Skin Actives – General
July 6th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The first thing you need to know: boxes for skin care products cost a lot of money. They are made to order and the minimum is usually in the (many) thousands. Once you print a box with the ingredient list, forget about improving the formula, because you would have to discard so many boxes and throw away good money. This is why we at Skin Actives don’t usually use boxes. Typically, we change ingredient lists as needed, usually to add one or two actives that new scientific research shows to be effective for the problem we are addressing with the product. The same is true for special packaging. From the…
June 14th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
How much is too much? The answer to this apparently simple question is very complicated: as complicated as the number of ingredients used in skin care. Also, for a good answer, you may have to go to numbers that are much smaller than a percent (1%) and go to parts per million. In the best of cases more is likely to be a waste of money. You are throwing away the money you spent on the active by trying to add more. For example, if you add more ascorbic acid to a serum than will possibly dissolve (as determined by the laws of nature and how water interacts with ascorbic…
April 28th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
In short: A sea kelp bioferment-based serum that includes Skin Actives ROS BIONETTM plus the best low molecular weight antioxidants. Ingredients: Water, Sea Kelp (Lactobacillus/Kelp Ferment Filtrate) Bioferment, Sodium PCA, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate (Vitamin C), Sodium Hyaluronate (Hyaluronic Acid), Ferulic Acid, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Extract, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Epigallocatechin Gallate, Niacinamide, Carnosine, Hesperidin Methyl Chalcone, Carnitine, Tetrahydrodiferuloylmethane (and) Tetrahydrodemethoxydiferuloylmethane (and) Tetrahydrobisdemethoxydiferuloylmethane, Sorghum Bicolor Leaf/Stem Extract, Lycopene, Astaxanthin, Fucoxanthin, Porphyridium Polysaccharide, Glutathione, sh-Polypeptide-2, sh-Polypeptide-77 (Glutaredoxin (GRX)), Superoxide Dismutase, Citric Acid, Propylene Glycol (and) Diazolidinyl Urea (and) Methylparaben (and) Propylparaben. Actives by property Anti-inflammatory: sea kelp bioferment, Porphyridium polysaccharide, Low molecular weight antioxidants: green tea EGCG, hyaluronic acid, hesperidin…
April 24th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Living in the city can be stressful to the skin: high concentrations of pollutants in the air will stress your skin through the production of free radicals. Free radicals are high energy molecules that are missing an electron and will go about starting chain reactions and destroying molecules in their search for the missing electron. The molecules they stole electrons from will become ROS* themselves and continue a chain reaction. What we see in a polluted city is a “cloud” of very fine particles floating in the air, and the air smells strange. We should be concerned because those fine particles are full of strong oxidants that can increase respiratory…
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 23rd, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Once upon a time I was in love with algae (I almost named my daughter after a Diatom, class Bacillariophyceae). Then I fell in love with polysaccharides. In fact, I am still in love with both. So what could be more perfect that to work with algae polysaccharides? Nothing, but, in top of the beauty of algae and the complexity of polysaccharides, there are all the health benefits that these special polysaccharides have for us, humans. What so special about algae? It depends. All the plants we are familiar with, like the palms in my back garden or the roses in the front, evolved from green algae. The basic cell…
April 21st, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Skin Actives Anti-aging Hydramist improves the appearance of sun damaged skin and aged skin. But it can also help alleviate the flaring of rosacea when you enter an environment that triggers it. I had applied with Mary Hunter, a skin care specialist, for a patent. It turned out that a patent required the help of lawyers we could not afford at the time, but the information is still very relevant. Some of our forum members who have rosacea found that the then Celestite Spritz alleviated their symptoms. Skin Actives anti-aging HydraMist which temporarily will smooth up wrinkles. Strontium divalent ions in a distillate of orange flower petals (neroli floral water), …
April 20th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Answer: the ingredients What it does Helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles because it gives the skin all it needs to repair damage and protect its components. Provides low and high molecular weight antioxidants to reduce oxidative stress caused by free radicals produced by pollution and the skin itself as it respires. It is a source of nutrients that allows your skin to follow the instructions provided by the epidermal growth factor. How? The director of the orchestra: epidermal growth factor (replenishing endogenous EGF that decreases with age) Botanicals with anti-age activity: Centella asiatica. Used in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine. it contains the terpenoids asiatic acid,…
April 20th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
As always, the secret is in the ingredients. My objective when I designed the alpha/beta was to emulate (improve on an existing product) on a product in the market that worked very well. That product is not sold any longer, so SAS alpha beta exfoliator is probably one of a kind: a mix alpha/beta without water. Alpha hydroxy acids are organic acids with one hydroxyl group attached to the alpha position of the acid. They include glycolic acid, lactic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, and citric acid are often used extensively in cosmetic formulations. Salicylic acid as a peeling agent has a number of indications, including acne vulgaris, melasma, photodamage,…
