“Our ingredients are high quality; that’s why they are so expensive.”

It would be nice if that were true, but I can’t get any cosmetics company to give me proof of it. I’ve asked for the names of their suppliers to find out what grades of products they are selling and if they have inferior grades that go to some companies but not others. From what I’ve been able to find out on my own after talking to several cosmetic-ingredient manufacturers, the grades of cosmetic ingredients don’t vary that much, and everyone buys cosmetic-grade ingredients, which are all high quality. For example, DuPont is one of the largest suppliers of glycolic acid to the cosmetics industry (they supply over 99% of the industry who use this ingredient), and they supply the same version to everyone.

A story on MSNBC.com caught the eye of an associate of mine. Her email to me was simple, she included the link to the story and said “This is a little creepy”. At first I read “creepy” as “crepey”(meaning wrinkled skin, questions I get asked about a lot), but a quick look at the content when I clicked through proved she was talking about something else.

A bold headline read: “FDA receives 930 reports of wrinkle-filler issues” and then the subhead drove the needle in deeper, “Some suffer facial palsy, disfigurement and other problems after injections.”

The story went on to explain that “U.S. regulators have received reports of serious and unexpected problems in people treated with wrinkle-fighting injections known as dermal fillers, Food and Drug Administration staff said. The problems included facial palsy, disfigurement and rare but life-threatening events such as severe allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock.”

Okay, now that is creepy, but the way this story was being reported was at best superficial and more sensationalistic than the facts warranted. Although there are risks for any dermal filler (and there are over a dozen different FDA-approved dermal fillers a doctor can select), given the millions of dermal injections performed every year, statistically your risk of problems (especially from an experienced doctor) is incredibly small.

Just in case you don’t know, dermal fillers are natural or synthetic injectable materials that a physician fills a syringe with and then typically injects into a wrinkle, a depressed acne scar, or the lip area to make it fuller or plump out the wrinkle. And the procedure works, and almost always, works really, really well.

But back to the risks and the 930 reports of problems. What went wrong? One of the typical problems with dermal fillers is the potential for lumps or bumps to occur in the injected area, or the material can migrate to areas it wasn’t intended for. These are part of the risks but these potential side effects are often poorly communicated by the physician during the consultation. Instead, all that’s paid attention to are the anticipated positive results, as in no more wrinkles or visible scars.

It is also important to note that of these 930 complaints 739 were from the U.S. and 135 were from other countries including China, South Africa and Brazil with Australia, France, and the United Kingdom reporting the most complications

Some of the complaints were actually minor in nature, including reactions that are expected after treatment such as swelling, redness, bruising, some amount of pain or headache, blistering, and itching, all of which resolve in a few days. What should not happen (and it rarely does) are such occurrences as severe hypersensitivity reactions, serious infection at the injection site, and facial paralysis.

Again, there absolutely are risksyou need to know about to make an educated decision about any cosmetic corrective procedure but the MSNBC.com article made it sound far more ominous for dermal fillers than what the reality is. What you can take away from this report is the reminder that any cosmetic treatment performed by a physician (laser, Intense Pulse Light, Thermage, Fraxel, Botox, etc.) has risks that you need to consider before deciding to move forward or decline having the procedure done.

Here are some basic considerations to think about before you decide to use dermal fillers as a way to deal with stubborn lines around your mouth, the crease that runs from the corner of your nose down to your mouth (called the nasal-labial folds), the frown lines between your eyes, or acne scarring:

