Grace Kingdom Beauty

Halloween is around the corner. What are you going to be? Mask is the easiest thing to do! The scary part is after you take off your mask, you actually can look better IF you choose the right facial mask for your skin type.

There are many type of mask available on the market- clay mask, cream mask, sheet mask, leave-on gel mask and peel off mask. The clay masks are usually made of clay or bentonite materials for oil control which is suitable for blemish-prone skin. The cream masks are made to boost hydration suitable for dry skin. Gel mask can be left on overnight for a radiant complexion. Sheet masks are popular in Asia for a quick refreshing feel with some brightening or anti-aging benefits. There are also peel off mask like Boscia Black Mask that you can peel off in strips for deep cleansing or elastic playdough type of mask like GrandCentralBeauty S.M.A.R.T. Skin Perfecting Mask which actually claims the 5-in-1 Smooth, Moisturizing, Anti-Aging, Redness Reducing and Toning benefits in as little as 15 minutes.

I am particularly in favor of the GrandCentralBeauty mask because it’s made for all skin types, even for sensitive skin for Asian. Additionally, this is the first clinically proven mask that gives the 5-in-1 results in 15 minutes. So, what am I going to do for Halloween? I may just wear the GrandCentralBeauty mask and run around Grand Central in NY. I bet after I unmask, my skin actually glows better than any of the ‘creatures” out there. You can get this natural based peel off mask at grandcentralbeauty.com or beautyarmy.com. If you are in New York, you can also pick it up in person at Henri Bendel.

Happy Halloween! I will be “masking”, will you?

Ginger

Everyone has a master clock in body which tell your body when to eat and when to sleep.

Your body also absorbs nutrients at a different potency depending on what time of the day you feed it. For example, you get the maximum benefits of eating fruits in the morning instead of at night because of the better absorption rate. Your skin does the same way! Don’t you want the most potent treatment you can get by synchronizing your biological clock with what you use or eat?

People were born with genes but the environment can influence how genes behave. This environmental influence is “beyond” gene study thus called EPIGENETICS. How do we maximize the proper use of certain nutrients or energizing the mitochondria (the ATP power house of the gene) becomes the most important thing in skin care.

Scientific evidence has shown that in the morning, you need to have energy boosters/detox/DNA Repair enzymes and antioxidant protection. At night, you need moisturization and DNA repair enzymes and Sirtuin boost (commonly found in red wine or Mexican bamboo as reseveratrol). Knowing the principles, using specific ingredients in skin care formulations that can achieve flawless beauty.

Based on your biological clock and the knowledge of science, the following technology for Day and Night products should be in your skin care products:

• For Day: Ingredient proven to detox and energize the cell at the mitochondria level, antioxidant such as thiotane- (antioxidant-source of amino acid), atoligomer (a cocktail of 73 minerals to strengthen skin), photosomes (light activated DNA repair) and phormistim (DNA protection from blue algae). Of course, never neglect the UV rays or even IR rays. Make sure you have adequate protections during the day as day is all about PREVENTION. With all the cosmetic technology advances, it is possible to have the optimal skin damage prevention from extrinsic factors.
• For Night: You want to look for ingredient that will provide flash moisturization (as skin dehydates the most at night), ultrasome ( post DNA damage recovery), complete sirtuin activation (as it helps to delay cell death and allow skin to absorb nutrients) as well as roxisome (DNA repair at mitochondria level). The night is all about REPAIR. Kudos to Estee Lauder Companies’ Night Repair Concept since the 80’s.

So, the bottom line is- who makes the perfect products for the day or night products? While there is not a perfect 10 out there (due to cost or formulation challenges), you can actually find some elements of these technologies in prestige sectors such as Estee Lauder brands or some dermatologist brands such as 37 Extreme Actives by Dr. Macrene.

I am sure most of the cosmetic chemists have been asked at least once, if not million times- WHAT DO YOU USE? The politically correct way we are trained to say is “Whatever we are developing!”. Of course, for continuous improvement, whatever product the cosmetic chemists are doing SHOULD be the best.

Cosmetic chemists also are constantly testing out new products on the market for competitive reviews. Being a cosmetic chemist does not guarantee you have the most beautiful skin just like a manicurist can not wear nail polishes or perfumers can not wear perfume to work. It is hard to say in general what line of product is the best as you do not know if every product in the line are created equal.

Another question often asked is “does price matter? ” For me, if I would have to buy a mass brand product, I definitely go for the big known brands like P&G, L’Oreal or Avon. For a masstige or prestige or niche products, there are more room to try different brands as most of the smaller brands may not have the money backed up by R&D but they are willing to use the best ingredients at the most proper concentration.

