Skin Care Tips, Notes & More

Imagine waking up one morning and not seeing yourself in the reflection in the mirror. Instead you see an older woman who resembles you, lines wrinkles and crows feet have stolen your youth. You decide it is time to take it back.

There are so many anti wrinkle treatments out there today, how do you know which one to choose? First you need to be honest with yourself about the severity of your wrinkles and the results you expect to see at the end of your treatment. You also need to look at your budget and decide how far you are willing to go to recapture your youth.

Skin Resurfacing

This is a process in which a minor surgical procedure such as dermabrasion, chemical peel or laser is preformed on the skin to reduce the appearance of wrinkles. With this method wrinkles become less visible because the skins level is actually lowered closer to the level of the wrinkle, resulting in the shadow effect wrinkles cause to be less visible. (The shadow effect is due to the fact that a wrinkle is an area of skin that has sunk lower than the overall skin level. This causes the wrinkles to be more visible since light creates a shadow to form in the lowered area exposing the flaw.) These procedures can be painful and do require some recuperation time. tenderness adn redenning may appear afterwards, but this should heal quickly. Other side effects may include; scarring, acne, infection, irregular pigmentation and hypopigmentation. Skin resurfacing is not an anti wrinkle miracle and is most effective on fine lines and acne scars. These treatments costs vary, but are always expensive.

Collagen Injections

These types of procedures are designed to raise the wrinkles closer to the surrounding skins area; this is another way to lessen the "shadow effect". To accomplish this a filler is injected directly into each individual wrinkle. The only pain occurs at the point of the injection just as it would with any type of needle in the skin. There is no down time with these types of anti wrinkle treatments and you can immediately go about your normal skin care routine. There are a few options with injections. You can choose to use bovine collagen. Bovine collagen is derived from the skin tissue of cows. It is sterilized, purified and processed and then injected into the skin. Autologen collagen is from your own skin that was gathered during a previous procedure. Isolagen collagen comes from your own skin as well but it is then cloned in a laboratory before being processed into liquid collagen. Dermalogen is gathered from skin donated from a cadaver. It is sterilized, purified and processed before being used. Botox, Radiance, Restylane, and Hyalaform are all injectable materials that some people feel give better and longer lasting results. Collagen injections cost between $300.00 and $1,500.00 per session and usually take a few sessions to obtain desired effects. In addition future maintenance injections may be necessary.

Face Lifts

This is the most drastic anti wrinkle treatment. It is a surgical procedure in which the skin it actually pulled tighter by the surgeon. Incisions are made into the skin; their locations depend on the type of facelift you choose to undergo. Four types of face lift surgeries are available; lower facelift (standard), mid face lift, mini face lift (weekend face lift), and thread face lift. Each one offers different results, tightens a different face part and has different recovery times. Face lifts generally cost about $6,000.00 for the surgery alone. This does not include any of the other incidentals that are part of the face lift procedure.

Wrinkle Creams

This option is often overlooked by people. They feel that their wrinkles could not possibly be lessened by a mere cream, they would however be wrong. It is true that many of the face creams on the market do not have the capability to do much for your skin. Yet there are some options out there that can. The best anti aging wrinkle cream is made of natural ingredients. Plant oils, glycerin, plant extracts, vitamins, minerals, witch hazel and seaweed are all good ingredients. Choosing a cream that is not all natural can cause unwanted effects. Parabens, mineral oils and fillers (such as animal fat) can be used in some creams and some of these have been known to cancer, depressive disorders, and stress disorders. Choosing skin care products that have antioxidant ingredients can help reduce the damages caused by free radicals. The antioxidants join damaged cells and then go to work to prevent further damage and repair the damage that has already been done. The advantage of the creams is not only reversing signs of skin damage due to aging, but also their no-pain, no-risk application at a fraction of the cost of other methods .

Cosmetic procedures have become immensely popular throughout the US. The most sought is Botox - even more so than the traditional favorite, face lift - with California being the state with the highest number of Botox injections per capita.

Botox was first introduced in the late 1980's and was used at the time as a way to treat eye muscle disorders. Today, the drug is injected to prevent wrinkle formation while making patients appear younger.

How Botox Works

Every time you make a facial expression or move your facial muscles, those muscles release a chemical known as acetylcholine. Essentially, Botox is injected into the facial muscle and inhibits the release of acetylcholine, therefore paralyzing the muscle and stopping the contraction.

How Well Botox Actually Works

After Botox injections, patients usually see about an 80 percent improvement in the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. The drug has also been independently tested and approved by the FDA as an effective wrinkle treatment, meaning it works. However, it's not permanent and will only last for up to 5 months, and perhaps only 3.

Step-By-Step Guide to Getting Botox Injections

Botox is injected while in your doctor's office, so there is no need to visit a hospital or receive any in-patient treatment. The drug is typically administered without anesthesia, though some physicians may apply a small amount of topical numbing cream to the treatment area.

