Is Retinol As Good As Everyone Says?

Retinol, retinol, retinol. It's all dermatologists talk about; it's all I read about; sometimes I feel like it's all I write about. Well, to be clear, I'm actually referring to retinoids, an entire class of compounds chemically related to vitamin A that includes the subcategory of retinol. But my point is the same: If you want to look younger, everyone suggests retinoids as a fix.

Last week, however, I listened in on a very frank discussion between two top dermatologists, and one of them actually brought up a downside of using retinoids, one I've recently become aware of myself: Some docs think retinoids can actually contribute to the appearance of telangiectasias (the dilated superficial blood vessels that look like squiggly red lines on your face). I haven't been able to find proof of this in any clinical studies, but I can say from experience that I never had telangiectasias until I started using a retinoid.

Beauty Treatments for Better Skin

That's why I'm intrigued by a new line of anti-aging products from laser specialist and dermatologist Eric Bernstein, MD. Instead of creating products with the industry standard retinol, which many women actually find to be irritating, Dr. Bernstein packed his LaseResults line with citric acid (an AHA that's also an antioxidant), resveratrol (another antioxidant), and peptides that help repair skin damage.

"I didn't use retinol because I think the AHAs work better, much better—and the clinicals bear this out in my opinion," Dr. Bernstein says. For example, in a blind clinical study, after only two weeks of using the LaseResults PM Focused Repair Lotion, 100% of subjects showed improvement in skin firmness and 71% showed improvement in skin tone. After 4 weeks of use, 100% of subjects showed a reduction in pore size, 87% showed improvement in skin clarity, and 86% showed improvement of fine lines and wrinkles. From that evidence, it seems like LaseResults may just give retinol a run for its money!

Simple Steps to Repair Damaged Hair

One of the many great things about summer is that its casual vibe allows you to wash and go, giving your hair a much-needed break from abusive heat styling. But when winter returns, most women bust out the hair dryer and flattening iron. "You're more likely to load up on treatments such as hair coloring and chemical straightening in the winter months—especially around the holidays," says Los Angeles–based hairstylist Michael Shaun Corby. Following are the two most common types of damage and simple steps for nursing your mane back to health.

Chemical Damage
Too many chemical treatments, like highlights and hair straightening, sap strands of natural moisture, leaving them dull and brittle. "Chemicals penetrate into the hair and eat away at the protective lipid layer, which is what keeps your locks nourished and glossy," says Emily Overton, a principal scientist for Procter & Gamble.

How Healthy Is Your Hair?

How to heal:  Do a steam treatment once a week to help open the cuticles and let your conditioner really seep in to rehab your hair, says New York City colorist Rita Hazan. Here's how: After shampooing, apply a deep conditioner with protein and essential fatty acids to wet hair. Try Living Proof Restore Mask Treatment ($42, at Sephora). Microwave a big bowl of water for three minutes, then put on rubber cleaning gloves to prevent your hands from getting burned. Quickly dunk a medium-size towel into the bowl, wring out excess water, let it cool for a few seconds, and then wrap it turban-style around your hair. After five minutes, rinse.


Heat Damage
Hot tools such as hair dryers and curling irons fry off your hair's cuticles, the first line of defense against dryness, leaving the cortex exposed. The parched cortex is left no choice but to soak up moisture from the air to compensate, causing frizz. And if you continue using hot tools on damaged hair, it will become even more brittle and eventually break off completely, warns Overton.

Repair Your Hair

How to heal:  Prior to blow-drying, towel-dry hair (pat, don't rub) and spritz on a heat protectant with panthenol—it will help evenly distribute heat, and coat and condition areas that are already damaged and weak, says Overton. Try Pantene Pro-V Medium-Thick Style Heat Protection & Shine Spray ($6, at drugstores).
Then use a dryer with a powerful airflow, which reduces styling time and minimizes heat exposure, and a nozzle attachment to create a safe distance between your hair and the dryer's piping-hot metal coil. Try Remington Fast Finish Hair Dryer ($28, at Target).

If you flatiron, go over each section just once, and turn down the heat. Corby says 360°F is enough for fine hair; use 410°F for thicker strands.

What Are the Best Hair Products For You?


10-Second Healthy-Hair Test
Pluck a strand from your head and drop it into an eight-ounce cup of water. The faster and deeper it sinks, the less protein and moisture it has. If your hair floats, it's healthy.

Tanning Beds May Be Even Riskier Than Thought

New research published online Oct. 6 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology suggests that the main type of ultraviolet rays used in tanning beds -- UVA1 -- may penetrate to a deep layer of skin that is most vulnerable to the cancer-causing changes caused by UV rays.
The new study comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers banning the use of tanning beds among children under 18. The American Academy of Pediatrics is on record that it supports such a ban.
In the study, 12 volunteers were exposed to UVA1 and UVB rays on their buttocks. (One difference in the waves is length: UVB waves are shorter.)
The UVA1 was more damaging to the skin's basal layer then the UVB light. The UVA1 induced a type of lesion called thymine dimers on the deeper basal layers of the skin. UVB radiation caused more of these lesions, but they did not go as deep, and thus may be less likely to cause the changes linked to skin cancers.
"The doses we used were comparable for erythema -- sunburn -- for UVA and UVB. That would be roughly equivalent to the doses needed for tanning in each spectrum," said study co-author Antony R. Young, a professor at the St. John's Institute of Dermatology at King's College School of Medicine in London.
"Indoor tanning is like smoking for your skin," said Dr. Doris Day, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "It's the single worst thing you can do in terms of skin cancer and premature aging."
Many indoor tanning salons advertise that tanning beds can help boost the body's production of vitamin D, known as the sunshine vitamin because skin makes it when exposed to the sun's rays. "This is nonsense and an excuse," Day said. "We know people burn in tanning beds and that UVA and UVB are toxic."
Teens are particularly vulnerable, she said. "They are immortal in their mind, and skin cancer and aging seem a long ways away." Melanoma, a potentially fatal form of skin cancer, "is not an old person's disease," she said. The new study provides "a little bit more muscle in helping to warn people about the dangers of tanning, but an FDA ban is what we need," she added.
"I do think there should be legislation on sunbed use under 18 years of age," said Young, who added that such use is already prohibited in England.
John Overstreet, executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group representing the industry, said that if there was science to back up many of these claims, the FDA would have acted by now. The agency has been mulling these claims since March 2010, he noted.
What's more, the new study is about ultraviolet radiation, not tanning beds, he said. "Tanning beds have the same ratio of UV waves as the sun. UVA-1 is the primary wave length emitted by the sun, too," he said. "The sun and indoor tanning pose the same risks and benefits if you don't burn. There is no science that shows non-burning exposure to sun or a sun lamp causes cancer."
Dr. Heidi A. Waldorf, director of Laser and Cosmetic Dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, said that the new study adds to the body of evidence about the damaging effects of the sun's rays. "This finding fits with our understanding of UVA as the deeper penetrating 'aging' rays," she said. "The data is important as we discuss regulatory changes in the labeling of broad-spectrum sun protection products and as we educate patients, particularly young women, about the dangers of indoor UVA tanning beds."
The FDA now requires sunscreens to have a minimum sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 and be labeled as broad spectrum to show that that protect against both UVA and UVB waves.