SO - What do I use? Here’s my FAVORITE list but not an exclusive list since I have mountains of products from my own development, from clients, from actual purchases, and from sampling programs like BeautyArmy and New Beauty. It is not really fair to say these are the IT list but surely My PICK only.

For Hair: Mass - Pantene is the way to go. Their conditioners is so buttery you can feel down to your toe when you rinse. Prestige – Joico K Pak has enjoyed decades of fame and still great. They have a new hair mask totally rocking.

For Skin: Mass-Olay or Neutrogena are decent for the creams/lotions. For Prestige, Lauder or Dr. Denese products are awesome. I am in particular favor of Dr. D’s skin firming pads, hydroshield serum and eye cream. I also religiously use GrandCentralBeauty SMART Skin Perfecting mask weekly.

For Color: Mass-Maybelline has done a fabulous job in mascaras/blush/eyesahdow. Avon color also has great offerings. For Prestige, Paula Dorf, Fusion brands, MAC are my favorites.

For Fragrance: For mass market, Bath & Body Works or Victoria’s Secret fragrances are very affordable. For prestige, I like Marc Jacob Daisy, Prada Candy, Ralph Lauren Blue, D&G Light Blue.

So - these are the just “some” of the products that you will find in my “rooms” of beauty products □.

Parabens are common preservatives used in cosmetic industry. Chemists love them because they are proven effective and can be used globally. Typically, chemists will put methylparaben in water phase, and propylparen and or butylparaben in the oil phase to preserve the efficacy. In the last 8-10 years, there are some carcinogenic linkage of methylparaben in rat studies thus there is a trend of moving away from the formulation of parabens.

Using parabens or not has been a struggle for chemists as the choices of preservative systems are limited for use globally. The natural preservatives tend to have pH restriction or can not survive the challenge tests. For me, there was a point that I’d rather have well-preserved products than products that can grow bugs. However, things have changed when there are numerous studies in Asia proven- methylparaben is the culprit for stinging sensation on the skin.

Asian tend to have more sensitive skin because we are lack of certain genes (NQ01 deficient) and more prone to irritants from polluted and or congested environment in general. Asian people also work longer hours compared to the rest of the world. Stress certainly plays a role in skin sensitivity. It was surveyed by major Japanese companies that at least 30% of Japanese people claim they have sensitive skin. They don’t get irritation. They don’t get redness but they sting and burn when topical emulsions/ cosmetics are applied on the skin.

In America, the stinger test will be using lactic acid on the side of nose to test for reactions. In Asia, almost everyone will react to lactic acid. The standard “sting test” material is 0.15% of methylparaben. Note that there is no standard protocols for stinging tests. However, since this is a prevalent issue, you can see companies in addition to saying- allergy tested, dermatologist tested, they now say “stinging-test performed”.

So, if you have sensitive skin, if you tend to “sting” when you apply certain skin/cosmetic products, perhaps methylparaben is in the product. Again, a great preservative for chemists but may not be good for your skin in addition to the bad press. It is not a BANNED ingredient or family but certainly not to overlook for people with sensitive skin concerns.

It was 1998 around Christmas in CA. The son of Joico hair care came to me and said: ” I coach a lot of kids for swimming and they can’t seem to find the strongest hair gel to hold their hair style. Can you develop something?” Developing a strong hair gel is easy. To develop a water-resistant hair gel will require some thoughts. Then I spotted a spiking trend going on at the time- kids were layering mousse, gel, hair spray to get the spiking look. Voila- The first multi-tasking water resistant GLUE was conceived. It uses technologies in mousse, hair gel, and hair spray + sunscreen waterproofing technology!

During the development, I would check each hair resin to make sure they do not FLAKE when I rub in between my fingers- the last thing you want on a glossy black hair like mine is flakes like dandruff. I would check the “hold-factor” on hair swatches to make sure it’s a durable hold. I would dip the mannequin’s head in a bucket of water for 80 minutes and check the holding style. After numerous revisions, Ice Spiker was created in early 1999. A patent application was filed but the company did not follow up.

Ice Spiker was not (and still is) only the strongest holding glue without flaking, it holds the hair style after swimming and extreme sports. Some kids reported they love it because they don’t need to brush their hair in the morning as the hair style stayed put all day and all night. At one point, it was even considered to be marketed as a 2 day party perm (it does work!). Extensions of Ice Spikers like Spiker colors and a special shampoo to get rid of the strong holding factor were created. Five years later, there are many copies of thsi product on the market including some global giant hair care companies.

Even thought this styler was originally developed for teens as the Ice Line was targeting the teen market, it is a versatile glue which everyone can use everyday. I still use it until this date but I usually dilute it with tap water in my palm so the effect is not as dramatic. Over the years, there are always people admiring my hair style and ask what do I use- yes, Ice spiker! Long Live the Ice Spiker. You make me proud :-).