Does your skin colour put you in the high risk group for premature ageing?

Skin can be classified according to colour/melanin density. The scale used in skincare to classify each skin colour is called the fitzpatrick scale and it divides skin colour into six categories called Fitz Types 1 – 6. Hair and eye colour are also taken into account when determining your fitz type.

We take your fitz type as a basic unit of information when determining suitability of treatment as it gives us an idea of how your skin will react to certain stimuli such as heat or light. We also combine your classification with lifestyle factors discovered at your initial consultation for example sun exposure, sunbed use and genetic factors such as presence of the red hair gene in your family, to help determine the level of biological ageing in your skin and therefore your potential for premature/slow/fast ageing.

Many native Irish people will have a Fitz type of 1 or 2. While these are often lovely, fine-textured skin types, unfortunately belonging to one of these groups also means that you (and me!!) are at a high risk for premature ageing of your skin.

But, knowledge is power, and once we know your skin’s vulnerabilities we can help balance them with the correct homecare and clinical treatments.

Homecare products especially suitable for Fitz 1 & 2:

• Hydra Collagen Serum for anti-oxidant repair and prevention of ROS.
• SPF30 – vitamins anti-oxidants.
• Overnight Repair Cream, vitamin A plus anti-oxidants and plane oils to nourish, increase cellular turnover and repair damage. A real star performer in skin protection and anti-ageing.
• If the skin is also dry incorporate Lipid Repair Concentrate to provide lipid-soluble nutrients and strengthen cell membranes

Clinical treatments ideal for slowing the premature ageing associated with Fitz 1 & 2:

• Microneedling is your best friend here. If you are under 35 go for needling lite as a repair and prevention. It is combined with clinical ingredients to both stimulate and nourish cellular processes. From 35-45 we recommend Micro-fusion which combines cosmetic microneedling with epidermal infusions of actives such as plumping hyaluronic acid or energising vitamins. 
• Over 45 or already showing the changes in colour, texture or wrinkling associated with premature ageing? Uplevel to one of our Divine Pro series of treatments for deep revision.

Other things you can do…these include all the basic sun safety steps such as ALWAYS using and reapplying SPF outdoors in sunshine, keeping out of the hottest hours, especially between noon and 3pm, wearing hats and long, loose sleeves and long trousers or skirts as much as possible. It is important for everyone to wear SPF even in winter but even more so for the low Fitz types as your skin will be more susceptible to UV damage. Remember, it is sun LIGHT that does damage, not just heat.

Testing with our PDM skin diagnostic machine.

Not sure what your Fitzpatrick Type is? We can assess it for you along with risk analysis for your holiday destination and repair/prevention advice. Call us on 053 9145981 to book your 30 minute consultation and start today to prevent premature ageing.

For many the delicate eye area is the first to show signs of ageing such as fine lines or fatigue.

Our new Eye Area Treatment has been created to specifically address the particular eye area concerns of first fine lines, uneven texture and fatigue for both men and women.

This is an amazing one to choose when you are happy with the level of ageing (or lack of it!) on the rest of your face…

…and you just want to specifically target the eye area with a more advanced treatment without having to invest in a full face treatment when you may not need it all over.

Combining lymph drainage techniques to relieve puffiness, microneedling to stimulate collagen and reduce the first signs of fine lines and skin laxity, and a seaweed-based mask to supply essential minerals to the skin cells while reducing signs of fatigue such as heaviness under the eyes.

Each treatment takes just 35 minutes and can be used as a stand-alone to banish temporary under-eye issues that arise as a consequence of late nights, or a series of 3 will work a little deeper if you need more revision.

Book our *Specialist Eye Area Focus Treatment incl. Microneedling* online: Cost €90 for a single session, or save €30 on a course of 3 for just €240. Call us on 053 9145981 for more info.

It’s International Boss’s Day coming up on October 16th!

We have just the thing to get you in the Boss’s good books and to show your appreciation.

Originated in the US in 1956, International Boss’s Day has caught on as a way to show the appreciation employees have for their boss.

