Skin Actives Products
December 20th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
2+2=4 One can pretend that reality does not exist but then a virus reminds us that it does. 2020 has been a tough year for all of us, and too tough for some. I feel lucky that I did not lose anybody to Covid19 and that a vaccine is around the corner, less than a year after we found out about the new virus. Having read the books by Laurie Garrett, The Coming Plague, in 1994, and Betrayal of Trust, in 2001, I was not surprised when the pandemic came. I was, however, dismayed by the lack of awareness of many about what the virus was about to do to…
November 3rd, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Damage from what? The environment! We are talking about high energy beyond what our skin can cope with. There will be energy from ultraviolet radiation that damages macromolecules (like DNA) directly plus the reactive oxygen species (ROS*) formed when the UV reaches the skin and reacts with molecules capable of producing those. These UV-produced ROS* add up to those present in the air. Yes, our skin has evolved beautiful mechanisms to defend us from those dangers but evolution did not prepare us for suntans or for city pollution. Prevent! Start by preventing damage by UV and ROS* (both produced by UV action and those present in the air) with Sunscreen…
October 25th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
I heard that some people had skin problems brought about by mask-wearing. I heard about acne, skin irritation, and increased sebum secretion. The constant use of a mask may bring acne and skin irritation, but the problem may be related to how we treat the mask itself. Some tips: You may prefer a cotton mask or a synthetic (soft) one. Try different shapes to see which is a good fit and make sure that they cover the nose and mouth but are still comfortable as you may have to wear them for many hours, at work, or at school. Wash your mask with a non-allergenic detergent and rinse well. Brand…
October 9th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Why? Because our products support your hair, lash and eyebrows and don’t disrupt endogenous regulation. Look at the ingredient list and don’t get scared! Why so long? Most of the ingredients are nutrients, like amino acids, vitamins (Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine HCl, Riboflavin, Thiamine HCl), essential minerals e.g. Disodium Selenite, Stannous Chloride, Zinc Sulfate), plus lots of antioxidants, both plant-derived (Tocotrienols, Tocopherols, Astaxanthin, Lycopene, Xanthophyll, R-Alpha Lipoic Acid, Beta-Carotene) and antioxidant proteins (catalase, thioredoxin, etc.) that ensure your scalp is well-defended from pollutants. What else? Supplements to your own growth factor, like keratinocyte growth factor, plus essential fatty acids (rosehip and pomegranate seed oils). Anything else? Yes, a few ingredients with…
October 9th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Anybody who wants to ensure the fast healing. I explained in my blog , and book, why more (of anything!) is not always better. For example, high concentrations of copper, complexed with a peptide or as a salt, will inhibit collagen synthesis. In other cases, more of a particular ingredient will not be deleterious but will not benefit you either; it will, however, be a waste of money. Let’s be clear: the EGF concentration in Skin Actives “normal” products is sufficient. In fact, Skin Actives products containing growth factors have been helping SAS customers for more than 15 years. But, if you are in a situation where you want to…
October 1st, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Yes. Here is why. Once upon a time, people thought of their skin as a passive “wall” that should be polished so that it will glow. Instead, think of it as a complex organ that contains neuronal networks, it is constantly self-remodeling itself, and modifying non-neuronal cells and mini-organs like the hair follicle and sebaceous glands. It is also a place where immunological machinery is involved in inflammation and immune defense. and a factory of growth factors, vasoactive chemicals, and hormones. The skin is a “feeling machine”, and it has to be because it is the means by which we interact with our environment. Figure: the skin is a complex…
September 10th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The Ordinary Peeling Solution: Glycolic Acid, Water, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Daucus Carota Sativa Extract, Propanediol, Cocamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Salicylic Acid, Potassium Citrate, Lactic Acid, Tartaric Acid, Citric Acid, Panthenol, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Tasmannia Lanceolata Fruit/Leaf Extract, Glycerin, Pentylene Glycol, Xanthan gum, Polysorbate 20, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Ethylhexylglycerin, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol. Very ordinary. Why? more of the same: an inflated number for concentration of acid when in reality most of it is a salt. More ordinary: a list of acids that are here just for “label value”. Also, present as salts. Useless! The red color is also a “value” thing. The acids are not colored.…
July 26th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
What are mitochondria? Let’s go back in time to high school and try to remember the good stuff (and forget the bad stuff). We are made of cells. Our cells need the energy to keep going. We are not plants so we depend on food to get energy. Our mitochondria convert that food into energy we can use to live. That’s all! Of course, there is a lot more exciting stuff you can learn about mitochondria but I already told you why you need the mitochondria in your skin happy so that it can do its job. Unfortunately (you knew that this was coming, right?) older skin has older mitochondria.…
July 10th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
‘I had never known that the world was beautiful until I reached old age.” Alvise Cornaro (1467 – 1566) in The art of living long. The Fountain of Youth, a myth persistent in the human imagination throughout the ages, was at times a river, or a spring, or any other water source that reversed the aging process and cured sickness when drunk or bathed in. We can’t blame Herodotus for dreaming about it, as did the Chinese and the Arabs (who created the word “elixir”). You can’t blame people for dreaming, and you can’t blame the Chinese emperors for sending explorers to look for the fountain of youth. Whoever…
July 9th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