1. In general, any single dermal filler should not be used to treat all the problems you want corrected on your face. Different fillers offer improved benefits for certain areas compared toothers.
2. Some dermal fillers have limited applications, but often doctors who either don’t know better or consider going outside the limitations to be low risk go ahead and inject it in a questionable area anyway.
3. Dermal fillers should not be used on people with known sensitivities to the filler material, those with severe allergies, or persons with bleeding disorders.
4. Doctors who don’t take a complete medical history risk injecting someone who is a poor candidate for the procedure. If your doctor doesn’t take a complete medical history, find another physician who knows better than to proceed with a dermal injection without this important step completed.
5. Never inject skin when it is inflamed or irritated (that means don’t rush from your facial peel or microdermabrasion to dermal fillers).
6. Injecting someone who has recurrent or recent herpes breakouts in the area being treated will likely cause an eruption.
7. Injecting a patient with a history of keloid scarring, hyperpigmentation, or hypertrophic increases the chances of an undesirable outcome.
8. Be aware that some fillers only last about 6-18 months (with the average duration being 9 months to a year) which means that most bumps or lumps would resolve in that period of time. Semi-permanent fillers would result in problems such as these lasting indefinitely or would require being surgically removed.

On a personal note, as someone who has used dermal fillers, I have experienced some minor problems. I chose to use a semi-permanent filler fully aware that any problems could be longer lasting. I elected to take the increased risk because I loathed the idea of having to go back to my physician on a regular basis to get injected again (not to mention the expense). The small bumps and tenderness around my lips have remained for several years. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the fillers really have lasted and look great. In hindsight, would I do it again knowing what I’d be dealing with? Yes. But as I said, knowing the pros and cons is a must before any cosmetic corrective procedure. The final decision is yours.

“You have nighttime free radicals and daytime free radicals. Daytime free radicals are the sun and pollution, the nighttime free radicals are, um, I’m really not sure what those little boogers, the little nighttime pesticides, are that damage your skin at night, but they are there!”

Free radicals are destructive molecules that cannot tell time! Yes, it is true that sunlight is a major source of free radicals generated in the daytime, yet pollution, whether coming from auto exhaust or industrial pollutants, is ever-present. The level of pollutants may be higher during daylight hours, but it certainly doesn’t disappear when the sun goes down! And what about the fact that the oxygen we need to live is a potent source of free-radical damage, and that’s around all the time, too?

I don’t know what to make of the “nighttime pesticides” comment, but unless you are sleeping in a field or on farmland that has recently been crop-dusted, I wouldn’t be too concerned about pesticides on your skin at night.

Regardless of whether it’s day or night, antioxidants are state-of-the-art ingredients to look for when shopping for skin-care products, and there are dozens available (with no clear-cut “best” choice among them), but none of them can distinguish between daytime and nighttime free radicals. In theory, antioxidants in well-formulated skin-care products should perform regardless of the time of day.

G’day mates! How ya goin? No worries, everything has been like a dog’s dinner and I’ve been running around like a blue arse fly! (Australian slang is just a trip).

I’m in Melbourne now. It’s been quite a weekend. My time in Korea ended up great; what an experience, and Paula’s Choice Korea has been a wonderful launch. I’m so flattered that Korean women have taken to my products with such enthusiasm! I am thrilled with the businessman heading up Paula’s Choice Korea and am confident he will continue to be successful given his Web savvy and intuitive nature concerning the cosmetics industry.

I spent the weekend in Melbourne with our Australian distributors for Paula’s Choice talking a lot of business and doing a lot of drinking, especially some outstanding red wine; Australian Syrah is the best. Australia continues to be a great market for Paula’s Choice since so many of the locals are familiar with my books (all my books have been best-sellers in Australia since I published my first one there in 1989) and many subscribe to Beautypedia.

We went to an animal sanctuary today (Sunday) and we saw kangaroos (we got to feed a group of them, just precious), wombats, koala bears, emus, and a bird of prey show that had the birds swooping over our heads.

I also went to a footie game on Saturday (Australian-rules football); This is their version of our football, but it is more a mix of soccer and, well, I’m not sure what, but it was very interesting and the stadium was huge and packed, such energy. There were over 75,000 people in attendance and this is just the beginning of the season. Sports of any kind is a religion in Australia. My Australian distributor belongs to a footie club and we had lunch with this large group of sports enthusiasts and they had me speak for 20 minutes. In the 75-year history of this organization I’m the first woman speaker they’ve ever had. It was a resounding success; everyone laughed at all my jokes, including the need for a burka to cover cellulite.

