Get out your camera and win some SkinMedica products!

As most women will tell you, we accumulate large quantities of skin care products. Because of this, we often find decorative ways to display these products, rather than store them behind closed doors. Often, they’re packaged nicely and it’s just easier to access them in the morning and in the evening. Whether they are in a pretty basket or housed on a glass shelf, we can get pretty creative with our displays.

Recently, I was setting up my own bathroom, and putting out all of my SkinMedica products, and I thought it would be a great way to run a contest: I could have patients show me their OWN SkinMedica setups! I could give away product (because really, who doesn’t love free product?) and allow people to get some decorating ideas to boot.

So, here are the rules:

1. Email me a photo of your SkinMedica setup to info@stlcosmeticsurgery.com

2. I’ll pin your photos onto our Pinterest board, under the category of Home Decor.

3. Repin your favorites!

4. Our staff will choose the best one for the week, and each Friday in April I will announce a weekly winner, who will receive (1) SkinMedica Daily Physical Defense Sunscreen and (1) SkinMedica Dermal Repair Cream.

5. At the end of the month, I’ll announce a grand prize winner who will receive a surprise SkinMedica Package.

Good luck, and happy pinning! Get decorating!

-Rhonda

Want Healthy Skin? Start from Within!

Everyone knows the old saying: you are what you eat. Here at St. Louis Cosmetic Surgery Medical Spa, we encourage our patients to not only follow the skin care regimens our estethicians recommend, but to eat healthy as well. There are many foods out there that are wonderful for the skin, and healthy for the body to boot. Here are some of our favorites, along with coorsponding recipes. Happy eating, and add on a glass of red wine a day for extra benefits!

Berries, especially blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries.

Blueberry Oat Squares

Blueberry Lavender Mojitos

Strawberry Banana Smoothies

Pumpkin Seeds

Spelt Pumpkin Muffins with Carob Chips

Salmon

Orange Rosemary Salmon

Mangos

Mango Salsa

Through October 17, 2012, follow us on Pinterest and play along during our “Pin it to Win it” contest for Spa Patient Appreciation 2012!

Employee Spotlight: Mary Ann Egner, Medical Esthetician

On any typical day in our spa, Mary Ann Egner’s schedule is jam-packed. As a certified medical esthetician who has been with St. Louis Cosmetic Surgery Medical Spa for many years, Mary Ann has built a client base of dedicated patients who appreciate her warmth and expansive advice about skin care. Caring for her patients is a passion for Mary Ann, and she does everything she can to make sure each person walks out of here feeling calm, happy and beautiful. Whether they need a chemical peel, microderm, laser hair removal or a knowledge base in skin care products, she takes careful stock of each person’s needs and tailors a plan specifically for them. She considers her job a blessing, and comes to work every day feeling lucky to be here and to be helping people feel better about themselves.

Mary Ann’s Favorite Product:

“Up The Anti” by PRESCRIBEDsolutions Full Spectrum Sunblock with SPF 30 ($50)

Why She Recommends This Product:

“I love it because it is a physical, not a chemical SPF. It has no additives that will cause breakouts, which is the common complaint I hear about using SPF on the face. It also has a bronzer which helps even the skin tone and hide imperfections, all while being very light on the skin.”

Posted by: Rhonda Shrum

90 Day Challenge: What I’ve Learned From 3 Months of Skin Care Bootcamp

Posted by: Rhonda Shrum

Going from someone who barely had time for moisturizer, to a skin care addict in 90 days provided me with some valuable insights into my new routine. It’s not the easiest thing in the world, to start a regimen that’s healthy, but it’s worth it, as long as you remember a few things.

1. Going to bed with a dirty face full of make-up is a big no-no.The first time I saw the Visia pictures of my face, with my pores full of bacteria, I wanted to cry. It doesn’t take long, wash that junk off. You don’t need a fancy cleanser. Save your money for the serums and creams, get some drugstore cleanser if you need to, and scrub off the day. If your pillow is multi-colored in the morning, you’re doing it wrong!

2. Sunscreen is important, even in the winter. I never, ever imagined I’d be the person to say this, but even when the weather’s cold and dreary….you need sunscreen. Driving around, walking from your car into buildings, it adds up over time, and sun damage is the number one way to ruin your skin. In the warmer months, it’s imperative, so slather on a daily SPF of 20 or 30. And don’t even get me started on tanning.

