I was sent this link and am going to let it to my job this week.
Origianl NYTimes article: Always Revealing , Human Skin Is an Anthropologist’s Map

In an era of academic hyper-specialization, Dr. Nina G. Jablonski has an amazingly broad résumé. At 53, she heads the anthropology department at Pennsylvania State University. She’s also a primatologist, an evolutionary biologist and a paleontologist.

Jeff Swensen for The New York Times
Skin tells a story of human history, says Nina G. Jablonski, an evolutionary biologist.

Last year, Dr. Jablonski led an expedition to China, where she dug for human fossils in an attempt to learn how early man coped with climate change. This month, she’s in Kenya, where she and Meave Leakey are putting together a study on prehistoric monkeys.

For more than a decade, Dr. Jablonski has been trying to get her arms around a ubiquitous and yet mysterious topic: the biology, evolution and social function of human skin. The results of her studies have been published by the University of California Press as “Skin: A Natural History.”

“Skin has been studied to absolute death by dermatologists,” Dr. Jablonski said jokingly during a recent visit to New York City. “They know it inside and out from the point of view of diseases that afflict it. What we wanted to learn was how human skin came to be as it is and what that meant for humanity.”

Q. What set you off on writing a natural history of human skin?
A. I had an insight in 1981, when I was teaching gross anatomy to medical students at the University of Hong Kong. The students had been presented with a cadaver to dissect, and they were tremendously frightened of it. However, their attitude changed the very moment they cut through the skin. With the skin gone, they began seeing it as a mere body devoid of a personal history, and they could get on with their work.

That moment showed me how much of what we consider our humanity is imbued in our skin. It stayed with me for a long time. Then about 15 years ago, I joined a project studying the natural history of skin color. The topic was so engrossing that I began looking into the larger question of what our skin does and is.

Q. And what have you found?
A. That skin is the most underappreciated of our organs. Unless we’re having the sort of problem that brings us to a dermatologist, we take our skin for granted. We never think of it as working very hard for our body or doing valuable things for us socially.

But when you really start thinking about it, it’s a factory that produces vitamin D, sweat, hormones, oils, wax, pigments – substances we need. Skin is a raincoat in that it protects us from water, bugs and noxious chemicals. It’s also a billboard which we adorn with powder, tattoos, piercing and scars to give off instant messages about our history, health, values and availability for mating.

On an evolutionary level, there are three remarkable facts about skin. It comes in colors, of course. Compared to other mammals, our skin is relatively hairless. And it’s sweaty. In the last few million years, humans became the sweatiest of mammals.

Q. Is that important?
A. Absolutely. It’s often said that our large brains are what made it possible for us to evolve from ape to human. But those big brains could never have developed if we didn’t have exceptionally sweaty skin.

It happened this way. There was a tremendous takeoff in human evolution about two million years ago when primates who could no longer be called apes appeared in the savannahs of East Africa. These early humans ran long distances in open areas. In order to survive in the equatorial sun, they needed to cool their brains. Early humans evolved an increased number of sweat glands for that purpose, which in turn permitted their brain size to expand. As soon as we developed larger brains, our planning capacity increased, and this allowed people to disperse out of Africa. There’s fossil evidence of humans appearing in Central Asia around this time.

Q. In a nutshell, what has your research shown about why humans have varying skin colors?
A. That it’s not about race – it’s about sun and about how close our ancestors lived to the Equator. Skin color is what regulates our body’s reaction to the sun and its rays. Dark skin evolved to protect the body from excessive sun rays. Light skin evolved when people migrated away from the Equator and needed to make vitamin D in their skin. To do that, they had to lose pigment. Repeatedly over history, many people moved dark to light and light to dark. That shows that color is not a permanent trait.

Q. Did early humans decorate their skin?
A. We don’t know. There’s no human skin in the fossil record. The oldest preserved skin we have is that of Ötzi, the Neolithic iceman whose mummified body was found in the Alps in 1991. Ötzi lived about 5,000 years ago. Interestingly, he has tattoos. But we can only guess what they mean.

