Monthly Archives: May 2014

Top 5 Sunscreen Mistakes of Memorial Day 2014

So I obviously had a great holiday weekend as I am just realizing this is Monday and I didn’t post Sunday, time flies when you’re having fun. Happy Memorial Day. Thank you to all the service men and women. Freedom isn’t free. So very thankful for our troops; past, present and future. I am sure some, if not all of you enjoyed the holiday with some sun, whether it was like me at a waterpark and zoo or at the lake or just outside grillin, it is the unofficial start of Summer. As I scroll through my social media newfeeds they are overloaded with sunburn pictures. I mean I expect to see tanners out in public. I almost walked up to a lady at the waterpark to tell her she looked like she rolled in doritos and that is a bad example to her children but my husband wouldn’t let me. I figure premature aging is enough punishment for her anyways, those leathery wrinkles, bless her heart. But MY friends, on MY socialmedia feeds, SUNBURNED!!! Oh I just can’t have it, just won’t allow it! The thing is most of you tried. Most of the pictures were failed sun protection attempts. It’s amusing that it is so hard to use sunscreen which is why most of the pictures made it to social media anyways. I like the tips the American Academy of Dermatology gives on sunscreen (www.aad.org) and I will include some of that info in this post.

Drumroll please………Here are the top five sunscreen mistakes of Memorial Day 2014.

1. Thinking sunscreen is enough-MISTAKE! One made by the best of ‘em too. I saw one of my most favorite people posting a pic of her using her sunscreen, in a bikini, not under any shade, c’mon! You gotta seek shade, avoid the hottest hours of the day and wear sun protective clothing, sunglasses and hats. There is a reason the FDA made them quit putting the word sunblock on the bottle-its more like a screen door then a metal door-some stuff still gets through.

2. The mistake of thinking it is waterPROOF sunscreen when it is acutally waterRESISTANT. There is no such thing as waterproof sunscreen so you have to be extra careful when in the pool, lake, etc. The bottle should say 40 or 80 minute after the word waterresistant and that is how often you should be re-applying if in water. BUT you need to at least reapply everytime you get out of the water or after a good sweat. Just to be safe I advise a swim shirt, especially on your littles who have more sensitive skin. Use water resistant all the time.

3.Mistakenly not using broadspectrum sunscreen-Always use broadspectrum sunscreen. This means it gets the UVA and UVB types of harmful UV rays. UVA and UVB are basically just different wavelengths but they can both cause skin cancer so you want a broadspectrum to protect you. If you really want to get fancy use physical blockers like the ingredient zinc oxide-you can still see it after application but for kids you can do fun colors they like anyways.

4.The ever popular mistake of not using enough sunscreen-Apply liberally. This is one of those “the more the better” kinda gigs. AAD recommends a 30 SPF or higher and to use at least 1 ounce. One ounce is two tablespoons or a full shot glass. So don’t be stingy, lather up!

5. And my least favorite is the mistake of not applying frequently enough- If you put your sunscreen on at 7AM and then never reapplied, that’s a problem. You should reapply every two hours. If in water then everytime you get out of the water and every 40-80 minutes (check the bottle). If you get super sweaty then you should reapply like you’re in a pool. The more (often) the merrier but make sure you didn’t get a sunscreen/insect repellant combo because insect repellent should be put on less often and in a lesser amount.

Hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend! If your sunburn made facebook then I expect to see you this week at the clinic to help you with that. I won’t even scold you, it’s hard to be sunsmart. That’s partly why 1 in 5 Americans will have skin cancer in their lifetime. Hope you all have an amazing week, stay skintastic.

Sending skin love your way, Nina

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SkinMedica FUN only

I had the honor of spending the weekend in California at the Skinmedica Physicians Summit. As most of you know Skinmedica is my favorite skin care line. It is one of the only nonprescription skin care lines that has real science to back it up, I mean research and all people. It was so much fun connecting with dermatologists, plastic surgeons and other healthcare providers from around the US and Canada. It was even more fun learning more about all the Skinmedica products and how other experts are incorporating them into their patients’ skin health care plan. I could write this post about the stability of growth factors or melanin transfer to keratinocytes or even keratinocyte migration to stratum corneum but you will just have to make an appointment for that. This blog is way too fun for that chat. So here are the fun “take homes” I brought back from the Skinmedica Summit in California to Arkansas.

1.“Tugly”- This is a combination of tight and ugly. This happens when someone comes and gets their Botox and Voluma but then they don’t take care of their skin. Although they may be tight, ridding lines and sagging with neurotoxin and filler due to neglect of skincare, they still have dark spots or dilated pores or acne. The “take home” message is skin care is important too people. FYI: none of my patients are tugly.

2. The average woman has 183 products in her bathroom. COME ON! For real? How? Apparently we have foot creams, elbow creams, neck creams, tanning lotions, wrinkle creams, soaks, masks, tightners, brighteners, etc, etc, etc…….. The message is cut back to stuff that actually works and rid the junk.

