Hello! It’s Dr. Ryan Shelton here and I want to welcome you to another Mailbag Friday! We skipped our Mailbag last week since we were busy celebrating our Easter Sale, but now that’s over, I’m excited to get back to answering questions from customers who need help with their skincare routines. First up today is Diana from Jersey City, NJ.
Q: Hello Dr. Ryan! I started noticing the frown lines between my eyebrows getting really bad a couple of years ago. I’m terrified of needles, so Botox is not an option. What can I do?
A: Hi Diana! Thanks for asking this great question. First off, I’m glad you asked this because so many people deal with these frown lines - also known as “Worry Lines” or “11 Lines”. These wrinkles are created by repetitive movement over the years, and if you don’t do something to care for them, you’ll start to notice them getting deeper by the day!
Most people tend to turn to Botox to help smooth out these lines, and while this can be a very effective solution, for some people it might not be a path they’re willing to go down.
Botox is incredibly expensive and can be quite painful, as you know, so I’m going to suggest something that works just like Botox but isn’t as pricey and doesn’t involve needles!
There are many skincare ingredients out there that have properties similar to Botox, and one of my personal favorites is Soluble Collagen.
Since one of the main reasons why you start to form wrinkles is due to a breakdown of collagen in your skin, adding collagen back into your routine is a no-brainer!
But not just any collagen will work. It has to be in a form that your skin can absorb, which is why Soluble Collagen is a miracle worker, and it’s also why I have it in my Collagen Filler Serum.
Soluble Collagen sinks into the skin quickly and helps to fill in those deep lines and make them look like they were never there to begin with!
It works so well that my Collagen Filler Serum has been a huge hit since it was launched.
I even had a customer tell me they canceled their Botox appointment, so when you said you didn’t want Botox, I knew what I wanted to recommend right away!
The last thing I’ll say is that it’s always a good idea to be as patient as possible when you’re trying new products, no matter what it is.
Try the Collagen Filler Serum and stick to it for a good 30 days, and I just know you’ll love the results!
My next question comes from Frances in Abilene, TX.
Q: Hi Dr. Shelton. I’ve been reading up about shaving your face to get smoother skin, but a lot of people I’ve spoken to about it say that it causes dryness. Is that true? I want to try it but I’m a bit nervous!
A: Hi Frances! This is a really interesting topic that I don’t get to talk about that often, so I’m glad you asked. The truth is that yes, shaving your face can cause dryness. Having said that, there are some things you can do to prevent that. Today I’ll run through some best practices for shaving your face…
First, I’d like to give a disclaimer.
Shaving your face can definitely give you smoother skin and make sure your makeup goes on perfectly, but if you have sensitive skin it might not be the best idea.
That’s because this trend exfoliates your skin very well, and if your complexion is too sensitive you could end up with redness and irritation.
I definitely recommend treading lightly and making sure you test a patch of your skin before doing your whole face!
Next, make sure you use a fresh razor that you haven’t used on the rest of your body and also make sure your skin is fresh and clean before you shave anything.
All the extra exfoliation from the razor is going to open up your skin to bacteria and impurities, so using a gentle cleanser to get rid of all the nasties is an absolute must.
Since your skin is going to be free from dead skin cells and all that hair, it’s not going to be protected from the environment around you. That’s why people usually experience extreme dryness when they shave!
But don’t worry, there’s a really simple fix…
As soon as your skin is shaved and you’ve washed it clean, use a moisturizer with rich hydrating ingredients ASAP.
As long as you do this, you’ll be able to protect your delicate skin from losing moisture and becoming irritated.
On top of that, using a good quality moisturizer is going to help minimize the appearance of any wrinkles and fine lines you may have!
These simple tips should be more than enough to reap the benefits of shaving your face without getting any irritation or dryness. I can wait to hear how it goes!