Do you have combination or dry skin? For a cleanser that is perfect for you, try this DIY grape and honey cleanser from our founder and celebrity dermatologist, Dr. Ava Shamban. You only need FIVE ingredients! ✋ We love eating juicy tomatoes on their own or in a salad, but when applied topically they leave your skin glowing! Try this DIY tomato face mask today, from our founder Dr. Ava Shamban:

• 1 large tomato
• 1 tsp olive oil
• ½ tsp almond meal
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• ⅓ teaspoon rosemary leaves

Blend all ingredients to make a puree. Apply the mixture to clean, dry skin and leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse off with warm water. This mask has these FIVE skin benefits: ✋?

1. Shrinks pores
2. Removes blackhead
3. Heals sunburns
4. Reduces shine
5. Treats acne

Want to keep your skin feeling hydrated and refreshed to beat this summer heat? Try this DIY facial toner mist that only takes FIVE ingredients, from our founder Dr. Ava Shamban. ✋ Try this FIVE ingredient grape & honey #cleanser from our founder @DrAvaSays. ✋

• 1 cup grapes
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp olive oil
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 5 tbsp milk

Blend ingredients together until mixed well. Keep refrigerated & wash face with the cleanser morning & night. We love a nourishing DIY face mask, so we are sharing some of our favorites! First up – the Cocoa Dream Hydration Mask! It includes avocado, cocoa and honey. ✋ For the recipe & FIVE more DIY face masks, check out this article from our friends at Marie Claire!What could be better looking than a perfectly ripe and green avocado? Beautiful skin! Avocados make everything taste better, and they also do wonders for your skin because of their abundance of antioxidants and oils! Here are FIVE reasons to incorporate avocado oil into your skin care routine:

1. Natural treatment for acne.
2. Anti-aging benefits.
3. Natural treatment for sunburn.
4. Hydrates and moisturizes skin.
5. Reduces inflammation.

Vitamin A plays a critical role in maintaining healthy, glowing skin! Here are FIVE foods packed with Vitamin A that are also tasty:

1. Sweet potatoes
2. Carrots
3. Tomatoes
4. Mango
5. Papaya

Hydrated skin starts with hydration on the inside! Here are FIVE foods that are high in water content and great for your skin:

1. Watermelon
2. Celery
3. Grapefruit
4. Cucumber
5. Cantaloupe

We love eating fresh strawberries for gorgeous skin! Here are FIVE skin benefits of strawberries:

1. Vitamin C boosts collagen production.
2. Ellagic acid prevents collagen loss.
3. Seeds exfoliate when applied topically.
4. Eliminates cellular waste which ages skin.
5. Fights oily skin.

We love foods that taste great, and also make your skin look great – like papaya! Here are FIVE skin benefits of papaya:

1. Fades age spots
2. Wards off UV damage to prevent new spots
3. Enhances radiance
4. Evens out complexion
5. Removes dead skin cells

Here are FIVE ways to treat yourself, from our founder Dr. Ava:

1. Get a pedicure
2. Give yourself a face mask
3. Treat yourself to laser hair removal
4. Get a spray tan
5. Do a hair mask

For the full video: http://bit.ly/2uQ0Eq4

If you’re in the mood for an at-home Spa Day, try these FIVE tips:

1. Light a candle
2. Use a moisturizing bath bomb
3. Give your hair a deep conditioning mask
4. Apply a clay mask to your face
5. Use a cold jade roller on your face to reduce puffiness

Relaxation is crucial to beautiful skin improving circulation & reducing blemishes.

Give yourself a massage in these FIVE pressure points to relax:

1. Heavenly Pillar (base of the skull)
2. Third Eye Point (between your eyebrows)
3. Three Mile Point (below the kneecap)
4. Heavenly appearance (behind the jaw bone)
5. Facial Beauty Point (below cheekbones)

Try these FIVE tips for a deeper sleep:

1. Exercise daily (but not within the hours before bedtime)
2. Read a book before bed
3. Power down your electronics an hour before bed
4. Meditate to calm the mind
5. Avoid eating within 3 hours of bed for undisrupted sleep throughout the night

With all that you manage to get done in one day, it’s so important that you also get your rest! Sleep is great for your physical health, mental health, and of course – your skin!