Modern humans, we love to alter our skin. You’ll find very few people walking around today with unadorned skin. They might make permanent changes – piercing, scarring, tattooing – to memorialize events and announce their identity. Or they might use cosmetics for temporary alterations to announce their attractiveness, mood or sexual availability. The bottom line: humans are the self-decorating ape.

Q. I get the feeling that you think cosmetic use is some kind of ancient evolutionary behavior. Are we reading you correctly?

A. Evolution is all about attracting a mate and getting a chance to reproduce, so yes, makeup helps with that. When a woman uses eyeliner to make her eyes appear larger, she’s giving off a message: “I want you to see me as attractive.” Large eyes in a woman are almost universally seen as appealing. This is not just a girl thing. Male body paint in East Africa emphasizes forbidding facial expressions. They announce a man’s prowess as a warrior and as a mate.

Q. How do you feel about your own skin?
A. I like it. It is my unwritten biography. My skin reminds me that I’m a 53-year-old woman who has smiled and furrowed her brow and, on occasion, worked in the desert sun too long. I enjoy watching my skin change because it’s one of the few parts of my body that I can watch. We can’t view our livers or heart, but this we can. And yes, I use cosmetics. Like other humans, I have a penchant for changing my appearance easily and quickly. It also helps me feel more confident. That may seem silly, but I still do it.

Q. You made news in 2004 when you discovered the world’s oldest chimpanzee fossil. These were chimp teeth about a half-million years old. Where did you find them?
A. In a drawer at the National Museum of Kenya in Nairobi. I was rummaging through this bag labeled “fossil monkeys” and I saw it. “This doesn’t look like monkey,” I thought. It turned out they were from an early chimp. That find proved important because there had been no chimpanzee this old in the fossil record. By analyzing it, we’ve learned that chimpanzees in their current form have probably existed for longer than previously thought. (Laughs) Since my find, people have been rummaging through dusty museum drawers everywhere!

So how much are you paying for your Botox? Trust me if you think you are getting a “deal” then think again. Botox is only produced by one company, Allergen, and it isn’t cheap. It is dilutable though! What this means to you is that your Botox may be too weak to work, or diluted so that it doesn’t work as long.

Botox should last about 6 month and you should be charged per unit. The going rate in Los Angeles is $12-$14 per unit. A good estimate of units used per area is:

• Vertical Furrows Between Eyebrows (Glabella): 15-10 units
• Crow’s Feet (both sides): 20-25 units
• Forehead (horizontal wrinkles from raised eyebrows): 20-25 units

Realize some people need more units due to stronger muscles or over time, a built up tolerance. Also understand that you will pay more money for a specialist or doctor who can make the injections less painful and more effective by skillful placement.

So before you start bragging about how cheap you got your Botox, think about what value you got for your money. I don’t know about you, but I HATE having needles put into my face! So paying a bit more for a longer lasting manufacturers recommended dosage seems much better to me.

So you either can’t or won’t wax it so you shave it. But shaving isn’t the best option for the skin and often creates more problems then it seems to solve. But okay, I understand, you are going to do it. So let’s leave the days of shaving with sharp stones and animal bones in the past and move into today’s more enlightened age – and trust me, I ain’t talking about bar soap, canned foam, and your daddy’s alcohol-based Old Spice!

Four Simple Rules to Shaving Anything

1. Soften hair by wetting the hair completely.
2. Shave IN THE DIRECTION of hair growth.
3. Avoid stroking the same place more than once.
4. Don’t pull the skin taut! Keep it relaxed.

Men Are Special: How to Shave A Beard

Unlike the rest of the body, the facial skin is very delicate and exposed to the environment. Since a man’s beard hair is generally coarser than the rest of the bodies hair, and often shaved on a regular basis, it needs special attention. The following techniques can be used on any unwanted hair, but is especially good for thick, coarse, hair.

Before Putting Blade To Skin

A good shave is only as good as the products you use, so get some good advice from a professional about cleaner, shaving cream, and post-shave serum. A good quality foaming or gel based shaving serum is best to shave with. The problem with over the counter shaving creams in a can is that they are too thick so clog the spaces in between the razor blades which leads to a poor shave and more nicks and cuts. Bar soap it designed for cleaning the skin and is therefore alkaline aka “stripping”. It dries the skin and hair shaft up leaving you with broken hairs and sensitized skin. My favorite shaving products are ones that are gentle and gel or cream based.