I’ve attached a picture of a bookstore carrying my books here. I have a book signing there on Tuesday evening and then off to Sydney. I have a total of 30 media interviews throughout the week and then I plan on sleeping all day Saturday. I come home on Sunday (a 16 hour non-stop flight to LA) and boy am I ready to be home! I’m having I’ve-been-out-of-the-country-too-long-traveling-the world-airport weary blues!

All the best!

I’m in Seoul now. Boy is this a different part of the world! The pollution is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Because Seoul was so heavily bombed during North Korea‘s attack in the early 1950s, everything here is completely rebuilt and new. It is like a huge (and I mean really, really huge) cement, steel, and glass, high rise jungle with over 10 million people–but it is immaculate: no one honks, everyone is polite, and virtually no homeless people or slums. This is about as 180 degrees from Mumbai as you can get!

One thing I have a VERY hard time getting used to is how passive the men and women are (completely unlike Americans, Australians, or Europeans). They are reticent to speak out, to move, or take action when you ask them to do something or they see something needs to be done. No matter what the circumstance, they always, and I mean always stand back, almost afraid to move, especially women, and always to check to see if anyone would object to what they might do or say. Of course I’m being a very assertive American woman and often have to say to the people working for me, just go ahead, please do that NOW for me.

I’m a bit of a celebrity in Korea. I had a press conference today with over 30 reporters. On Sunday I did a lecture to over 400 Korean women. After the lecture they stood in line waiting to get my autograph and their picture taken with me. It’s just amazing and incredibly flattering. Moments like this make all the hard work and days of non-stop traveling worthwhile.

My translators are great; they are working very hard and are sweet putting up with me. It is not easy for them to translate from English to Korean. The word order is out of synch with English. In order to say “Don’t waste your money on expensive skin care products”, the word order in Korean would be “Money waste not, skin care products expensive”.

Paula’s Choice Korea is doing great; they are growing at a phenomenal pace. This country is wired with a capital “W”! Everyone is on the internet and Internet shopping is more active here then almost any place in the world.

We watched a traditional Korean concert last night, which was fascinating. The twangy music is hard on these American ears but the audience was quite enthusiastic.

Oh, and the food here is amazing here! The variation of cooked and pickled vegetables is remarkable.

I’m here until Thursday and then off to Melbourne and Sydney for a week. It’s a 13 hour flight from here to Melbourne and then a 16 hour flight back from Sydney to Seattle. I’m tired just thinking about it. Thank goodness for Ambien.

I’m off to do more interviews, then get my hair and nails done so I look good for the interviews I have lined up for tomorrow. One thing that hasn’t changed over the years is the amount of time it takes to get ready for an interview.

 All the best!  

 

My phone doesn’t work well here at least as far as messages are concerned. I’m doing great though: no mosquito bites, no problems from the malaria pills, and no stomach upset from all the shots and immunizations required before traveling to this part of the world.

It has been a fascinating learning experience and I mean really, really, really fascinating. On some level I could just be in New York or Hong Kong or Sydney, but then on a closer look the poverty and the plethora of buildings that are falling apart just takes your breath away and overwhelms your heart. I have never seen poverty like this. And the heat in their spring!  You can barely walk outside without melting. It is almost painful!

The business meetings have been incredible but not what I expected in the least. From a business perspective this country seems simultaneously behind the times and up to speed in the millennium. From an Internet perspective they are somewhere in the mid-90s. But the economy is growing by leaps and bounds and as a result there is an amazing amount of progress and development but there is also an immense amount of confusion, political turmoil, unbelievable unemployment, there is need for far more development, and bribery is still a way of doing business. So why am I bothering? Because feedback from businesswomen in India and from consumers has been loud and clear that they want Paula’s Choice products available locally. How amazing!