To get as much beauty rest as possible, try some of these FIVE simple sleep remedies!

1. End the day with a 10-minute low stress mental task like sudoku.
2. Inhale a calming scent like lavender, bergamot or jasmine.
3. Take 2 teaspoons of Milk of Magnesia at bedtime which acts as a muscle relaxer.
4. Enjoy a spoonful of unpasteurized honey which allows your liver to process toxins more effectively, and in turn improves your brain function while you sleep.
5. Take 5 minutes at bedtime to firmly massage your scalp, using the tips of your fingers to make small circular motions.

We can’t say enough good things about oranges.

Here are FIVE ways that Vitamin C can benefit your skin:

1. Reduces inflammation
2. Gets rid of irregular pigmentation
3. Promotes healthy collagen production
4. Protects the skin from UV light exposure
5. Improves skin texture

It’s cherry season!

Cherries make a great on-the-go snack, here are FIVE ways cherries benefit your health – and your skin:

1. Fall asleep faster
2. Ease post-workout stress
3. Anti-inflammatory
4. Control blood pressure and heart rate
5. Anti-aging

Great skin starts from the inside.

Here are the top FIVE skin foods:

1. Fish with omega-3 fatty acids – such as salmon & herring
2. Avocados
3. Walnuts
4. Sunflower seeds
5. Sweet potatoes

Your skin loves a plant-based diet.

Here are FIVE veggies that we encourage you to eat, that do wonders for your skin!

1. Sweet potatoes
2. Peppers
3. Tomatoes
4. Spinach
5. Carrots

Here are FIVE of our favorite super skin foods that are in season all summer long:

1. Melon
2. Cherries
3. Peaches
4. Tomatoes
5. Watermelon

1. Treat your skin like an outfit you would want to wear every day for the rest of your life!
2. You give your all every single day. That’s why you’ll have no regrets.
3. Just like eating well, getting enough sleep, exercising, and personal grooming, your skin requires a daily care regimen and monthly treatments to look optimal.
4. Be all you can be!
5. Your skin deserves the same love you give your body at the gym!

Although exercise is vital in achieving optimal health and great looking skin, germs and bacteria at fitness facilities can sometimes be hazardous to both!

Here are FIVE ways you can protect yourself and your skin from being harmed at the gym by fungus, bacteria, germs and more:

1. Keep a barrier like an item of clothing or a towel between your skin and equipment that others touch.
2. Bring your own exercise mat.
3. Wear earbuds rather than over-ear headphones when working out.
4. Wear flip flops in the shower.
5. Avoid touching your face at the gym.

Get your workout done faster!

Here are FIVE ways to make your workout more productive:

1. Make a plan before you get to the gym so you aren’t spending time trying to come up with the next exercise.
2. Make your water ICE cold because it’s absorbed faster.
3. Make a playlist of your favorite power tunes.
4. Repeat the same exercise at least three times in repetitions of 12.
5. Plan your workout week so each muscle group is being isolated and has time to recover.

We all know exercising is great for your physical and mental health, but did you know it’s good for your skin’s health too?

Here are FIVE ways that exercising can keep you looking young:

1. Increases collagen production.
2. Delivers more nutrients to skin cells.
3. Tightens skin.
4. Reduces signs of stress.
5. Lowers cortisol and sugar levels in the blood which cause wrinkles and fine lines.

Research shows that these FIVE high energy moves can deliver the same fat-melting perks of a 50-minute jog in just one minute!

1. Boxing
2. Jumping lunges
3. Rebounding
4. Squat curls
5. Biking

You manage to fit in the gym, but sometimes your hands can pay the price.

Here are the top FIVE ways to keep your hands soft and smooth despite the gym.

1. Wear gym gloves.
2. If gloves aren’t your thing, use chalk.
3. DON’T pick calluses.
4. Soak your hands in warm water and Epsom salt daily.
5. MOISTURIZE! MOISTURIZE! MOISTURIZE!

Healthy skin starts from the inside. When you are happy and content, your skin will show it!

Here are FIVE ways to get happy:

1. Visit a farmers market
2. Drink your coffee outside
3. Smell flowers
4. Watch people having fun, smiling, and laughing (it’s contagious)
5. Admire mother nature

With the constant distraction of technology and social media, sometimes it is hard to find time to relax. We believe that your health is the most important part of your life, and it starts from the inside, beginning with the mind.