Prep

Believe it or not, bead hair is tougher than the edge of a razor blade, and shaving dry, un-prepped skin, as the majority of shaving creams, foams, and gels on the market tell you to, means you’re literally tugging on each and every hair on your face instead of neatly slicing it at the skin’s surface and moving on without irritating your skin. The best way to avoid this is to shave when the skin is warm and the hair totally wet, like after a shower. The warm water and heat softens both the hair shaft, and opens up the hair follicle for a closer, less irritating, shave.

While in the shower, or before wetting down for a shave, be sure to use a mildly exfoliating cleanser that will lift dirt, oil, and removed dead skin. It will also assist in lifting the hair off the skin for a close shave, and in the long run prevent in grown hairs. These two simple prep steps take about a minute and will prevent cuts, nicks, and razor burn!

Shaving

Follow the 4 easy rules at the top of this page.

For hard to shave areas try one of these tricks:

Angular face: Try shaving small areas with small, quick, gentle, strokes while the skin’s pushed up so that the hairs stand up.

Sagging face: Try pulling the skin in small areas taut, but not too tight, just enough to get into nooks and cranny’s!

Protection Post Shave

After shaving it is important to soothe and protect the new skin. Depending on your skin type depends on what you should look for. If you tend to get in-grown hairs use something that caters to them like Mancine’s In Grow Zone. If you have sensitive skin that stays red or is painful post shave try an aftershave with aloe vera, green tea, comfrey, or vitamin C.

Finally everyone needs SPF! If you don’t use any other skin care products be sure to finish with your sunscreen no matter what. For men I like to give them Epicuren’s Zinc SPF 20 since it has no odor and feels like nothing on the skin.

People sometimes don’t realize how hard they are on themselves and therefore me. When I have a client my goal is to help them become, as I say, “The most perfect you”. What that doesn’t mean is you looking perfect, but you looking as perfect as your genes, skin type, budget, and dedication will allow. Yet people want perfection. They want the current cultural “ideal”, and when they can’t get it – because honestly it’s just not realistic – they have to blame someone. Often that someone is me.

I’d like to say we are new to the pressures of unrealistic beauty standards, but throughout history we have seen the same thing. Whether it be corsets to create a “perfect” figure, or mercury for a white complexion we are willing to hurt ourselves to obtain the “ideal” look. So what if the corset deforms our insides so horribly that we die prematurely? So what if the mercury makes us crazy and ill? So what! Everyone does these things because that’s the only way to be beautiful, right?

Unique to our era is the digital age. Not only can we use cosmetics, clothes, and lighting to make us look our best – we have computers to help us create the false ideal. People read magazines, see billboard ads, watch movies and television. They see X actress and want to look like that. They KNOW that what they are seeing is touched up, perfectly lit, painted, and posed, but it doesn’t stop them from wanting to look the same. It’s almost like a mental illness. We see what we wish we could be and want to be just like it; even though we know that it’s an illusion. Maybe this video by Dove for their Campaign for Real Beauty will help get the message across. In it we see how a model is transformed from her usual self to today’s beauty ideal.

Let’s talk about X actress for a moment. I can’t tell you how many clients want to look perfect without makeup. It’s probably the #1 goal I’m told someone wants. They want to have poreless skin, perfectly even color, rosy cheeks, sparkling eyes, etc.… all naturally. Just like X actress does. Well I work on X actress and you know what I can tell you? She suffers the same problems you do. She wants the same things. The only difference is she understands that almost none of those things come naturally – they are all smoke and mirrors. Without her makeup she has pores, lines, acne, discoloration, birth marks, and moles. Without dedicated skin care she can’t even hide those things with good makeup! Her #1 goal is finding the right application of the right makeup, and the right skin care to get the best skin she can. Her biggest fear is someone seeing her without these things and realizing that she too is human and NOT the ideal.

