Beginners skin science
June 17th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
hýdōr water (Greek) Aqua water (Latin) Wasser water (German) What is water? No water – no life. Indeed, Biochemistry courses start with a chapter on water, because it is so relevant to every chemical reaction that follows. Because our ELS serum contains no water we can omit the preservatives: no water, no bacteria, or mold. When it comes to your skin, the water that allows for the synthesis of hyaluronic acid in your dermis or transfer of melanin from melanocytes or epidermal growth factor to do its magic, all that water is contributed by your body. Lots of water will be lost through the large area of skin exposed to…
June 13th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Here are the actual meanings of the words according to the dictionary: Moisture: water or other liquid diffused in a small quantity as vapor, within a solid, or condensed on a surface. Hydration: the process of causing something to absorb water. In short: water! In my opinion, these two words are used as synonyms in the industry, and they mean “give back to the skin water that has been lost to the air because the air is dryer than the skin”. The outermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum, limits water loss from the body to the environment and allows us humans, organisms that depend totally on water, to…
March 29th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Quarantine was a name for a 40 day isolation time when an infectious illness lasted 40 days, but the necessary isolation time varies. With cooronavirus it starts with two weeks but depending on the development of this pandemic it could take much longer. Humans have been through pandemics before, many times, and people survived. Things are better this time because we have science and evidence based medicine (no bleeding, cupping or leeching in modern America). Let’s keep it together and don’t listen to the agents of chaos. In the meantime, the virus has been sequenced, a protease crucial for its assembly has been crystallized and thousands of scientists are working…
March 10th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Question: What’s worse than not having hand sanitizer during a viral epidemic/pandemic? Answer: A “fake” hand sanitizer, one that does not kill viruses but gives you a (false) sense of security. True, some essential oils have activity against certain viruses in certain circumstances (plants have to defend themselves against viruses), but this does not mean that the essential oil in question provides protection against infection by any virus. I know how hard it is to get hold of hand sanitizer. It is also hard to get hold of rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol. Incidentally, vodka is about 40% ethanol, it will not do the trick. Gin is even lower than that. If…
March 6th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
After reproductive age is over, we are no longer useful in terms of preserving the human species. Except that, of course, as mothers, grandmothers, aunts, etc. we are probably vital to the survival of the human species. We are also the greatest reservoir of wisdom. Right? With menopause, our bodies will shut off functions associated with reproduction because they are no longer necessary. Other functions will be affected as well. That’s annoying, to say the least. Menopause and hormones Women who have decided not to go for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after menopause may expect slow changes in their bodies, including, for example, loss of bone density. Many women are…
March 2nd, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
“It’s our wits versus their genes.” Joshua Lederberg (Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, 1958 When it comes to viruses, camphor will not help, as many people found out in the flu epidemic of 1918. Forsythia will not help either (unless you are trying to decrease glucose in blood). A flu vaccine is made every year, I am always first in the line. I will be the first in the line when the vaccine for CO-VID19 is made available to the general public. Fortunately, there are some antiviral medicines that may help and I hope our government makes sure there are adequate stocks of them. In the meantime:…
March 1st, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Some women are so accustomed to wearing makeup that they may feel unable to start the day without it. It is important that they understand that makeup is not good for skin health and, for this reason, it should be removed completely at the end of the day. How come men are not expected to wear makeup? Or high heels? I still remember the blisters. Why is makeup not good for your skin? Let’s start with the one benefit it provides to the skin: makeup is likely to reflect some UV radiation, not as well as a sunscreen but it’s worth mentioning. From that one benefit, is all downhill. The…
February 5th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
University of Leipzig and a celebrity in one package. Then you look under the rug, i.e. the ingredient list. Nothing there. An emulsion of oil and fat with some thickeners, cheap peptides and some preservatives. Nothing to keep the ascorbic acid in its antioxidant form, and they don’t even bother to use “proper” vitamin E. A good example of a cheap product sold as gold. Ingredients: Water, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (fat), Pentylene Glycol (solvent), Propylene Glycol (solvent), Hydrogenated Phosphatidylcholine (lipid), Glycerin, Sorbitol, Shea Butter (fat), Tocopheryl Acetate, Butylene Glycol, Xanthan Gum, Panthenol, Sodium Carbomer, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Retinyl Palmitate, Hydrolyzed Rice Protein, Squalane, Sunflower Seed Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Lecithin,…
February 5th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
I know, I very recently published a post about how to take care of your feet after Summer. But then I noticed that at a certain age, (my) feet need care all year round (it’s Winter in Arizona). Let me remind you of the basics: The soles of human feet lack sebaceous glands and. The skin in this area is very thick. 1+ 1 = 2. Thicker skin that produces no sebum will tend to crack. Cracked soles can be painful. If you let it go on without correcting the problem, inflammation and more pain will ensue. Infection is more likely because the skin barrier is interrupted. The cracks…
February 2nd, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The answer is very complicated, so I hope you will you will bear with me. But first, why is the “how” important? Because if we know how estrogen supports the skin, then maybe we can help alleviate the damage we can see in the mirror when estrogen goes down. Estrogen does a lot for our bodies, including the skin and scalp. Estrogen deficiency (like in menopause, natural, or surgical or chemical) leads to ageing and delayed skin repair. Many women go through early menopause, or have to contend with the effects of removal of the ovaries, or deal with estrogen suppressants (to control the growth of a tumor that responds…
