As a writer, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the freedom and spontaneity of writing a blog. There are no publication deadlines, no limitations of distribution, and no delay in making updates available. When things change, the ability to share the information in a blink of the eye is astonishing. That’s sheer ecstasy for a writer.

However, as you can tell from how infrequently I post, I have lost the focus needed to keep this blog vibrant and up to date.

As Paula’s Choice continues to grow (we had a brilliant year: my international distributors are doing great, and I launched some of the best products I have ever formulated), I just don’t have time to do my blog justice and neither does my team.

Aside from the many responsibilities I have of running my company and formulating products (thank God for the team I have around me), I have a fervent desire to make the information and articles on PaulasChoice.com and my other intertwining websites—Beautypedia.com and CosmeticsCop.com—more dynamic, current, and scrupulously accurate.

As a result of all this, our brains and energies are maxed out. The reality (and this was a big wakeup call) is that none of us have room in our schedules to pay attention to this blog so it can flourish.

Therefore, as of today, January 6, 2011, the Beauty Bunch blog will become inactive. I will definitely miss your feedback and the questions you shared here. To those who took the time to comment, whether it was positive or negative, thank you for joining the conversation.

Going forward, my team and I will be more involved on Facebook (I sporadically go on to answer questions live). We will announce the updates we do to articles and product launches that appear on PaulasChoice.com or CosmeticsCop.com at our Paula’s Choice Facebook page, as well as @PaulasChoice on Twitter.

I want to thank you again for sharing this incredible forum with me. In the future I look forward to reading your comments and concerns on Facebook!

Warmest regards,

Paula

CEO and owner of Paula’s Choice

www.PaulasChoice.com

Recently one of our Paula’s Choice Facebook fans wrote in wanting to know what I thought of the Accent XL, a laser treatment system hyped as “the ultimate painless non-surgical facelift!” She was skeptical of the claims being made but found them interesting, and of course her friends were enthusiastic, so she wanted to know whether this machine was something to consider.

My STRONG advice: NEVER shop for any type of laser, light, radio wave, or any kind of machine a dermatologist can use on your face. NEVER shop for a specific type of dermal filler such as Restylane, Hyaluron, or Artefill. You must only shop for a great dermatologist! Period.

This is such a common trap people fall into when they search the Internet for the best cosmetic treatments. It’s easy to be lured in when you see a certain product being heavily promoted, endorsed by a celebrity, or featured in a magazine, but that is not research—it is simply clever, misleading, and often borderline deceptive marketing from the company selling it.

In the case of Accent XL, this machine isn’t the ultimate, it isn’t the best, it isn’t well researched in comparison to dozens of other options, and it certainly isn’t painless. Despite attempts to convince you otherwise, there is no single machine that does it all or is the best.

In fact, there are over 100 different machines a dermatologist can use to reduce wrinkles, lighten skin discolorations, help firm skin, and remove surfaced capillaries. They all have different pros and cons for different skin types and skin color that only your dermatologist can speak to. The key is finding a great dermatologist who can determine which options are best for your skin.

So how do you find a great dermatologist?

1. Start by asking around to see if any of your friends have had great experiences with the dermatologist they see. While relying on someone else’s experience isn’t foolproof, it is a good way to narrow down the options.
2. Make sure your dermatologist is board certified. You wouldn’t want a podiatrist working on your face, would you? Doctors of any background can perform cosmetic corrective procedures, but you want one who has been specifically trained to work in your area of need. Visit the American Board of Dermatology to find out if your dermatologist is board certified.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Not all dermatologists will come up with the same game plan for your face, so pay attention to what makes you feel the most comfortable and makes sense to you in light of the research you have done. It never hurts to ask how much experience they have, either.

Even though I have wonderful products that can give you great results and truly improve your skin, all skin-care products have certain limitations. Laser treatments and other cosmetic corrective procedures can bring your skin back to a younger-looking, more radiant state often overnight or in just a few weeks. Considering these options is far more valuable to your face than wasting money on skin-care products making false promises.

Having a great cosmetic dermatologist can make all the difference, so forget about finding the right machine—find the right doc!

I know I’m going to get flack for what I’m about to write as I’m sitting here getting my hair done, but here it is: There are many hairstylists who seem to have no idea what they are doing. It’s not that they don’t know how to cut, style, and dye your hair beautifully, but they seem not to care about the details or how you are feeling about what they’re doing to your hair.