3. There’s a method to the madness: the order you put products on your face makes a difference in the effectiveness. If you’re confused, ask, ask, ask! Certain serums need to be on clean skin, others can be layered. If you’re spending a considerable amount of money on the right products, you need to make sure you’re using them for maximum effectiveness, or it’s all a waste of cash.

4. If you don’t like something, or feel it doesn’t work, ask an esthetician. You might be using it wrong, or they can recommend something that will work better if you’re having a reaction. But don’t just cut it out of your routine without talking to them.

5. It’s not all or nothing. If you fall off the wagon, don’t just stop! If you’re out of one product, don’t skip it all, put on the other two. If you miss a week, start back up. Anything is better than nothing….your skin will still benefit.

6. Water, water, and more water! One of the biggest problems I have is getting enough water in throughout the day, and it shows in my face. Dehydration causes taut skin that shows aging and fine lines a lot more easily than skin that’s properly hydrated. Get yourself a fun, colorful water bottle (I prefer one with a little bling myself) and carry it around all day. Your skin is always easier to fix on the outside if your inside is taken care of as well.

Thanks to everyone who has followed me through this journey, especially those who have done the challenge themselves! We will officially announce the winner in early March, who will receive a six month supply of SkinMedica TNS Essential Serum (my all-time favorite product!)

90 Day Challenge: Now THAT is a Chemical Peel!

Posted by: Rhonda Shrum

Being a novice at times has its advantages. You don’t always know what you’re getting into when you plunge blindly into new endeavors, and therefore you’re saved from a lot of the trepidation that occurs when you know what’s coming. Being new to higher level chemical peels, I scheduled my second one (as part of the SkinMedica 90 Challenge) and went ahead with a much stronger version than the first one I did the last month. That peel was very mild, and I looked nice afterwards, so I was ready to go ahead with the next level.

Thank goodness I didn’t have any big dates or public functions to attend.

I got my first Vitalize Peel at 4pm on a Wednesday. Because I’ve been known to confuse instructions, I was intent on getting them right this time, and I specifically focused on how to utilize my SkinMedica products post-peel. I still managed to mess up one tiny detail, that I was supposed to sleep with the peel on overnight and wash it off in the AM. Instead, I washed it off at about 11:00 pm. but fortunately it was left on for enough time to work.

The next morning, I woke up looking like a rock star; almost as if I had gotten a facelift. My skin was tight and smooth. But by about 7pm that night, the mild flaking started around my chin, and when I woke up the next morning, my five-year old son said “mommy, did you grow a white beard overnight?” You’re not supposed to roughly scrub or pick the flaking skin off, so I might have been a bit embarrassed to go to work that day if I didn’t work in this environment. If I had a typical, public-facing job, I would definitely schedule this  in a way to make sure I was off during the worst of the peeling.

Ultimately, the full on flaking lasted 2 days and I peeled off and on in different areas for 8 days. However, the result was worth it by far. I haven’t used this little make-up in years while still receiving compliments every single day about how great my skin looks.

Aside from the peels, I have to say that my absolute favorite part of the challenge so far is becoming acquainted with  the SkinMedica TNS Essential Serum. Once I got past the slightly “vitamin” tinged scent (which I’m now addicted to and can’t fall asleep without), I realized that just a teeny bit of this anti-aging serum over the past couple of months has literally reduced lines on my face and given me that 21-year-old smooth, “plump” look. With no injections! A great product, it’s become my favorite thing to tell my friends to try.

I now have just a couple of weeks left on the challenge, and one peel left to go. I’m excited to see how motivated I’ll be to keep going with my newfound healthy regimen once the fun is over–I have a feeling I will be continuing for a long while!

90 Day Challenge: Is Natural Always Better?

Last week, I read an article about French women: an article that discussed their natural beauty, their confidence, the general allure that makes them so attractive. While I love the concept of natural beauty, I have many doubts about those that we bestow the title upon.

Inner beauty aside, we usually consider someone a natural beauty when she doesn’t have to wear tons of make-up, when she looks younger than her natural years without looking “fake.” Her skin looks flawless with no caked-on foundation, she exudes that “girl-next-door” look. But as I’ve found over the past month, having skin that looks so good sans make-up is work in and of itself. Yes, I can see definite improvement since I began the 90 Day Challenge. My make-up goes on much more smoothly and I seem to use less of it, not to mention the random compliments I’ll get from people who know me. Week after week people will squint at my face and say “you know, your skin really does look great.”