So we have a few gift ideas up our sleeve to help mark this special occasion:

• Gift Card – With a gift card you can’t go wrong! At Skin Essentials by Mariga, you can buy a gift card online or in our Wexford clinic from the amount of €50. This gift card can be used against any of our products and treatments so the choice is up to the boss.
• A special Coffee! – If your boss is anything like our boss, they’ll love a nice, strong, fancy coffee. If you’re workplace is near a good coffee shop, pop in and include a little note on the cup to say ‘Thanks for being a great boss!‘. This is the perfect Boss’s Day treat 🙂
• Luxury Facial – There’s no better way to show your appreciation for all the hard work your boss does then to gift them 45 mins of pure relaxation from our luxury facials. Suitable for both men and women. (Mens facials include a special hot towel massage)
• *STAR BUY* Hydra-Collagen Serum – Our celebrity favourite serum is our anti-ageing hero! Full of all the ingredients the skin needs to keep up the rate of collagen production.

Dull skin can be so ageing, even more so than visible wrinkles at times. It can happen to any skin type at any age, and is very common when the seasons change, and the frustrations usually are:

-Feeling like you look tired, drawn or even sick.

-Makeup patches and rolls and ends up making you look worse instead of better.

-Lines appear around your eyes/mouth and at the tops of your cheeks.

Does that sound like you? Don’t worry, we can help. If your skin is dull, devitalised and dehydrated temporarily due to being recently sick, just not keeping a good lifestyle or diet for a while or maybe just a temporary adjustment as the seasons change, then below are my top three things to get your skin looking bright, radiant and healthy-looking quickly. (If there is any other reason such as long-term illness or medication, ongoing conditions such as rosacea then it is better to have a full Skin Analysis to determine the best course of action for long-term management).

Quick fixes to a short-term problem 

1. The Home Treatment – Enzyme Exfoliation. For a quick pick-me-up our Enzymatic Exfoliation Powder is the one product you want to have on hand. Simply apply 3-4 pumps to clean, dry skin, wait 10 minutes and rinse off with water to reveal bright, radiant skin. Use once a week until skin is back to it’s best.
2. The Clinical Treatment – Classic Facial. Our bespoke facials come in 30, 45 or 60 minute versions. Each one is customised exactly to your needs on the day and will banish dull, patchy skin fast! Available to book Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday by calling us on 053 9145981 or use our online booking service. Just choose the length of time and budget that suits you best and we will do the rest in our Wexford Town skin clinic. Highly Recommended – ask about our skin boosting lemon anti-oxidant facial.
3. The Emergency Fix. Last minute socialising? No time for a facial and out of your Enzyme Exfoliator right before a night out? Soak clean facecloths in cold water, squeeze out and pop in the fridge for 20 minutes to cool further. Apply to your face in turn for 10 minutes total (change them out when they warm up on the skin, usually 2-3 minutes each). This will give you a quick glow that will last a couple of hours!

A good SPF should be the last step in every morning skincare routine, every day of the year. But there are a few things that are more specifically related to summer time / high UV index that you may find of help. Click the video below to see my detailed advice on safe tanning/tanning through SPF and how it is that your skin might darken over the summer months even though you are scrupulous with your SPF.

Things to know:

• You may still tan through a properly applied SPF (see video for details), this type of tan will not harm your skin’s health or beauty.
• Sunscreen can be physical or chemical in it’s action – I prefer physical (mineral) SPF, and so does the environment.
• ALL sunscreens need to be reapplied every 2 hours when outdoors in direct heat, more often if swimming.
• Through your eyes and your surface skin cells (keratinocytes) are two of the ways your body detects and processes the levels of UV in your environment and reacts accordingly, making colour pigment to protect your cells. So cool.
• Darker skin tones have a longer-reaching deposit system from their pigment-creating cells, meaning the colour gets much nearer the surface then in lighter skin tone, giving a darker complexion and more natural protection (although sunscreen is still needed).
• Tanning beds and booths are dangerous for both the health and beauty of your skin. 
• A sunburn does not turn into a suntan! One is direct damage, the other is a protection system. A pale-skinned person will not experience a sunburn ‘turning into” a suntan. You DO NOT need to burn to tan. (Big myth from my childhood)!!
• Shop our SPF here

Do you have any questions about SPF/tanning that you would like Mariga to answer?

Just drop us a line at info@skinessentialsbymariga.com, call our Wexford-based skin clinic on 086 3823608 / 053 9145981 or drop in to us, we are open Tuesday – Saturday. 

Skin texture – how to get smooth, even skin whatever your issue.

What do we mean by texture?

When we talk about assessing your skin texture we mean two things

1. Whether your skin is thin, medium or thick in density. Generally this is determined by your genetic make up and is not subject to change, except in the case of skin that has been artificially thinned due to illness, over-treating with inappropriate products or other factors.
2. Texture also refers to the level of smoothness of the skin. Is there uneven or bumpy areas visible to the naked eye, or apparent to the touch. This can be surface texture as in flaky patches, or a deeper issue such as congested pores or badly adhered skin layers. This is the texture that can be worked on using professional products and treatments to make it smoother.