Many women feel this way because they’ve told me in hundreds of letters over the years, and they also tell me they are afraid to tell their stylist what they’re doing wrong or what they are experiencing when getting their hair done. It is definitely true for me. But why are so many of us afraid of our hairdresser? Because we are at their mercy, especially if we like the way they do our hair. We think if we upset our stylist we will be punished with a bad haircut, a bad hairstyle, or just a pissy attitude for the rest of the service and the next time we come back. It isn’t fun getting a reputation as being a bad (or, if you prefer, “high maintenance”) client at the salon you frequent.

I know there are difficult women who are demanding, rude, have unrealistic expectations, and are all-around hard to deal with.  To a large extent, stylists have to put up with all kinds of terrible behavior from clients like this. However, if you’re sure your behavior is well-intentioned rather than off-the-charts rude, then you are in a perfect position to take charge of your experience in your stylist’s chair. If a stylist is going to take your money for doing your hair, then it isn’t too much to ask for the following:

1. Have an oily scalp? Tell your stylist to skip applying conditioner to the roots of your hair. No matter what the claim on the product or how much menthol or eucalyptus it contains (which has no benefit for hair or scalp) it will just make your oily scalp feel greasy faster. Conditioners contain emollients which are great for hair but a problem for someone with an oily scalp.

Have fine hair that needs body? Conditioners can be a problem if you want your hair to be full because conditioners, even the lightest ones, can weigh down hair. Keep in mind hair nearest the scalp is the healthiest and doesn’t need a conditioner anyway. It isn’t until hair grows and is tortured by styling tools, sun, too-frequent shampooing, and hair dye that it starts getting damaged and needs conditioner to act and feel more like normal, undamaged hair.

2. Ask them to please not be so rough on your hair. Here’s what happens: You’ve just gotten done with a wonderful shampoo and then to dry your hair, the stylist or assistant takes the towel and begins to roughly rub it over your entire head and the length of your hair. This is a BIG no-no. Any kind of friction over your tresses breaks down the hair shaft, eventually causing split ends and breakage. They’re supposed to press, dab, and squeeze to dry the hair—not rub it around. If more stylists (or their assistants) did this, they would spend less time smoothing damaged, unruly hair when it’s time to style it.

3. Only comb wet hair in sections; don’t try to get a brush through tangled hair in one fell swoop. Combing hair in small sections is far better for the hair and your scalp. The problem? Some stylists just plow through your hair without a thought to what they are doing. Maybe they don’t know how hard it is on the scalp and the hair to try and undo tangles by yanking on your hair. Using fingers to gently separate hair and comb through each section is the healthy way to start the styling process.

4. Stop pulling and tugging during heat-styling. When your hair is being styled, too many hairdressers pull and tug at your hair with no regard for the discomfort they are causing. Once, when I cringed and winced at the forceful blow dry I was getting, the stylist actually said, “Boy aren’t you sensitive!” and continued doing just what she was doing. I finally said, “You’re hurting me and boy you are being completely insensitive! Please stop pulling so hard!”

5. Don’t hold the blow dryer so close to the scalp. Blow dryers heat up to almost 400 degrees Fahrenheit. As an idea of how hot that really is, consider that the boiling point of water is 212 degrees Fahrenheit. When such intense heat gets too close to your scalp, you can easily get a burn and lose some hair as a result.

6. Stop pushing expensive ”special” hair treatments that they tell you everyone swears by (not sure who everyone is, but popularity is a great incentive to believe something must be worthwhile). You are then put under the hair dryer while being told it will restructure your hair, which it absolutely cannot do! Oh, and they charge you $35 for the service. What a waste of money. If you knew how to read the ingredient list, you would see the ingredients don’t differ from what almost all conditioners contain. Hair is dead and you can’t feed it, repair it, or restructure it with any ingredient or allegedly special formula. All you can do is make it feel repaired. Although that helps, once you wash your hair again—unless you use a conditioner again—your hair will not feel the way you want. That’s because the product the stylist raved about “everyone loving” absolutely could not repair your hair!

Women worry about and spend a great deal of time and money to look and feel beautiful. Whether it is their makeup, skin care, hair care (cutting, dyeing, styling), shaving, dry lips, buying the right fragrance, getting manicures and pedicures, dark circles under the eyes, clothing, weight loss, and on and on, we want to be attractive—and we pay attention to lots of details to achieve this goal.

