I remember the first time I shaved my legs; did it with my dad’s razor—sounds like the starting of a 1950s horror story. I was a fifth grader in Brooklyn, New York watching the school girls of P.S. 221 with whom I grew up with their smooth legs and flat chests and wanting to slow down my bullet train toward puberty. My legs, arms and underarms were really hairy, and, as one of my illustrious classmates shared, I already had apple breasts.

What a big mistake! Shaving, while it may work for those with thinner skin and finer hair, for me it was what a garland of garlic is to a vampire.  At 10 years old, 11 years old, I developed razor bumps—ingrown hair—which was followed by dark spots—hyperpigmentation—on the affected area. Yikes!  

Fun fact: Hyperpigmentation is the over production of pigment in isolated areas—dark spots and blemishes. Hypopigmentation is the underproduction of pigment in isolated areas—vitiligo (Michael Jackson’s dis-ease).

I have lots of melanin, which is proportionally related to thickness in skin, coupled with tightly coiled thick hair—also known as kinky hair. This was recipe for disaster. This means that when the new hair tried to grow out of the follicle, it was thicker and much more difficult to sprout all the way through my layered skin—getting stuck along the way, irritating and blocking the follicle and producing tiny little bumps along my legs.

As you have heard in Viviane Aires’s YouTube lesson on the importance of waxing versus shaving for folks with brown skin, shaving only cuts the hair in half while waxing removes the hair completely away from the follicle. Here is why that is important: Removing the hair from the root via waxing allows the new hair to grow unfettered while maintaining thinness or increasing thinning. This means less chances of it getting stuck along the way. Further, waxing exfoliates the superficial layer of the skin—the epidermis, which reduces skin thickness. 

Tomorrow is my appointment with Viviane at Siojo Salon and Spa in Olde City. She’s doing the full body wax. Girls and guys, you have to get the full body wax at least once in your life and then go on a hot date afterwards. Smoking!

Following, Friday I am going in for my monthly chemical peel. Now, below I will talk about the two main types of facials brown folks should get at least once a season coupled with at-home exfoliation care.  I provide two products that I love to help with maintaining that glow.

I am not talking about my face in this instance. I am getting a peel for my legs. This works to thin the skin and clear dead molecules that can clog pores and further infect follicles. Many of you will notice that I tend not to wear short skirts and often wear pants. This is because of the hyperpigmentation along my legs.

As I have gotten older, the prevalence of hyperpigmentation and razor bumps—even when I stopped shaving and switched to Nair—has increased. Our bodies change as we get older.  I had to try something new. Viviane Aires to the rescue! [For appointments and/or consultation with Viviane of VSkin Make-Up go to: www.vivianeaires.com]

In the passage below, I share my slow awakening regarding no longer hiding my healing from the public eye. Yes, I get looks. The difference is that I am doing something about my condition. Before, I thought of skin care as such a burden. I could not figure out what worked. None of the products at my local drug store seemed to have the answer for my type. Thus, I internalized this poverty in diverse skin care for brown folks as a deficiency within me or my gene pool. Not so.

We are all different. It is about finding what works. Although, I am still a bit self-conscious about it, I am soothed by the knowledge that I found a system that works for me and the right practitioner to see me through it. Thank you, Viviane!

I think you are seeing now why waxing is the way to go for me. Think about it: Thicker skin means that the hair has a longer way to go before reaching the top. Pictured below is a follicle to help understand the tubular pathway through which the skin travels.

Not Hiding from Healing

Often times we shy away from exposing our healing processes to others. We do not speak about ailments. We wear longer pants to hide marks. We use Band-Aids, sunglasses, hats, scarves and the list goes on.

Over this week while I was awaiting my waxing session, I was astounded at people’s reaction to my hairy legs, even in the work environment. I would catch folks taking double takes or just blatantly staring. Strangely and for the first time in a long time, I did not shy away. In fact, I walked with haughtiness. 

I am not casting hairy legs as an ailment, although someone might. My reaction of hauteur was an extrapolation: I am not neat nor do I evenly fit into boxes. I am beautiful beyond bounds.

There are other skin related ailments from which I suffer such as hyperkeratotic production on the upper joint of my right middle finger. When speaking the statement of being beautiful beyond bounds, I was referencing all of my infirmities.

I refuse to pick myself apart—saying this is gorgeous and this is hideous. I am a whole integrated being, who on the whole is lovely. This loveliness is not just lip service. I see it as a pride in upkeep. I am lovely because I take care of my health. I am lovely because I engage and challenge my mind. I am lovely because I have my father’s nose. I am lovely because I am working on healing all over. This I will not shame nor will I allow others that power.

