9

The Lancer Anti-Aging Method for Sensitive Skin

Almost all of my patients would categorize their skin as sensitive. In my observation, people with sensitive skin tend to be perceptive and aware. Their minds are always going, which has a powerful effect on their bodies. Their skin reflects their inner intensity. Sensitive skin overreacts to internal and external upsets. The sensitivity can come and go, come and stay, or be consistent from birth.

Perceiving your skin to be delicate involves a number of senses—visual, tactile, thermal—and is highly subject to self-awareness. Visually, fragile skin reacts by appearing red, flaky, chafed, sometimes waxy, and bumpy. Sensitive skin can be a desert landscape with no oil or sebum in sight or an oil field. It can feel rough to the touch. Sensitive skin hurts and burns. Wind can be painful, and so can cold. The skin’s itchy, irritated, flushing, burning, stinging reactions to the environment, skin care and grooming products, food, and other lifestyle factors can be maddening to cope with. The irritation can remain beneath the skin’s surface, causing such serious damage as mutation of DNA in skin cells and destruction of collagen. The damage is not evident until later when the problems reach critical mass. Subsurface irritation can show up as uneven skin tone or enlarged pores.

Age can increase your skin’s sensitivity, or decrease the same. A lifetime’s exposures to toxins and chemicals accumulate in your body. Your skin barrier becomes less effective when you age, allowing moisture to escape, which is why older skin tends to be drier. Dry skin is more susceptible to allergic reactions, because the epidermal barrier is impaired and antigens can penetrate. When your skin is irritated, the overall repair process and cell turnover slow down, because energy is focused on the affected area.

Sensitive from Birth

One male Hollywood star has been my patient for years. His skin has been delicate since he was a baby. It started with inflamed rashes in infancy. By the time he was in first grade, he would develop hives if he bumped into doors. His pediatrician had sent him to an allergist. He had been patch-tested and treated for an array of sensitivities his whole life. His skin is so reactive, it’s just about impossible to pinpoint what combination of things triggers a flare-up at any given time. His delicate skin bridges the gap between allergic responses and physical irritation.

His treatments at the office have to be done in a room with no windows and low lighting. When he is on a film set, he has to wear makeup mixed with strong sunblock in order for him to be able to work under the strong lights without a violent reaction. If he is not meticulous in protecting his skin from internal and external irritants, it becomes a tantrum of redness and flushing. That sort of reaction would not play well on a forty-by-fifty-foot screen.

Needless to say, we treat his skin in half measures. This actor has to drink his chamomile tea tepid and eat his food at room temperature. He is that sensitive. We microbuff his face, use LED lights for short periods, and oxygenate his skin. We apply a pressurized cool stream of oxygen to his face with a wand-like device, which helps to lessen redness and swelling, stimulates collagen production, and increases the skin’s absorption of topical anti-oxidants. He polishes his skin only once a week. If he has been clear of reactions for a month or so, he ups his polishing to twice a week. His skin has always been delicate and requires special care at all times.

The Takeaway:

• If you have extremely sensitive skin, you know it.
• It is often difficult to discover a single trigger for a reaction.
• Even highly reactive skin can be quieted by careful adherence to a program for sensitive skin.
• You have to learn what your skin can tolerate and understand that it can change moment by moment.
• The Lancer Method for Sensitive Skin can stimulate your skin’s immediate healing and slow down inflammatory damage that will age your skin.

ALLERGIC REACTION OR IRRITATION: THE DYNAMICS OF SENSITIVE SKIN

A medical definition does not exist for sensitive skin, which is a catchall concept that includes acne and rosacea. In the broadest terms, sensitive skin is prone to irritation and inflammation. Though there are no clear answers for what causes sensitive skin, the vascular, nervous, endocrine, and immune systems are all involved in skin reactivity. Genetics is part of it. Sensitive skin runs in families.