Yet, despite this endless effort (any rational person has to admit that it’s exhausting) there are details we ignore, can’t see objectively, or didn’t know anything about (I mean, there is only so much time in a day, week, month, or year, right?).

It isn’t my intent to make your life more complicated. My hope is that these recommendations may actually make your beauty quest easier. I’m curious to hear what you think (I love your feedback!).

1. Stop touching your face when you have makeup on! Rubbing your eyes, resting your face on your hand, or holding your cell phone against your cheek causes you to slowly but surely wipe away the makeup you put on in the morning. Ask your friends or coworkers to point out when you do this because you probably don’t even know you’re doing it.
2. Don’t leave the house with chipped nail polish. Putting on a great outfit, stunning shoes, and doing your hair and makeup is all for naught if you ignore your peeling, cracked nail polish. Even with everything else in place, the shoddy manicure takes focus. It is especially detracting at your job.
3. Don’t wear clothes that don’t fit. This sounds simple, but it isn’t as easy as you might think. Women feel pressure not to repeat outfits within the same week, for some not even in the same month. When there’s nothing else to wear we go to the parts of our closet we shouldn’t. So if you can’t button a jacket or blouse, if your pants are too tight (you can see your panty line or way too much body detail), sleeves are too long, skirts are way too tight or short for your body type, or your pants are so long they drag on the floor and have frayed,  don’t wear them. Oh, and about those shoes with worn-down heels and torn leather—those need to be tossed out!
4. Don’t wear fake nails. I know, I know, those of you who are attached to your fake nails as much as they are attached to you aren’t going to take my strong recommendation to give this one up. Nonetheless, even if there weren’t issues of infection, damaged nail plates, and fumes when you’re getting them done, they are expensive and almost always distracting. Fake nails add nothing to your overall appearance. I mean really, isn’t it rare to see a set of fake nails that don’t look fake? Having long nails might be enviable, but if you don’t have nails that grow naturally long on their own, it doesn’t add to your appearance to stick acrylics on.
5. Don’t overdo mascara! I’m guilty of this one, too. No matter how hard I try to stop, I keep piling the stuff on. I do love the way my eyes look with long, thick lashes and it takes a lot of mascara to achieve this. But I also know that the way I do it doesn’t look anything like “real” long lashes. Too much mascara is distracting and the more you wear the more likely even the best mascara is going to flake during the day. Isn’t that a pretty picture? I’ll try again today to cut back, but just like for some of you, this isn’t going to be easy.

OK, one more “don’t” that will help a lot, and I’ve blogged about this issue in the past: Don’t fall asleep for the night with your makeup on! Being sure to cleanse your face before going to bed will help you avoid a litany of unattractive skin and eye-area problems and help you spend less time getting ready in the morning (because you’re not trying to fix all of the side effects evident from sleeping with your makeup on).

I finally have time to write again. After three weeks of doing over 150 newspaper, TV, magazine, and online interviews, along with several presentations to Chinese and Taiwanese beauty bloggers, I was exhausted and ready to get on the plane and come home. Unfortunately, for all the anticipation I had before departure, it was a trip from hell.

Shortly after dinner on my flight, I got food poisoning (not from the food served because no one else was affected, and thank goodness it was only me or it would have really been a disaster). I was having waves of nausea, cold sweats, and a feeling I was going to fall if I stood up. Simultaneously, I was also developing a raging flu with a fever and cough (can you believe that!). I needed a wheelchair to get off the plane. Geesh!

Aside from my traumatic trip, everything else was spectacular and fascinating (I was in perfect health until my plane ride home). Taiwan is a small part of the world with a population of 24 million, in comparison to China which has a population of 1.3 billion people. It is so hard to fathom that number!

Taipei has a mix of old world and new development with one of the tallest buildings in the world. Beijing and Shanghai have very little that isn’t new. These two cities are a maze of endless towering buildings enveloped day in and day out with a thick haze of pollution that blurs the horizon as well as buildings just a few blocks away. Picture New York City on steroids with minimal visibility in any given direction.

Beijing has a personality that is a mix of Washington D.C. and New York City as it is the financial and political cornerstone of the country. Shanghai, on the other hand, is a shopping Mecca. You can’t imagine the number of department stores, clothing boutiques, and home décor shops there are.