February 24th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Well, not literally, but we can help your skin survive that long flight you are dreading (I will have a 20 hour flight in March and a 24 hour flight in April). What you will need: Intense lip repair treatment for your lips and ELS serum for your skin. Intense lip repair treatment: Cholesteryl Oleyl Carbonate (and) Cholesteryl Nonanoate (and) Cholesteryl Chloride (and) BHT, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Seed Oil, Tocotrienols, Tocopherol (Vitamin E)s, Astaxanthin, Lycopene, Xanthophyll, R-Alpha Lipoic Acid, Beta-Carotene, Mentha Piperita Oil. ELS: Squalane, Linum Usitatissmum (Flax) Seed Oil, Rosa Canina (Rosehip) Seed Oil, Lecithin, Salvia Hispanica (Chia) Seed Oil, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Seed Oil, Argania Spinosa (Argan) Kernel…
February 23rd, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Skin Actives Scientific Collagen serum, our #1 bestseller, started as a list of actives that DIYers (do it yourself aficionados) could put together to make a great serum. The objective was stimulate synthesis of macromolecules (proteins, carbohydrates, DNA, the whole shebang) in our skin and to protect skin structure and function from aging and deterioration in general (newsletter February 2007). Soon after, we started selling a serum that had all of those components, mixed in our lab and dispensed in small glass bottles with droppers. From our June 2007 (12 years ago!) Newsletter “Let’s Make Collagen” Serum We will be adding a new prototype serum. Our clients asked us to…
February 20th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Probably in both. Bot not in pills. Chicken soup is good for the soul, helps with colds and tastes great, especially in the middle of winter. But when it comes to pills, it is highly unlikely that the small amount of collagen peptides in a pill (750 mg) will ever reach your skin. Just have the soup instead, depending how you make it it will contain about 10 g of amino acids. What do we know about collagen? Collagen is a protein made by many animals, including us. Amino acids are joined together in long chains to form a protein. The bond between amino acid residues is made by losing…
February 18th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
https://skinactives.com/every-lipid-serum/ The ingredient list for our Every Lipid Serum (or ELS, for short) sounds as boring as any other ingredient list: Squalane, Linum Usitatissmum (Flax) Seed Oil, Rosa Canina (Rosehip) Seed Oil, Lecithin, Salvia Hispanica (Chia) Seed Oil, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Seed Oil, Argania Spinosa (Argan) Kernel Oil, Tocotrienols, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Astaxanthin, Lycopene, Xanthophyll, R-Alpha Lipoic Acid, Beta-Carotene, Docosahexanoic Acid, Ceramide-3, Cholesteryl Oleyl Carbonate (and) Cholesteryl Nonanoate (and) Cholesteryl Chloride (and) BHT, Phytosterols, Oryzanol. Plant names (common and their Latin counterparts), chemicals with fancy names like astaxanthin and others even harder to pronounce like docosohexanoic acid, and more. But ingredient lists are anything BUT boring. Good (always good in…
February 17th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
No, your skin doesn’t (can’t) glow, fortunately. You can get (sort of) a glow if the photographer plays with the lighting, or the make-up artists plays with micas and light reflectants, or if you use Photoshop. But human skin does not emit light. What organisms emit light? There are organisms that possess bioluminescence. Luciferins are chemicals that can be oxidized by a specific enzyme, called luciferase, and the oxidized molecule is in an excited state that emits light before decaying to the ground state. There are bacteria, fungi and some animals, including the firefly, that are bioluminescent. Bioluminescence has also been adapted as a research tool in many areas of…
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…
July 20th, 2018 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
As you may know, it is possible to “engineer” DNA, i.e. to modify the genetic material that makes bacteria, plants and animals, what they are. DNA is modified all the time, right now in some of your cells as they divide and the complex enzymes that direct DNA duplication make a small mistake here and there. This is called a mutation. Most of them will go unnoticed. They happen in your skin and you may get a “sun spot” here and there because UV energy damaged DNA and the mutation was not corrected properly by the other enzymes in charge of fixing the mistake. These mutations are not directed by…
July 18th, 2018 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
We know that genetic information is carried by our genes in DNA, and by the RNA and proteins resulting from the DNA-carried information. But glycans also carry information in processes like cell growth and apoptosis, folding and routing of glycoproteins, cell-cell interactions and cell adhesion and migration.
July 12th, 2018 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Eczema. Is there anything you can do? Your skin is rashy, red and itchy. And this is not the first time. What is going on? Anything you can do to fix it? Is it caused by an irritatnt (like alcohol or sodium lauryl sulfate) or by an allergen (balsam of Peru, idebenone)? You may not be able to “fix” eczema, because it has to do with the way your immune system responds to stuff. Inflammation is a symptom, and you are the detective in charge, if you are a good detective you will be able to control your eczema. Is it irritation? Maybe you are using a disinfectant with a…
July 1st, 2018 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Is it too early to think about how your skin will look when you reach 80? Maybe, but to me it feels just like yesterday when I was a teen at the beach trying to get as brown as possible (it was considered cool), and even better if I could get my nose and cheeks to peel off. In your teens, you worry about acne, and as soon as acne is under control (if you are lucky), you start noticing fine wrinkles (their arrival probably accelerated by the benzoyl peroxide in the anti-acne products you used). Your pores look definitely larger and you start worrying about how your skin is…
June 3rd, 2018 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Corals are among the most amazing and beautiful and complex living beings. What we see is an exoskeleton made of calcium carbonate that has been formed slowly by the whole colony, made of identical individual polyps. These polyps are marine invertebrates of the phylum Cnidaria; in this phylum, members of the class Anthozoa are the reef builders, but you may be more familiar with other members of the phylum that include the nasty, if beautiful, jellyfishes. Corals are even more complicated than “just” the colony of tiny polyps making a beautiful exoskeleton that used to end up as beautiful earrings and necklaces (this practice is not heavily regulated). How do…