There is a real distinction between an allergic reaction and irritated skin. People generally have a family history for allergies or have experienced reactions since childhood. Whether using a bar of soap at a motel or shampoo at a five-star hotel, a person with allergies will see an immediate or delayed reaction in the area that the product has been used. An allergy is a localized sensitivity. The response is generated by the immune system. When an antigen—a substance the immune system reads as foreign—enters the picture, the immune system makes antibodies, including histamine, to attack the invader, creating an inflammation at the site, otherwise known as an allergic reaction. Allergic reactions can be triggered by external or internal factors, from ingredients in skin care products to foods you have eaten. Compared with reactions to external irritants, the effects of an allergic reaction to food are broader and systemic. The tongue, mouth, gums, and palms can burn and tingle. A reaction to a topical product remains localized.

Irritated skin is not necessarily evidence of an allergic reaction but can be a simple chemical response that does not involve the immune system. Irritation can be caused by an interaction between a chemical and receptors located in the skin—say, in the cell membrane—that results in a localized inflammatory response. Chronic irritation can break down collagen and impair the skin’s ability to heal. Interfering with these processes ages your skin. The Lancer Anti-Aging Method for Sensitive Skin is designed to stimulate the healing process and quiet inflammation, which will not only take care of immediate problems but also help your skin to function better, avoiding flare-ups in the future.

Sometimes sensitive skin can be too dry or injured to protect its nerve endings, resulting in burning, itching, and stinging sensations. If your skin is oily, irritation stimulates nerve endings at the base of your pores to signal oil glands to produce more sebum, which can clog pores and cause further inflammation.

As you know by now, the state of your entire body affects your skin. Imbalances can lead to skin irritation. Toxins from the environment, food, and certain medications can challenge your liver, which operates like a factory that filters harmful chemicals from the bloodstream. If your liver gets overwhelmed and is unable to handle the buildup, the toxins are released back into your blood. Your skin then works as an organ of elimination. Impurities and metabolic debris along with carbon dioxide, salt, and excess minerals exit the skin. In addition, an imbalance of thyroid hormones shows up on the skin. Twenty-five percent of women have low thyroid, which can lead to dry, coarse, or itching skin and hair loss. An overactive thyroid leads to skin thinning, which makes skin more vulnerable.

Symptoms of skin sensitivity can be the result of poor digestion and elimination. If your food is not well digested, nutrients are not used efficiently, fluid absorption is diminished, and blood flow is reduced. Toxic debris congests the colon, which leads to inflammation. Chronic illnesses such as sinusitis or asthma can disrupt the immune system balance, resulting in inflammation that creates the symptoms of sensitive skin. If your body is not working well, your sensitive skin will be quick to let you know. You can see from this quick overview that the flare-ups of sensitive skin are triggered by many different physical factors or combinations of those factors.

FEELINGS ON DISPLAY

The psychological component to sensitive skin flare-ups cannot be underestimated. If you do not connect with your negative emotions and deal with them, you can trigger a skin disorder such as acne, rosacea, or a sensitive skin reaction. When emotions run high, your skin can act up like a spoiled child. Stress puts your body in a state of heightened alert. Every system shifts into fight-or-flight mode. Your hormones, particularly adrenaline, cortisol, and DHEA, ramp up. Chronic stress leads to chronic inflammation. Inflammatory neuropeptides are released, making your skin more sensitive. Stress also increases water loss through the epidermis, and dehydration only adds to your problems.

The condition of a patient’s skin telegraphs their emotional state the minute I walk into the treatment room. An upbeat person has vibrant skin that glows. The skin of a person under stress looks tired and dull. People in a negative emotional state often lose the energy and motivation to adhere to their skin care regimen, and it shows. For sensitive skin, the lifestyle advice in part 3 is of the utmost importance.

DO YOU HAVE SENSITIVE SKIN?

• Do you have a history of asthma or allergies such as hay fever? If so, your chance of having sensitive skin and allergic reactions is higher.
• Do you have skin reactions to sunscreens, including bumps and itching?
• Have you had several reactions to skin care products?
• Have hair products made your scalp and skin itch?
• Have you had skin reactions to prescription medications, lotions, and gels?
• Has your skin reacted to hotel sheets and towels? Harsh detergents can affect sensitive skin.