And it does, no doubt. I can even go out on a Saturday afternoon errand-running mission without foundation. I look…natural. Oh, but the work involved in looking so natural! Aside from the nightly routine, I’m getting chemical peels and trying to stay out of the sun. So while it’s nice that I have a natural look, it’s no more natural than the deep red lipstick I used to live and die by.

And where, exactly, do you draw the line in the natural/fake debate? Many of us curl or straighten our hair, shave or laser our legs, apply deodorant and perfume, scrub and exfoliate and polish and pluck….truly, in the search for beauty and attractiveness, does anyone really prefer “natural?” Or is it just the illusion of natural beauty that proves good enough?

For myself, I’m ok knowing that it’s not easy, that I don’t wake up looking ready for the day. It takes a little effort to get my hair the way I like it and my skin feeling smooth. And that’s fine, because it makes ME happy. And in the end, I think being HAPPY with myself is the key. After all, the French are confident too, right?

90 Day Challenge: Why are healthy habits so easy to break?

Posted by: Rhonda Shrum

hab·it (noun)

An acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.

We all have many habits in life; some good, some bad. The bad ones seem to come with ease; I mean, how swiftly we can fall into the habit of eating pizza and chips for dinner, or watching TV all night instead of folding laundry? But the good ones, the ones we REALLY want to stick–those, unfortunately, take more effort to ingrain. I’ve heard that it takes 21 days for something to really become a “habit,” and from my experience, that’s pretty generous. I might need more than 3 weeks to say “this is something I do everyday, without even THINKING, it is involuntary.”

A few short weeks ago, the notion of putting on serums and creams every night was so foreign to me, I actually had to set a reminder on my iPhone to do it. I grunted and groaned but I did eventually begin to get used to it, and even began to look forward to the clean, smooth way I felt after it was all done.

But then, I got my first chemical peel, and my fledgling habit almost went right out the window.

The experience of the chemical peel in and of itself was pretty much a non-event. The one I chose for my first time was simply a Level 1, so there was no actual “peeling” involved. In my imagination (which is pretty vivid) I was envisioning thick layers of gummy materials all over my face, being peeled off in one big hunk. In reality, the peel I got felt more like rubbing alcohol being applied to my skin with a piece of gauze. Simple, easy, no big deal.

In actuality, though, it is a pretty big deal, and therefore I was told to stop using the heavy-duty skin products for a week while the chemical peel did its skin-enhancing job. Admittedly, I was as stoked as if I was in fifth grade and just found out I had no homework for a week. I could go back to slacking!

The funny thing about it, though, was that I had sort of gotten used to feeling good, and stopping felt odd. Sort of. I missed the feeling of feeling clean and fresh and healthy, but I didn’t miss the routine, and I didn’t miss it enough  to re-start a week later with gusto. I had to reset my iPhone reminder, pep myself up again almost as if I was starting over from scratch. Even though I had halfway formed the habit, it was still very, very easy for me to take that break, and hard for me to start back up. If I had waited just a few days longer, it would have taken even more effort to get back on the horse.

Why do these healthy habits take so much effort, even when you enjoy how you feel afterwards? It doesn’t matter how great I feel after jogging, it’s still hard for me to get up in the morning and hop on the treadmill. Apparently, beauty and skin care are not much different from exercise. The benefits are great if you just force yourself to stick with it for at least 21…or 90…days. I just have to remember to keep my eyes on the goal, just like I do at the gym. Healthy skin, looking five years younger…it’s worth it, I promise.

90 Day Challenge: Jumping in and Making Mistakes

Posted by: Rhonda Shrum

For a tactile learner like myself, staring a new project is always exciting. Instead of reading directions or asking for help, I just like to jump in and get going. I’ve never read through a manual for a computer or a phone, I don’t properly lay down cloth and edge tape when I paint, and shelf diagrams just confuse me so I toss them in the trash before I set out to build them on my own. I’ve always found that if I can just get my hands on the material, I’ll figure it out significantly faster than if I go through someone else’s steps.