So why isn’t the ideal the most perfect you? Why is it something else? Would there even be imperfection if everyone just accepted themselves as they are? In a recent episode of the TV Show Bones Dr. Brennan says, “People have done much worse for beauty, foot binding, neck stretching… Any major alteration of our underlying architecture demeans us… You know, we all have aspects of ourselves we all wish were different… Our society puts a premium on beauty, which is common in declining cultures.” I haven’t yet met a person who is happy with themselves. Our culture doesn’t teach us to be. Instead it pushes the unrealistic ideal onto everyone – demeaning each and everyone of us.

Now don’t misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with wanting to improve yourself. To look good helps you feel good. I have seen first hand how someones life changes because they no longer have acne, or learned a way to cover a large birth mark. But these are all things that fall into the realm of making the most perfect you. These are attainable goals that don’t force you to strive for a perfection that cannot exist. And let’s say it did. Let’s imagine for a moment that you could be the ideal. Are you happy? Yes? You sure about that? Because perfect skin isn’t going to make your mother in law like you more. Reducing your fine lines isn’t going to get you better friends. Trust me, I understand that good looks can get you places, but they don’t change the problems around you.

I am many things to a client. I’m your friend, your shoulder to cry on, your person to bitch at about a bad day, and someone you can share your joys with. I’m the person you see to feel better, look better, and give you hope for a better, more perfect, you. Yet many people mistake me for their savior or a miracle worker. They think that I can solve all their problems with a cream or peel. Although I wish I could take away your fear of aging, or promise that you will be acne free forever, I can’t. What I can promise you is that I will always be there for you 110% with my knowledge, skill, and caring. In many cases I can slow aging and make it less noticeable. I can reverse and repair damage. I can keep your skin healthy. As I said – I can help you be the most perfect you. That’s all I, or anyone, can do.

I make a living helping people look their best. I try and do it with caring and respect for every one’s wants and needs, but sometimes it’s hard on me. I often get the brunt of someones dissatisfaction in their most perfect them because they haven’t reached the unattainable ideal they strive for. I hope in time we will all start embracing our own ideal and not someone else’s. I change the world with my hands, and I hope that one of the changes I make in each and every person I see is to make them see themselves as a beautiful work in progress.

Most people who schedule an apt to see me come with problems they need assistance with. What most of those people don’t realize until much later is that those problems aren’t just skin care issues.

Hello, my name is Cybil and I am an undercover energy healer.

When I opened Solyn Skin Fitness Studio I added Energy Healing to the list of services I offered, and every single client I see receives some form of energy healing each time they step through my studio door. Yet very few clients every realize this. They never suspect that the power of my touch alone can balance their chakras, release negative energy, heal emotional pain and trauma, and leave them feeling cared for and loved.

So what exactly is Energy Healing? Well it’s mostly the power of “touch”. One can combine it with gem stone therapy, aromatherapy, or any other holistic approach they believe in, but when you get down to it, what Energy Healing really is, is the power of my energy touching yours.

In today’s world we don’t touch each other like we used to. Think about how often you touch your friends, your co-workers, even your family. Yet we know through scientific studies that touch is not only an anti-stresser, but can heal the body and mind. In hospitals when a baby is sickening from some unknown, non contagious, ailment they will put another baby in the same crib. Why? Because miraculously the contact of that other living, breathing, human can help the struggling baby improve. In retirement communities and some hospitals they allow animals to visit because they have proven that having a pet helps you live longer. Why? The touching of course! The contact. The love. The shared energy.

In the book Touch by Dr. Tiffany Field the director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine, Field shares her research on touch and the importance of all forms of touching. She argues that while skin is the largest organ of the body and our primary sensory organ, it is taken for granted and often not cared for. She believes that since Americans are some of the least tactile people in the world we are actually “touch hungry” and are lashing out because of it. Field believes that many of the problems of today, both physically and emotionally, are due to touch deprivation.

When my clients lay on my bed I share my energy. I touch them. I touch their mind, their spirit, as well as their physical body. Jane Wurwand, the founder of the International Dermal Institute, is known for saying “We can change that world with our bare hands.” I like to think that as each day passes, and each client passes through my door, that I am.

So I recently arrived back from the Epicuren Symposium and here is a quote from their material about their enzyme:

“Aerobics for the skin: Medical studies and life experiences prove that when you exercise your body, your metabolism and cellular activity increase – keeping your body young and fit.”

