Don’t Show Your Age this Summer

So here’s the good news: the weather is warming up, and we are showing more skin. The bad news is: it’s warming up and we are showing more skin.

All of this past winter’s dry air has likely left you with dull skin. Your skin may not look as fresh as you recall from last summer, and as we get older the effect is more severe.

Taking care of our skin should be a bigger priority. Just about everything that you do to your skin during the course of your lifetime will leave some lasting impression, but the internal aging process is something that happens naturally. Wrinkles, thinning, sagging and dryness are all part of this process. Exposure to the sun definitely ages your skin. But, there is help.
As Dr. Tina B. West, M.D., of the West Institute, says, “Think Maintenance Instead of Surgery.™”

West, founder of the West Institute for Skin, Laser and Body Contouring, is a board certified dermatologist. Since 1996, she has been a leading expert in non-invasive and minimally invasive procedures for facial rejuvenation and maintenance.

“If you ignore your skin, you’re going to suffer the consequences of having to do a major overhaul down the road – whether to address cosmetic issues like sagging, wrinkles and brown spots, or more importantly, skin cancers that may require extensive surgery to remove,” says West.

West is an expert in minimally invasive techniques to maintain the health and appearance of skin of the face and body in women and men. The doctor uses the most advanced techniques in fillers, Botox, and laser surgery to achieve and maintain youthful, healthy skin for life.

As we get older, Elastin and collagen, the proteins that keep your skin strong and elastic, are produced more slowly. And you can’t stop these changes from happening. The West Institute offers services that allow for the face to stimulate the body to produce new collagen, thereby replacing volume and restoring contours to a fuller, more youthful appearance.
Sculptra is a facial injectable that produces subtle results over time. It is long-lasting, but not a quick fix, and requires three treatments, on average, over a few months. Sculptra is not a wrinkle-filler, but rather a volumizer. It is not used directly in lines and folds, but is placed in multiple areas of the face in an attempt to address the volume loss that leads to their appearance. Sculptra helps the body replace the lost collagen that diminishes as we age.

That dreaded fuzz, endearingly known as “peach fuzz,” vellus hair makes applying makeup difficult and is a sure telltale of one’s age. Vellus hair is tough to remove permanently, but there are a few things you can do to temporarily eliminate its appearance. The West Institute offers dermaplaning, which helps reveal radiant, healthier skin – and removes the dreaded fuzz!

Though only temporary, it will leave your skin glowing, without any redness or irritation. Dermaplaning is a quick, non-invasive, painless procedure in which surface dead skin cells and vellus hairs are manually scraped away. Dermaplaning requires absolutely no recovery time. It increases cellular turnover, smoothes and softens skin, and provides immediate results.

To learn more about other services offered by the West Institute, visit [www.westskinlaser.com](http://westskinlaser.com/). The West Institute; 5530 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 925, Chevy Chase, Md.

**Here are some other helpful tips to make sure you don’t show your age this summer:**

**Exfoliate, scrub and rub**

Tip: After you exfoliate, make sure to follow up with a hydrating body cream to seal in moisture.

**Make H2O your friend**

Tip: Make sure to drink 8-ounce glasses of plain, filtered water every day to help maintain critical moisture balance of the body and skin. Keep in mind, if you drink caffeinated beverages, you will need to increase you water intake!