As part of my upkeep, below are two products that I absolutely adore: Stri-vectin and Neo Strata Glycolic Foaming Face Wash. These are what I use on my face in between facials.

There are two types of facials:

Microdermabrasion and Chemical Peeling Comparison(http://www.skinabrasion.net/chemical-peels.html):

“This is important: chemical peeling and microdermabrasion are both resurfacing procedures that exfoliate the skin.

·         Microdermabrasion works well on superficial skin imperfections (some acne scars, fine lines, wrinkles, enlarged pores and sun spots),

·         Chemical peel is more effective on serious skin problems like deeper scars and wrinkles. But the after care and downtime are also longer.

Used together, they can cause serious damage to the skin because of the double peeling effect.

In some ways, peels and microderm abrasions are similar, which is why so many people refer to microderm as a microdermabrasion peel. Microdermabrasion is by nature, a mechanical peel. It uses a stream of crystals (or a diamond tip wand) and suction to gently exfoliate the skin, while chemical peels achieve the same effect using milder or stronger acid solutions. But a peel and microderm don't mix and match.”

So go on, guys and gals: Peel with zeal!

Product Details:

·         NeoStrata Glycolic Foaming Face Wash – is a foaming face wash with mild glycolic acid to help maintain one’s glow after a peel or provide an effect over time as if one had a professional peel. One will see the skin shining after washing without putting any lotion on because the new skin is revealed after taking off the first strata of skin—hence the brand name NeoStrata

·         Stri-vectin – is a product designed to reduce the appearance of scars and stretch marks. What they found was that it faded wrinkles and improved collagen production in the skin, too! Then there was an explosion of the product on the market. I remember. I first heard about this explosion working at the fragrance counter at Strawbridge’s before that department store went out of business. Here’s how it works:

“StriVectin-SD™ diminishes the appearance of stretch marks and wrinkles, improves visible discolorations, hydrates, improves texture and tone of the skin, along a clinically proven timeline. You’ll see dramatically less wrinkles and stretch marks in 2-8 weeks and results keep getting better.

·          Week 2

·          Natural collagen resurging; texture and resilience improving

·          Week 4

·          Natural cell turnover intensifying; visibly fading discolorations

·          Week 8

·          Elasticity reinforcing, wrinkles and stretch marks visibly diminishing

We powered up the original StriVectin-SD® with more powerful peptides and re-engineered the
formula with our patented NIA -114™ technology.  Discovered in skin cancer prevention research
to help rebuild skin layers,  NIA-114™ results are documented in multiple global patents and years
of clinical trials.

·        NIA-114™ NIA-114™ is a patented form of the skin nutrient niacin (nicotinic acid).  Unlike other forms of Niacin
(niacinamide), NIA-114™ is the molecule discovered in skin cancer prevention research by Dr. Myron
& Elaine Jacobson. As one of the most active forms of Niacin, NIA-114™ enables the maximum
concentration of niacin to be delivered into the skin because of its patented lipophilic tail. Providing unique and unrivalled benefits for the skin. Niacin repairs skin damage and helps to rebuild skin layers.”
 
(http://www.strivectin.com/how-it-works/the-science)

Random Play: Fun Facts on Melanin

One’s skin’s thickness is determined by genetics—a portion of that is related to melanin—as well as response to stimuli in nature such as the sun or topical abrasions such that those that result in scaring. When the skin is very thin, the blood vessels show through and give a pinkish color.

Melanin is interesting. Melanin colors the world. Seriously. Most of the colors in nature are due to melanin. It is pigmentation that is found in plant organisms, skin, animal fur, the heart, brain, DNA, fish, liver, arteries and central nervous system.

Melanin acts as a filter to prevent damage to the delicate deeper layers of the skin by ultraviolet light—sun rays. It actually absorbs light and in some ways reaches out for the UV light. Because UV lights penetrates deeply and can cause major damage, Nature’s genius coated basically almost everything with melanin.

An abstract from the Nature Proceedings Journal writes: “Melanin is to the animal kingdom like chlorophyll to the vegetal kingdom. Melanin collects energy from lower-energy radiation sources, kicks electrons into excited states, initiating a process that would end up producing chemical energy, similar to the way in which photosynthesis supplies energy to plants.”

It can break up break up water molecules and give off energy, is a powerful antioxidant—which combats aging by destroying free radicals and promotes electron transfer for certain essential chemical reactions.
 
Our pigment can break a bond as primal as H20. Almost spooky isn't it?

(Sources: (1) Properties of Melanin by Kansas State University in the PowerPoint “The Biophysics of Melanin”. (2) http://www.sankofa.ch/texts/Melanin.htm . (3) Nature Proceeding Journal: http://precedings.nature.com/documents/1312/version/1)