Featured Dermatologists
Nelson Lee Novick, M.D.Cream-Based Make-Ups: Foundation, Eye Shadow, Eyeliners, & Mascara
A foundation makeup is, as the name stares, he primary make-up for the face. Foundations smooth your skin, hide blemishes, scars, and other irregularities, and even out skin tones. In addition, they serve as bases for blushes and eye makeup.
Since the main purposes of foundations are to cover up and smooth, the active ingredients of any foundation are its pigments and moisturizers. In fact, foundations are simply moisturizers to which pigments (colors) have been added. Oil-free make-ups contain synthetic lubricants instead of heavier natural oils such as petrolatum, mineral oil, vegetable oils, or lanolins. Water-based foundation make-ups use oil-in-water moisturizer formulations, and oil-based foundations use water-in-oil formulations.
Antioxidants in skin care products are chemicals that work by neutralizing various kinds of free radicals and reactive oxygen species that are generated by our normal metabolic processes, ultraviolet light exposure, cigarette smoke and other environmental insults. Unchecked, free radicals and oxidative chemicals act like loose cannons wreaking havoc to cellular and nuclear components of normal cells and are believed in large measure to be responsible for both the esthetic and medical damage we know as photoaging and skin cancers.
Learn more about Cream-Based Cosmetics, including foundations, concealers, cream eye shadows, liquid eyeliners, mascaras, and cream masks from Nelson Novick, M.D. of New York City.
Stick Cosmetics: Lipstick, Lipliners, and Pencils
Stick cosmetics include a cover sticks, pencils (e.g., eyebrow, eyeliner, and lip liner pencils), and stick blushers. The active ingredients in these items are essentially pigments dispersed throughout the heavy oil-wax base. Waxes, such as beeswax, synthetic beeswax, candelilla wax, carnauba wax, ceresin (ozokerite), and cetyl and stearyl alcohols, provide consistency, texture, and after-feel to these cosmetics.
Learn more about Stick Cosmetics, including lipsticks, cover sticks, eyebrow pencils, eyeliner pencils, and lipliners from Nelson Novick, M.D. of New York City.
Masking & Camoflauge Cosmetics
Masking cosmetics are waterproof make-ups made specifically to cover scars and other kinds of prominent skin discolorations, abnormalities, or irregularities that cannot be easily camouflaged by conventional foundations. They generally work best on flat irregularities and are intended for use anywhere on the body, not just the face.
These make-ups are particularly useful for camouflaging "broken" blood vessels of the face; "liver spots" on the face, hands, and legs; and the small, superficial, purplish varicose blood vessels on the legs (sunburst varicosities). They also are frequently recommended for disguising port-wine stains, depigmented skin patches (vitiligo), and certain kinds of disfiguring skin eruptions such as psoriasis and lupus.
Learn more about Masking and Camoflauge Cosmetics from Nelson Novick, M.D. of New York City.
The New Complexion of Camoflauge Cosmetics
The past half dozen years has witnessed a literal explosion in the numbers and kinds of in-office, non-surgical procedures performed for rejuvenating the face, neck, decollete and hands. Some of today's most popular "Lunchtime Beauty Fixes" (a term I coined many years ago) for dealing with wrinkles, furrows, jowls, sagging, blotchy skin discolorations and "broken blood vessels" include Botox, fillers and volumizers, mild chemcical peels, microdermabrasion, Fraxel lasers, laser epilation, and radiowave treatments.
While these techniques offer the advantage of little "downtime" away from work or social activities, as compared to aggressive surgical procedures, you can still reaonably expect to see little needle prick marks, some redness, and swelling, mild bruising, and fine scaliness of the skin for at least a day or two or sometimes even for a few days afterward. However, with the proper choice of camouflage cosmetics, these minor post-treatment problems can be easily masked until they clear on their own, allowing you a return to your normal routines immediately after you step off the treatment table.
Learn more about Camoflauge Cosmetics from Nelson Novick, M.D. of New York City.
Nail Cosmetics
Generally speaking, great care and expertise go into the manufacture of nail cosmetics. It is remarkable that manufacturers have been able to formulate products that are basically uniform in color and consistency, easy to apply, quick drying, water resistant, and relatively resistant to chipping. Nail cosmetics didn’t really exist before the 1920s, except for ordinary paints and shellacs. Today there is an almost staggering array of nail- care cosmetics, including nail polishes, base coats, top coats, nail polish removers, nail hardeners, nail conditioners, nail menders, and artificial nails.
Nail-care cosmetics are estimated to account for less than 10 percent of reactions to all cosmetics. Considering the overwhelming numbers of people who use these products every day, it is truly remarkable that so few untoward reactions occur. Nevertheless, they can and do occasionally occur.
Learn more about Nail Cosmetics, including nail polishes, nail polish removers, base coats and top coats, nail hardeners and builders, and artificial nails from Nelson Novick, M.D. of New York City.
Colognes, Toilet Waters, & Perfumes
Colognes contain roughly 88 to 95 percent alcohol and between 5 and 12 percent fragrance. Perfumes contain about 70 to 80 percent alcohol and 15 to 30 percent fragrance. Toilet waters are intermediate between colognes and perfumes.
Fragrances themselves are extremely complex mixtures. Currently there are more than ten thousand different chemical essences, derived from natural animal oils or the oils of flowers, roots, and plants. And now many synthetic fragrances are commonly used. However, fragrances, along with preservative ingredients, are believed to be responsible for the majority of all adverse reactions to cosmetics. In one large study, cinnamic alcohol, cinnamic aldehyde, hydroxycitronellal, musk ambrette, isoeugenol, and geraniol were found to be the essence ingredients most frequently associated with skin reactions.
A couple of comments about fragrances are in order. The more alcohol in a product, the shorter its shelf life; hence, colognes are usually good for about six months and the strongest of perfumes for slightly more than a year. Heat and sunlight make fragrances evaporate more rapidly, so remember to store yours in cool, dark places.
Learn more about Perfumes and Colognes from Nelson Novick, M.D. of New York City.
Powder Cosmetics
A wide variety of powder-based cosmetics is available. These include pressed face powders, blushers, and eye shadows. All of these products have the same principal active ingredients: pigments and powders. Certified D&C, FD&C (except in eye cosmetics), and iron oxides are the commonly used pigments. In addition, pearlizers, such as mica, guanine (from fish scales), or bismuth oxychioride may be added to create a frosted, sparkling effect. Translucent powders, intended more for blotting oil and perspiration, do not contain pigments. Loose powders are also good for blotting.
Learn more about Powder Cosmetics, including packs and claymasks from Nelson Novick, M.D. of New York City.
Contact Dermatitis: Steering Clear of Contact Allergies
Allergic contact dermatitis, or inflammation of the skin due to contact with some offending ingredient, prompts nearly six million doctor visits each year. However, most people are unaware that contact dermatitis is actually two distinct kinds of diseases.
One type of contact dermatitis, known as allergic contact dermatitis, like any true allergic condition, such as hay fever, is actually due to exposure to a substance that provokes an exaggerated response by the immune system. Much more commonly, however, we see direct, instantaneous irritation as a result of contact with harsh solvents, cleansers, etc., a condition known as irritant contact dermatitis, which does not involve the immune system. A common example would be the development of raw, red, chapped, and cracked hands following repeated toilet soap and water hand washing. Of all patients with contact dermatitis, approximately 70 percent suffer from this variety.
Learn more about Contact Dermatitis and Cosmetics from Nelson Novick, M.D. of New York City.
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