Resources
May 10th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
We paint nails and stick fake nails on them to make them pretty and, in the process, we may even forget that they are attached to a very living body. You may forget it, but nails don’t. We all had, at some time or another, “nail problems”. Older people often have discolored nails, often the result of fungal infection. This is not necessarily a serious problem but it can be. Why not avoid problems by remembering that nails, though made out of “dead” protein, do grow and that the nail bed required nutrition to make them? And, just as our skin received less nutrition as we age, nails do too.…
May 8th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
You may think that drastic interventions like cosmetic surgery, collagen injections and laser are the way to improve your skin, but there are alternatives. With drastic intervention comes a high risk of messing up your skin. Before you take that path, make sure you try the route that involves coaching your skin into making the changes with the help of the actives that we at Skin Actives can provide you. One example? After a couple of months using our Vitamin A Cream and Collagen Serum, you may not need blepharoplasty (look it up in Wikipedia, but skip the horror movie photographs!). Not only is the cost extremely high ($5,000 or…
May 5th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
If you thought that the “home use laser whatever ” was safe to you, think again. This is what FDA approval means for stuff inserted into your body! And don’t be surprised if the laser used on your sun spots leaves you with larger, permanent spots, of a different color. It seems to me that people can be incredibly blase when it comes to their own bodies. You would not buy a used car from people like that but you will let them do permanent make-up (tattoos), use high energy laser beams on your dear skin and test their new theories on your body. Hannah From the New York…
May 4th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
You’re back from vacation with a nice suntan and you look in the mirror to see the acne is worse. That is because ultraviolet (UV) light is another factor that affects acne. It will promote the formation of free radicals and inflammation. UV rays are not your friend. Now it’s almost time to go back to school. What to do? Even more important, what NOT to do? First, remember that acne is a very common condition. So, breathe deep. But just because a skin condition is common, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t serious. What happens to one’s skin happens in front of the world, and acne is a good…
April 30th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
I confess, I am a older mother so I have vested interest in giving this advice. But I am writing this post because I received the following email today: “I’m 70+, will any of the creams really help my skin. I know at this age, the collagen and elastin have dissipated and it really shows on my face. It seems this year has been especially bad. Anyway, I am looking for something that will work. I would like an honest answer-too many say different things will provide some reduction of lines as well as a glow to the skin. All I am using today is avocado oil for a moisturizer…
April 25th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
1) Don’t use oxidants like benzoyl peroxide: they age your skin. 2) Acne is an inflammatory problem: use anti-inflammatory actives 3) Strengthen the immune system so it can fight the acne bacteria 4) Use actives that top-up the skin’s own anti-acne weapons! Example: granulysin 5) Keep pores open so the acne bacteria can’t prosper, but do it without removing the skin barrier 6) Don’t irritate your skin with unnecessary fragrances and allergenic ingredients like tea tree oil. 7) Don’t treat your skin as you would treat a wall. Your skin is ALIVE!
April 25th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Our skin ages, and there are two main types of factors that influence skin aging: intrinsic, which have to do with the way our body functions (decrease in hormones, shortening of teleomeres, accumulation of damage by free radicals formed during respiration, etc.), and extrinsic, that have to do with the way the environment affects the skin. Nowadays we have active ingredients that can help with both sides of the equation. From the extrinsic factors, ultraviolet light in the sun (and sun beds) are the most important. UV light generates reactive oxygen species (ROS*) when it reaches the skin and a number of biochemical changes result in the breakdown of proteins…
April 25th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
There are three important ways in which nutrition may affect your skin. 1) Your skin on a strict diet and/or bariatric surgery. 2) Aging and skin nutrition 3) Nutrition effect on acne You will not find in here “eat chocolate and you will get a pimple”. There is no scientific proof of this, so you know. There are some effects of nutrition (or rather, bad nutrition), that are quite obvious. Excess alcohol intake will dilate blood vessels temporarily but eventually this effects becomes permanent (and visible) damage, visible blood vessels and blotched skin. Excess alcohol intake is usually associated with a lack of attention to nutrition, another factor that affects…
April 23rd, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
First, what is a line corrector? It is an emergency/makeup trick to “hide” wrinkles when you are getting ready for a party. It is not a long term anti-aging treatment. What can you do? You have options. “Fill” them. A thick serum that contains some reflecting powder may help. This is the strategy of some products now on the market. This may have a (slightly) artificial look and be visible depending on the type of lighting. Smooth them. Our anti-aging Hydramist contains the mineral strontium and will smooth your fine lines temporarily. Another useful property: it may prevent a rosacea flare when you enter a warm room. The best of…
April 22nd, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The effects of solar elastosis One of the most recognizable and striking signs of skin aging is actinic elastosis. You know what it looks like: thickened, leather-like, deeply fissured skin seen on the back of the sun-exposed neck, but in some people it is also on their faces. These are the most striking wrinkles because they are deep and large. The little wrinkles we complain about are nothing when compared with these huge valleys and mountains in the skin of people who have exposed their faces and necks to UV damage for decades. Do you know what is going on in actinic elastosis? Probably not, but you don’t have to.…
