Can’t figure out what skin-care care treatments really work? Here’s what one of the nation’s leading dermatologist’s does for her own skin.

Dr. Karyn Grossman recommends skin-care products

“Most of the time, people comment that I look amazing for 43! And I tell patients, I practice what I preach. I graduated medical school 20 years ago and have not had a suntan since!”

She recommends daily use of a sunscreen with a high SPF.

Here are the treatments she’s had done for herself.

Thermage: This is a treatment that uses heat to tighten underlying layers of the skin, which reduces wrinkles and sagging.

“I think has been one of my biggest successes. I started doing it when Thermage first came out, and my brows are still higher seven years later than they were when I started. It definitely has taken the ‘tired look’ off my face. Every time I do a treatment, patients comment on how good I look in some odd way— everyone starts gushing that I finally lost all my baby weight (but the scale has not budged) or they stop telling me I must be so exhausted going back and forth from L.A. to N.Y. I do one every two years or so.”

Active FX: This fractional laser removes brown spots, redness and targets lines, wrinkles and scars.
“This has wiped much of the vestiges of my beach days off my face. While a few freckles have recurred, it definitely has left my skin smoother, less spotty and more even toned.”

IPL – Also known as High-Intensity Pulsed Light Therapy, this machine emits light to remove age spots and discolorations of the skin, and treats unsightly veins.
“I use this to attack the blood vessels around my nose every few years. (Don’t want them to get too noticeable.)”

Botox: The revolutionary muscle paralyzer smoothes out wrinkles in the skin.

“I use this once or twice per year in very small amounts on my forehead and between my eyebrows. I believe in gently softening my expression, not eliminating it. After all, I am the mother of a 3 year old and 5 year old, and they need to be able to know when they are in trouble without my even saying a word.”

Accent XL: This laser treatment for skin tightening helps reduce wrinkled and sagging skin.

“This has helped to reduce the post-partum “jelly belly,” as I affectionately refer to it …. That and, a little Body by Thermage to help lift my buttocks, has made me feel better about what having a baby does to the body.

“As a note—I have not gone the filler route yet. Although, I am contemplating just a tiny bit along the edge of my lips to help define them a little more. I am definitely going to be a “sagger,” not a “sinker.” Although for many over 40 who are “sinkers”—adding a little filler into the mix makes a huge difference.

Group warns many products don’t provide enough protection

Ask any dermatologist what the most potent treatment for aging skin is and they’ll give you the same answer: daily use of a sunscreen. But your sunscreen may not provide all the protection it claims, a watchdog organization says in a new report.

An investigation launched by the Environmental Working Group found that three out of five sunscreens and sun blocks on the market either don’t protect skin from damaging rays or contain hazardous chemicals—or both.

The findings, which were released July 2, drew strong criticism from the Skin Care Foundation, the leading skin cancer prevention organization in the nation.

The EWG is a non-profit environmental group that studies sunscreens and labels. The watchdog organization has been trying to force the federal Food and Drug Administration to issue stronger sunscreen standards.

“The FDA may not care about the safety and effectiveness of sunscreen products, but the public does,” EWG’s Vice President of Research, Jane Houlihan, said in a press statement. “EWG’s guide is really the only place concerned consumers can go to identify which sunscreens, lip balms and moisturizers are the safest, most protective for themselves and their families.”

The group has studied the nation’s sunscreens for the last three years. Despite some of the flaws, the EWG found that many companies are actually putting out products that offer better protection from the harmful rays of the sun. The group found that 70 percent of sunscreens out for the 2009 summer season contain strong UVA filters, compared to just 29% last year.

Top brands the study recommended to give better protection against UVA radiation include: Solbar, Zia Natural Skincare, Nivea, L’Oreal, and Hawaiian Tropic.

The Skin Care Foundation responded by saying the group continued to raise unnecessary confusion and concern about the safety of sunscreens.

“We are concerned that their report will cause people to stop using sunscreen,” a statement on the group’s Web site says. “Consumers should rest assured that sunscreen products are safe and effective when used as directed.”

The truth is that the labeling on sunscreens and blocks can be confusing.

The SPF number on a sunscreen bottle shows how well the product screens out damaging ultraviolent B rays, also known as UVB. These rays cause sunburn and, in some cases, skin cancer. An SPF of 30 means that unprotected skin burns 30 times faster than skin without the product.

The FDA does not require companies to say how well their products protect against ultraviolent A (UVA) rays. These rays are less strong but they penetrate deeper into the skin, causing wrinkles, spots and other damaging signs on the skin.

