You’ve probably heard that you need 1/4 teaspoon of sunscreen to cover your face. This quantity is calculated from an estimate of people’s face sizes, and the amount of sunscreen they use in SPF testing (2 mg per cm2). Since it’s based on the thickness of sunscreen, a larger face will need more sunscreen, while a smaller face will need less sunscreen. But how much sunscreen would I need?
Because I have an unusually large forehead and a flat-but-wide nose, I didn’t want to use a rough geometric estimate, and opted for a more empirical (and hopefully accurate), fiddlier measurement method instead. I decided to work out my facial surface area by covering my face with paper tape, then taping it onto grid paper and counting the area. Of course, I filmed the process! I then worked out how much sunscreen I needed for my face, and I also worked out how much sunscreen I needed for my neck and decolletage.
Supplements are one of the big new “it” categories in beauty, and collagen supplements are one of the most popular. Oral collagen supplements are supposed to be anti-aging, get rid of wrinkles and plump up skin so it looks younger. What’s the science behind them and do they really work?
I made a video on the topic! In it I talk about the way collagen supplements could theoretically work, and then break down the clinical studies on eating and drinking collagen.
I’ve been asked a lot for my opinion on a recent article on whether vitamin C serums are bad for your skin. In the article, Wendy explains why Oumere will never have a vitamin C serum in their line. She outlines that vitamin C can:
Act as a pro-oxidant when it reacts with iron in the air (or iron and copper in cosmetics) via the Fenton reaction, leading to irritation, collagen and elastin breakdown and acne
Lead to desensitisation (tachyphylaxis) so if you start using it too young, your skin won’t respond later on
Let’s take a look at both of these arguments.
Is Vitamin C Pro-oxidant?
While in some circumstances vitamin C can act as a pro-oxidant after it reacts with metals and potentially lead to collagen destruction, vitamin C is also known to have effects that are the exact opposite:
Vitamin C on its own is a potent antioxidant that soaks up free radicals and prevents the oxidative damage that results from UV light and other environmental stressors, as well as normal biological processes
Vitamin C is an essential cofactor that’s required for enzymes that crosslink and stabilise collagen (prolyl and lysyl hydroxylase)
So how do we tell which of these actions, pro-oxidant or antioxidant, wins out? Science, of course! More specifically, we have quite a lot of clinical trials on vitamin C where vitamin C serums are applied to actual human skin, and its effect is measured. Vitamin C is one of THE best researched skincare ingredients.
None of the clinical trials on topical vitamin C (that’s vitamin C applied to the skin) found a decrease in collagen. In fact, a whole bunch of studies found that vitamin C increased collagen. In these studies, the volunteers were also exposed to air pollution and other cosmetic products, which were proposed to be the sources of metals that would cause a pro-oxidant effect in the article. Clearly the antioxidant effect is winning.
Most studies on vitamin C measure its effect on photodamage. These studies generally measure the effect of vitamin C on wrinkles. While this isn’t a direct measure of collagen, lack of collagen causes deeper wrinkles, so if vitamin C was having a pro-oxidant effect you’d see a worsening of photodamage (which is actually caused partially by increased oxidation). In these studies, vitamin C improved photodamage:
In the history of acne treatments, there has never been a medication that has caused more controversy than Accutane. There is also no treatment that has ever produced such startling results. For this reason, Accutane has both its passionate defenders and its equally passionate detractors. The choice of whether to try Accutane is a very difficult one. All the factors must be properly weighed, and if you are considering this option, you should be fully aware of all of the possible side effects as well as the nearly miraculous efficacy of this drug in clearing even the most severe cases of acne.
A hyperaggressive treatment like Accutane should only be considered when other, more conventional treatments have been exhausted with unsatisfactory results. With so many options on the market, it is likely that one of them will fit your skin type and help give you relief from acne. (Related: Does Proactiv really work?) Many people have questions about the more common treatments and it can be overwhelming trying to sort through all of the options. But if you are a long-time acne sufferer, it is worth the effort. Here we take a closer look at Accutane and answer at least some of the most common questions in relation to this well-known, highly debated, and very controversial acne treatment solution.
How Does Accutane Work?
First of all, what is Accutane? Accutane is the brand name of the drug isotretinoin, which is a derivative of vitamin A. It is administered in pill form, usually for somewhere between 15 and 20 weeks. It works primarily by reducing the amount of sebum your skin produces and by helping your skin regenerate faster, thus healing existing lesions and evening out skin tone by eliminating any residual redness.
Different dosages are used depending on the severity of the condition. Higher dosages have a greater rate of effectiveness and a lower relapse rate, but also come with a heightened risk of side effects.