While this works fairly well with an iPhone, it doesn’t work too well with skin care.

Once I signed up for the 90 Day Challenge and got my photos taken, I was utterly mortified at the condition of my skin and vowed to fix it immediately. Armed with an arsenal of products that I had never even seen before, I set out to get fixed overnight. Before bed, I washed my face with some $5 drug store cleanser and then promptly slathered on thick layers of everything in my SkinMedica bag. The next morning, I did the same. I felt GOOD. I felt EMPOWERED. I felt PROUD of myself for taking steps to get healthier.

Upon entering the office later that day, I found an esthetician and excitedly went on and on about my night and morning experiences. Just like my five year old son when he writes his name perfectly and wants praise, I preened for Wendy and waited for her to pat me on the back like a good pupil when I told her what I had done. Imagine my surprise, however, when she told me I had done it all wrong.

Wrong? How could I have messed this up already, I asked? It’s cream! You rub it in, boom, done, right?

Not right…and if you ever want to see a skin care expert freak out, say to her “I’m not sure how many times I applied the Tri-Retinol formula to my face.” Frankly, I’m lucky she caught me when she did: Because skin care is a science, there’s a method to the madness, and left to my own devices, I might end up looking worse, and not better.

Number one, I was using an exfoliating scrub to wash my face instead of the gentle cleanser I should have been using as part of the program. Number two, I put everything on in the wrong order. A product like SkinMedica TNS Serum, for example, needs to go right on clean skin, and I was putting it on last. Number three, I was using WAY too much product. I rubbed so much TNS Eye Repair cream in that the concentrated ingredients were aggravating my contact lens-wearing eyes; apparently very small amounts rubbed gently in around the eye works just fine. Number four, the Tri-Retinol Complex is powerful stuff and only goes on at night….not numerous times during the day.

So this continual learning process carries on. Lesson learned this week? Sometimes, I can’t just dive in. Sometimes, I need to consult the instruction manual, read the diagram, and actually TALK to the experts…after all, that’s what they’re there for.

90 Day Challenge: Challenging what I see in the mirror

Posted by: Rhonda Shrum

About a month ago, when I decided to do this challenge publicly, I was still very naive. Bolstered by my friends and co-workers and excited to have something huge like this to kick off my blogging experience here, I confidently chose to put myself out there as a guinea pig, assuming embarrassment would be minimal.

Then, I got my first digital photo analysis of my skin, and I went home and cried.

I was shocked. Bewildered. I’m a fairly pale girl, always have been. I’m the one people make fun of on the beach, wearing big floppy hats. Sunburn is not enjoyable to me, and I can count on one hand how many times I’ve been in a tanning bed (and I’m not proud of those few moments). So while I was braced for the possibility of a few wrinkles and big pores, what I was not expecting was this: That’s my pale skin. With sun damage! A million little UV spots just biding time till one day, unbeknownst to me, they’ll show up ready to party.

Surprisingly, the wrinkles weren’t bad. I had one, so I won’t complain. But I was severely dehydrated, and full of bacteria, thanks to my awful habits of drinking 4 cups a coffee a day and not always cleansing before bed.

So yeah, I cried…because I had to realize that I’ve been lazy and unappreciative. I just expect my skin to always look like it looks now, with no effort whatsoever given to keeping it that way. And the truth is, that will always backfire. If I don’t correct it now, I will wake up in five years with that spotty face.

So not only do I have to publicly stare down my own vanity, but I’m being forced to recognize and rectify habits that don’t serve me well. Sure, I love coffee, and I joke about my addiction daily. However, I never once considered that it would have a negative effect on my skin. Apply sunscreen daily? I’ve never bothered, why would I? I’m not tanning or anything. Stupidly, though, I didn’t count on the endless hours of driving with sun blazing through my window, or all the times I’ve spent with my son outside at the playground. It all adds up, and it’s not pretty.

It’s slowly sinking in that the challenge I decided to do for fun, to just “look better,” will ultimately turn into a vehicle for massive introspection and analysis of not just my habits, but my concepts of health and beauty as well. Eventually, my hope is to not just have better skin, but a better understanding of how to care for myself, both inside AND out.

If you’re interested in the 90 Day Challenge, you can still sign up until November 30th. The cost for all the products and treatments is $695,  valued at almost $1300. Call 636-530-9020 for more information.