Since everyone is so pressed for time now, we thought it would be helpful to share these FIVE relaxation techniques you can do in only have FIVE minutes!

1. Drink green tea
2. Progressive relaxation – squeeze the sides of your chair, release your grip, repeat
3. Give yourself a hand massage
4. Listen to your favorite song
5. Brush your hair

Even though your days are filled with a demanding schedule and big list of tasks, you always manage to get it all done.

With all you give, it’s important to give back to you, so you can keep being the rockstar you are.

Here are FIVE helpful tips that can help restore you.

1. Read a heartwarming book
2. Eat something you’ve been craving and enjoy every bite
3. Get 8 hours of sleep a night
4. Take Vitamin C to boost your immune system and help keep your skin glowing
5. Take a B-complex to give you a boost of stable energy throughout the day

>A great way to boost your energy in the morning is to stretch.

Instead of hitting the snooze button (which can actually leave you feeling more tired when you wake up) try one of these FIVE stretches courtesy of our friends at PopSugar.

https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/5-Stretches-Do-Morning-7751119

You deserve to take some time to care for yourself.

If you’re in the mood for an at-home spa day, try these FIVE tips:

1. Light a candle with a smell that you love!
2. Use a bath bomb that has moisturizing ingredients.
3. Give your hair a deep conditioning mask.
4. Use a clay mask on your face to clear out your pores.
5. Place a jade roller in your refrigerator. Once it’s cold, use it on your face to reduce puffiness.

Are some pores just doomed? Some of us suffer with an unsweet spot where the same blemish pops up in the same place time after time. What’s going on here and what can be done about it?

Acne has bad manners and the permanent pimple notoriously so.  It’s an unwanted guest that was never welcome in the first place, absolutely determined to stay for-stinkin’-ever despite your best efforts. People occasionally do have individual oil glands that could house a seemingly permanent pimple but most of the time the causes are touching and picking in area that hasn’t sufficiently healed or a cyst that hasn’t completely resolved.

Pimple pathophysiology

The whole blemish blooming business usually takes 10 to 14 days before you actually see anything. When the perfect storm of oil, bacteria and keratinization (i.e. sticky dead skin cell debris) get together, it takes that long to rear its inflamed and ugly head. The timing on hormonal blemishes is about the same.  So when you’re doing detective work on a specific blemish, chances are it’s because of events from a week and a half ago.

Location, location, location

Certain areas of the face are more prone to breakouts than others. Hormonal acne (i.e. pre-period, peri-menopausal, menopausal, stress or polycystic ovary syndrome) is most common in the lower face around the mouth and chin. Though not necessarily discernable to the naked eye, the hairs growing in the chin area are thicker which directly convert cortisol into the androgens (i.e. male hormones) that contribute to acne formation.

Really though, the most common reason for recurrence is repeated pressure, rubbing or touching on a spot (aka acne mechanica). So if you find yourself always breaking out in the same place you rest your chin on your palm or where you hold your phone to your face, there’s your answer.

Picking your battles

Picking is a huge culprit because though it might appear that you’re squeezing out infected material, what you’re actually doing is rupturing the pore underneath and spreading the noxious gunk under the surface to other pores where it will, la voila!, grow into yet another breakout. Plus, when you pick, you’re introducing even more bacteria to the area.

What to do

Out with the bad habits and in with the good. Look at what touches your face and where. Get your hands off!  Make cleaning your phone every night with an anti-bacterial wipe and changing your pillow case twice a week part of your routine.

That said, even good habits, a solid skin care routine and slathering on the spot treatments might not necessarily dislodge a perpetual pimple for long term. Once one moves in, even with conscientious attention, you might need professional help to extract it, encourage healing and help fortify the skin in the surrounding area. After all, all your pores are in this together.

NO MORE PORE YOU – If you like the idea of fighting acne on all fronts, SKINFIVE offers a special package we call our Acne Trio that includes The Refresher, The Infuser and The Spotless in a single appointment, all of which work synergistically on different acne factors.  Acne is a stubborn foe, however, so for best results you may want to schedule a money-saving Acne Trio five series; that’s one Trio every other week for ten weeks.  BOOK NOW

 What’s wrong with this picture . . . when the chest and the hands are looking decades older than the face?

