Retinol products reviews

Retinol Products Reviews

One health and beauty product that has really helped the facial appearance of women in a significant way is retinol products. You may not be familiar with retinol but it is a naturally occurring compound that has been shown to be effective for helping reduce wrinkles, clear acne, and as a facial anti aging treatment. Retinol is another name for Vitamin A, and it occurs naturally in many foods we normally eat like fruits and vegetables. Scientists have determined that the retinoid compounds can effectively penetrate layers of skin to provide the cells with needed nutrients so they can repair themselves. The retinoids can be formulated in a cream and applied topically to the face for treatment. Here we want to review some of the better retinol products available for over the counter use in order of increasing cost. RoC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Night Cream – This first product is a cost effective solution for women who are looking for a retinol based product to treat wrinkles and lines. RoC Retinol Correxion contains essential retinol to tighten your face and smooth wrinkles and lines. In addition, the serum contains special minerals that help to restore skin cell health and promote a healthier and younger look to your skin. This is a clinically tested product made by RoC of France, and it has proven to be effective as a wrinkle remover. This product is applied at night before bedtime and can be used with other facial products. While using this product the manufacturer recommends that you apply a mild sun screen to avoid damage to sensitive skin. Regular use of this product can produce visible results in as little as twelve weeks. This product is safe, hypoallergenic, and will not clog up the pores of your face. You can find this product priced at around $15 dollars at many online retailers. Perlabella Retinol Anti-Aging Cream Review – This effective retinol product is offered by the Italian company Perlabella. They have developed a specialized application system they call PureDose Pearls Microsponge Technology. Essentially the microsponges are small air tight balls that are filled with the retinol anti aging and wrinkle reducing serum. The company suggests that only fresh retinol is effective, and the sealed microspheres keep it fresh for an extended period of time. The PureDose Pearls allow for a time release delay of retinol and other active ingredients, and allow for a much higher concentrated product. This slow release also diminishes any irritating effects of retinol that some people experience. The microsponges enable the retinol to penetrate deeply beneath the surface of the skin providing it with needed collagen building nutrients. Using this product as directed will generate smooth and radiant looking skin. This product is moderately priced at around $40 and is available at the Amazon website. TX Systems Afirm Retinol Cream – The Afirm system of retinol creams is a proven way to reduce and eliminate facial wrinkles, lines, folds, blemishes, and dark circles under the eyes. What is unique about Afirm is that they have three different levels of retinol concentration to help you in your treatment. The 1X product has the lowest concentration of retinol and it is recommended for people just starting out with a retinol treatment, or those that have highly sensitive skin. The 2X retinol cream should be used after several successful week using the 1X product. The highest retinol products of the three is the 3X cream, and it is for women who are seeking the maximum retinol treatment available. TX Systems has also developed their own microsponge technology that they call the APS Microsponge System. Similar to the PureDose system it is a time delay release for the active ingredients in the serum. The Microsponge system has been a proven way to slowly deliver an effective retinol products treatment to nourish and repair skin cells, and reduce wrinkles. This product is available from online retailers like Amazon for about forty dollars not including tax and shipping. If you are looking to reduce the affects of aging and remove wrinkles then you should consider using retinol products. Find out more information, reviews, and availability for retinol products by visiting http://retinol-products.com

The retinol products explosion

The Retinol Products Explosion

The beauty and cosmetic industry has seen an explosion of cutting edge products over the last several years. One type of product that has shown to be quite promising as an anti aging solution is the advent of retinol based creams and lotions. Retinol is a naturally occurring compound found to be abundant in Vitamin A. Although there are some cautions when using retinol is has shown to be effective in reducing facial wrinkles and lines, scarring from acne, and the dark circle underneath the eyes. You usually find the active ingredient of retinol in lotions and creams to be applied directly to the skin. Even though the product is applied topically, it can penetrate the layers of the skin to help repair the connective tissues.

There was much initial concern with the release of retinol, but subsequent university studies have shown that these products are effective skin rejuvenation products. The active ingredients in retinol can reduce wrinkles and lines on the face, even acne related blemishes. Not only this, but retinol based creams and lotions can help to prevent facial wrinkles that may happen sometime in the future. Often times fairly immediate results can be achieved with these products, but to achieve wrinkle prevention you need to be using the on a regular basis.

