It is that time of year when some of us make New Year’s resolutions. The list can be long, from exercising more, spending less and saving more, to what seems to be at the top of the list for 2017: being a better person. We are not going to go down that road, we are going to talk about what we know best, and that is skin care and more specifically having healthy skin. For us that is really about having a specific routine that we stick to everyday. That takes discipline and that is one of the most important parts of any skin care routine. Here are our suggestions to help you get off to a great start for 2017!

1. Meditation
Often our skin is the first thing to show us any emotional or other stresses that we are experiencing. We can all remember back to being a teenager when that stress of our first date brought out that pimple right in the middle of our nose can’t we? We are learning more and more how our inner peace (or lack there of) affects all parts of our health including our skin.
Meditation is one simple (not always easy) way to help us to find quiet and calm, even if for just a few minutes each day. A new field of research called psychodermatology studies the interaction between mind and skin, looking at the effects of emotions on the skin as well as disorders that have skin manifestations such as psoriasis, eczema, acne and vitiligo (a pigment disorder). In the past 30 years there has been much research into how meditation effects our emotional and mental states and what those benefits may be including how this helps in skin problems. Adding 10 to 15 minutes of meditation to your daily routine will show benefits in all parts of your life, not only just in the health of your skin. If you are not sure how to meditate or where to begin, one of our favourite apps is HeadSpace, an easy guided meditation that you download on your phone.

AMBIEN is considered one of the excellent sleeping pills. It is used to treat sleep problems. For example, inability to fall asleep, frequent waking during the night, and early morning awakening. Ambien is intended only for short-term use. If you want to use it longer, you should consult your doctor, because this is serious medicine.

2. Aromatherapy
Really? What has this to do with my skin? We are seeing more and more research that is showing the benefits of what aromatherapy can do to help with everything from insomnia, to digestive issues to migraines and stress. We often send our clients to two Canadian companies: SAJE and ESCENTS. Both of these companies are long established and experts in the field of aromatherapy.

3. Exercise
We all know that exercise is good for us. But do you know why it is good for our skin? By increasing blood flow, exercise helps nourish skin cells and keep them alive. As well as providing oxygen, blood flow helps to carry away waste products, including free radicals, from working cells. However, exercise does not detoxify the skin, that is looked after by the liver. The exercise does help our bodies work better which then does help cleanse the system from the inside out.
Exercise has also been shown to ease stress, and as we saw above, that helps with many skin conditions. If a new exercise plan is part of the new year, we recommend starting with a two week detoxification with Glisodin. Many studies have shown that poor health and oxidative stress can lead to blemished, discoloured and dull skin, and premature aging.

4. Cleanse Your Skin
Is this really that important? Yes it is! This is the first step in any skin care routine and the product you use needs to be appropriate for your skin type. If you don’t start with clean and balanced skin, any serum or treatment you may use will not have the same effect. Read more here: Why is a facial cleanser important?

5. Have Regular Facial Treatments
It used to be that we would tell people, have a facial at the change of seasons, so that would mean only four times a year. This is no longer what we recommend because of the difference that we seen in results from our clients who see us on a regular basis, meaning once or twice a month.
What we are able to offer to our clients in a FACIAL is not just a necessary addition to any skin care regimen, but the treatment helps to boosts the efficacy of any products used. With regular facials you are receiving expert advice and guidance with any skin care concerns and also treatments that you are not and should not be doing on your own. For example:

Deep Cleansing: This goes back to our point 3 above. We suggest the HydraFacial Treatment for anyone starting a treatment plan with us.

Extractions: This should only be done with a professional and carefully and hygienically.

Peels: The benefits of exfoliation with chemical peels is well known, but again must be done with a trained esthetician who is aware of your skin type and skin care regimen. We always suggest a series to see long term results.

High Tech Treatments:
LED light therapy which is a popular treatment that is used to strengthen the skin, reduce redness, kill bacteria and stimulate collagen production among many others.
HydraFacial which is the only hydradermabrasion procedure that combines cleansing, exfoliation, extraction, hydration and antioxidant protection.
The DF Machine from Environ which uses Pulsed Iontophoresis – the use of a specifically pulsed electrical current to facilitate penetration of vitamins into the cells, and Low Frequency Sonophoresis – the use of sound waves to transport vitamin molecules through the skin. It is considered the most effective machine in the world today for enhancing the penetration of vitamins and serums into the skin.

6. Home Care
What we mean by home care is a prescribed skin care regimen appropriate for your age, skin type, goals and lifestyle. Not every brand is right for everyone. Just because your friend may uses a certain brand and see results it may not work for you. You may also have a lifestyle that lends itself to a simpler routine that someone who is willing to go through more steps. We have learned however that once you get your routine down, it really doesn’t take that long, no matter how many steps are involved, and if done correctly, your routine becomes part of a ritual that helps in your overall well being.

7. Sunscreen
At this point we feel that everyone knows how important wearing sunscreen is. It is THE most important anti-aging skin care product there is, but it is more importantly what we need to use everyday to protect ourselves against UVB (skin cancer and sunburn) and UVA rays (skin cancer and skin aging). This is not something to only be worn in the summer or only at the beach, everyday and yes, re-apply, that is what mineral make-up with SPF is for.

8. Healthy Make-up
This is our last point as it is the last thing you put on your skin. “What you put on your skin goes in you” is a phrase we are hearing more and more these days. Most of us watch what we eat but sometimes we are not paying as much attention to what we put on our skin. That may go for skin care but often it is forgotten when it comes to make-up. We encourage you to be very careful about what make-up you are using and yes we believe in the old adage, less is more.

At the end of the day, be kind to yourself. We hear much about anti-aging, and it’s an expression that we really don’t like that much at Etiket. We don’t think there is anything wrong with aging and we have no interest to stop the process. We like what we learn each year about ourselves and about each other. We can’t say that we love every new line or wrinkle and we do what we can to help ourselves look our best, but we also know that getting older brings with it many benefits. With the above list to help us on our way, we think that we are ready to tackle 2017 and plan to have an incredible year and we hope that you will come along with us!