Despite all this potential to spend money on enhancing my wardrobe and home, it was sheer agony because there was no way anything was going to fit me. I was trapped in a world where on rack after rack there were stunning outfits but only with sizes ranging from 00 to 6. Can you believe that double-zero is actually a size? I don’t think I could fit a double-zero on my forearm, let alone try to make a top or pair of slacks work!

The media attention for the launch of my book in both Simplified and Traditional Chinese and my Paula’s Choice product line was astounding. My reputation as The Cosmetics Cop preceded me, and, not surprisingly, I was asked the same questions in China that I am asked all over the world (what gets rid of dark circles, what stops wrinkles, what products clear up acne), only with a few twists.

Asian women wanted to know what products were best for their skin because they believe they can’t use products designed for Caucasians. From a chemistry standpoint, there aren’t products specially formulated for Asian skin but, not surprisingly, cosmetic company marketing departments reinforce this false notion with products labeled clearly as being designed for Asian skin.

The fact is, physiologically, there are no differences between Asian skin and Caucasian—or darker skin tones, for that matter—when it comes to skin care. Skin is merely the human body’s largest organ. The same way the heart, kidneys, liver, or other organs don’t require different foods to be healthy, nor does skin.  Can you imagine going in for, say, heart surgery and telling the doctor you need a special procedure because of your nationality?

Skin color does not change what skin-care products are needed to fight wrinkles, acne, rosacea, oily skin, dry skin, uneven skin tone, and on and on. The protocol is the same for everyone, and there is no research to the contrary.

I was also asked a great deal about skin-care products that could make skin white. At the cosmetic counters and drugstores in China and Taiwan there are countless products branded as ”whitening.” Whitening products are actually the most popular skin-care products sold in Asia. Wanting to have lighter skin has been part of the Asian culture for hundreds of years, and most Asian women are diligent in this pursuit.

It isn’t so much that Asian women want to be white, they just don’t want to be yellow. In China, I was told there are age old sayings illustrating this beauty issue. One such idiom I had never heard before was, “One white face erases 100 ugly.” Loosely translated, this phrase in essence means that if you have whiter skin, 100 other flaws such as acne, a large nose, or thin hair don’t exist anymore and you are beautiful nonetheless. Another expression describing an unattractive older woman was to refer to her as a “yellow-faced old woman.” Now that was culture shock for this Cosmetics Cop!

Just to be clear, I have no judgment about the pressure Chinese women feel about the color of their skin. Every culture has women fretting about some aspect of being beautiful that sounds oppressive, and Asian women are no different, which is why they need a Cosmetics Cop as much as other women do anywhere else I go.

Speaking of skin-care products, I am thrilled my products are doing so well in Asia despite the fact I don’t sell “whitening” products. I am proud beyond words to find Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese women so warm and open to my information and the skin-care philosophy and research Paula’s Choice provides.

Despite some bumps along the way, I am looking forward to going back. There is so much more to learn and to see. Plus, I continue to be acknowledged around the globe for being The Cosmetics Cop! This international recognition has brought new meaning and challenges to my life. I am grateful for the privilege and am eager to continue and expand the passion I have for this perpetually wonderful, yet at times infuriating, business of beauty.

I
’ve been researching the science of skin care and deciphering its complex facts for people all over the world for years. Wherever I go there is endless confusion about what skin needs and what skin-care products can and cannot do. As many of you know, this isn’t surprising given the never-ending lunatic claims the cosmetic industry comes up with.

Without question, skin care is complex, and cutting through the hype is still a challenge! This is why I love The Dr. Oz Show.

The show’s entire premise is to only present information that can be supported by research. Their producers are eager to know the facts. I’ve done the show four times this year, and am always flattered to be asked to come back. Despite the show’s no-hype format, there just isn’t time in my four-minute segment for me to explain even a fragment of what is needed to understand a particular skin-care issue.

After the airing of a recent Dr. Oz segment I was on (Did That? Try This! For Your Aging Skin!), a woman wrote to us wondering why I suggested serums weren’t necessary, given I have three serums as part of my Paula’s Choice line. Now I know I didn’t say serums were superfluous. It was clear to me she misunderstood my point.

On the show, I was trying to explain to a woman with oily skin why using five different moisturizers every night as part of her skin-care routine was a serious problem. This woman was assuming she needed a moisturizer, anti-wrinkle cream, serum, firming lotion, and a treatment gel of some kind. What I knew for sure is that she didn’t need to use a serum, lotion, cream, gel, and moisturizer all at the same time!