If you have had repeated skin reactions, you have to take special care to keep your skin calm. Pinpointing what is causing the sensitivity can be difficult. Skin reactions do not necessarily happen quickly. It can take some time for the inflammation to build. If you are in a period of extreme stress, your responses can be magnified.

I suggest you keep a record of flare-ups: when they occur, what you think caused the reaction, how long your skin remains inflamed. You should look at your daily habits—what you eat, the skin care products you use, how much sleep you got the night before a reaction, how stressed out you are. Have you tried a new skin care product or hair conditioner? Changed your laundry detergent? Eaten an exotic cuisine? With patience, you should be able to observe patterns and come closer to identifying triggers. You have to become a detective to pinpoint what is irritating your skin—and that includes your emotional state—so that you can eliminate that trigger from your life and defuse the stress.

INTERPRETING THE SYMPTOMS

People have become more sensitized to the ever-increasing levels of toxins in our environment, food, and personal care products. We breathe them in, consume them in the food we eat and the water we drink and bathe in, and rub them on our skin. Combine the increasing exposure to potentially harmful chemicals in everyday life with higher stress levels, and you have created a perfect environment for skin reactions and irritation. Add an abundance of anti-aging products to that mix and it is no wonder that just about everyone feels they have sensitive skin. Product-driven sensitivities are not uncommon. Here are just a few:

Itchy and taut skin can be caused by cleansers that are too drying. If your skin is sensitive, you should avoid harsh bar soaps that can break down natural lipids. Avoid the poorer-quality ingredients sodium lauryl sulfate and ammonium laurel sulfate, which are used as sudsing agents in soap, shampoo, and toothpaste.

Burning and stinging can result from anti-aging product overload. That is why I have included a special anti-aging program for sensitive skin. You should keep your skin care routine simple and avoid using products with too many ingredients. For example, mixing retinoids with AHA can increase the potential for irritation. Look for peptides and niacin in your skin care products to reduce irritation.

Scaly red patches can indicate a problem with your skin barrier function. Moisture is escaping from your skin and producing dryness and flakiness. If you find scaly patches, consult a dermatologist. This form of irritation could indicate that you have eczema, which is its own disease.

Small red bumps that itch could indicate an allergy to an ingredient in a personal care product. The most common triggers are alcohol, fragrances, artificial dyes, and parabens.

Eye puffiness and redness can be triggered by touching or rubbing your eyes. You may be allergic to the formaldehyde and toluene found in nail polish, or the fragrances in hand lotions. You also might be responding to chemicals and fragrances in eye creams.

Blushing and flushing can indicate that you have early-stage rosacea. Read chapter 8 and be sure to consult with a dermatologist to treat this complex immune disorder.

Ingredients to Avoid If You Have Sensitive Skin

All of the ingredients that follow are commonly used in grooming and household products. Every one of them can be irritating to sensitive skin. Remember: The closer they appear to the top of the ingredients list, the more of the irritant will be in the product and the greater the concentration. The appearance of an ingredient from this list in a product you use does not necessarily mean you will react to it, but you should be aware of potential irritants:

• Ammonia
• Arnica
• Balm mint
• Balsam
• Benzalkonium chloride
• Benzyl alcohol
• Bergamot
• Camphor
• Cinnamon
• Citrus juices and oils
• Clove
• Clover blossom
• Coriander
• Essential oils
• Ethanol eucalyptus
• Eugenol
• Fennel
• Fennel oil
• Fir needle
• Fragrance
• Geranium
• Grapefruit
• Horsetail
• Methyl acetate
• Mint
• Oak bark
• Orange
• Papaya
• Peppermint
• Phenol
• Sandalwood oil
• Sodium lauryl sulfate
• TEA-lauryl sulfate
• Thyme
• Wintergreen
• Witch hazel
• Ylang-ylang

RECOGNIZE INGREDIENT RED FLAGS

With sensitive skin, you should choose simple products that have only a few ingredients. If a product does not have a long list of ingredients, it will be easier to identify what might cause a reaction. The rule of thumb is to use products with fewer than ten ingredients. Products that are labeled “hypoallergenic” do not necessarily mean they are safe for your skin. No federal regulations exist covering manufacturers’ use of that term. High-quality products may be complex!