I love when others validate my own thinking!

Oh the on going saga of my time with the CA Board of Barbering and Cosmetology continues. It would seem that I didn’t sign the bottom of the form I sent in with my check for an establishment license and the fine that went with it. So I am now in big trouble and owe a $575 fine instead of my $25 one. *sigh* So I called and asked what was up with that since I got this form stating I owed money and no reason checked. After the usual 40min on hold I spoke to the usual b*tchy state board employee. The lady said that there was no appeals process and that I needed to pay the full fine. When I told her that a $25 to $575 fine seemed ridiculous considering I sent in my paperwork and check in ample time. She stated, “If you can’t follow simple instructions like signing the bottom of the form then what do you expect?” I said I expected someone to notify me that my paperwork was incomplete and that I had X number of days to rectify the problem or a $575 fine would be instated. Her reply was, “I assure you ma’am there is NO appeal process and you must pay the additional fine for this violation or we will revoke your esthetic licence. We don’t have time to contact everyone who can’t follow directions.” Yes indeedy this is how the state board treats everyone. Since I believe in Karma I must assume I pissed of some God to get this kind of crap sent my way, but I am comforted in knowing that if Karma pays out to everyone who is treated the same by the Sate Board as I am (which is everyone) then they will all be horribly maimed in the next Sacramento based earthquake.

We’ve all had it happen – a zit pops up and we need it gone NOW! As an Esthetician with a room full of products and tools I could easily zap that sucker fast, but if you just don’t have the time to rush over to me here are a few zit zapping tricks.

DON’T PICK IT!

I am not kidding. Don’t do it. Your fingers are not a tool. In fact, they are a scar forming destructive force of oil and bacteria. If you pick the thing you are going to create a mess. I promise you, you aren’t going to be able to make the thing look better. Instead the inflammation and redness will increase. This means your concealer isn’t going to stick to it as well and it’s going to be puffy under the concealer too!

Instead…

If you have a couple of days to make it go away use a spot treatment. My two favorites are the overnight treatments Osmosis Clarify Serum for red, pussy, puffy pimples, or Bioelements Kerafole Mask for scabby or “underground” pimples. Put a little bit of either product on the spot (more isn’t better!) and sleep with it on. In a day or two the spot will be gone. You can also use an over the counter benzoyl peroxide cream, but it never works as well and usually leaves you dealing with flaking skin in that area which is almost as annoying as the zit!

If today is the big day and the zit just appeared (damn that stress!) then first realize that we are only going to do damage control. We will be able to help the blemish a bit and then cover it. That’s it. Think Better Not Perfect.

Damage Control Home Facial

1. Wash your face.
2. LIGHTLY (please don’t go rubbing your face off!) exfoliate the area with a light scrub or mild acid mask.
3. Use a warm compress on the spot for 5-10 minutes (I like to wet a wash cloth, fold it, and stick it in the microwave for 15 seconds). You want it warm but not scalding. Then use a cool compress (DO NOT USE ICE) for an equal amount of time. This stops the swelling.
4. If there is a white top on the pimple try to lightly rub it off with a warm wash cloth or gently stab it with a CLEAN needle. Let it ooze out on its own. DO NO SQUEEZE!!!
5. Apply an anti-acne mask like Bioelements Kerafole Mask to fight the bacteria and sooth the area.
6. Apply an SPF to stop scaring.
7. Use a good concealer, preferably one that will help heal the zit at the same time like Jane Iredale’s Disappear. Ignore what people say about green concealer. That’s just crazy in this day and age.
8. If the spot is still really red so the concealer won’t cover it soak a cotton pad in Visine and apply to the area for a minute or two. This constricts the blood vessels for a couple of hours. This is ONLY to be used in emergency circumstances. Long term it isn’t good for the skin. Now apply concealer.
9. Dust some powder over the spot.

Viola! You are ready to go.

