Botox and Animal Testing

It’s good news that Botox wrinkle treatment makers, Allergan Inc., have doggedly pursued the development of a new test for its Botox production line.

Up to now, each batch has been tested on live animals to comply with US Food and Drug Administration – FDA – rules.  But Allergan scientists have painstakingly worked for 10 years to perfect a test on cells in a lab dish.

“Our hat is off to the company,” says Martin Stephens, vice president for animal research issues at the Humane Society of the United States in Washington, D.C.

In addition to being more humane, these experiments often promise better results more quickly and cheaply than the classic tests with mice or rabbits.

Women still buying premium skin treatments, despite recession

Women are still saving enough money to treat themselves to the little luxuries in life that keep them looking good, latest stats have shown.

Even in a recession, women like to maintain their appearance meaning that beauty products and premium skin treatments are the last things to go when cutting costs.

Peter Beard, director of treatments at SkinGenesis said: “It’s not surprising that women are still investing their money wisely into maintaining good skin and hair. With today’s stressful lifestyles, achieving great skin is particularly harder and more time consuming and perseverance is key. Once you’ve invested in achieving a balanced skin, it’s very difficult to then stop spending money on it and end back at square one.

“In today’s world everyone likes to look good, because when you look good, you feel good. Many of our clients who come to us for skin and body treatments report higher levels of confidence once they have their problems under control, so I think it’s about making sure you budget properly and try to ensure that you still have the time and money to give yourself an occasional beauty treat.”

The Guardian recently noted that Habia, the government-appointed standard setting body for the hair and beauty industry, reported a 10 – 20% drop in hair salon spending, which indicates that people are still visiting salons, just less often. This helps people avoid unnecessary trips for a new ‘do’ and makes their money go further.

Whilst its easier to go to the shops and buy a quick fix treatment for acne or wrinkles for example, professional skin treatments will always yield better results and are far more worth the money you pay for them.

(Read the Guardian’s article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/may/22/austerity-chic-credit-crunch)

Wrinkle treatment for Gorilla-face

‘Gorilla-face’ – what’s this? I hear you ask.

The first time I heard this phrase was from a reporter for Times Online, Sarah Vine (<– read her article here). Gorilla-face is a problem that affects women over 40 and is a classic case of going to bed looking ‘normal’ and waking up ‘looking like an extra from Planet of the Apes’, (Vine’s word’s not mine).

You may have lines on your forehead, chin and chest and these last until around breakfast time apparently. Usually ‘gorilla-face’ is short-lived (thank goodness!). However many women over the age of 40 have persistent lines and wrinkles and if you’re in this bracket, you have probably tried all the magic lotions and potions available on the high street, only to find that they’ve not made much of a difference.

To combat and control lines and wrinkles on the face, it may be necessary to give your skin a work out, just as you would your body down at the gym. Anti-ageing treatments that combine a range of skin rejuvenating methods will always provide great results and help your skin to produce collagen and regain some of its youthful plumpness.

Non-surgical face lifts, peptide peels, and SkinGym are all examples of gentle anti-wrinkle treatments that are available. If you’ve tried everything else, why not give these a whirl? Anything that prevents ‘gorilla-face’ is worth it in my book!

Dove ad targets young girls to prevent unnecessary cosmetic surgery

We’ve spotted yet another hard-hitting ‘natural beauty’ campaign from Dove, which at the end urges parents to talk to their daughters before the beauty industry does.

We are firm believers in maximising on people’s natural beauty and encourage healthy lifestyles, natural non-surgical cosmetic treatments and making people feel great in their own skin.

Of course we all have our ‘ugly days’, where we wish we were just that little bit thinner, had a few less wrinkles, but there’s a lot to be said of embracing your shape and features and just being happy!

We’re strong supporters of these Dove beauty campaigns from across the pond and although they may contain some strong messages and graphic images, perhaps that’s what is needed to show the media that not everyone will be pressured into trying to find that ‘perfect body’ – because guess what? It doesn’t exist.

Amanda Holden is all for non-surgical cosmetic treatments

Tuesday 19th January 2010

Amanda Holden has acted as the latest endorsement for non-surgical cosmetic treatments following a brief interview with the Guardian.

Holden said she would never have cosemtic surgery due to having a skin complaint that makes her over-produce scar tissue – however with so many brilliant non-surgical, natural treatments available, without the risk of scarring, why would you want to go through the pain of going under the knife?

She is known to have had Botox in the past and she thoroughly supports our ethos of making people feel good about themselves.

So whether it’s acne treatment, thread vein removal or skin rejuvenation, you can now get rid of all your blemishes without worrying about unwanted side effects, scarring or having time off work.

Reputable companies like SkinGenesis will also provide a treatment guarantee, which means that if you don’t see results within the advised programme time-frame, you’ll be given extra treatments until you do!