February 23rd, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
1) the skin barrier is broken 2) almost any product you apply will sting and/or hurt 3) they can be self-inflicted ailments. In the case of diaper rash, it can be inflicted by a mother on a baby if the mother does not know how to read an ingredient list and she is obsessed with “natural products”. A mother obsessed with “natural” “honest” “green” etc will choose a dangerous product for her baby. How, you will say, if the FDA does now allow dangerous ingredients in skin care products? The FDA does not legislate on allergy, it can’t, because allergies depend very strongly on the individual. This, however, depends on…
February 17th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The years don’t always bring wisdom. I see plenty of older people who seems strangely passive when it comes to their bodies, including their skin. You can’t just stand there and let your skin and hair deteriorate because you will need them for many years to come. Expressions like “I have dry skin” or “I have sensitive skin” are misleading, they make you feel like a passive observer, and that is dangerous. I prefer to say “these days my skin is sensitive” because it implies that it is a temporary situation, not fate. Then you can start looking for options that will allow you to change the status quo. Think…
February 14th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The answer: it depends on what we are talking about. When it comes to cosmetics, the FDA is in charge of keeping you safe from tainted or dangerous products. We want your skin care products to comply with FDA regulations. But when it comes to “medical devices” sold for use at home, it is a very different situation. The FDA does not “approve” a device because it is useful or not bad for you. It is “approved”, most of the times, because it is similar to something that is already available for sale. And that is not necessarily good news for your body. It has become somewhat popular to use…
February 13th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Happy Valentine’s Day! Thank you for taking me from here to there, for your continuous support, for forgiving so many (little and big) careless actions, for healing and healing again, for working with my doctors to stay alive and well, for forgiving silly complaints (too fat, too short, too whatever) and for allowing me to do so much. And thank you, my skin, for resisting so much sun damage and cuts and scrapes, for protecting me from the cold and heat and microbes, and for bringing my own stem cells back to the rescue again and again. I owe you and will try to take better care of you. …
February 11th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
I had to look up the word in the dictionary when a friendly tourist directed the “compliment” to me at the pool. “Socially inept, awkward” was not it, she had no heard me talk. It was dorky for “unfashionable”. I was wearing, as usual, a long cover-up and hat. Beautiful colors, good brand, pretty print. What was the problem? Around me there were plenty of women dressed in little bikinis lying in the sun, ready to show their suntan when they went back home. But I am the “skin care expert”. If I get burned, it will be in the kitchen, not at the pool or beach. The sun damage…
January 9th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Medicine and health: we are better off One of the most powerful people in the history of the world, Alexander King of Macedonia, Hegemon of the Hellenic League, Pharaoh of Egypt, King of Persia, and Lord of Asia, a.k.a. Alexander the Great, died in June 323 BC at age 32 of an infection that today could have probably been cured by a week of antibiotics. Why am I telling you this? Because most of us, inhabitants of this prosperous part of the world, in the XXI century, could live to 90, or at least to 80, in a healthy body with great skin and wonderful hair. All you have to…
January 7th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
We don’t think about the value of our eyebrows until something goes wrong with them. This may happen as early as the teens, when we discover tweezers and decide that they can improve upon Nature (they can’t). By the time we are in our 20s, we may realize our mistakes and start using whatever is around to try and get back the lovely eyebrows we used to have. Not long ago, the only options to choose from were brow pencil, permanent tattoos, glued-on fake eyebrows, etc. Not only do they look fake (because they are), but they also weaken the remaining eyebrows. What about eyelashes? If you wear thick mascara it…
October 15th, 2018 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Why worry about acne? Besides of the social stigma carried by acne among adolescents, other skin problems may follow. People with darker skin are likely to see hyperpigmentation follow acne, and scarring will probably follow nodular acne. From my book, here is the short story about acne. Just because a skin condition is common, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t serious. What happens to one’s skin happens in front of the world, and acne is a good example. Acne affects a large proportion of the population, but again, just because something is common, that doesn’t mean it isn’t serious. Serious acne can ruin a teenager’s life. Though acne is a…
February 28th, 2017 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What does “skin renewal” mean? Nothing and everything: it depends on the context and who is talking. What do you need to do to renew your skin? Nothing. Your skin renews itself all the time. So what does the skin care industry mean by skin renewal? Generally, they mean that you should peel your dead skin cells off. But those dead skin cells, which make up the stratum corneum, are what make your skin impermeable to water using chemicals like ceramides. If we want to be more specific in defining what renewal means, we first need to understand what is going on in the anatomy of the skin. Skin structure The skin…
February 1st, 2017 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Squalane Oil, the serum base in the new Oil Serum For Beginners Kit, is extracted from olive fruit, not from shark liver. This light oil is full of beneficial actives especially suited for the skin; among them are oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol, caffeic acid, catechin, and rutin. Loss of skin lipids results in an increased water loss and increased penetration of harmful compounds, especially for people living in big cities. Continuous use of squalane oil should alleviate skin dryness. Why Squalane? Lipids are an important part of our skin chemistry, they are necessary for the skin to do its job of limiting water loss from the body. Lipids also work by blocking…