Your Botox treatment will start once your doctor begins to locate each injection point and marking them with a pen. After this, the physician will disinfect the treatment area and obtain the needed amount of the Botox drug to administer the treatment.

Following your doctor's preparation, he or she will then inject the Botox, or Botulinum Toxin Type A, into your skin. At this point, the toxins attach themselves to your muscles' nerve endings, eventually stopping the muscle contractions that cause wrinkles.

Actual Botox Treatment Procedure Length

For Botox, users can typically expect their treatments to last anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the amount of preparation required and the size of the treatment area. Typically though, it's not a lengthy procedure.

After Care for Botox Injections

After a full treatment of Botox, patients can normally go about their day-to-day activities. However, they should avoid extended sun exposure or laying down for at least a few hours. Some individuals may experience mild bruising at their injection sites, but this will go away in a few hours.

Expense of Botox

Costs for Botox treatments will vary significantly, depending on the size of the area to be covered, your region and of course the doctor. The average cost for Botox injections are about $150 to $400 per treatment - California having some of the highest rates in the country. Don't count on your medical plan covering the procedure.

Finding a Certified Doctor

If you're looking for a certified doctor who can provide injections of Botox, you should try either the American Academy of Dermatology (aad.org) or the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (plasticsurgery.org).

It's almost a science to decide which wrinkle cream would do the best job for your skin, and provide you with the results you hope to get from an anti aging cosmetic product. Not all creams produce the same type of results, and a matter of fact not every wrinkle cream really works that well at all. In this very brief article I'll explain the two types of wrinkle creams you can choose from, and how to go about choosing the wrinkle cream that will produce the best results for you.

Looking for Quick or Long Term Results

If you're an instant gratification type of person, then chances are you're going to want to look at a cream like 7 Minute Face Lift, or Freeze 24/7. These types of wrinkle creams produce results in only a few minutes after applying them.4 The down side is these are not long term results. At the end of the day when you rinse your face the effects are washed away with the product.

In contrast a cream like Lifecell wrinkle cream attacks the root cause of wrinkles and fine lines. So rather then just hiding the wrinkles from the naked eye this type of anti aging treatment contains antioxidants to fight free radicals and sun damage, as well as helps stimulate new collagen production. Of course not all the longer acting creams like Life Cell work like this, but the good wrinkle creams will also contain some form of natural botox alternative.

Other Features Besides how Quickly you get Results

Getting familiar with the basic ingredients that are contained in anti wrinkle creams is worth the time. While gathering this knowledge might take some time it will be easier for you to spot the good wrinkle creams that should provide results based on their ingredients.

Beyond ingredients consider the guarantee if there is one that the product offers. If you buy your aging treatments at the drug store this won't be the case, as their usually inexpensive. How ever some if you plan on buying your wrinkle cream online or direct from manufacturer look for products that provide a 30-60 day guarantee.

Before you Make your Purchase

The best thing you can do to ensure you choose the right wrinkle cream for your skin type and desired results is to read lots. Read wrinkle cream reviews, beauty forums, and ask your friends if they have ever used a wrinkle cream. A referral to a cream that worked for someone else is your best bet to finding a diamond in the rough when it comes to anti wrinkle treatments.

It's not often that you can get what I'd call a free lunch in the cosmetics world, but today there is an anti wrinkle cream that more or less does just that. What is this new skin care product? It is produced by Athena skin care, and is called the 7 minute face lift. What's it do? Well it actually lifts your face in less then 10 minutes leaving you with a more youthful look for the rest of the day.

I first discovered Athena 7 minute face lift while reading my favorite beauty review blog, it posts about upcoming and breakthrough items in the cosmetics and skin care industry, and I enjoy keeping on top of the latest trends. Finding a wrinkle treatment product that produced results fast has always been at the top of my list so I was quite excited when I found out that it was possible to buy a lotion that not only worked, but also produced results so quickly.

What exactly is the difference between Athena Wrinkle cream to other wrinkle treatments? First off, the majority of other wrinkle creams take some time to produce results, more over they aim to reverse the causes of aging so that over time you see improvement in your appearance. Athena facial cream works opposite to that, rather then taking 4-5 weeks to show results it does so in less then 10 minutes after it's applied. The benefit? You start looking younger same day, no need to wait a few weeks to see if the cream will work or not.

This immediate results does a couple of things that I love, the first, it allows you to recognize that you got something for your money. The majority of over the counter wrinkle treatments are expensive and since they take time to show results you have to ensure you continue to use them even though you might not be able to see the benefits.. The second thing it does is potentially save you time. Often you can buy a wrinkle serum and use it for a month only to realize that the results aren't what you'd hoped for, you've then lost that time and have to start the whole process over again.

For a complete look at 7Minute Face Lift, and other anti wrinkle products that work visit our wrinkle cream reviews to compare and read reports on what works and what doesn't.