How to Avoid the Need for Cosmetic Plastic Surgery, Part I

While the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reports a 12% increase in surgical procedures from 2012 to 2013, more and more women are also looking for natural, nonsurgical options for their skin problems – in fact, they are looking for ways to prevent those problems.

So — can you really prevent skin problems before they start or is age and wear & tear just inevitable?

It turns out there are several effective strategies – some easy, some hard – that can help you avoid looking like someone who looks like they need plastic surgery.

Looking Your Best as You Age, Before You Age

While it’s not possible to look 20 forever, you can protect what you have — two simple products will help you do just that: sunscreen and moisturizer.

Sunscreen. Wear It, Year-round

Yes, even if it is blizzarding out, you’ll want to wear sunscreen. This is because cloud cover can enhance the amount of UV light that reaches your skin, a phenomenon called cloud enhancement of UV, and it’s well-known that UV light causes the skin to age by interrupting and damaging a skin cell’s ability to repair itself. To protect your skin cells from UV, you’ll want to use a broad-protection (UVB & UVA) sunscreen with a SPF of at least 15 for normal daily use; however, if you’re going to be out in the sun all day, you’ll want a SPF of at least 30, and you’ll want to reapply it every couple hours. In both cases, you’ll want to use the cake principle in application, i.e., cake it on your skin like you’re icing a cake.

At Shizuka’s New York Day Spa, we recommend going higher then these minimum SPF’s: for days when you’re in the sun for only brief periods, we recommend a broad-protection product, like our Sensitive skin Sun Protection SPF 30. However, for weekends on a Coney Island beach, we recommend at least a 45+ SPF, like our Sensitive Skin Tinted Sun Protection SPF 45.

A Simple, Great Moisturizer is Key

If you’re not yet showing serious signs of aging and/or skin damage, then a simple moisturizer is your first line of defense – in fact, what NASA recommends as an effective defense for the skin in an environment of microgravity, an environment far more challenging for the skin than all but the harshest environments found here on earth, is a good moisturizer.

A simple, antioxidant enhanced, moisturizer will provide more than enough protection for your skin, one that contains at least C and E. Terrific additional enhancements would be apple stem cells, pomegranate and acai as they help protect the skin’s elastic layer.

Here at Shizuka’s New York Day Spa, we recommend our own highly regarded skin care moisturizer and brightener and our powerful barrier repair moisturizer.

In part II of How to Avoid Needing Cosmetic Plastic Surgery, we’ll look at some simple – not necessarily easy – but simple lifestyle changes to help preserve your youthful visage, at any age. In part III (Tackle Lines, Wrinkles, Sags & Spots Now to Avoid Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Later), we’ll look at what you can do, non-surgically, after age and wear & tear have already taken a toll on your skin.