Moisturizer Is Equivalent To A…Band Aid?

by on Tuesday, March 5th, 2013 with

Well folks, after 13 years and over 30,000 facials delivered to my beloved clients I was pretty positive I knew all there was to know about skin histology, skin maintenance and health. Uh that was until I attended Dr. Zein Obagi’s recent skin care media breakfast in the library of the uber chic Beverly Hills Montage Hotel. By the time I braved 90 minutes of traffic, I entered the scene a bit skeptical and just a touch cynical to be quite honest with you. Was there anything that ground breaking Dr. Obagi could launch into that I haven’t already heard a million times over? The importance of wearing SPF? Yep heard it before. The importance of keeping consistent with your skin care regimen through the years? Yep clear on that mantra too…crystal! So I practically fell off one of those uncomfortable ball room/meeting chairs when ZO unloads this golden nugget of his wisdom: MOISTURIZERS ARE A CRUTCH, WE ABUSE THEM! IF your skin was truly at an optimal level of health you wouldn’t need to slather moisturizer all over your face day and night religiously in the first place! Look I’m just gonna say it, I know you’re thinking it too “No Shit?” So the next logical question is what will it take to dramatically improve the health of your complexion so that you can coin yourself a “recovering moisturizer-a-holic” and avoid attending weekly substance abuse meetings? Dr. Obagi says you have to identify what’s depleted or lacking in your complexion: Do you suffer from photo damage (sun spots for example)?  Or Acne? Or Dehydration? Then you have to be willing to work with a dermatologist to target the disease or condition within the larger skin health system. The Before/After images he shared with us were examples of patients who stuck to their guns, followed his prescription and suggestions and stayed the course to achieve improved results/benefits. Dr. Obagi is adamant change won’t occur overnight, it’s take commitment. Furthermore, one of the biggest problems he spoke about and targeted was uneven skin tone. That bad boy has the ability to send even the most confident of people into hiding and masking the problem by wearing tons of foundation. One product he points to is his Brigthenex Multi-Action Solution for Skin Discoloration. It releases microencapsulated retinol along with plant antioxidants and enzymes to clarify and brighten your skin, minimize the appearance of redness and help prevent future damage. I was given a complimentary bottle to experiment with. I’ve been using it for the past 10 days. At first my skin went through a little shedding process, but then it stabilized and the new skin that emerged is looking brighter and more glowy (No “glowy” isn’t a real word, but it works for me!). Yesterday, the light bulb went on in my head that I had dashed out the door without my traditional glob of face cream and a small smile spread across my face because the doctor taught this old dog a new trick and my 90 minutes sitting in LA traffic to learn this was well worth the investment of time and energy. I know, I know, I still need to stay my own course and one week of my turning my new leaf doesn’t tell the whole story, but the point ZO makes is valid and definitely something beauty junkies far and wide need to take a closer look at and think about how it applies to them individually. Now please dim the lights, fire up the candles and then remember the AA commercial theme song with the violins playing in the background? Let it rip…”I’m Stacy Cox and I’m a recovering moisturizer-a-holic!”