You should avoid overly abrasive scrubs, especially those with aluminum oxide crystals, walnut shells, and pumice. Sudsy soaps with anti-bacterial and deodorizing ingredients can be irritating. Stay away from heavily perfumed products and those with a high concentration of “natural” essential oils. Both fragrance and too much essential oil can promote an allergic reaction. Alcohol in any form is drying, which is the last thing most sensitive skin needs. Acetone and witch hazel can be drying, too. Anti-aging products are loaded with acids like retinoids, AHAs and BHAs and, lactic and glycolic acids. These ingredients fight aging effectively, but for sensitive skin it is all a question of balance—too great a concentration will cause irritation.

If a skin care product contains water, preservatives are required. Many preservatives are formaldehyde-based. Be on the lookout for DMDM hydantoin and quaternium-15, both of which are known to provoke skin reactions. Even vitamin C can stir up a reaction if the concentration is too high.

It is imperative for you to use only the gentlest products on your skin and hair. You should do the same with laundry detergents and softeners. What you use to clean your clothes, sheets, and towels will make a difference. Your skin is in direct contact with the fabrics of all these items. You should use green detergents with little soap content and minimal chemicals.

Even Your Hair Can Be Sensitive

I have been treating a major-league political adviser in her forties for the past fifteen years. An LES V, she is the ultimate in sensitivity. She can use only Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo. If she uses anything else or tries to color her hair, she develops hives on her scalp and becomes itchy all over. She has to rely on oral anti-histamines to control her allergic responses.

Her sensitive skin has limited many of her choices. She can wear only 100 percent organic cotton. If a synthetic, scratchy, or chemically treated fabric touches her skin, she is down for the count. She has switched to a vegan diet. When she is caught up in the heat of an election, she builds in time for exercise, meditation, and an occasional massage to help her unwind.

Her skin care routine is reduced to a minimum. She cleanses and nourishes, skipping the polish step of the Lancer Method. Her skin cannot tolerate sunblock. Fortunately, her dark complexion gives her some protection from sun damage and wrinkles. She says she feels like a vampire, because she goes to great lengths to avoid the sun. She never goes out without covering up. She knows her sensitive skin. By trial and error, she has learned what she has to do to keep it reaction-free.

Takeaway:

• If you are persistent, you can learn to manage your sensitive skin.
• Do not discount any possible trigger. Irritants may be hiding where you least expect them. New triggers develop… others disappear.
• Choose very gentle personal grooming products and keep them to a minimum.
• Do not forget that triggers can change depending on other circumstances. The context in which you experience something new is as important as the trigger.
• Make adjustments in your lifestyle to calm down your mind and your body.

THE LANCER METHOD FOR SENSITIVE SKIN

The Lancer Method is especially important for sensitive skin. Starting your anti-aging efforts with a procedure is one of the worst things you can do if your skin is reactive by nature. Your skin is too easily inflamed to tolerate sudden and intense stimulation. The Lancer Method will calm your skin and reduce inflammation, but you will not be able to jump right into the program. It will take you a few months to introduce anti-aging products into your skin care regimen. You have to be prepared to read your skin as you add new products. If there is any reaction at all, do not use the product every day. Return to just cleansing and nourishing for a week, and then add a single additional product once a week, and build up.

If your skin is sensitive, use products that are formulated for delicate skin. You should invest in the best sensitive skin care products you can afford. Lancer Skincare has fragrance-free products for the three-step method that have been created specifically for sensitive skin. The regimen for sensitive skin that follows will instruct you about easing into the program. Since sensitive skin is so variable and unpredictable, you will have to pay careful attention to how your skin reacts. The beauty of the Lancer Method is that it’s designed to be adapted for your skin.

