Beginners skin science
May 16th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
This sounds big, but that’s because we are! Synergy is an interaction or cooperation giving rise to a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts. Our products contain amino acids and other nutrients that will be better used by your skin because there are growth factors and antioxidants. Your hair will be stronger because apocynin will support your stem cells while ROS* BioNet prevents damage to the cell membranes. Skin Actives has never been about the one “magic ingredient” because we understand how a living system works. We see the skin as it interacts with the rest of the body and we look at the epidermis…
May 1st, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Not content with exploiting biology, now publicists are coming after mathematics. Euclid of Alexandria (mid 3th century BC) was the first to discuss a golden ratio: “a straight line is said to have been cut in extreme and mean ratio when, as the whole line is to the greater segment, so is the greater to the lesser.” Figure. Euclid of Alexandria, in “The School of Athens,” a painting by Raphael. From that dry, boring mathematical definition to the one that the cosmetic industry chose to use: “the Golden Ratio is a blueprint to the ideal harmony of proportions. Represented by the Greek number Phi, it has been used in art,…
April 20th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Are you having fun extracting blackheads with a nose strip? They can be useful, but they are just a start. But first, what’s a blackhead? From my book Pores secrete sebum. One of the effects of the not-very-useful sebum is acne, so I can see why pores’ popularity is low. Pores get larger and more visible during adolescence when hormones increase sebum secretion. Pores can get clogged with sebum, keratin, and dead cells, resulting in an environment lacking in oxygen and favorable to the growth of the acne bacterium, C. acnes. The products of bacterial metabolism cause the inflamed pimples characteristic of acne, a real problem that good skincare can…
April 16th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Those “miracle” natural substances that people have been using for centuries or even millennia are useful because of the chemicals they contain. Sometimes, the stories are not true and there is nothing beneficial in those false miracle products. But when they effectively treat a human (or animal) condition, biochemists and phytochemists will work hard to identify the chemicals that confer the natural substance its power. The process is hard and time-consuming, but eventually, we find the key chemical. Sometimes, there is more than just one active chemical, like it’s the case of tea leaves (EGCG, caffeine). It gets even more interesting when the biochemist finds the mechanism of action. Finding…
April 11th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Skin peels, i.e., removing the upper layers of the epidermis (some go far deeper), have pros and cons. Your skin may look fresher, but then the layers you removed may have helped protect it from UV, oxidants and all the stuff is there to protect you! Once you decide how deep you want to go and accept the risks of any skin alteration, you can look at options. Physical exfoliation is straightforward: don’t go too deep, and you will be OK. Wear sunscreen to partly replace the protection you removed. What are the other alternatives? Chemical and enzymatic peels. Enzymatic: proteases (of different sources and purity) will break down proteins,…
April 7th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What is a moisturizer? When applied to your skin, a moisturizer will prevent excess water loss preventing dry skin (xerosis). If you want to treat effectively a skin problem, you need to forget about “stories” and look at the molecular biology of the skin. Nothing more, nothing less. Applying topically what your skin makes internally will not necessarily help. Why not? Because it will not be in the right place at the right time. What is dry skin? When human skin is subjected to conditions that it was not made to withstand: air conditioning, long bubble baths, repeat exfoliation, etc., you get dry skin: xerosis, dry skin in Greek (ksero,…
April 3rd, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Skin whitening by any other name…. Let’s start from the beginning. There is no scientific definition for “skin brightening” or “skin lightening”; these are terms used by the cosmetic industry and, within the industry, their advertising department. Why? Because the “honest” term, bleaching products were limited (until 2020) by the FDA to over-the-counter (OTC) medicinal products using hydroquinone; since 2020, hydroquinone can only be obtained with a prescription. Why this limitation? Because hydroquinone, especially long term, can lead to skin troubles, like the development of ochronosis, a special type of hyperpigmentation, dermatitis, milia, and more. Please note: I don’t think lighter skin is more beautiful than darker skin. We are…
March 30th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Warning! Don’t go too far, not even when dealing with your feet. Calluses have a function, and that is protection. So unless you are planning to change how you treat your skin, including socks, sandals, high heels, leave your skin alone, you need that rough skin. Now, if you decided that it’s time you let your skin heal and recover from past mistreatment, then by all means: you can use physical (abrasion) or chemical means to eliminate the rough, most superficial layers of skin. You can even treat your legs, but only if you promise (!) that after abrasion or proteases remove the top layers of skin you will start…
March 26th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
It is not only what you should do. it’s more important what you shouldn’t do. Say “no” (big ones) to the following UV: wear sunscreen! No to suntan. No to sunbeds (who invented those)? Oxidants: no to benzoyl peroxide! Don’t over-peel. Your skin barrier is precious Why not? UV, oxidants (ROS*) break your cell’s DNA and cause mutations. They also break proteins and polysaccharides, they damage cell membranes. In short, they damage and kill. “Over-peel” will denude your skin of its skin barrier, its “raison d’être”, the reason for its existence, which is to separate the body from the environment. Peel and peel and then there is a continuity between…
March 19th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What is it? Acid layering consists in applying to your skin products with different acids, one after another. Does it make sense to layer acids? No. If you are looking to acidify your skin, say, from the usual pH of 6 to 7 to something like 2 or 3, it doesn’t matter which acid you choose. Why? Because what matters is the concentration of protons being released by the acid, not the structure of the acid that releases the proton. The pH of a weak acid solution is determined by the pK of the acid (which measures the tendency the acid has to give away its proton/s) and its concentration. …