There’s been a ton of buzz about a new berry called Sea Buckhorn. China has been keeping it a secret since they started studies on it in the 1930, but everyone is now jumping on the band wagon. Usually I am wary of any “NEW AMAZING” ingredient, but the studies on this one are compelling. So far the best results for healing and anti-aging are to take it internally or eat the whole berry, but post op and burn victims who have been treated topically with this berry have healed faster and with less scaring than with the usual treatments.

The magic of this little fruit is what it contains: Vit E, C, B. 36 kinds of flavanoids, folic acid, and 106 types of oils and organic acids which include quinic acid, malic acid, palmitic acid, and linoleic acid. And Carotenoids like beta carotene, lycopene, and zeaxanthine.

Keep your eyes peeled for this one. I know I am!

The number one makeup complaint I get is about lipstick. It doesn’t stay on. It runs. The lips don’t look big enough. It gets on my teeth. You name it I’ve heard someone complain about it. So here are a few tricks of the trade for seriously good lips.

Keep Them Healthy

For the best lips you must keep them healthy. Feel free to use a moisturizing mask over your lip area once a week, or get a specialty treatment. Bioelements makes Lip Buff which is a sugar scrub for the lips that not only tastes great, but keeps your lips free of dead skin and hydrated. If you need a chap stick be sure you use a chap stick or lip moisturizer with an SPF of 15+ and that doesn’t addict your lips to it. Most chap stick’s teach your lips to stop producing their own moisture, so use a natural moisturizer like shea butter or coconut oil or get a good chap stick like Epicuren’s SPF 15 Enzyme lip balm. Without a good base for lipstick no lips will look their best!

Changing Lip Color

So you buy a lip color and then you put it on, or the as the day wears on, it looks totally different! Well one thing is the light in the store where you purchased the color might have mislead you. Always be sure to check color in natural lighting. The second reason could be that your hormones are fluctuating and as the pH of your skin changes it can effect the pigments in the lipstick. To put this problem to a stop just apply a thin coat of your face powder or concealer onto your lips first. This will keep the color on your lips true all day long.

Lip Plumping

So you have thin lips huh? Well we can’t all be Angelina Jolie, but with a little makeup magic we can all aspire to have lips as lush as hers.

1. Outline your lips on the outer edge of the mouth starting from the corners and working inward with a nude color. For the most realistic look don’t extend the lip above the lip line, just keep the outline right on the edge of the lip.
2. With the same nude color, color in the corner of the lips so you have a nude triangle on each side of your mouth. This gives your lips a pouty appearance instead of a bigger one.
3. Blend all the lines so that everything is soft and you can’t see any lines.
4. With a lip brush mix a medium shade of lipstick with a lip plumper like Jane Iredale’s Lip Plumper. The lip plumper with help plump up the lips, add hydration, and make your lipstick glide one. A medium shade of lipstick will make the lips look fuller than a dark or light one.
5. Add some gloss just in the center of your lips. This will make your mouth appear full and kissable!

Whiter Teeth

Believe it or not lipsticks can make your teeth look whiter or dull and dingy. For a whiter smile stick to colors that have a blue base. If you worry about yellow teeth stay clear of all yellow or orange based colors. You can always be safe with a neutral.

Smudge Proof, All Day Wear

This trick is especially good for any occasion (weddings!) that you need to smooch.

For longer lasting lipstick without all the nasty chemicals used in “long lasting lipstick” try this simple trick:

1. Line the lip then fill the entire lip in with the lip liner or your blush color.
2. Blend the lip liner into the lip well. Imagine yourself pressing the liner into the lip more firmly.
3. Apply your lipstick
4. Dust your lips with a translucent powder and then apply another coat of lipstick Do not use gloss! If you want a shimmer try a gold dust powder/li>

Now your lips will stay perfect all day.

Staying in the Lines

If your color has a tendency to bleed or smudge out the edges the be sure to finish any application with concealer around the edge of your lip. Not only will this give your lips an ultra sharp appearance, but it will stop all that nasty moving. A trick I like to use with this is to apply a concealer one shade lighter than your skin. This highlights the mouth and makes lips look fuller.

Too Full

On occasion someone tells me their lips are too full. I know it sounds crazy, but to each their own. In a case like this I tell the client to love nude colors and light glosses. If you fell like your lips are too much just keep it all very low key.