3. “80% of skin care clients who leave a facility without buying a product for home use will purchase at least 1 skin care product in a drug store or department store within 24 hours” (MedEsthetics, October 2012) So basically, after you come see me and I tell you what will work for your skin you go buy a piece of junk instead(yes, “slap in yo face” is what I felt upon hearing this). Why? Probably because I’m not a good saleswoman, I’m a nurse practitioner. On the other hand, the girl behind the make-up counter is a great saleswoman. She draws you in and convinces you to buy her non-research, no scientifically proved benefit, smell good, feel good potion because she works off commission and she needs the money to buy her dress for junior prom this May.

4.  I’ve been given a gift, the eyes for cosmetic procedures- sounds weird that I learned that at a skinmedica conference, huh? When I arrived they gave us a book with pictures and bio’s of all the physicians. I obviously flipped through pics first, judging them all, seeing who had bad filler jobs, whose Botox was looking a little Spock like, who just needed to stop, who looked amazing, who I would let inject me, who had beautiful skin and so on and so on. Terrible, I know.  Well by the time I got to the back of the book I realized Dr. Sandy’s picture was on my top five list. She looks great and it is by no means because of me. She takes awesome care of her skin, she works out, eats rights, stays spiritually healthy and so on. But no one would look at her and say she looks done. She looks natural and that makes me proud because I’m the one who injects her.

5. You need more than a personal trainer. Say you go see a personal trainer 3 times a week. You aren’t going to get in shape with just that, you have to go home, eat right and exercise on your own other days of the week to stay in shape. Your personal trainer is for that extra boost. It’s the same concept with skin care. I am your skin care trainer. You come in and I give you a Vitalize peel, Botox, Voluma, whatever you choose but then you have to go home and use your retinol and sunscreen everyday, maybe even your TNS essential serum or Lytera to keep your skin in shape. It’s good, better or best. Don’t you want to be the best? I want you to be the best!

6. You spend lots of money on skin care products that don’t work. The Skinmedica Retinol 0.5 that I use every night is $82.31 with tax and last me 3-4 months. They showed us a product called la prairie platinum rare cellular cream that cost $1080.00 before tax!!!!!!!!!!! I choked on my ice and had to spit up some water. Skinmedica skin care products are cost effective!

Okay I will stop at 6 because that was a long post and because I am jet lagged and need to go to bed. Dr. Sandy and I went all the way to California to make sure we are bringing the best to the South, to Fort Smith. We care about this community and its skin! Come see us this week and let us share some SkinMedica secrets with you! Until then, please stay skintastic!

Love yourself, you’re awesome, Nina

Mom Skin Habits

Mothers are all we really have when we are born. We rely on them for all our basic needs; food, shelter, bathing and protection. As newborns we can’t even go to sleep without them, scratch that, as newborns we can’t hardly sleep period. As we grow up we rely on them for much more complicated needs. In elementary school they help teach us how to read, in junior high they teach us how to get a date to our first school dance, in high school they are a shoulder to lean on during our first break up and our personal assistant to get into colleges and apply for scholarships. When we get married our Mothers are wedding planners and then we have children and they are our babysitters and life coaches. The job just gets more and more difficult for Moms but they just seem to get better and better at it. Then, at some point in our lives we look in the mirror and say “Wow, I’ve turned into my Mom”. It’s a proud moment and simultaneously a little gut wrenching. I mean we don’t usually decide to be just like our moms in our teenage years. Most of us aren’t really sure how it happened. Some people probably wish it hadn’t happened. However it comes to be, it most definetely happens. At some point in your life you will do something that is your Mom. So this post goes out to all the Moms out there. Make the realization that your kiddos are taking a piece of you with them forever. Let it be the good part, let it be something they are happy they got from you. Without further delay here are my Top 5 “Mom Skin Habits” you should pass on to the kiddos.

  1. Don’t get in the tanning bed- Preach to them that the tanning bed increases their risk for melanoma and they may or may not listen but if you get in a tanning bed what’s the point. Don’t get in the tanning bed and use the excuse “because I’m the Mom”, lame! Teach them that not getting in that tanning bed is keeping the beautiful skin God gave them. Teach them to keep healthy skin habits through example!
  2. Wash your face every night- Mom, I know you worked all day then chauffered to soccer and dance, then cooked dinner, then put the kids to sleep, then did laundry and now you are about to fall asleep on the couch and stumble into the bedroom but STOP and take the time to create a habit of skin care. If you wash your face before bed (and hopefully apply retinol) every night they will see that and it might just be a habit they can’t go without in adulthood. I see your daughter now telling her new husband “Oh I can’t go to bed without washing my face, it’s just not right”, she will tell him she doesn’t know why she can’t but we will all know its because she got it from her mama.
  3. Wear sun protective clothing- If you only think you look good in an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini that perception will be cast on your child. On the other hand if you can rock out a swim shirt and a big floppy hat and make it look good your daughter will probably think she can make it look even better. Won’t you be proud to see her strutting her stuff around the pool all covered up while all the other girls have to wear a bikini to feel like they look good. Different is so empowering!
  4. Be proud of your cosmetic procedures- Why do Moms feel the need to hide the fact that we have Botox and fillers from our kids, like we are doing something wrong? We are taking care of ourselves, making ourselves feel good and beautiful. Don’t be ashamed of your actions. Rock out your Botox and teach your daughters that it is something women do to feel good and look good, just like we dye our hair and put on make-up. Change the negative connotations around it now so that our children’s generation doesn’t have to feel any embarrassment about their Botox injections.
  5. Be comfortable in your own skin- Love yourself. Love your skin. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Don’t say you “hate” anything about your skin to your sweet kids. Teach them to be themselves and love living in the skin they were given. You are awesome! Own it and one day when you see that confidence in your child you will be proud you instilled it into their brains.