The FDA plans to upgrade its labeling system by the end of the year so consumers can have a better idea of what kinds of sunscreens to use. Sunscreen companies, however, will have up to an additional year to 18 months to change their labels to reflect the new FDA standards.

Until then, it may be a safe bet to go with the advice of the American Academy of Dermatology. The group recommends sunscreens that advertise “broad-spectrum” protection from both UVA and UVB rays with an SPF of at least 15. Check for products that contain the AAD Seal of Recognition.

Resveratrol - molecular 3d spacefill. Image by CCRoberts

Compound found in red wine looks promising.

Scientists have long known that red wine has its benefits. But a molecular compound found in the wine could prove to be one of the greatest breakthroughs in the fight against aging.

The compound, known as resveratrol, is found in on grape skins, red berries and peanuts. Scientists are hoping that this molecule may one day become the drug that prolongs life by staving off diseases.

Their optimism is backed by promising research in mice and other organisms.

Researchers discovered that resveratrol slows age-related disease and decline in mice. In one study, the mice were fed a standard western high-fat diet, and some of them were given high doses of purified resveratrol. The mice treated with the resveratrol put on the weight but didn’t develop the diseases associated with a fatty diet.

The mice given the resveratrol showed better cardio-vascular improvement, had better balance and motor control and better bone health than the untreated mice. They also had fewer problems with cataracts.

But in spite of the promising findings in the rodents, the jury is still out on what kind of affect resveratrol might have on humans. “We do have a large volume of experience of things that work very well on mice, but don’t translate well to humans,” says Dr. Felipe Sierra, Director of the Division of Aging Biology at the National Institute of Aging.

Research findings on monkeys and humans are forthcoming.

There are no known toxic effects of resveratrol, but Sierra cautions that you can’t just drink red wine and hope to get some of the benefits. The doses given to the mice were the equivalent of drinking 300 bottles of wine every day.

Companies are already selling resveratrol in pill form and consumers are snatching it up after it was touted by Dr. Mehmet Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show and after 60 minutes featured a piece on its potential benefits earlier this year.

The buyer should beware, however, because there have been a number of consumer complaints about companies selling resveratrol. Forbes magazine reported that a number of shady businesses selling resveratrol supplements were hawking the drug using Web sites with Dr. Oz’s image.

The Forbes story said one company selling the supplements online has drawn a number of angry complaints from consumers. The consumers’ credit cards were billed every month for $85.26, even though they thought they only ordered a 30-day free supply of the pills.

Oprah threatened legal action against companies after reports surfaced about scams that used either her name or Dr. Oz’s to sell their products. “Neither Oprah nor Dr. Oz are associated with nor do they endorse any specific resveratrol product, company or online solicitation of such products,” a statement on Oprah’s Web site says.

Only time and more research will tell whether resveratrol will actually fight off age-related disease in humans. But one way or another, scientists are going to pour maximum resources into finding out as much about the compound as they can, along with anything else that holds the promise of fighting off disease later in life.

“At the end you’re going to be sick no matter what,” Dr. Sierra says. “But if we can postpone that, and you stay healthy longer, that is our goal.”

Top Resveratrol Products

Pure RezV

1. Pure RezV

This product is, hands down, the best Resveratrol product that we have tested. It was recommended by Dr Oz on Oprah during his segment on Anti Aging. This product was the most effective one we have tested mostly due to the fact that it contains acai extract which means its effects are doubled.

All of the people who tested the product reported a lift in their overall energy levels only 3 days after they started taking it. Everyone also report their appetit has decreased and they were eating less and after only 7 days everyone lost a large amount of weight. As you can see these are the desired results and they met & exceeded our expectations.

2. Youth ResV Pro

Youth ResV

We did not feel the effects of the product as quickly as we did with Pure RezV. Everyone noticed some results only after 2 weeks and our energy levels increased after 5 days.

You’re either trying to hard or not at all.

Are you wearing your daughter’s jeans and applying make-up the way you did when you when you were in your 20s? Or have you gone to the other extreme—walking around in frumpy clothes and giving off that vibe that says, “I just don’t care anymore.”

Going one extreme or the other are some of the problems that plague woman over 40, image consultants say. If you want to look fabulous for you age, avoid these mistakes.

Natalie Jobity

6. Dressing like your daughter—Many of you are revealing way too much cleavage and showing off body parts that are best left covered. At a certain age, it just doesn’t look good, says Natalie Jobity, owner of Elan Image Management, an image consulting business in the Washington, D.C. area.

“There comes a time when it looks like you’re trying too hard,” Jobity says. Short skirts and tight pants, even on the best of bodies, are too much, she says.