In order for me to sell Paula’s Choice here I would need to manufacture my products here. I’m trying to figure out how to do that, which has been a 180 degree shift from what I originally thought (meaning my plan was to ship my products here from our Seattle warehouse). Importing is beyond costly (duties, special regulatory requirements that don’t apply to local products) and there are skin care products in this country selling for $3 U.S. funds (they are really awful formulations but they are cheap to make).

My boyfriend who hails from Mumbai has been helping quite a bit. He has been coming with me for most of my meetings. His being able to speak the local language (either Hindi or Marathi) is extremely helpful. There are many times that English just doesn’t work despite the fact that everyone speaks English for the most part. The fact remains that many people are still most comfortable speaking their native tongue. Sometimes it is word choice but often it is just pronunciation; sometimes it is the way they shake their head (I think they are saying no and they are just shaking their heads—imagine the comical situations that can lead to!).

I find the Indian people quite formal and extremely polite and considerate. They also have a great, quirky sense of humor which is wonderful (everyone gets my jokes and they are willing to laugh out loud which is just great).

I’m still not sure I can do business here with the same high standards I hold myself to in other countries, but I am convinced that it is so worth it to continue the investigation and give it a try. The emerging middle class and the desire for information is a pulse you can feel. Women here are amazing. I’ve met with many female business owners or in high-level mid-management positions. They are assertive, smart, savvy, and intense but very service-oriented. They hold to tradition but long to be global. And it is interesting to note that no matter where I travel, the demand for effective, well-formulated skin-care products remains a universal desire.

On a side note, other than culture shock, one particularly unique aspect of Indian society is that everyone (and I mean everyone) lives with their parents until they get married, and often even then they remain with their parents, never moving out.

I clearly stand out here like a sore thumb (at least when I’m dressed up for meetings and wearing full makeup), not in the hotels, but in meetings or driving through the city. The people seem to think I’m a Bollywood celebrity. I went to a Hindu temple last week. They have separate entrances for men and women I went up to the altar and handed their “priest” money and received Darshan (candy, a coconut, and a flower—I have no idea what the coconut was for but the candy is something very typical) he also put a bindi on my forehead (a red dot made of some mixture of seasonings). I wore it all day! It looked great. A gorgeous fashion statement!

On Saturday I’m off to Korea. That should be fascinating as no one speaks English there and I have a big presentation I’m doing for the media and then to a group of over 400 Korean women!

Namaste!

Quick, let’s cradle our faces in our hands and gently pull back the skin at the bottom of our jaws towards our ears and see who we once were.  You know you do that.  We all do.  Who are we seeing when we stretch our jowls back through time?  To a time when we never thought to push the skin forward for a secret glimpse of who we were to become.

 At first, I see the smoothed gentle skin of my younger face.  Then, I see the me behind my eyes.  The me that Freud referred to as self.  Not the anatomy is destiny, me. It is when I let my jaw down, so to speak, that I look at the older, stranger me I am becoming.  My soul seems to age in dog years, while my body catapults forward in people time.  It really is okay, though.  I know there are options such as Restylane, Botox, and face lifts, but that is a step in the direction of Cher and Joan Rivers I’m not willing to take just yet.

I remember seeing my first serious wrinkle.  I was looking into a rearview mirror to put sunscreen on my face right before a five-mile run. Yes, I know.  You wouldn’t believe that by looking at me now.  But then, I was thirty years old and I noticed, for the first time, on the right side of my mouth a crease, a deep crease, an etched crease, a crease that seemed big enough to need its own tube of sunscreen. 

It surprised me.  “Wow,” I remember thinking, “when did that happen?”  But it was a singularity, a oner.  I didn’t get the foreshadowing.  So, I went for my run while my one-wrinkle face had begun an agenda all its own.

We do indeed focus on our aging skin.  And we all know we have better things to think about.  We all know this attention is existentially foolish.  We all know it’s self-indulgent vanity.  We feel a bit ashamed and a bit shallow.  There are far more important issues.

