulder surgery last July. She also worked on my ever-shortening pectorals, a peril of sitting at a computer much of the work day. (Quick! Get up and stretch!)

One of my resolutions for 2012 is to improve my posture and range of motion. And here was Amber, helping me keep my resolution. At the end of my treatment, she asked me when I could come back for my next session.

I hemmed and hawed. After all, the spa is just upstairs from my office. I’m accustomed to catch-as-catch-can, last minute appointments.  But those do not a wellness program make. I get amazing treatments, but I am not on a program. There’s a big difference. It’s like having a meal that’s composed of delicious a la carte dishes that you pick out while blindfolded. While each one is outstanding, what I really need and want is an outstanding meal.

Mind you, I can have that outstanding meal with every therapist on our team. We have a remarkable massage menu and a stellar array of talents on our team, all of whom deliver a terrific relaxation massage but live for the clients who ask them to use their full capacity as a bodyworker. Each of our therapists is different and literally brings something different to the table. Working on specific goals, toward a specific end, gives you by far the most bang for your self-care buck, both in money and time spent.

Amber, to her credit, did not let me wriggle out of it. And so, under her steady gaze, I pulled out my smartphone and scheduled another treatment for the following week.

The road to heaven is paved with good habits! Care to join me?