DIY recipes
October 7th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
You can buy an ounce (30mL) of the following for $245. Ingredients: Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil , Dimethicone , Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride , Water\Aqua\Eau , Trisiloxane , Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil , Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil , Polydecene , Hydrogenated Polydecene , Butylene Glycol , Propanediol , Glycerin , Algae (Seaweed) Extract , Brassica Campestris (Rapeseed) Seed Oil , Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil , Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil , Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus) Leaf Oil , Camelina Sativa Seed Oil , Oxycoccus Palustris (Cranberry) Seed Oil , Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil , Hippophae Rhamnoides Oil , Medicago Sativa (Alfalfa) Seed Powder , Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower)…
September 28th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
At $330 for 4 vials with 0.18 oz each, or 20mL, it works out at $16 per mL. or about $1 per drop. You may wish to imitate it and save hundreds of dollars but look at the ingredient list: Ingredients : Water/Eau (Aqua), Glycerin, Cyclopentasiloxane, Salix Alba (Willow) Leaf Extract, Solanum Tuberosum Extract, Algae Extract-Paraffin, Gingko Biloba Leaf Extract, Hydrolyzed Malt Extract, Propylene Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Arginine, Phenoxyethanol, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Methylparaben, Sorbic Acid, Tetrasodium Edta, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Thymus Mastichina Oil, Chlorphenesin, Methylparaben, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben. (cont. limonene, linalool) Ingredients (translated by Hannah) : Water (solvent), Glycerin (humectant), Cyclopentasiloxane (silicone), Willow Leaf…
September 25th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Why is it worth your while to make a skin care product yourself? I can see two reasons: 1) When what you want does not exist in the market 2) When what you want does exist but it is too expensive. However, first you should make sure that what you want is what your skin needs, and not something that has been pushed on you by advertising. When not to do DIY 1) Don’t make a product so that you can add to it all the peptides that are in fashion. Why? Because such a product is unlikely to benefit you or your skin. If the ingredients are not beneficial,…
September 22nd, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What do your hands need? The same that your face does, plus more! If you compare the skin of your hands with your face, you will notice that the hands are showing off your age even more. Why? They are exposed to UV just as your face is, plus they are exposed to even more stress if you wash them often or, because of your profession you use use disinfecting gels, or if you do the dishes again and again, or, like me, had a lifetime in the laboratory exposed to acids, liquid nitrogen and who knows what else. How does the stress show? Dry skin, mottled appearance, scars here…
September 22nd, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Treat your body nicely, starting with your skin, most of us we will live much longer than an Homo sapiens in prehistoric times. As we age, and the environment works on our skin, what do you see? Scars here and there, wrinkles (but less than in your face), broken capillaries, dry to very dry skin, thinning skin, and more, depending on your genes, your life style, your age. But, first, what is skin tightening? It probably means, for most people, to restore elasticity and firmness to our skin. In more “biochemical” terms, it means to promote synthesis of macromolecules like elastin, collagen and hyaluronic acid, and protect their integrity. And…
September 16th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What’s special about the soles of our feet? They lack sebaceous glands (like the palms of your hands) and are thick. Are these “special” characteristics a problem? They can be. Thicker skin that produces no sebum will tend to crack, especially after alternating between the pool and wearing sandals. This is a tough combination: you are likely to end up with cracked soles, and they may even be painful. If you let it go on without correcting the problem, inflammation and more pain will ensue. The cracks will make it easier for fungus to colonize the area. What not to do: don’t go for aggressive abrasion. Instead, try a moisturizing…
September 14th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What makes an oil “special”? Its fatty acid composition. Why? Because we, humans, can’t make every fatty acid we need, so we must obtain what we can’t make from the outside world, as food or topically (for our skin). What are the so called essential fatty acids, i.e. those we can’t make by ourselves? They are two: alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid) and linoleic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid). Other fatty acids are considered “conditionally essential”, in the sense that they can become essential under some developmental or disease conditions; they include docosahexaenoic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid) and gamma-linolenic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid). How do you make…
September 14th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Striae distensae or stretch marks are deep scars caused by the skin being stretched beyond its capacity to stretch, followed by ineffective repair of the damage. Latin does not make them any less noticeable. They may start as striae rubra, which are reddish streaks (indicating increased blood flow), and “mature” to as striae alba, which are hypopigmented atrophic bands. Location: abdomen, thighs, breasts, more or less anywhere when the skin was stretched too fast. What you see is skin that has less elasticity, more roughness, and lower dermal density than normal skin. At the molecular level What you see at the molecular level is that in normal skin, dermal collagen…
August 16th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
If you think that cellulite is a medical term, you are wrong. So, what is it? It is what you want it to be. Or, rather, what skin care companies and plastic surgeons want it to be. We all know what cellulite looks like, but let me assure you that it is NOT a disease. Still, I managed to find a review on cellulite published in a relatively obscure medical journal (European journal of dermatology and venereology, 2000, 14: 251-262). Despite the lack of recognition of cellulite in the medical field, this “condition” managed to gather a few medical-sounding names, like gynoid lipodystrophy, nodular liposclerosis, oedemato-fibrosclerotic panniculopathy and panniculosis. It…
August 11th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
DIY can be a hobby or a passion or just fun. I am for all of those. But please remember that we are talking about our skin, not a T-shirt that can be discarded if the tie-dye goes wrong. It will not save you much money but it will allow you to personalize your skin care products. I would like to start a new series of posts with DIY recipes that make sense: they will be inexpensive, will give you value for money and they will work. And, most important, they will benefit your skin and not hurt it! Let’s start with a Vitamin A companion cream. Why? Because there…