What is ‘normal’ texture?

In skin there is no ‘normal’, we go by what is normal and achievable for you on taking into consideration your genetics, level of past skin damage, skin health on an overall and a cellular level and commitment to effecting and sustaining change in your skin’s health and appearance. In general, almost everyone wants to achieve a higher level of visible and touchable smoothness to their skin.

Reasons for/types of texture you might experience

Acne scarring

Tiny grains-of-sand feeling under the skin

Congested pores, blackheads, whiteheads

Dehydration

Dry patches

Enlarged Pores

Glycation

Wrinkles

Acne

What can be done to improve the appearance of textured skin?

Acne scarring: can be successfully treated with clinical treatment such as microneedling or trifractional radio frequency, our pyramid facelift treatment is amazing for scars that are indented or pitted.

Acne scarring can be successfully treated

Tiny bumps that can be felt more than seen: often due to an incomplete or disrupted skin call life cycle, this can be smoothed from the outside with enzyme exfoliation and addressed at source with products high in bio-identical lipids such as our Lipid Repair Concentrate. Vitamin A is also a great cell normaliser, find it in Age Slowly Serum, Blemish Control Cream and Overnight Repair Cream. If it is medically ok for you to do so,  you can take an omega 3, 6, 9 supplement to build better quality skin lipids from the inside. Reduce sugar intake also.

Congestion, blackheads, whiteheads: At home, use products containing salicylic acid (Salicylic Cleanser, Vitamin A (see above) and hyaluronic acid (Hyaluronic+ Moisture Boost). Drink plenty of water. Clinically, extraction facials or acid peels will help clear skin faster at the beginning then homecare will maintain clear pores.

Dehydration: This requires a two-fold approach of getting more water in the skin (drink your 8 glasses a day) and then keeping it there by strengthening the lipid layer. Dehydrated skin is more prone to closed comedones and fine, papery-feeling lines but is pretty easy to correct with the right habits and products.

Dry patches: dry skin can be challenging for the client  as it takes time to slowly bring it back to optimum function. It is not hard to do, just using the right homecare products (focusing on replenishing products such as Skin Comfort Oil and Skin Comfort Cream), and adding nourishing facials to speed the process, but does require compliance and patience. It will takes months to begin to turn around skin that has been drying our for possibly years but the rewards are great when you get there. The temptation is to constantly exfoliate to temporarily relieve dry patches and reveal radiance but this is detrimental in the long run as skin get dryer and more sensitised without it’s protective barrier.

Enlarged Pores: note that I don’t use the phrase ‘open pores’ here – pores are supposed to be open, that’s normal! However, some people do have visibly enlarged pores and how to make them appear smaller is a common question. My advice here is to use products containing vitamin A (nightly) and vitamin c (daytime) and if you have oily skin use a Salicylic Cleanser in the morning. Trifractional Radiofrequency Treatments are the best treatment on the market for reducing enlarged pores.

Before and after a course of trifractional

Glycation: often mistaken for wrinkles, glycation is a manifestation of a combination of ageing skin, built-up sun exposure and excess sugar in the system. It can appear anywhere on the face but is very common on the chin, around the mouth area and the cheeks. It looks like square, cushioned texture and is not something that is easily treated – this one is a prevention is better than cure situation so be careful of the aforementioned triggers.

Example of glycation

Wrinkles: this one is obvious, wrinkles disrupt the smooth texture of the skin. Treatment will be bespoke for everyone but I always recommend looking at microneedling both as prevention and to reduce existing lines in a progressive, sustainable way. For a deeper revision of wrinkles combined with skin tightening the Pyramid Facelift is unbeatable.

Acne: once we assess whether your type of acne is within our scope of treatment you will be given a personalised course of action to get it under control. This will include homecare, professional peels and diet/lifestyle advice.

Maintaining your results

Once your skin texture has been improved to target levels (remember this can be different for different skin types and conditions, expected outcomes are covered at your initial consultation so that you know what can be achieved for you), a maintenance programme will be put in place to keep everything smooth.

This can include professional treatments every 1-3 months, continued diet and lifestyle trigger control and suitable homecare to keep your skin clear. We recommend reviewing your skin goals every 6 months to make sure all is as it should be and to tweak any homecare or clinical maintenance for the current season.