It’s petty, of course, this preoccupation with our post-menopausal, estrogen-deprived, sun-damaged skin.  Very un-Zen-like.  It’s so hard, however, to watch our beauty leak out through the sieve of time, to watch it sustain the relentless erosion of youth with peaceful detachment, especially when we live in a culture dominated by the priceless commodities of beauty and youth.

Phew, I’m out of breath just writing that last sentence.  And I probably just lost another few skin cells.

Young people, however, really are beautiful. And they’re all around us. We have to watch them for the rest of our lives.  And there will be more and more of them and fewer and fewer of us for the rest of our lives.  It’s like watching your best friend walking around with your ex-boyfriend, who dropped you.  You want him back.  You want to touch him.  You know it’s not fair.

Jaw up.  Jaw down. Yet, I am mainly content and at peace with my saggy skin.  My soft, fluid skin.  My moveable feast of flesh.  And while I know there is blight in the world that makes my facial woes truly insignificant, I’m having dinner tonight in my safe and quiet home with my dog and my husband, not in that order, knowing full-well that wrinkles are a luxury.

I don’t often get press releases. Most companies, actually 99% of all cosmetic companies, don’t want me to know they are launching a new product because they don’t want to risk a negative review (who does?) Given that most every skin-care product on the market can’t live up to a fraction of the claims on the label, why risk close scrutiny when the scrutinizer isn’t tied to advertising dollars? If you think about it, even the cosmetic companies don’t believe their own claims or a company like Lauder wouldn’t be selling over 300 antiwrinkle products from the numerous lines they own from Clinique to La Mer. If one product could live up to the claims on the label, what is the need for all the other products sold at the same counter or the new ones they will be launching next month or the month after with the same exaggerated claims? But I digress.

When I do get a press release I automatically assume the company really doesn’t know what I do (which is often the case and then once they find out we never hear from them again). That might be the case for this company who sent me the following press release:

“I thought you might be interested in this new underwater cellulite treatment: Regardless of weight, diet and exercise routine, 90-95% of women will be struggling with cellulite this bathing suit season and all year round. Cellulite Reduction Water Therapy, a new non-invasive treatment offered at The Medical Spa at Nova in Ashburn, Va., uses warm water under pressure to break down fatty deposits and increase blood flow, effectively reducing cellulite. This 60-minute treatment is a targeted underwater massage performed in a hydrotherapy tub. The result is the breaking up of fibrotic connective tissue. The underwater massage also assists and enhances the body’s microcirculation and lymphatic drainage system by disposing excess metabolic water fluid. Because the massage is gentle, it is suitable for fragile or brittle skin or skin with vascular problems.

First and foremost their numbers are meaningless, 90% to 95% of women? Where did they get that number from? The actual statistic is that 85% of women have cellulite but not almost every woman born (isn’t 95% of women close to everybody?) worries about cellulite, but that’s a minor point. Second, there is no research showing this method of massage or any massage method is effective for dealing with cellulite. If you could get rid of cellulite with any cosmetic method who would have cellulite? No one, right? But that is clearly not the case, at least based on the number of letters I receive from women battling cellulite.

The other point is that fat has nothing to do with cellulite, though the idea of breaking down fat with massage is nice, if that was all it took to lose weight who would be overweight? It is important to realize that normal weight women, thin women, and extremely thin women can all have cellulite, ergo the statistic that a vast majority of women have cellulite. Blood flow doesn’t affect fat or the appearance of cellulite either; again there isn’t a shred of research supporting this nonsense. What is most ludicrous is the notion that fibrotic connective tissue is the problem. Fibrotic tissue or Fibrosis is the formation of scar-like, hardened formations in skin tissue. There is no research indicating that the healthy skin on 85% of women’s thighs is fibrotic.

Given the almost universal complaint  of cellulite from women of all weight and sizes, a hormonal issue is believed to be the cause of this condition. Since women are genetically predisposed to have babies, as a result their skin is structured to expand to accommodate a growing fetus. The skin’s laxity doesn’t keep fat in place allowing it to poke through weak areas of connective tissues fascia and collagen.