What got lost was my message that serums or any other texture of moisturizer/anti-wrinkle product, when well formulated, can be a brilliant way to take care of skin. The prerequisite: It must be formulated for your skin type and skin-care concerns.

I really wanted to help this woman narrow down the number of products she was using and to only use ones targeted for her skin type, regardless of the name on the label. That might include a serum, but it would completely depend on the product’s formulation and the other products she was using. How could I get that across in four minutes knowing that there were two other women I needed to help as well on the same segment?

There is much more that I would have added, but it’s not The Paula Begoun Show, it’s The Dr. Oz Show. Here’s what I would’ve said if given more time:

• Packaging is as important as the product! Jar packaging exposes the air-sensitive ingredients in a product to light and oxygen, which causes sensitive ingredients to deteriorate after opening. Plus, it isn’t sanitary to dip your finger into a skin-care product.
• There is no single ingredient more important than another. Vitamin C or some exotic plant from a remote part of the world isn’t going to reverse the aging process or get rid of your wrinkles. Applying a product that only contains vitamin C is like eating only oranges; it’s a healthy addition to your diet, but you can’t live off them! You need a variety of antioxidants and nutrients for optimum health. Skin, as our body’s largest organ, isn’t any different.
• Fighting wrinkles involves an AHA or BHA exfoliant, products that are loaded with antioxidants, ingredients that help skin produce normal cells, and skin-repairing ingredients. But most importantly, you need a sunscreen 365 days a year. The best anti-aging products on the market are useless when you aren’t protecting your skin from UV exposure.
• Fighting oily skin requires gentle, non-irritating products so you don’t stimulate more oil production.
• Someone with oily skin should only be using products with a gel, liquid, or extremely lightweight serum or lotion base.
• For oily skin, it helps to use a mattifying product during the day.
• Age is not a skin type! What works for oily or dry skin at 30 will work at 50 or 60. “Mature skin” is a marketing buzzword, nothing more.
• Ignore the claims! It is the rare skin-care product that doesn’t have misleading information on its label.

Skin care is complicated, and there is (and always will be) a lot of misinformation, half-truths, and blatant lies to sell women products that can’t live up to their promises. Explaining how to really keep skin younger and healthier longer, how to reduce acne, fight wrinkles, heal dry skin, and on and on is far beyond what can be stated in a few minutes on a talk show. Dr. Oz is doing his best, but there is just so much time in an hour to talk about your liver, kidney, heart, knees, and skin!

I’m tooting my own horn here, but cosmetic companies are finally recognizing what I’ve been saying for years: Research has made it abundantly clear that exfoliating is critical for improving your skin. Exfoliating makes skin look younger, unclogs pores, and reduces breakouts. The best way to exfoliate is with an alpha hydroxy acid product (AHA) containing glycolic or lactic acid or beta hydroxy acid (BHA) which is salicylic acid. As a result of the benefits, more and more AHA and BHA products are showing up everywhere.

As most of you know, acne-prone skin and sun-damaged skin produce abnormal cells that build up on the skin’s surface because they don’t shed as they should. That thickened outer layer creates a rough, dull appearance and keeps beneficial skin-care ingredients from absorbing for maximum benefit. When skin gets help exfoliating on a daily basis, practically overnight skin becomes smoother, it produces more collagen, skin tone improves, clogged pores practically go away, and breakouts are significantly reduced.

While scrubs have been the mainstay for exfoliation over the years, they are a poor choice. Even gentle scrubs end up disrupting the skin’s outer barrier, which hurts the skin’s ability to fight environmental damage and breaks down collagen.

Okay, another brag: So even though AHAs and BHA have been around for more than 50 years in mostly dermatologic formulations, my Paula’s Choice product line is one of the few exceptions; I have the only cosmetic line in the world with 9 BHA and 5 AHA products in various textures and concentrations.

Many lines, including big brands such as Avon, Olay, and Mary Kay, launched AHA and BHA products in the early ’90s, but they were discontinued shortly after. Part of the reason for that is because the word acid is just scary. It’s hard to explain to a woman why an acid is as good for skin as green tea or vitamin C. And while AHAs and BHA really make skin look younger, they also make skin more vulnerable to sun damage just as a child’s would be. This fact makes a sunscreen mandatory, and lots of product lines didn’t offer one as part of the skin-care routines they sold (and many still don’t).

Ironically, when you really make skin younger it has the same problem that a kid’s skin does.