The Lancer Method for Sensitive Skin

You will be working one product at a time, week by week, into this schedule.

The skin needs a gentle introduction to new products. Always care for your skin with tepid water, because hot or cold can cause a reaction. When introducing new products, you have to go at your own pace.

A.M.

• Non-foaming cleanser for sensitive skin
• Glycolic acid cream (alternate with anti-aging face cream)
• Fragrance-free, anti-aging moisturizer for sensitive skin
• Sunscreen

P.M.

• Gentle exfoliator
• Non-foaming cleanser for sensitive skin
• Hydrating night cream
• Fragrance-free, anti-aging moisturizer for sensitive skin

I am recommending a schedule that works for the majority of my patients. You do not have to follow this to the letter. If your skin should react, stop using the offending product and slow down. You will not start this regimen by polishing every day, because it could provide too much stimulation for your skin. Do not be impatient. Your skin will be improving as it adjusts to the new products.

The order in which you will be introducing products is as follows:

1. Cleanser, nourisher, sunscreen
2. Polish
3. Glycolic acid cream
4. Hydrating night cream

Recommended Products for Sensitive Skin

Polish

Luxury:

• Lancer Skincare The Method: Polish Sensitive Skin
• Aesop Purifying Facial Exfoliant Paste
• Jurlique Fruit Enzyme Exfoliator
• Valmont Exfoliant Face Scrub

Moderate:

• Clarins Gentle Peeling Smooth Away Cream
• The Body Shop Vitamin C Cleansing Polish
• REN Clean Skincare Jojoba Microbead Purifying Facial Polish

Affordable:

• Aveeno Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub
• Neutrogena Deep Clean Gentle Scrub
• Jergens Skin Smoothing Gentle Exfoliating Moisturizer

Cleanse

Luxury:

• Lancer Skincare The Method: Cleanse Sensitive Skin
• Aesop Fabulous Face Cleanser
• Jurlique Purely Bright Cleanser
• Erno Laszlo Firmarine Face Bar

Moderate:

• Clarins Gentle Foaming Cleanser
• Clinique Comforting Cream Cleanser
• Fresh Soy Face Cleanser
• Boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel

Affordable:

• Aveeno Ultra-Calming Foaming Cleanser
• Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
• Bioré 4-in-1 Detoxifying Cleanser

Nourish

Luxury:

• Lancer Skincare The Method: Nourish Sensitive Skin
• Aesop Mandarin Facial Hydrating Cream
• Jurlique Purely Sun-Defying Moisturizer with SPF 15 Sunscreen

Moderate:

• Clarins Gentle Day Cream
• Korres Wild Rose 24-Hour Moisturizer and Brightening Cream
• Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+

Affordable:

• Aveeno Ultra-Calming Daily Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 15
• Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion
• Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture Sensitive Skin

• Week 1: Cleanse and nourish in the morning and at night. Apply sunscreen in the morning.
• Week 2: Continue with week 1 and add polish on Monday and Thursday nights.
• Week 3: Continue cleansing and nourishing twice a day. Polish on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights.
• Week 4: Cleanse and nourish twice a day, and polish nightly.
• Week 5: Repeat week 4 and add glycolic acid cream in the morning on Monday and Thursday.
• Week 6: Bump up the glycolic acid cream to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.
• Week 7: Now use the glycolic acid cream every day in the morning, along with the polish, cleanse, nourish, and sunscreen steps.
• Week 8: Add hydrating night cream on Monday and Thursday nights.
• Week 9: Now try the hydrating night cream every other night—Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
• Week 10: Include the night cream every night, and you have incorporated the regimen’s products.

After a few months, you might want to add more treatments to your program if you are enjoying a quiet period:

• For enhanced eye-area care: Eye cream (see here)
• For radiance: Vitamin C cream (see here)
• For brightening: Brightening cream (see here)

If you see signs of irritation, go back to the start. Only cleanse and nourish for the next day or two. Then you have to reintroduce the products gradually, following the same schedule.