There are so many reasons to take care of our sun-damaged skin. Our skin is your protection from the environment, it prevents the loss of water, damage by solar energy, penetration of noxious chemicals and infection by microorganisms, and virus. How do you recognize skin damaged skin? No need to do any hard work: any skin surface that is ever exposed to the sun is sun-damaged. Exceptions? None. It is true that dark-skinned people have some more protection given to them by some extra melanin, but that’s it: some extra protection. Not total indemnity! To understand more about the damage that UV inflicts on the skin, compare the skin of…
June 27th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
As we age, crucial DNA mutations accumulate in our cells, and the mechanisms that regulate cell division fail. Out of control cell division plays havoc with our bodies: it’s called cancer. As the general population ages, the incidence of cancer increases. Science had progressed enormously in the understanding and treatment of cancer, and some amazingly sophisticated therapies do exist forme some specific types of cancer. For many other types of cancer, a big part of the treatment involves removing and killing cancerous cells. Thus, surgery to remove cancerous tumors is often followed by radiation therapy. In addition to dealing with sutures still healing, the patients (us) have to contend with…
June 10th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
I will admit to being vain. I always had great hair, even when I thought it wasn’t great hair because wavy hair was not in fashion and women went to a lot of trouble to get straight hair (I didn’t). In my family hair loss for men and women is common, and I felt lucky that I had avoided that trend and my genes were the “lucky hair” ones. A couple of years ago, after surgery, I lost a lot of hair and I panicked, and for the first time I had to use our hair serum with KGF. I again felt lucky when the serum reversed the hair loss…
January 19th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
I am here, writing this post while drinking my morning coffee, so I can’t pretend to be impartial. How safe is it? Very: it is used to stimulate breathing in premature babies. What can it do for your skin? Figure. Caffeine. The dry data The purine alkaloid caffeine is a major component of many beverages such as coffee and tea. Caffeine and its metabolites theobromine and xanthine have been shown to have antioxidant properties. Benefits Caffeine decreases the risk of skin cancer promoted by UV irradiation, apparently by slowing down repair of DNA mutations caused by UV making it more precise and preventing mutations that may lead to cancer.…
January 18th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
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 an ingredient for our Skin Actives products. Yes, I look at plants that were used for centuries by different peoples. I read the publications that deal with the ethnological use of the plant extracts, but that is only the beginning. Maybe the ancient people who used…
January 1st, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Answer: We understand the seriousness of the problem and we face it differently. The key concept is that the skin is alive and quite capable of doing its job, until it isn’t. What has changed? The skin ages, or is damaged, or the environment changes and overwhelms the defenses. Our answer: we replenish the skin’s natural defenses, by carefully following the established antioxidant system already at work in our skin. We don’t innovate in the sense that we don’t build from scratch, we only refresh, “top-up” the natural order. We can achieve this because we understand how the skin functions: its anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. Amazing scientific advances…
December 25th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Do men need skin care at all? YES. We “accept” men’s aged skin not because it looks or works better (than that of a woman) but because we (society) judge men by other standards than how smooth their skin is (money and power come to mind). If men do need skin care, do they need skin care especially designed for them? NO. Why do men need skin care? Because skin care is not just a matter of beauty but also health. You can’t wait until things get bad to go to a dermatologist for a lesion that may be skin cancer. You need to prevent damage and reverse skin aging…
December 19th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The scalp, usually hidden behind one of our precious possessions, our hair, is exposed to the same stressors than the rest of our skin, like UV radiation, reactive oxygen species (ROS*), heat, physical stress and more. On top of the usual suspects, add the long list of chemicals, usually unwanted, that are present in the hair “care” products we use. Hair coloring, perms, straighteners, plus hair dryers, chemical and physical stress endured by those wearing “extensions”, and who knows what else. It is not surprising that most people, starting at a relatively young age, have hair problems which are actually scalp problems, because hair is dead protein and all the…
November 25th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Why combat dry skin? Dry skin is uncomfortable It is a bad barrier against the elements and microbes, and will not do a good job of keeping your body from losing water to the environment. Dry skin is an “entry” point to wrinkles, and will make the existing ones more noticeable. How NOT to combat dry skin. 1) Don’t remove most of the epidermis with strong acid peels or dermabrasion or whatever methods is suggested to give you “glow”. The glow will be from an inflamed epidermis that has lost its capacity to do its job as skin barrier. Do you really think that a cream sold in a store…
November 10th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
If the wall in your home has a crack in it, you call a painter. He will patch up the wall, prime it and paint over. The wall will look like new. If your left eyelid is a bit “droopy”, and your first instinct is to see a plastic surgeon, think again. Because your skin is alive and it is silly to think of surgery as the only option. Your skin is not like a wall: your skin is alive and capable of changing for the better. %0, 60 or even 70 does not mean that you have yo give up on skin care, on the contrary. Almost anything good…
October 24th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Warning: this is a “heavy” post that may feel to you like you are back in school and not in a good way (like for prom). You don’t have to read it but the objective is to convey to you the complexity of skin metabolism and molecular biology and why you should never look for a “magic” ingredient when it comes to skin youth and health. In short, life (LIFE) is complicated. Your skin is alive. Below the few layers of dead cells in the epidermis, perfectly designed for the tough job of protecting your body from pollution and damage, is the basal cell layer. Here is your stem cells…