Another reason cosmetics companies stayed away from creating AHA and BHA products is that they are hard to work with in a formulation. For efficacy, AHAs and BHA require a pH of 3 to 4 and a lot of anti-irritants to maximize results, making stability an issue.

I also feel strongly that BHA has been an unsung hero of which other companies are only now beginning to take note. Salicylic acid has astounding properties. It not only is an effective exfoliant but it also has some antibacterial benefit, and because it is related to aspirin (aspirin is acetyl salicylic acid) it also has significant anti-irritant properties. This makes BHA a blessing for someone with acne or rosacea.

Now that AHAs and BHA are showing up in skin-care products again, the question becomes, can companies come up with effective formulations and adapt their other products to give women the best results possible? Of course, we will let you know as we add reviews to Beautypedia.com.

Just about everyone has hair somewhere on their body that they don’t want, or at least want to reduce. Whether it’s on your legs, underarms, face, back, arms, or bikini line, finding an effective and efficient way to get rid of it isn’t easy. There is a glut of sham treatments and products with unsubstantiated claims to avoid. Even among the options that work, each still has its pros and cons you need to understand—but we can help you avoid wasting money and time and get the results you want!

Shaving
Everyone knows the benefits and problems associated with shaving. On the plus side, it is fast and easy; in the negative column, it grows back way too fast and the stubble or redness it can cause on the thigh and bikini line is obnoxious. There are ways to deal with the redness, like using a hair conditioner or a non-irritating shave gel such as Paula’s Choice Close Comfort Shave Gel, which is designed to protect your skin while you shave. Afterwards, applying a fragrance-free moisturizer or a solution containing stabilized acetyl salicylic acid (aspirin), such as Paula’s Choice Skin Relief Treatment, really helps to reduce redness and calm your skin.

Tweezing
You can’t get much more basic and simpler than tweezing for hair removal. You grab a hair with tweezers and yank it out, removing all the hair on the surface and some amount at the base of the hair follicle. On the plus side, tweezed hairs take longer to grow back than hair removed from shaving or depilatories. On the negative end, tweezing can be painful and only works well for small areas of the face, such as the brow or chin. If you want to remove a lot of hair the time and tedious nature of tweezing isn’t worth the effort.

Threading
This unique method of hair removal comes from Middle Eastern countries such as Iran and Syria. The “threader” uses a long piece of thread held between her teeth and wrapped around the arms and hands in such a way that a loop is created. Then, with swift, rapid motions each hair is plucked away in a short period of time. The speed in which this technique is done is truly amazing.

Threading offers no benefit over and above what tweezing does other than a relatively large amount of hair can be removed all at once in just a few minutes (and someone else is doing the work). Otherwise, your hair grows back exactly how it would if you tweezed.

Epilady
Epilady looks like an electric shaver, but it is really just an automatic powered tweezer. As you run it over your skin it pulls out hair in one even motion. It is convenient and fast, but just like waxing and sugaring, Epilady requires some amount of hair growth in order for the device to have enough hair to grab onto and pull it out.

Waxing
Basically, waxing is just a method of tweezing large areas of hair. Waxing is an inexpensive and effective way to remove hair from most parts of the body. Compared to shaving, it leaves the areas where hair was removed smoother because it pulls the hair out from below the top layer of skin.

Most salons and spas offer waxing, but you can also do it at home yourself. Many beauty supply stores and even drugstores sell all the equipment you will need.

In hot waxing, a thin layer of heated wax is applied to the skin in the direction of the hair growth. The hair becomes embedded in the wax as it cools. The wax is then pulled off quickly in the opposite direction of the hair growth, taking the hair with it. It’s quick but not painless, as many who’ve been waxed will attest!

Cold waxes work similarly. Strips are pre-coated with wax or a sugar-based substance and pressed onto the skin in the direction of the hair growth and pulled off in the opposite direction.

One major shortcoming of waxing is that some amount of hair growth has to be present for the wax to grab onto it and pull it out. That means for a period of time you have to be “hairy” before you can be hairless.

Sugaring
Sugaring as a method to remove hair is identical to waxing only instead of “wax” the ingredients used are various forms of sugar. Just like waxing (and tweezing), sugaring pulls hair out in one swift motion. Despite the claims you’ve heard, there is absolutely no special benefit to this type of hair removal.

