Skin
Written by
Lesley Holland Downey
Ah summer. I love you…but you have wrecked my skin! Sun exposure and
its accomplices (sunscreen, sweat, lazier days—i.e. less skincare, more cocktails maybe) can really show up by the end of the season, leaving you in need of a little resurfacing. Here are a few ways to freshen up your skin so your face doesn’t look like someone’s leather handbag atop your new fall clothes. When you’re ready to get serious about your skin, seek out an aesthetician, a licensed professional usually found in a doctor’s office or in a reputable spa. I invested in seeing one in preparation for a milestone reunion, deciding it was time to throw everything I had into looking as good as I possibly could. I found one by asking friends with great skin. Believe me, you do not want to just sign up for a peel with anyone.
60 PEACHY
Angie, my aesthetician, begins each appointment by talking about what’s coming up in my life and how much of a peel and downtime I can handle. Then she dermaplanes my face, gently scraping away dead skin cells with a surgical blade, enabling whatever peel she puts on me to work better. At summer’s end, this process literally leaves me with a ring of fine lint looking stuff on the perimeter of my face. Then she applies the peel with cotton pads and there can be a tingling sensation or a downright stinging on my face. Afterwards she scrutinizes each part of my face looking for clogged pores and gently removing whatever she needs to via extraction for a cleaner, brighter complexion. After a peel, regular exfoliation is key to beautiful skin, especially as we age. I strongly suggest investing in a Clarisonic brush. For those of you using a sonic toothbrush, you know how much cleaner your teeth feel—so do the same for your face! It makes a difference in how your products penetrate the skin an B?B?VfW2??W"6????V6?6?V?W"?F?R?F?W"?W?F?W?f??F????2&WF???"??F?W"&WF????&?GV7B?W6R?BWfW'??F?W"??v?B???v?GF??R???f?"F??2??R??"fWrF??W2vVV???B?2F?Rw&?FFFG??b?F??vW'2??BF?R???F???r&?fV?F?'V??B6???vV??F?P???