Retinol is very effective in removing facial wrinkles and lines by helping to repair the tissues directly beneath the top layers of skin. You should be aware of some of the side effects that can occur when using these lotions and creams. One small side effect is that the sensitive skin around your eyes may become irritated and red. The biggest risk, however, of using retinol products is that they increase your skin sensitivity to UV rays and sunlight. Therefore, it is important when using retinol creams that you try to stay out of direct sunlight as much as possible, and you should also use a sun blocker. This is a significant consideration that should not be minimized, as skin damage from exposure to the sun is an risk you need to be aware of. This risk also applies to the use of tanning beds or tanning lamps, as they will also increase your risk of skin damage due to UV rays. The good news is that the damage from sunlight UVA and UVB rays is the only concern you need to be aware of with retinol products. You can minimize this risk by using them in the evening or when you go to bed. And remember, always stay out of sunlight as much as possible and use a sun block lotion.

Retinol products can be found if several different forms, including creams and lotions. Also, each product serum will have a different potency within its formulation. You will want to check the label of a potential product to find out the exact levels of the active ingredients, including retinol. The products available will also be formulated to treat different facial conditions such as wrinkle removal, or reducing the dark circles under the eyes. Some creams or lotions may just be designed for use on the eyelids or cheeks, so you should evaluate the product closely to see if it you will be using it correctly.

Maybe it is time for you to seriously think about reducing aging and wrinkles by using retinol products. Find out more information, reviews, and availability for retinol products by visiting http://retinolproducts.org

Sharpening pastes

Sharpening Pastes

An Introduction to Sharpening-Pastes

Thiers issard “Bio-Diamond” Diamond Sharpening-Pastes and Chromox Finishing Paste

Ref. Bio-Diam 6 –Coarse-Grit 6 micron (Yellow colored)—for: heavy refining of edge direct from the hone; aggressive action or restoring.

Ref. Bio-Diam 3—Regular-Grit 3 micron (Green colored)—for: refining of edge direct from hone, intermediate action or restoring.

Ref. Bio-Diam 1—Fine-Grit 1 micron (Red colored)—for: regular use on razor’s edge.

Ref. Bio-Diam 0.25—Extra-fine-Grit 0.25 micron (Silver colored)—for: regular use and super-fine finishing on razor’s edge.

Ref. Chromox—Finishing-paste—green chromium oxide—recommended for use after diamond-paste stropping with grits finer than 0.50 microns.

Not All Pastes Are Created Equal

Like other aspects of straight-razor use, razor-sharpening has benefited from modern processes and materials. The use of today’s Diamond Sharpening-Pastes in your razor-sharpening regimen can vastly improve both the quality of your razor’s cutting edge and the comfort and closeness of the shave.

Razor-sharpening pastes have been around for years like wet shaving. The most common pastes used a fine powder of iron oxide, chromium oxide or graphite as the cutting agent, suspended in a carrier; this was spread onto a leather or wood surface, used as a strop to finish the edge. A bundle of strops would hang in a corner of the barbershop, each dedicated to a different type or coarseness of sharpening-paste.

The use of sharpening-pastes is similar to the use of hones: you begin with a coarser grit to accomplish the most work in the shortest time, moving on to progressively finer pastes to refine the edge, ending in a finely polished, mirror-like finish. Advances in metallurgy produced ever-harder steels, rendering ineffective the compounds used as cutting agents in the sharpening-pastes; they were actually softer than the blade they were expected to sharpen. Using such sharpening-paste made the blade duller, not sharper! All this changed with the development of diamond sharpening-pastes.

Diamonds are the hardest substance known to man; far harder than any steel yet developed. Industrial-grade diamonds, similar in hardness to gemstone-quality diamonds, are by-products of the diamond-mining industry. Their flaws, color inconsistencies, or other characteristics render them unsuitable for jewelry. Also, in the process of cutting and polishing gemstones, significant waste is produced. When all this is crushed to a fine powder the resulting particles acquire irregular cutting-edges. Being harder than any other substance, the particles hold those edges longer than any other material. This diamond powder does the actual work of sharpening.

However, all diamond compounds are not equal. The best are very carefully controlled in their manufacture, to assure consistency in the size of the actual particles. For example, a compound classified as “one micron,” though it may have particles smaller, should contain no diamond particles larger, than one micron. This is important, especially in a close-tolerance application such as producing a highly refined razor edge. All the diamond particles used in our “Bio-Diamond” sharpening-pastes are very carefully sorted to make sure that particles in each mix are exactly the given grade size.

Another differentiation between compounds is the carrier paste. In an industrial polishing application, an oil-based carrier, (typically a petrochemical) may be acceptable. In sharpening a straight razor, a water-based paste is preferable. This will easily rinse away after sharpening, lessening the risk of any skin irritation or infection. Our “Bio-Diamond” pastes are water-based, perfect for use in the sharpening of razors; they have no harmful chemical additives and are even “food-safe” if accidentally ingested.