Grow your own facelift by having fat reduction treatment

Wednesday 23rd December 2009

It all sounds a bit too good to be true, just as the Daily Mail said, however doctors have found a way to grow, yes grow, your own facelift while losing excess fat and weight from your problem areas.

The procedure, which costs around £7,500, uses the body’s own stem cells and the patient literally grows their own facelift in the six to eighteen months after having the procedure.

This is a great advancement in the medical world as it extracts the stem cells present in our fat stores from elsewhere in the body, then under local anaesthetic, they are injected into the face for a complete facial rejuvenation that progresses naturally over time AND without any invasive surgery. Just a bit of discomfort and temporary bruising.

Great, if you’ve got this kind of money just lying around. And then you have to find that money again several years later when the effects wear off. But you have to admit it’s a fantastic breakthrough.

There are non-surgical alternatives too to this expensive anti-aging treatment, which don’t involve any ‘down time’ afterwards. Mesotherapy offers a fantastic fat reduction technique, which again is temporary, but costs much less than the ‘grow-your-own’ treatment. Fat reduction starts from around £75 per treatment when booked as a series of 7 treatments (this is about the number of treatments you will need to get an impressive result on that tummy and those hips).

For the face, IPL, microdermabrasion and skin peels are all very effective at rejuvenating the skin naturally and non-surgically. SkinGym promises younger, wrinkle-free skin in 40 days, with continued treatments if you don’t see an improvement. SkinGym costs from £1,250 – £1,500 – still quite expensive, but again cheaper than the grow-your-own.

Airbrushed Twiggy sparks complaints on anti-ageing treatments

Wednesday 16th December 2009

700 people have complained about an advert for anti-ageing cream that portrayed Twiggy as a wrinkle-free sixty-something, before Proctor and Gamble held its hands up and admitted to a spot of airbrushing.

We’ve blogged a lot about misleading adverts recently, commenting on how lying adverts ‘con’ consumers and distort their perceptions of beauty.

Twiggy is a beautiful woman (and doesn’t need any airbrushing), however there’s no-doubt that she battles with the bathroom mirror every morning wondering how she can diminish her fine lines and wrinkles – just like many other women her age!

If you’re worried about wasting your money on useless creams (which have to be advertsied with enhanced images to be successful) but can’t quite afford a surgical facelift, why not think about a non-surgical facelift? Our expert from SkinGenesis, Peter Beard explains what one is here.

If that doesn’t attract you however, you could think about IPL, microdermabrasion or skin peels – which all have an amazing rejuvenating effect when provided as part of a programme of skin treatments. SkinGym is a firm favourite with our clients, which takes 40 days, or try SkinSpa if you want a quick refreshing face fix!

Style tips – and skin treatments – for single girls

Monday 14th December 2009

Trinny and Susannah have been on the prowl again, telling nearly 100 single girls What Not to Wear if you’re looking for love.

While those two fashion gurus may be best placed to tell you how you should be filling your wardrobe, there’s no better people than us at SkinGenesis to tell you how to achieve perfect skin in a bid to bag ‘the one’ this Christmas!

Take a look at all our expert skin treatments we can provide at our website, http://www.skingenesis.co.uk.

If adult acne is holding you back, microdermabrasion, skin peels or IPL might be in order. If you’re worried about wrinkles and fine lines you might want to consider SkinGym. Or just feeling a bit dull and want to be refreshed? Try SkinSpa!

Meanwhile, watch the gladrags duo give 93 Bridget Jones’s a grilling at the link below!

http://player.uk.msn.com/entertainment/what-not-to-wear/default.aspx?GT1=66752

Flawless skin starts with expert skin treatments

Monday 2nd November 2009

Lauren Luke from the Guardian is the woman who scours the shelves for the UK’s best beauty buys, making sure that the nation’s make-up always looks its best.

One of her latest entries on the website is how to achieve flawless skin and she has reviewed and highlighted five foundations that give you a clear complexion.

However, throwing on loads of cloggy make-up will potentially give you the complete opposite, as real flawless skin starts with expert skin treatments. Otherwise you are simply hiding your imperfections rather than tackling them head-on.

Whether you have wrinkles, sun damage, acne or another skin complaint, taking the time to strip your skin of all cosmetics and investing in some quality skin treatments that will actually work, is the key way to achieving a flawless skin. We would also recommend using mineral make-up too whilst having skin treatments, such as Jane Iredale make-up, as it’s much better for your skin.

Skin Treatment: Experts predict BIG changes in future skincare

Thursday 17th September 2009

Skin Treatments at SkinGenesis

Our resident expert Peter Beard is predicting dramatic changes in the future of skincare – particularly anti-ageing treatments.

Peter predicts that as consumers become ever more savvy by the day, we will soon see a sharp decline in the number of people opting for ineffective creams from the highstreet, in favour of in-clinic specialist skin treatments.

Take a look at our latest article here.

And why not tell us about your skin treatment and skin rejuvenation experiences by leaving a comment below?