The only aspects of sugaring that are preferred over waxing is sugaring is less messy and it has no risk of causing a burn as hot wax does. Sugaring’s mess or mistakes merely washes away, while any remaining wax has to be peeled or scratched off. And because sugar doesn’t have to be heated to use while hot wax does, there is obviously no risk of burning your skin.

One major shortcoming of sugaring is that some amount of hair growth has to be present for the sugary cream to grab onto it and pull it out. That means for a period of time you have to be “hairy” before you can be hairless.

Depilatories
Depilatories (Nair is a well-known brand) literally melt and dissolve hair on the surface with really strong ingredients like calcium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, or calcium thioglycolate. They do leave skin feeling far less stubbly than shaving, but the way depilatories are formulated presents a high risk of causing serious irritation or even burns to the skin. It is best to test the depilatory on your arm first to check for reactions, and follow the directions on the package exactly. Depilatories should always be rinsed after several minutes; do not leave them on the skin for prolonged periods!

Bleaching
Bleaching is a great, inexpensive option if the hair you want to hide is dark but not thick or dense. It is especially effective for the upper lip or other parts of the face, neck, and arms. There are many options for facial bleach products at the drugstore or on the Internet. One of the best Internet sources for a range of inexpensive options is http://www.folica.com/. (Please note that this site also sells an array of products that have misleading and exaggerated claims.)

Electrolysis
Electrolysis (also referred to as epilation) is considered by the FDA to be the only permanent form of hair removal. There are two types of electrolysis devices: One is a needle epilator and the other a tweezer-styled epilator. Both of these send electrical currents directly into one hair follicle at a time to destroy the hair bulb. Without the bulb, hair cannot grow.

Even in the best of situations electrolysis can fail to deliver. The procedure requires an extremely skilled technician because the needle placement into the follicle is tricky and can easily miss its mark, plus it is possible to use insufficient electrical current which won’t destroy the bulb and stop hair growth.

Although individual electrolysis appointments can be relatively inexpensive, it requires repeated weekly treatments that can take a year or longer to get you the results you want.

Home Electrolysis
Technically, the at-home electrolysis devices work the same way as professional versions but they can’t produce the same results. Why? For safety’s sake, at-home electrolysis machines produce very little electrical current which means they can’t destroy the hair bulb to stop hair growth.

Further, because the technique for electrolysis is so tricky even for a skilled technician, the chances of successfully operating these devices yourself are slim, at best. You would probably end up just tweezing instead of zapping the hair because getting the device to work as intended takes a lot of skill. Given the time it takes for a hair to grow back, it could take months before you knew if it was really working.

Laser Hair Removal
Of all the methods for hair removal there is no question laser hair removal works, and works really well! But it gets better: You can be hairless with very few treatments and minimal maintenance, though this varies depending on how much hair you are trying to get rid of. If you can afford laser hair removal and have light, fair, beige, or medium beige skin, you can achieve long-lasting results over just about any part of your body you want to have hairless. If you have a darker skin tone you must check with your doctor. Lasers for hair removal follow the dark color of hair (they don’t work on blonde hair) and as a result they can damage dark skin color.

The risks in laser hair removal can include skin discoloration (either darkening or lightening of skin), swelling, inflammation, and infected hair follicles. It is important to keep in mind that laser hair removal, while superior to other forms of hair removal, is still not permanent. But it is pretty darn close!

There are numerous laser hair removal systems, but research has shown that the 800 or 810 nanometer diode laser is by far the most successful and can be used on a wider range of skin colors, particularly Asian skin tones.

At-Home Lasers
It may shock you (both literally and figuratively) to learn that the exact same lasers a salon or doctor’s office may use for hair removal are available for you to buy and do it yourself at home. For example, the TRIA is an 810 nanometer diode laser system with research showing it can reduce hair growth. It is tricky to use and the instructions must be followed exactly or the machine won’t produce even minor results, but it is absolutely an option to consider. 

No! No! Thermodynamic Hair Removal

Costing $250 for the device and $21 for replaceable blades the No! No! is a combination of shaving and heat to remove unwanted hair. The term “thermodynamic” in the name is just a fancy way of saying it produces heat to burn away hair which is literally what it does, along with shaving at the same time. There is no research showing this works, and physiologically it really can’t work. Singing hair on the surface of skin (and you will smell burnt hair after using it) does not carry through to the root at the base of the hair follicle frying it into nonexistence. If that did happen you would surely get a fairly serious burn, but thankfully only the surface is affected. It will feel like something is happening when you use it, but other than shaving there is no other real benefit to be had. Our verdict? Just say “no” to the No! No!

