CHI - Spring 2009 - (Page 60) health! it’s supple and shiny. If you’ve been heat styling or highlighting, a more deep-reaching restoration might be needed. Try CHI Organics Olive Oil Nutrient Therapy Treatment Paste, slathered on shampooed hair it can be maximized with gentle heat (a hot towel is perfect) for 15 minutes before rinsing out with warm water. Olive-originated relief for winter hair and skin may remind you of salad dressing—you have to shake it! CHI Olive Nutrient Therapy Silk Oil is a unique two-phase complex which repairs split ends and restores brilliance. The formula’s natural oils and extracts separate, so shake to blend, then apply a dime-sized bead of this super lightweight oil from scalp to ends of hair. Do not rinse out—in fact, smooth it onto damp skin to hydrate feet, legs, hands and body as well. Or try BioSilk Silk Therapy 17 Miracle Leave-In Conditioner, another winter must-have. It soothes and protects skin as well as hair, in 17 different ways. Used on hair, it strengthens fragile strands for more resistance to breakage, and reduces static for better control, leaving hair manageable and silky. skin feeling fresh and looking more finely-textured, poreless and polished. But restrain yourself—aggressive over-exfoliation strips skin of its defenses, also known as the acid mantle, or skin’s natural lipid layer. The result of this excessive removal is thin, papery, vulnerable, hypersensitive skin, which looks and feels older and weaker, not juicy and bouncy. So easy does it. Exfoliation takes two key forms: • Mechanical or physical buffing and scrubbing, achieved with fine particles such as salt, sugar, ground apricot pits and shells, corn-cob meal, rice bran, as well as tiny plastic scrubbing beads. Pads and buffers—even an especially nubby washcloth—also scrape away dead cell debris. Loofah is a natural plant scrubber; many scrubbing pads are made of lightly abrasive synthetic fibers. Dermabrasion and microdermabrasion also are forms of mechanical exfoliation. • Chemical solvents, either derived from plants or made in a lab. Common chemical exfoliants include glycolic acid, lactic acid, fruit acids or AHAs, and fruit enzymes such as papain (made from papaya) and bromelain (made from pineapple). The condition of your skin and the approach you choose will dictate the frequency with which you should exfoliate. Just keep in mind that your skin is a living thing—actually your largest living organ—and not a coffee table in need of a good sanding. A few sloughing tips: Be especially gentle when exfoliating around the eye area. Although all of us are acutely aware of fine lines and other signs of wear and tear here, the skin around the eye is extremely thin and is not endowed with self-moisturizing sebum glands. The neck and décolleté are also misunderstood when it comes to exfoliation. Again, these areas often show age, both because the skin is delicate and thin, and because it’s often exposed to severe weather (especially sun) year-round. While it may be tempting to use a coarse exfoliation tool or product on this area to quickly expose new skin, don’t do it. The neck and upper chest should be treated with facial products, not the heavier products that are often formulated for the body. To your WINTER WORKOUT FOR RADIANT SKIN Does skin hibernate in winter? Some skin experts say yes, in a sense: Just as our overall metabolism gets sluggish, (translation: cravings for raw cookie-dough, sweatpants without end and Seinfeld marathons) reduced exposure to sunlight may slow cell-turnover. This means that cell debris (dead cells, consisting of keratinized protein) builds up on the surface of your skin. Slower turnover, incidentally, also slows down naturally as we age. Whether the result of passing seasons or passing years, accumulated cell debris makes skin look and feel rougher, tougher, drier, more opaque, even ashy or flakey. The answer: Exfoliation, but not too much, followed by moist– urizing. The tough layer of cell debris must be removed first, in order for moisturizers to do their job. Appropriate exfoliation leaves 60 Volume V, Issue 18
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