Skin Care Regimen - Please help and comment

[puppychew]

Hello, I have read so much information that my head is spinning. I especially like the Infopacks offered on this site! As a result, the following is a regimen I put together. I’m looking for any feedback or suggestions. I'm sorry if this is long but I really want to cover all bases and reverse aging as much as possible and delay any future signs. Thanks.

My Profile:
Male. I’m middle aged. I have lines around eyes and crows feet, and lines on the forehead. There’s some sag to skin. No acne. Light even skin tone. I am thin w a gaunt appearance. I also get Botox.

Prior experience: glycolic acid 10%, stryvectin sd - no noticable improvements.

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sugar scrub - 2 times a week
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CLEANSE – morning / night
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TONE
- nothing planned since I don't really understand the purpose except for a second cleaning. I thought it is for removing womens make-up that was not removed by Cleanser

If not - any recommendations?

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EXFOLIATE

steps:
1a. Glycolic Acid 20% face - morning/night (to stimulate collagen)

1b. Glycolic Acid 10% eyes, neck - morning/night

2. Coper Peptide - eyes, face morning/night

3. Niacinamide 2% face, eyes – morning / night (to improve hydration)
(Home-made)

4. DMAE face, eyes, neck – morning / night (to reduce skin sag)
(Home-made)
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MOISTURIZE- SEAL
Aveno Positively Raidant Daily Moisturizer w SPF 30 - face, eyes

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PROTECT
SPF in moisturizer above.
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QUESTIONS:

1. I may get a prescription for Retin-A. That would replace the Gycolic Acid step correct?

2. The above home-made products must contain a base cream. I am unsure what to use. The base cream on ThePersonalFormulator.com site contains Dimethicone. To my understanding, this is good to have in a cream to seal in the moisture. However, using this in an Exfoliation stage would block the next product from entering the skin. Is this correct?

3. Do I need to increase the strength of exfoliating products since the addition of each product especially the moisturizer will dilute/weaken that which is on my skin?

4. How long should I wait before applying the next product?

5. For the products above, is there a site you would recommend for purchasing?

6. Is there anything I should watch out for or are they basically the same?


Thanking you in advance, Ken

:D

[George]

Hi Ken -

I have some comments for you to consider, but remember, without seeing you and fully understanding your current skin conditions, these are still just general thoughts... I am treating this as a hypothetical - take (or don't take) any/all advice with that in mind...

[puppychew]

Thank you George and Virgo for your response. Please be patient with me. I really appreciate your help.

I think I am getting confused since I am basing my regimen on the categories (Cleanse, Tone, Exfoliate, Seal/moisturize. Protect.) It seems products I think belong in a certain category cross over. AHA(Glycolic Acid) which I thought was used in the Exfoliate category can be used in all categories. Supplemental products, Copper P. DMAE, etc. all seem to have different benefits but only one should be used at a time. It's hard to choose when it seems like you need all of them.

Let me take a step back.
Cleansing step - gently cleans the skin. This is an easy one.

Toning cleans your skin more and also adds moisture. Shouldn't adding moisture be done after exfoliation? The first time I heard of Niacinamide was on Dr. T's Eye Care infopack with the receipe in the DIY infopack. It says it helps the skin improve hydration. You mention that this can be substituted with a Hyaluronic acid based toner.
Can you recommend a toner?

Exfoliating step is to use AHA to remove dead skin. I always thought that AHA should sting a bit, and that its main purpose was to stimulate your skin to produce collagen. I thought it was an alternative to a vitamin C. ( I have been using AHA for about 2 yrs from a plastic surgeon - it's at least 10%). It seems like this is an important step. Would using a cleanser w AHA, only to be quickly washed off with water, be as beneficial?

DMAE is good for facial sag. Can I also include this in my regimen?
It seems that a lot is done in previous steps to prep the skin but not much is done to feed it.

Moisturize step. I thought the step of moisturizing was not to hydrate or add moisture to your skin, but to seal in moisture. What benefit would AHA have? I have some AHA 20% that contains Dimethylamine. To my understanding Dimethylamine is supposed to seal in moisture. If it is in an AHA solution, does that mean there is no need for a moisturizer?

It seems the more I read the more confused I get. I spent hours studying Dr. Denese's products. I gave up since there are so many and I couldn't follow her plan except to try to sell her customers everything. I wish this could all be more simple.

thanks so much, Ken

[puppychew]

Hi, the doctor would prefer that I have professional peels and purchase their products. I don't think that the professional peels are necessary with the products available on the market. I've been using their AHA etc. but haven't seen a difference. I don't think it's strong enough - I don't feel any sting. Do you see any results from DMAE?

ken

[rlguy]

I'm looking to create my own regimen, similar to Ken.

I'm confused about the purpose of exfoliation, however. Is it to simply slough off dead skin cells or does it actually promote collagen regeneration?

When should exfoliation be done in the regimen? Before toning, after toning? What exactly is toning, anyway?

Also, what benefits are there to having AHAs, such as glycolic acid, in the moisturizing phase of the regimen. I'm not sure whether I should use an glycolic acid exfoliation pad, like Dr Denese promotes and sells, or use a moisturizing cream with a high percentage of glycolic acid in it ( 10 - 15%).

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I seem to be going around in circles with this stuff.

[George]

[puppychew]

Thanks your responses - this is clearing up a lot of my confusion. AHA is to remove all the dead skin so you have a clean slate to work with and your skin will better absorb what you next apply. I would imagine that AHA is best applied with a pad or cotton to wipe dead skin away, not to just move it around on the skin.

What I read on this site was that AHA can rebuild the skin and that studies showed a 25% increase in skin thickness. Therefore I thought that I was all set using my Glycolic Acid.

Actually, I am currently using 20% - I bought it from rejuvamed.com a few years ago, then started using something else, now I'm back to it. Since the seller is no longer in business, I'm not really sure what I have. It's 20% but I dont feel any sting to know it's working. The ingredients are water, glycolic acid, ammonium glycolate, propylene glycol, hydroxyethylcelulose, cholesterol, isopropyl palmitate, peg 40 stearate, magnesium aluminum silicate,cetyl alcohol, sorbitan sterate,stearamidopropl dimethylamine,stearic acid, isostearic acid, glycerl stearate, peg-100 sterate, dimethicone and tetasodium edta.

If I'm understanding correctly, the TONER step is where you build, repair, or feed the skin. Is this where I could use DMAE? (I also chose DMAE since Dr. T provided DIY receipe) What can I use to not only correct, but prevent skin sag and fine lines? (I have very clear skin, not oily or dry, just starting to show aging)

thanks, ken

[rlguy]

That's a good question about the DMAE, Ken. Is this ingredient typically added to moisturizers? In the DIY infopak, I think it said to add this to your base cream (the moisturizer?). It's also suggested to add Lipoic acid with DMAE. Does anyone have experience with this combination?

[puppychew]

Hi George, Dr. Todorov, etc.

Referring back to my previous post regarding AHA:

What is the difference between thickening of the dermis and epidermis which AHA does, vs rebuilding collagen like Vitamin C.

Is C considered a toner?


Ken