March 17th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
If you look now at our Alpha Beta exfoliator, you will see that we added glycolic acid. Why? Because glycolic acid is popular. Sometimes we may add an ingredient because it is very popular, as long as it is OK, i.e. safe. There is nothing special about glycolic acid. It’s a hydroxy acid like lactic acid (which I like better) but it has no specific problems. Why is glycolic acid so popular? The legend goes that it is smaller than other hydroxy acids so it “penetrates” better. There is no evidence that this is the case. Lactic acid molecular weight: 90 Glycolic acid molecular weight: 76 This small difference would…
March 16th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What’s in it? Amino acids. That’s it. Glutamine, Arginine HCl, Leucine, Serine, Cysteine HCl, Valine, Proline, Lysine HCl, Glycine, Asparagine, Glutamic Acid, Threonine, Alanine, Phenylalanine, Methionine, Aspartic Acid, Tyrosine, Tryptophan, Histidine HCl, Isoleucine. Why topical amino acids? Because it is very likely that your skin cells don’t have enough of one or more of them to make up the proteins your skin needs. Do you worry about collagen elastin etc.? Then worry about your skin having enough amino acids to build these very complex proteins. If you are not that young, I promise you that your skin doesn’t get enough amino acids to synthesize proteins. Just one amino acid missing…
March 14th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Is the skin of Korean women “better”? If it is, is it because (as “they” say) a Korean beauty routine comprises 20 or so steps? Is it better because they use Korean made skincare? Will Korean skincare make your skin smooth and healthy like that of Korean women? Acne Too many questions. In any case, from what I know, the skin of Korean women is more similar to American skin than it is different. For example, Korean women also get acne, and the acne triggers seem to be the same as for women in the USA: psychological stress, lack of sleep, menstruation, smoking, drinking. And acne is also triggered by…
March 12th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
I am happy to be human. It can be tough sometimes but it is also fun. Conversely, being a cyanobacterium may be a bit of a drag, at least when compared with the life of a human: they are born, they photosynthesize, they divide, they die. No love, no music, no movies. But cyanobacteria have an advantage I envy, and I want to tell you about it. We like to lie on a chair and take in the sun, by the sea. It feels good. Unfortunately, our skin likes UV (because it makes us happy) but our skin DNA doesn’t. UV damages skin DNA in many bad ways and the…
March 12th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
You need more than a “cool” name to develop a medical procedure. When you look at treatments that promise to make you more attractive, please remember that the human body is very complex. So how about that stupid “scientist” that invented “coolsculpting” This is a crazy procedure that cools down a part of the body in the expectation that fat tissue will die and be reabsorbed by the body without side effects. Isn’t that crazy? But there are many “plastic surgery” procedures that are crazy and people still go for them. The assumption is, of course, that a cool name will have solid medical evidence behind it. But it usually…
March 10th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
If a formulator thinks that there is no difference (and there can’t be) between a 1950s skincare product and one formulated today, it’s sad. It negates scientific progress and the possibility that the industry could benefit from such progress. This is a pessimistic and, worse, ignorant position. It requires ignoring the fantastic advances in science in general, in organic synthesis, and understanding of skin biochemistry and molecular biology in particular. It’s the equivalent of saying the medical treatment today is similar to that in the 1950s. And of course it isn’t! There are some possible explanations. The formulator believes the old myth: the skin is impermeable. Because cosmetics are not…
March 8th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The short answer is NO. We don’t need them and they are not useful. Our skin has to make its own collagen, exogenous collagen will not work, plus collagen and elastin are insoluble, they simply can’t be incorporated into a serum or cream. In any case, collagen (and elastin and other proteins) must be made “from scratch” by our own cells. The proteins we need in our skin will be made by our skin. But there are exceptions, and we will discuss them below. At Skin Actives, we don’t use collagen or elastin, insoluble proteins that would not help you at all. We do use collagen peptides in a couple…
March 7th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Probiotics are mixes of bacteria that you take orally in order to modify the bacterial composition of your gut. This is done usually after taking antibiotics, used to combat respiratory or other infections. Oral antibiotics may decimate gut bacterial flora and lead to intestinal problems. Skin bacteria It used to be that we only discussed skin bacteria when speaking about infections, and how to kill the recently renamed acne bacterium, Cutibacterium acnes (a.k.a. Propionibacterium acnes). But now, you can see bacteria and the “microbiome” everywhere in magazines that advertise skincare products. We do have bacteria living on our skin and sometimes they are disrupted. However, we are not allowed to…
February 21st, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Biofermentation: wishful thinking and advertising What is “biofermentation”? You will not find the word in a dictionary or in Wikipedia. It’s not used in biochemistry. The term was created by the advertising department of a company making ingredients for the skincare industry (apparently, “bio” sounds great and adds label value to any word). Biofermentation is sold in advertising as a procedure that increases the yield and bioavailability of valuable chemicals present in the extract. Once you know that this is an advertising term and not a scientific one, it makes things easier to understand. Biofermentation is also one of those terms that the industry uses to hide preservatives and other…
January 15th, 2022 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Shaving has a history of thousands of years, and technologies keep improving like for everything else. The pressure exerted on the skin by the blades causes the skin to bulge between the blades. By spacing the blades closer together, the skin bulge is reduced and more uniform stress is placed on the skin, resulting in a safer, more comfortable shave Several methods of facial hair removal are available to male consumers, but men continue to choose wet shaving as their primary method of hair removal. Treatment of the skin before shaving and the choice of shaving razor matters, because they affect the chemistry and physics of the hair, the skin,…