Important: a razor edge can actually be too sharp, the result of over-sharpening with diamond-pastes. Such an edge will catch on every surface imperfection in the skin, causing irritation and razor-burn. For a close yet comfortable shave, the razor’s edge should glide over the skin, barely touching, catching only on the base of the hairs to be cut. Generally, using a diamond compound as fine as, or finer than, 0.5 micron can result in an over-sharpened edge. In most cases, one micron or smaller diamond sharpening-pastes are more than capable of sharpening a razor that has become dull through normal use. By starting with an even coarser grit—in the 6 micron to 1 micron range, depending on how dull the beginning edge is, you can refine the “not quite shave-ready” edge typically found on a new, out-of-the box razor.

Before sharpening a new razor, first try shaving with it. If it pulls, drags, or is in any way uncomfortable, sharpening is required. By this test, you learn how much sharpening to do. Generally, 20 round-trips on each side of the diamond-pasted strop will get it right. If, after sharpening and again trying to shave, it needs more work, repeat the process. You may have heard of many different ways to test the sharpness of a razor: the hanging-hair test, the standing-hair test, shaving your forearm, etc; but the only true test is actually shaving with it.

In most cases, a good paddle-strop or two (examples, our 4-sided paddle strop (ref. 444), or one or more 2-sided paddle strops (examples, ref. 259 or 276) and several different-grit diamond sharpening compounds (we recommend Bio-Diam 1, followed by Bio-Diam 0.25) will be all that are needed to maintain a fleet of daily shavers. What diamond paste will not do alone is establish a basic working edge on a razor that hasn’t seen a strop or hone in fifty years, or remove a ding or chip (the result of dropping the razor, or some other accident). For such repair, only a hone will do. But, once a hone has done the heavy work, diamond sharpening-pastes (this time, Bio-Diam 6 and 3,followed by Bio-Diam 1 and Bio-Diam 0.25) will refine the basic edge quicker and in much more controlled manner than a hone can.

Using the Bio-Diamond sharpening paste:

The best tool to use with your diamond sharpening-pastes, as we have said, is a paddle-strop. A surface of soft wood (such as balsa) can be chosen, but we prefer leather. In either case, the surface must be sufficiently rough or grainy to hold the paste. With too smooth or hard a surface, the paste will simply be wiped off with each pass of the blade; not only wasteful and expensive, but ineffective. The smoothest leather surface (of your paddle or hanging strop) should be reserved for either Chromox-paste application or use of an un-pasted strop in a final, pre-shave touch-up. The paste should be applied to the surface in very small amounts with our Bio-Diamond special push-drop dispenser applicator.

Dispenser procedure: Shake the dispenser gently to mix its contents. Remove the cap, then press the membrane at the base of the unit to eject drops of the compound (initially, you might have to press several times to get the flow moving). Ten to twelve drops will usually suffice for a first application. Any random compound emitted at start or end of the emission should be wiped away with the fingertips or a paper towel and deposited on the strop.

For a typical-sized paddle-strop, these 10-12 drops should be evenly spaced along the length of the strop. The dots should be thoroughly worked into the surface, using the fingertips or the heel of the hand. The more time spent on this step, the more effective the sharpening action will be. With successive use, as the surface becomes more built-up with abrasives, the effectiveness of the sharpening action will be improved. So, do not clean off the surface after use. When the effectiveness seems to have diminished, simply add a small amount of fresh paste (several dots will usually do), work it in, and continue.

As with all sharpening pastes, a surface coated with a given
grit of paste should be dedicated to that grit alone. While it is possible to increase the grit size, you cannot decrease it. A surface once used for .25 micron may subsequently be used with 1.0 micron, but you cannot do the reverse. Diamond-paste sharpening is similar to the use of other multi-paste systems and to the use of hones; that is, a coarser grade of paste is used for a dull blade, followed by finer and finer grades of paste until a properly refined edge is reached.

To maintain a fleet of regularly used razors, typically a two-step process, beginning with 1.0 micron, followed by .25 micron (and perhaps, to smooth the edge, a final application of Chromox paste) will achieve a perfectly smooth edge. To prevent cross-contamination, completely wipe off the blade when moving from coarser grit to finer, and again before moving on to your Chromox-pasted strop and/or further, to an un-pasted, finishing strop.

The motion used on the diamond-pasted surface is identical to that employed with any other pasted paddle-strop or hanging-strop: working from the blade’s heel to the point as you travel up or down the surface, leading with the razor’s back, and applying no pressure; using only the weight of the razor to maintain constant contact between the razor edge and the pasted surface. The typical “X pattern” used with traditional pastes and stropping is to be recommended. After having sharpened your razor, you should finish on the Chromox-pasted strop and/or an un-pasted leather strop. Your razor is now ready to use. Routine use of the un-pasted leather, pre-shave stropping may be resumed for successive daily shaves.