January 25th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
First, as always, INCI, the list of ingredients that tells you what’s in there. Progeline is a trade name for an ingredient that contains glycerin, water, dextran (a polysaccharide used in artificial tears) plus an undefined peptide, trifluoroacetyl-tripeptide-2. And then, as usual, “claims”. The people who sell it say that it “modulates progerin, a marker of senescence”. First, I will tell you what I know about progerin (you can find more in Wikipedia). And then, you can tell me whether would you trust a mystery synthetic peptide to “fix” it for you? Before progerin, there is Lamin-A, a nuclear fibrillar protein. Lamin A is a major structural component of the…
January 18th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Dear Reader, This is the introduction to my new book “Four degrees of Do It Yourself skin care”. I am assembling the chapters that will deal with botanical ingredients. I welcome suggestions on the ingredients you wish me to discuss in the book. Hannah We get attracted to plant extracts for many reasons. Besides advertising, there are cultural influences (what did your grandmother use when you were sick?), the attraction of the exotic (if it is Korean, it must be better), and even the common name of the plant (dragon’s blood, anybody?). As a scientist, I have to be more careful with how I choose plant extracts as…
January 11th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What do you mean by “sulfate-free”? Of course, you don’t know. But many people still try to get skin care products that are sulfate-free, even when they have no idea what it means. And that matters. Are we, humans, sulfate-free? Of course not. Sulfur is such an important element, we could not live without it. No living being can live without sulfur and sulfate is just one of the forms that sulfur will take as it cycles through nature. Where does this “sulfate-free” thing come from, then? The usual way: people who know too little but think they know a lot. It happens that a detergent used for dishwashing and…
January 9th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Makeup can hide, cosmetic surgery can cut, but neck and hands will show the real age of your skin. What can you do about it? You can write a great book as Nora Efron did (“I feel bad about my neck”) or you can wear fancy silk scarves. If you don’t feel like writing a book or don’t like the idea of wearing a scarf in Summer, you have an alternative. Don’t just privilege your face over your neck and hands; they are all part of your body. Use the same products you use on your face, preferably Skin Actives products, to take care of your skin wherever it needs…
January 8th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Stuff happens. The longer you live, the more likely that bad stuff will happen to different parts of your body. And yet, sun damage can be healed to some extent: people wearing sunscreen for a year found that their skin has improved. It was not the sunscreen per se that did the trick, but it allowed the skin to heal while the sunscreen protected from further damage. Your brain can stay younger longer if you exercise. Exercise can help with muscle and arthritis pain. Exercise can even help with chronic pain caused by unknown factors. Even damaged nerves may heal after damage. But what you can’t do with impunity is…
January 7th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
This always reminds me of an old Isaac Asimov novel, The End of Eternity. Fashion changes, hair removal can be forever. When it comes to changing your appearance forever, make sure you take into account that fashion changes, a lot. So don’t modify forever you lovely eyebrows, because thick eyebrows will always be more popular than thin (or non existent eye brows). Done with whatever method, be sure that whatever you do to your eyebrows maybe forever even if that is not your intention. Ask those women who as teenagers played with tweezers and ended up killing their eyebrows for eternal regret. You can always try Skin Actives Brow and…
January 6th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Say an enthusiastic “yes!” to these: Vitamin A (like retinyl acetate) Epidermal growth factor (to replenish your own declining EGF) Apocynin (give your own stem cells a chance!) ROS BioNet (disarm reactive oxygen species, ROS*) Vitamin E (it is a vitamin because, without it, ROS* destroy your membrane lipids) Say no to: Abrasives (because your skin is not a wall) Benzoyl peroxide (because the whole point is to DISARM ROS*, not to add to them!) Concentrated essential oils (because most of them are strong solvents) Fragrances (you don’t need them and they can bring trouble) Alcohol (like in ethanol, denatured alcohol) because they dry your skin DISCLAIMER: These claims…
January 1st, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The pressure on us, women, has been there forever (think of what women have been doing, and still are, to their feet). The pressure on women to have a mask-like skin has been here for centuries. We may think that it is us who make the decision, but do we? The answer to this question is within ourselves, we call it “common sense”. Dos your skin look like “glass”? No. So don’t push it to make it so. Think of your skin as a live organ that protects you from a hostile environment (UV, reactive oxygen species, pollutants) and keep treating it nicely so that it can keep doing…
January 1st, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What are ceramides? To learn more about them, see this post. Here are the essentials. Ceramides, chemically, are a very distinct type of lipid (fat). They fulfill different functions. The easy one: they work as “cement” as part of the epidermal barrier. You need these ceramides. They are made by your own skin, using lipids already present in the cells. One way of preventing their loss is to provide lipids tyo your skin so that it can keep making them. Another is not to eliminate by eroding your epidermis with acid peels and abrasion. The other aspect of the question. Do you need ceramides in your skin care products? No.…
December 26th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
These will not help you 1) Price. There is no correlation between price and quality because prices are greatly inflated to give the illusion of a luxury good or because the company’s structure requires huge mark-ups 2) Texture and smell. You may want these characteristics but these alone will say nothing about how effective the product will be 3) Use of “science” in advertising. Skin care companies have became very good at using scientific sounding language to give an impression of seriousness. 4) Where is it made? Korean, Japanese, French companies use the same ingredients to manufacture skin care products. Skin care is a global market. At most, there may…