Ginger Burr

5. Losing all interest—“My clients are the ones who have gone the other extreme, where they’ve given up,” says Ginger Burr, a Massachusetts-based image consultant and author of the book Fashion Secrets Mother Never Taught You.

She says many women over 40 are frustrated because it’s hard for them to find great clothes. Don’t give up, she says. It may be frustrating, but there are plenty of great clothes for women whose bodies have changed. You may just have to look a little harder.

And if you have given up, try going to an image consultant or a make-up artist.

4. Going heavy on the face paint—Make-up needs to be subtle; otherwise, you run the risk of looking older than you actually are. “I didn’t want to change my make-up,” says Veronica Lane, a 42-year-old Los-Angeles-based make-up artist. “I had to change my make-up.”

Lane says women make the mistake of wearing foundation that is too heavy—something that can add years on a face. Dark, heavy eyeliner is also out of the question. It’s just too aging, she says. Browns, grays and plums are better than black. She says women over 40 need to update their make-up.

3. The natural look—You may have been able to pull this off when you were younger, but when you’re over 40, you have to wear at least some make-up, Jobity says. “In terms of projecting a polished image, your face has to be done.”

2. Wearing the wrong bra—Are you pouching out of your cups or are you just hanging low? Either way, the image consultants stress the importance of wearing the right size. Your clothes will look better and you’ll look taller and slimmer.

Showing off bulges, dimples and other unflattering signs of an aging body—Be mindful of undergarments. They camouflage a multitude of sin and age and make your body look fantastic in clothes.

1. The wrong mindset—This may be the biggest mistake, says Ana Murillo, a 42-year-old image consultant in Phoenix. “It’s attitude, really,” she says. “When we feel good about ourselves, when we know who we are, we don’t have to work too hard.”

Shorter hair or shoulder-length styles with waves work best.

Demi Moore may be able to pull off long, straight hair in her 40s, but stylists give women her age this piece of advice: Chop off the mane. Otherwise, you’ll look old. Women over 40 should be sporting shorter and wavier hair.

“Once you take the hair off, it does take off age,” says Terrelle Jordan, owner of Synerge Salon and Spa in Jacksonville, Fla.

Women over 40 can still have long hair, just not too long.

“I would recommend that they don’t have their hair too much longer than their shoulders,” Heidi Biggs, a stylist at Cheri Bibi Salon in Santa Barbara, says “So keep it shoulder length and above with choppy layers and movement. It gives women more sassiness in their 40s.”

Any style that is too flat and too straight is going to be aging, she says.

Bangs, she says, also take off age. “A lot of women over 40 are worried about lines and wrinkles on their forehead, so I’ve got a lot of clients who say, ‘Botox or bangs.’ Bangs are a cheaper option.”

The trend for many of Jordan’s African-American clients is a short pixie look, similar to Halle Berry’s, that’s fuller on the top and shorter on the sides. Soft short cuts and shag cuts and razor cuts are also popular trends that make women look younger, she says.

And going gray doesn’t always make a woman look old, but it doesn’t look good on everyone. Gray hair can make some women look washed out, Biggs says. Darker-haired women, she says, tend to look better with gray hair because it turns white. The trick, however, is wearing it right. “If you’re going to go gray gracefully then you need a good, fun short cut to carry it off. Either go for something classy and sophisticated, or short and fun and funky and trendy.”

Women with gray hair need weekly deep- conditioning treatments because their hair tends to be coarse and frizzy. Biggs says they should use a temporary color or mouse to tone down any brassy, yellow or golden tones.

For many African-American woman, the trend is to embrace silver hair. “The trend is being with gray, vibrant gray,” Jordan says. “It’s almost like at a certain point in a woman’s life she knows the gray is coming and she’s just letting it out.” But for black women who want a more youthful look, she recommends the shorter hair combined with color. Red, brown or caramels are all good colors, especially for summer, she says.

Women who want to cover up their gray need to make sure their hair dye isn’t too dark, because that’s aging.

“I would suggest one or two shades lighter than the actual natural base,” Biggs says. She recommends the lighter base color, combined with highlights, for a more youthful look.

Hair trends may come and go but gray is always going to be embraced by some women and scorned by others. Either way, you still don’t have to look old.

The gold standard of skin care is backed by hard science.Drug store shelves and cosmetic counters are lined with potions and elixirs that promise the fountain of youth. They claim to rid wrinkles, rejuvenate skin and turn back the clock. It’s hard to know what works and what doesn’t amid all the lofty claims.

But if you want something scientifically proven to take off years on your face, there is one ingredient shown to work: Retin-A.

It stands so far above other products that doctors routinely refer to Retin-A as the gold standard among all the anti-aging creams and gels.