Paula’s Choice is thrilled to welcome Paula’s Choice Thailand as the official Distributor for our products in Thailand.

From the beginning my goal has been to help women find products that will give them the skin they’ve always wanted. Over the years, I have watched my passion of providing brilliant skin care products for every concern grow from being just distributed in the United States, into Paula’s Choice products being distributed in 42 countries around the world. Adding Thailand to the Paula’s Choice family is a dream come true!

Visit the official Paula’s Choice Thailand website here!

Warmest regards,

Paula Begoun

One of the journals Paula and I routinely read to keep up on the latest research-driven, peer-reviewed skin-care trends is Cosmetic Dermatology. The August issue featured a review of light-based treatments for acne, and it was a great piece with helpful information worth passing on.

Although light-emitting diodes (LED) with either red or blue bulbs show promise, those with acne need to know that they are absolutely not the first or even the best option. Light-emitting treatments for acne should be considered a second line of defense and as with any treatment for skin, there are pros and cons. 

The research shows that LED (from either blue or red lights) is best utilized as part of a comprehensive system with other proven anti-acne products. By “proven,” we mean products that include benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid, the cornerstones of Paula’s Choice CLEAR 3-Step System and other anti-acne products we recommend on Beautypedia. Those two gold standard anti-acne ingredients work for a large percentage of people fighting mild to moderate acne, either as teens or adults. 

If you want to consider LED treatments, here’s what the article in Cosmetic Dermatology summarized for the two most popular types of light therapy for acne-prone skin:

Blue Light Therapy

How it Works: Specific wavelengths of blue light target the strain of bacteria that play a pivotal role in causing acne. The light causes the development of oxygen radicals that kill P. acnes bacteria without damaging healthy skin.

Pros: Proven to kill acne-causing bacteria; best for mild to moderate inflammatory acne; reduced potential for side effects (such as dryness or peeling) that can occur with benzoyl peroxide products; a worthwhile option for those whose skin cannot tolerate topical disinfectants; pain-free, no downtime.

Cons: Requires multiple treatments, as many as 4 per week; expensive (averaging $40 per treatment), with results comparable to what you can achieve at home using a product medicated with 5% benzoyl peroxide (such as Paula’s Choice CLEAR Extra Strength Acne Fighting Treatment); LED treatments are not effective for cystic acne, blackheads, or whiteheads (milia); long-term results are unknown.

Device Names: ClearLight Acne Photoclearing System; Blu-U; Omnilux Blue (available outside the United States).

Red Light Therapy

How it Works: Specific wavelengths of red light target the skin’s oil glands and reduce cytokines, a class of pro-inflammatory substances believed to play a role in chronic acne. May also help improve skin’s barrier function by improving its ability to retain key elements it needs to heal; is believed to stimulate healthy collagen production. 

Pros: Also helps reduce signs of aging (though the results are subtle), so can be a better choice for those struggling with acne and wrinkles; minimal risk of side effects, especially when used without light-activating chemicals; no downtime.

Cons: Requires multiple treatments; not as well researched as Blue Light Therapy; does not affect acne-causing bacteria; long-term results are unknown; costs can vary from $50–$200 or more per treatment, depending on the device and treatment protocol your dermatologist prefers.

Device Names: Acnelamp (emits red and blue light, a combination that may prove even more helpful for acne than either light used alone); Omnilux Revive.

What about at-home light-emitting devices for clearing acne? For the most part, due to concerns over lawsuits, manufacturers of these devices are forced to limit their intensity. You’ll see red and/or blue lights emitting from the device, but the intensity is much less than the machines your dermatologist uses. In a sense, that’s good news because it is possible to overdo these treatments and consumers could end up damaging their skin, which is never the goal. Moreover, both of these light-emitting devices require protective eyewear. The wavelengths they emit can damage unprotected eyes, and if you don’t remember to protect your eyes at home with the higher intensity output you would be risking your sight.

Bottom line: LED treatments are an option after other topical medications haven’t worked. Just keep in mind that benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, and tretinoin (a prescription-only topical medication), along with other medical options are the first things you should consider. My strong personal feeling is that given the expense, and that most health insurance plans do not cover LED treatments for acne, they are last in line for dealing with acne.