When needed (most probably every 2-3 weeks), the multi-step Bio-Diam strop procedure, should be all that is necessary to keep your razors in perfect shaving condition.

Using the Chromox finishing paste:

Chromium oxide edge-smoothing compound, when properly used on a paddle or hanging-strop, smoothes or takes the “bite” out of a very sharp, aggressive edge. Over-use will decrease the closeness of the shave; but proper use will give you the smoothest edge that you’ve ever experienced, with no loss of shave closeness. Our ref. Chromox paste is perfect for use after sharpening with extra-fine diamond grits 0.50 and 0.25 microns (and is also suitable for use after super-fine hones, such as Shapton 16,000 or 30,000 grits, Chinese 12,000 grits, or even Belgian Coticule stones). It is also sometimes of use after finishing with extremely fine non-diamond stropping-pastes.

It is recommended to use Chromox paste on either a fine leather paddle-strop (example, the finest side of our ref. 444 paddle-strop, or on the fine leather side of either our ref. 259, Voystrop-N or M, or 276 paddle-strops) or on a fine leather hanging-strop.

Important: the chromium oxide paste must fill the pores in your strop; you don’t want it to coat the surface. Before first use, with your fingers, rub in a generous amount of paste to completely cover the surface and fill all voids. Then, with a paper towel, wipe all the excess paste off the surface. When you are getting only a trace of lapping paste on your towel, your strop is ready for use. Before applying the chromium oxide paste, you should always stir it well, to avoid settling of the chromium oxide particles in the mixture. We recommend that you stir with a small piece of wood and then wipe this piece on the strop to be covered, so as to avoid wastage.

Some experimentation will be required to get the results you prefer. We suggest starting with ten back-and-forth passes in an “X” pattern on the strop as a first test, and then more if necessary. Remember, the only true test of the blade edge is shaving with it!

Suggested sharpening schedule:

For a blade needing restoration: Following use of an appropriate hone/or hones we recommend progressive use of Bio-Diam 6 micron, Bio-Diam 3 micron, Bio-Diam 1 micron, Bio-Diam 0.25 micron, Chromox and finally, an unpasted strop.

For an out-of-the-box razor, not yet shave-ready: We recommend progressive use of Bio-Diam 6 micron, Bio-Diam 3 micron, Bio-Diam 1 micron, Bio-Diam 0.25 micron, Chromox and finally, an unpasted strop.

For a razor already in regular use: We recommend, once every 2 or 3 weeks, progressive use of Bio-Diam 1 micron, Bio-Diam 0.25 micron, Chromox and finally, an unpasted strop.

Plus for daily upkeep of the same razor: We recommend pre-shave use of either a strop coated with Thiers-Issard non-diamond ref. 260 finishing-paste followed by an unpasted strop or, if desired, an unpasted strop alone.

by Thiers Issard

Beauty treatments that help you sleep

Beauty Treatments That Help You Sleep

There’s no doubt that a full night of sleep makes a difference in how you look. There’s also no doubt that the current state of world affairs makes it hard to get to sleep. Yet if you are interested in preserving your looks and getting a decent nights rest, you don’t have to resort to expensive sleep pills and intensive night creams. All you have to do is buy one of the new aromatherapy based beauty products that can help you get to sleep.

A leader in this arena is the Aromessence product line by French cosmetics company Decleor. The company has been a pioneer in the scent industry, earning special titles and terminology from the Sense of Smell Institute for its work in aromachology. It’s the science of the way that scent alters behavior, and in this case they have mastered the way the scents in their Aromessence night balm can help you get a good nights sleep.

Unlike addictive sleeping pills, the night balm has no nasty side effects. In fact, the main side effects you will see are going to be smoother skin, a glowing complexion, and reduced wrinkles. The texture of the creams is smooth and designed to feel as though it is melting into your skin when applied. The product is full of essential oils and aquaporins that are designed to penetrate your skin deeply for ultimate repair, all while influencing your central nervous system to relax and fall into a restful slumber.

In that sense, the products are addictive–who doesn’t like looking good? You may find yourself hooked before you know it. The best part about it all is that you don’t need to see a doctor to start using the product. The only permission you need is your own permission to start looking better and sleeping better.

Decleor Aromessence products are available online through quality beauty retailers. By offering the products online, Decleor and its partners are able to bring their lab-tested successes to you for prices well under what you would pay for the same thing in a brick and mortar shop. You can save money, have the products delivered directly to your door, and wake up feeling and looking amazing in practically no time at all. When everyone around you starts commenting and wondering what you’ve done to yourself, you can simply credit your own brillance in finding a beauty treatment that really works for you, even when you’re snoring.