“There’s nothing else that’s been shown to be as beneficial,’ says Michel McDonald, an assistant professor of medicine and dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Ordinary moisturizers are good but they’re not doing anything scientific, she says.

The doctor, who is 41, not only recommends it, she uses it to keep her own skin looking young and healthy.

Retin-A, strips away the top lawyer of the skin and causes a light chemical peeling.

“This exfoliation has several benefits, including: smoothing roughness, increasing brightness, decreasing sallowness, helping to decrease pore size, decreasing brown spots, decreasing fine lines, and decreasing acne …, says Dr. Karyn Grossman, a dermatologist who practices in New York and Los Angeles. “Retin-A also helps to increase the collagen in the deeper parts of the skin, further decreasing fine lines and wrinkles.”

The drug is available by prescription in a cream or gel and is marketed under the brand names Retin-A Micro, Avage, Tazorac and Renova. Some formulations are stronger than others.

Prescription Retin-A became popular decades ago as an acne treatment. But patients began noticing some beneficial side effects: The drug smoothed out the skin and minimized wrinkles. To this day, it’s still one of the most widely prescribed treatments for acne.

The cost runs anywhere from $120 to $180 a tube, but it lasts a long time. Two prescriptions should be enough for a year’s supply. Most insurance companies, however, will not pay for it for patients over the age of 18, even if it is prescribed for acne, because of the drug’s cosmetic use.

Pregnant women and anyone planning on having a baby are warned not to use the drug because it can be harmful to a fetus.

Retinol is the drug’s less potent cousin, and is found in many over-the-product creams and lotions. Their reliability, Dr. McDonald says, can’t be guaranteed because these products aren’t regulated by the FDA.

Retin-A may be stronger but it can also be more irritating. It can cause redness, dryness and flaking of the skin.

“It may take some time, especially if your skin is dry or sensitive, but most of my patients over time will tolerate these products,” says Dr Grossman.

The drug also makes your skin more sensitive to the sun, so it’s important to use sunscreen.

For a woman who wants science on her side in the fight to turn back the clock, Dr. McDonald says this: “The combination of (Retin-A) and a good sunscreen is what I recommend.”

Drug grows longer, thicker lashes.

The makers of Botox are giving the billion-dollar mascara industry a run for its money with a new product that grows runway lashes and gives off the look of youth.

Allergan, the company that has women around the world lining up to get their faces frozen to smooth out their wrinkles, unveiled Latisse earlier this year. Latisse is the only FDA-approved prescription drug for growing eyelashes.

The drug is already drawing rave reviews and gaining a steady devotion of followers.

“I just love it,” said Cindy Ross, vice president of sales for Connecticut-based Young pharmaceuticals. “I can’t believe the difference in my lashes. It really makes a difference in the way that you look.” She says her lashes grew so long and thick after using Latisse that her mother asked her if they were false.

The product, she says, brings out her eyes and gives her a more youthful look.

Courtesy of Allergan

For Ross, the price of the drug—$120 a month—is well worth the benefits. Continuous use of the drug is required to keep the lashes long.

Ross, who is 57, participated in the Latisse clinical trial.

Eyelashes grew 25 percent longer, 18 percent darker and a whopping 106 percent thicker during the trial. The product, however, is actually not new. It’s the same formula as Lumigan, a drug that’s been used for years to treat glaucoma. Lumigan was formulated to reduce the pressure that builds up on the eye in glaucoma patients, but doctors found that one of its side effects was longer and thicker eyelashes.

Latisse is not without its own side effects. It can cause itching and redness in the eyes and a darkening of the eyelid. The company also warns that there is the potential for the drug to turn the iris permanently darker. That was a side effect for a few of the glaucoma patients who used the Lumigan eye drops. Unlike, Lumigan, Latisse isn’t placed directly in the eye. It’s applied on the lash line of the upper lid.

Allergan found no darkening of the iris during the clinical trial of Latisse, a company official said.
“As for potential side effect, Latisse was also well tolerated in the clinical study and the most commonly reported side effects after using Latisse are an itching sensation in the eyes and/or eye redness,” Heather Katt, a spokeswoman for Allergan said. “This was reported in approximately four percent of patients.”

When it comes to enhancing the eyelashes, other products also have their problems, one doctor points out.
“There are risks with Latisse, but in talking to patients, some of the things that patients do to enhance their eyelashes also involve risk,” says Andrew Iwach, spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

He says women interested in Latisse should go to an ophthalmologist. Unlike other doctors, Iwach says, an ophthalmologist can prescribe and monitor Latisse, as well as give a comprehensive eye-disease screening recommended for patients over 40.