If you hang out with snooty fashion editors (as we do), you’re well aware that one of the most serious sartorial faux pas – and profound putdown to boot – is ‘matchy, matchy’. Essentially this speaks to trying too hard with the color coordination (nails and lips, bag and shoes etc.).  Arbitrary, yes, but nonetheless a thing.

We, however, are beauty people. And this means we like every part of the skin to match itself.  But located in Southern California, the rejuvenation capitol of the world, we frequently see faces that look twenty years younger than hands and chests. What gives? The complexion looks smooth and creamy while the hands and chest are mottled, lined and leathery. The reasons for this are many fold:

• Unfocused attention: Awareness of aging generally starts with the face so oftentimes people will begin taking precautionary measures with beneficial skincare products on the face but ignore the chest and the hands. Consequently, the face looks youthful but the other areas, alas, do not. This neglect is particularly true for sunscreen use on all exposed areas of the body or taking appropriately protective steps (like wearing driving gloves in the car).
• Physiology of healing: The face contains more microvasculature (circulation) than elsewhere. And beginning at the neck and extending over the rest of the body there are fewer adnexal structures, (i.e. sweat glands, oil glands and minute hair follicles) at work to accelerate healing. This means that rejuvenation procedures such as lasers, IPL, ultrasound, radiofrequency or peels can go much deeper and work much faster on the face than on the chest or the hands.

This doesn’t mean that rejuvenating the skin on your chest and your hands is impossible by any means but it will require commitment. First, bump up the preventative measures and slather on the sunscreen and rethink low cut necklines when the sun shines bright. Then for skincare, perhaps use a antioxidant serum on the chest and the hands. Finally, in the technical professional realm, lower energy treatments and more repetitions will be necessary to achieve the same smoothing, luminous results you can get with a single treatment on the face.

MATCHY NOT PATCHY – Ready to rejuvenate your chest and hands to match your pretty face?

 

For best results, a series of 5 combo treatments will deliver cumulative results over time. Combining The Spotless laser and The Uplifter radiofrequency is the way to go. BOOK NOW

While hopping on an airplane to far-flung places long may stimulate the mind and illuminate the soul, it can suck the life out of your skin in no time.

Our own resident travel expert, renowned dermatologist and SKINFIVE founder Ava Shamban, M.D. travels so much – presenting at conferences and doing research around the world – that she’s had to get supplementary pages for her passport.  So she knows a thing or two about the effects of long-distance travel on the complexion.

“In most planes, the altitude is about 7000 feet,” she notes.  “This means the air inside the plane is significantly dryer than it in on the ground which will deplete the moisture out of your skin.  And even if you’ve got naturally oily skin, this can be a real problem because dehydrated skin is prone to cracking, fissuring and infection.”

Sky hydration

Here’s what Dr. Shamban does for her own skin when she flies:

• Layer up before you board – Cover your face, neck and chest with an antioxidant serum and If you’re really dedicated, add on moisturizing eye cream as well.
• Slather on the sun protection – The UV light coming in through an airplane is even more virulent because it’s not filtered through a lot of the earth’s atmosphere. If you’re flying by day at a window seat, apply at least an SPF30 to whatever parts of your face, neck, chest and hands are exposed.
• Protect your lips – Apply and reapply an SPF lip balm as often as you like.
• Don’t forget your hands – Using anti-bacterial gel on your hands before and during your flight is always a good idea. Using anti-bacterial wipes on your tray table and in the bathroom makes good solid sense. But these can really parch the skin on your hands so apply an emollient had cream before boarding and every 2 hours in the air.
• Hydrate from the inside – Drink at least 8 oz. water per every hour of the flight. The downside is that you’ll have to trot off to the bathroom a few times but it’s good for your body to get moving a little anyway. When it comes to water, though, do not I repeat do NOT drink the tap water on the plane (or coffee, tea or ice made with that water); buy bottled water instead. Why? Two words . . . fecal contamination and other unsavory beasties.

 On the ground

Once you’ve reached your destination and are settled in, apply a single use sheet mask containing hyaluronic acid, antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.

HAPPY LANDINGS – Want your own post-flight piggyback of SKINFIVE’s The Refresher plus The Infuser for the most efficient rehydration ever? We’ve got you covered.  BOOK NOW