Once again, someone is ready, willing, and able to sell women some kind of “snake oil” promising to rid them of their beauty woes, when all they can deliver is a way to throw money down the drain. Well, that and the disappointment that comes when the consumer realizes her cellulite is still there!  

Along with our coffee, review of new emails and start of a game plan for upcoming tasks, there are the standard “Good Mornings” extended to each employee in the office and this doesn’t just apply to our human employees.

From divas such as Satine, Coco, Bella and Daisy to carefree boys like Pablo, Sponge Bob, Timmy, Bo, Boris and Danny, the office dogs at Paula’s Choice have become a staple in our day. As if on the time clock themselves, these dogs wouldn’t miss a day of work and feel as though they are just as productive as everyone else; even attending meetings from time to time. Of course there are the daily breaks as well and this means literally getting on the floor and for a good old fashioned belly rub. Okay, the dogs not us (although that doesn’t sound bad) and don’t think Paula is exempt. In fact, the dogs know when she’s entered the building by the sound of her voice and also know she will give them each a moment of undivided attention on the floor, high heels and all!

With wagging tails and an almost smile on their face at times, I have witnessed a great example of a win-win situation. These office dogs (some rescued) need a certain something and add a certain something to our team at the same time. Without effort, they manage to bring out the best and friendliest in each and every one of us.

While this maybe a little strange or different to other companies, Paula’s Choice wouldn’t have it any other way. After all, who would explain to our canine partners that they can no longer come to work? We just can’t imagine the office without them! 

A very attractive, young, pert, blonde receptionist who had just heard me do an interview on the radio station where she worked asked me on my way out, “Should a 25-year-old start using anti-aging products?” I thought, what does she want to do, revert to birth? But I knew what she meant and I responded by saying, “the only thing you really need is a great sunscreen, and be sure to never get a tan, and you will do fine; the rest is just skin care, important but not as relevant in any way in comparison to being sun smart.” She sat up and in a 20-something kind of way, said “But I love the sun and I love getting tan, I just don’t want to wrinkle.” I said, “Well then, you might as well buy a lottery ticket, because you probably believe you will win that windfall as well! False hope springs eternal; the reality you live in isn’t how skin works.”

Okay, I was in a mood. I usually just smile and walk away, but it’s getting worse out there, not better and my frustration is at an all-time high. If I believed in conspiracy theories I would say the media is in bed with the cosmetics industry, but alas it isn’t theory, it’s fact. Every time I do a talk show I’m always asked if I’m going to be critical of any of their advertisers, of if I’m going to say anything that might be of legal concern (sort of like Oprah Winfrey saying she didn’t want to eat hamburger). Advertisers are in control of what I say on TV or radio, and even to some extent in print (fashion magazines are a foregone conclusion; they treat me as if I don’t exist or simply don’t know what I’m talking about).

Reporters all over the world ask me what works, but the answer assumes that something must work to get rid of wrinkles. The endless press releases from mainstream cosmetics companies, physician-owned cosmetic companies, and spas and salons of all kinds have created the ultimate, anti-wrinkle products, you just have to find the ones that aren’t lying to you (somehow we know everyone can’t be telling the truth, but the notion that everyone is lying to one degree or another is something most women just won’t believe) and the one in front of you at the moment (especially if you’re feeling vulnerable) or that’s endorsed by a celebrity or has an attractive ad wins every time.

Women seemingly never tire of a product promising it can firm the skin, erase wrinkles, restore youth, fight aging, and on and on. There are literally thousands and thousands of anti-aging products perpetually using the same nebulous yet miraculous claims that often stop just short of lying (or blatantly lie). In some ways it is beyond belief how many products are launched every month, year after year. But because women keep believing the claims from the endless assault of anti-aging/anti-wrinkle products, I guess for me, it’s job security!