Study says bouncing boobs stretch permanently.

There’s Botox, cosmetic fillers, laser peels, and plastic surgery. But one potent, often overlooked weapon in the anti-aging arsenal is a good bra.

A woman can shave years off her age just by wearing the right-sized bra with the proper support. But a bad bra, research shows, can actually lead to sagging.

A study out of England showed that wearing the wrong bra can damage a woman’s breasts and stretch them permanently.

Researchers at the University of Portsmouth found that most bras aren’t designed to cope with the stress of bouncing boobs.

The lead scientist on the project told the BBC that women need to be aware of what can happen when they exercise without properly supporting their breasts.

“People rightly spend time and effort to get the right footwear for exercise and it is equally important to wear the correct sports bra,” Dr. Joanna Scurr said.

Her team discovered that breasts bounce a lot more during exercise than what was previously thought. They can move up to 8.26 inches during exercise, either up and down, side to side or in and out. Without the proper support, all that movement puts stress on the breasts and stretches out fragile connective tissue known as Cooper’s ligaments.

And contrary to popular belief, most sports bras don’t provide more support than traditional bras, the researchers found.

The study recommends that women of all sizes wear sports bras that encapsulate each breast and that women get professionally fitted.

Finding the right fit, however, remains a problem for many.

It a widely known fact that most women aren’t wearing the right bra size, says Linda Hogan, vice president of sales for Lunaire, a Manhattan-based lingerie firm that sells to voluptuous woman.

A good bra, she says, is supposed to lift a woman up and keep breasts from looking saggy. Too many women are “riding low” because of a bad fit.

“If you’re not up, you’re not wearing the right-sized bra,” Hogan says.

You’d be surprised by how many women mistakenly think they’re wearing the right bra, she says. As one example, she cites a job candidate at Lunaire who thought she knew a lot about bra size until the company gave her the right fit.

“When we got this girl into the correct size she literally looked like she lost 20 pounds because she went up.”

Many women are wearing the wrong bra because they’re in denial about their true size, she says. Often, they don’t want to be perceived as being too big or too small. But if a woman prefers to think of herself as a size C, as opposed to a CC or even a CCC, she’s going to be literally busting out of the cups, and chances are her breasts are going to look larger than she’d like. She’s also going to look heavier and older.

A good fit isn’t hard to find. Hogan says all you have to do is go to a department store and ask a salesperson for a fitting. It could just save your breasts.

As a woman’s body changes, so do her make-up needs. That glittery eye shadow she wore in her 20s now draws too much attention to creases and lines. Some women need camouflage for dark circles, sun damage and age spots. Others need to open up aging eyes.

Great make-up application for the over-40-and-fabulous crowd starts with good skin care, says Lisa Johnson, a Nashville-based make-up artist who has worked on a number of celebrity clients.

And the less makeup, the better, she says. “I’m 50, so I can tell you from experience; you don’t need a lot of make-up.”

She recommends that women over 40 use precision tools and the right colors. “Stay away from a lot of shimmery bronzers. I think peaches corals, some pink—if they’re not too pink—work well for women over 40 because we tend to lose our pigment, and I just think the warmer tones look best on most.”

For a more youthful look, pay close attention to your eyebrows and lips. “The thicker the brow, the more youthful the appearance,” Johnson says. The eyebrows, she says, define the shape of the face and anchor it.

As for the lips, she recommends applying a stain or pencil over the entire lips and then adding a touch of gloss. And you don’t have to purchase it at a department store.  Any drug store brand will do, she says.

Wearing mascara or even false eyelashes will make a woman’s eyes look younger. “I love false lashes on older women. It takes 10 years off the eyes if done right.” Women have to experiment with them, but the good news, she says, is that you can also buy them from a drug store. She recommends putting them on while looking down and then blending the false lashes with your own.

And be careful with the eyeliner. Thick pencil liner is a no-no. It’s best to use an angular brush and dip it into dark eye shadow and run it along the lash line. That makes for a thick lash line that doesn’t look too harsh.

Middle-aged women also need to be mindful about the right shadows. “I use shimmer on everyone, but the eye shadows I use are really finely milled; they’re not glittery. Stay away from frost, whatever you do.”

She likes cream foundation on women because it looks dewy but not too wet. And she also recommends topping it with a translucent powder.

And if you haven’t updated your look lately, it’s time to go see a professional. It’s best, she says, to go to an independent make-up artist or a spa for a makeover, instead of a department store. Otherwise you could wind up buying a lot of products you don’t need. “They’re pushing sales in department stores,” she says. “That’s their job.”