I have only been a Mom for 14 months so I don’t really know why I think I have earned the right to give out Mom advice. Although, I have spent 30 years on this planet under the guidance of one of the best Moms you could ask for. She did all five of the things that I recommend and even though there are days I really hate to admit it, I am her. We are kinda twinsies. Hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day. Would love to see you at the clinic this week. If you’re a Mom, I think it’s time you come give yourself a skin treat. Let me help you with that!

XOXO, Nina

Tanning ain’t cool

I spent this weekend celebrating a very special bachelorette’s last fling before the ring in Sin City. My Las Vegas weekend was filled with lots of laughs (7 BFF’s ), Brittany Spears, shopping, eating and poolside fun. Yes, you heard correctly, I spent a day at the pool, I may be afraid of the sun but I don’t let it keep me from a good time! We had reserved a cabana and I planned to stay in the shade all day reading a good book, laughing with friends and obviously, sipping a lemonade with an umbrella decor. As most plans go, we had a small detour. We got to the pool and the “Cabana concierge” informed us that there had been a mistake and he gave away our cabana. There were no cabanas available. He offered us a cabana at a different resort, which appalled most of my friends. He then offered us a day bed with a credit for food and drinks. I informed him that it is Melanoma awareness month and not having a shaded area was bad for my skin health, he looked at me like I just grew a third arm, in disbelief. I’m sure he is used to people who enjoy laying in the sun and getting a tan, I mean he lives in the middle of the desert right? Well I’m not that girl, I like my skin how God made it for me. After a few tears, seven disgruntled women agreed to the daybed. Poor guy must have wished he called in to work that day. So with 8 spray on sunscreens and two powdered sunscreens in tow I realized being sun safe just got a little bit harder for the day. I asked for an umbrella immediately but apparently it was too windy. I applied sunscreen every two hours on the dot to myself and my 6 girlfriends. I set a timer on my phone and when the alarm when off my girlfriends just stood up, closed their eyes, held their arms out and started doing a little turn (which soon turned into a turning shimmy and shake) so I could spray them down with sunscreen. Just letting me have my way was much easier than any debate they may try to have with me. Plus, they all trust me with their lives so why not trust me with their skin? It actually was really fun and other people at the pool started coming over for sunscreen from us. Dancing in a mist of sunscreen every two hours livened us up and was actually a blast. I sprayed down our waitress, who then asked to be covered in sunscreen during our two hour timer check which then turned in to all the waitresses in the pool area which then turned in to the dancers which then turned into basically anyone who wanted sunscreen coming to our day bed. While at the pool we went through 11 containers of sunscreen. Now I have to admit that 7 women spraying you down with sunscreen might be what attracted the males to get sun smart that day but who cares if we saved at least one sunburn, right? The lessen learned is that tanning is a culture. At the beginning of the day Henry, the cabana concierge, thought that I was very strange for demanding shade and sunscreen but by the end of the day the pool party was where the sunscreen was, our day bed. We made staying our natural colors and not getting tan fun and that was contagious. People saw us having fun, being silly with sunscreen and that feeling is something humans are drawn to. Sometimes I get discouraged listening to young women talk about loving tanning beds and saying that tanned skin looks good but this weekend rejuvenated my goals for sun smart behaviors. People were loving it. I can’t wait until that is the culture we live in, that tanning isn’t cool nor beautiful, that staying sun smart is what all the cool kids do.  So I hope this summer you can all find a fun way to wear sun protective clothing, apply sunscreen, seek shade and avoid the hottest parts of the day. I hope you are proud of the beautiful skin you’re living in and keep its natural beauty. Let me know any fun tricks for sun safety you use with friends and family. Remember to use at least one ounce (that’s a shot glass) of 30 SPF UVA/UVB on your uncovered skin every two hours please!

Are you doing any airline traveling this summer? You MUST get a BOB! The powder sunscreen is awesome for getting through TSA because there is no liquid. YAY, one less thing to go in that tiny quart ziploc bag you are supposed to fit all your liquids into. You have to carry on sunscreen in case you get a window seat! Perfect Mothers Day Gift so come to the clinic and get one stat!

Thank you for following the blog and helping me change the culture of our youth to a place where the only way to want a tan is if it comes in a bottle. Hope you all have a blessed week! If I don’t see you all at the clinic this week then just remember, stay skintastic and love yourself. You’re all awesome!