LIFE ADJUSTMENTS FOR SENSITIVE SKIN

Take care of your sensitive skin by taking steps in all areas of your life to protect it, like a hothouse flower. Here are a few tips that could make a big difference to the health of your skin:

• Do not drink or shower in unfiltered water. The chlorine and minerals in most water can irritate your skin. Use filters on the faucets of your sinks, bathtubs, and showers or a central filter on your water system.
• Do not use hot water in the shower or on your face. Hot water and steam wash away natural oils and leach moisture from your skin. Try to limit your showers to no more than ten minutes. Shower and cleanse your face with tepid water. Avoid washing with water that is very hot or too cold.
• Forget bubble baths—the chemicals that make suds break up oil on your skin and dry it out.
• Do not use scrub mitts, loofahs, or washcloths.
• Pat dry, do not rub.
• Apply moisturizer while your skin is still moist—within three minutes of showering—to lock in moisture.
• Test any new product that you use by putting a small amount behind your ear. Leave it overnight and see how your skin responds. If you have extremely sensitive skin, test the product for five days.
• Use only products made without fragrance; unscented is not good enough. The label should read “fragrance free” or “without perfume.”
• Make sure your sunscreen contains zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, because they deflect the sun’s rays rather than absorbing them. You are less likely to have an allergic reaction to products that contain those ingredients.
• Wear smooth, soft, natural fabrics, such as fine cotton and silk. Linen may work.
• Wear loose clothing without a lot of creases and folds.
• Throw out old cosmetics. They can spoil and become contaminated. It’s better to buy in small sizes to keep the products fresh.
• Use silicone-based foundation.
• Do not use waterproof cosmetics, because you need a special cleanser to remove them.
• Use earth-toned eye shadows, which are less irritating than darker and metallic tones.
• Protect your face from cold and wind with a soft scarf. Do not forget your hands.
• Do not overheat your home.
• Keep irritated areas covered and out of the sun.
• Do not swim in a chlorinated pool while your skin is irritated.
• Do not get overheated—avoid strenuous workouts, hot yoga, and activities that make you sweat. Saunas and steam rooms are not advised for sensitive complexions.
• Do not treat irritated skin with cream remedies like lidocaine, Benadryl, and ointment antibiotics, all of which can make your skin reaction worse.
• Talk to a dermatologist before using drugstore hydrocortisone cream on an irritation. Hydrocortisone cream can damage collagen if you use it too long.
• Do not take over-the-counter oral anti-histamines to counteract a reaction without talking with a dermatologist.
• Increase consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil, walnuts, and flaxseeds. You will find more about this in chapter 11.
• Increase consumption of raw vegetables and fruits and other high-fiber foods to improve digestion.
• Take digestive enzymes and probiotics as supplements to improve digestion.
• Avoid sugar and drinking alcohol, which promote inflammation.
• Check the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database at www.ewg.org/skindeep. The website rates the toxicity of eighty thousand cosmetic products and two thousand cleaning products by analyzing the ingredients.
• For a fuller listing of safe, gentle household products, check the National Institutes of Health site: www.householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov.

By now, I hope I have convinced you that skin care must be at the core of your efforts to look younger. In this part of the book, I have fine-tuned the basic anti-aging method to accommodate the most common skin problems. The purpose of these chapters is to explain the mechanics of acne, rosacea, and sensitive skin and to provide a practical, specifically tailored action plan, including skin care, supporting treatments, and lifestyle recommendations. The Lancer Method will restore your reactive skin to health and counteract inflammation’s long-term destructive effect on the appearance of your skin. Containing the problem will help you to sidestep premature aging.

The next part of the book covers how to fight aging from the inside out. Your looks reflect your lifestyle. If you are sedentary, party too much, eat mindlessly, sleep badly, and get thrown by every bump in the road, all the skin care in the world will not help. “The Lancer Anti-Aging Lifestyle,” part 3, gives you very practical advice on stress management, diet, exercise, and a plan for living that will keep you looking radiant and fresh.