What can we really do for aging skin...

I feel out of the loop on aging skin!
I am 31, no signs of aging (combo to oily skin keeps the wrinkles away, lol) and, really, acne and pigmentation has always been my concern. I've recently gone in the direction of using the Face Reality program to specialize in acne (just getting started with it) and I know that's my calling.

However, I see clients of all types.

Today, a male client came in. I've done treatments on very few males (like, 4 or 5) in my 2 years of business. He was very aware of his skin, used to be in entertainment business. He was concerned about aging, skin laxity (especially neck) and some hypo pigmentation on his neck as well, that he thinks was because of the Obaji blue peel he did years ago. His skin had a lot of redness in it, and got red with just cleansing, but was not sensitive.

Honestly, he had nice skin, and I don't know what he was talking about regarding skin laxity in his neck. He's in his 40s and looked great, IMO. He could certainly use a good home care regimen, but his crappy home care wasn't showing on his skin... Yet. :)

I just felt out of my league with this client, I think.

So... What can we really do, within our scope of practice, for aging skin? Can anything be done for lax skin, hypo pigmentation, deep wrinkles? His lifestyle doesn't lend to high level peels, so besides light peels and micro, I didn't think there was much I could do that he'd be impressed with. And, from his consult, I learned he'd tried a lot of different things. He seemed like the kind of high maintenance client that has imaginary skin issues that they're always trying to fix and not satisfied with... But they also don't want to spend the money to do it right, lol.

I need to feel more comfortable treating aging skin,as it's a big market and I have many clients who will need this treated, but I know it's not my passion.

Any thoughts?

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Permalink Reply by Deborah Kenney on February 10, 2013 at 1:45am

Loving FR as well, cert. this summer. I have PCA, they are all about anti-aging. A collegue uses Edimi, I've used a few things but not enough to know how well they might work. I have no reg. clients for facials. One on FR. Placing a weekly ad starting next week. Really went to school so I could wax, and it's about 25% of business, the rest massage.

Your guy, off the top of my head-products that improve laxity-collagen,elastin, hyalaronic (sp?) acid, appropriate peels. I'm not aware of anything that improves hypopig or is that a typo, I know peels can cause hyperpig. I beleive you read him right-high maintance, beer purse, champaine tastes, but he could become a great client, if your into pampering him, Men seem more apt to keep appt.s, follow protocols. I don't know if this would work I never did a full series on a man, but I use Bellinina (formally Belavi) Facelist massage-it's awesome, if they will do skincare/exercises about 5 min am/pm and do the tx 1-3-xwk for 12 sessions. He'll see a difference in after a couple of sessions, people know you're doing something just can't figure out what it is. He would have to be freshly shaved or it wouldn't feel good going against the grain. It's a 90min. session 30being just massage, face, neck, around the shoulders. I don't know what the cert. costs, 11 yrs. ago it was around 350.00 long distance. Most of the people I see don't want to have to work at it. I use the massage strokes on all the reg. facials. Neck excercises will help as well they are part of the above.

Is redness high blood pressure? Some people just can't accept the aging process. Good luck with him.

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Permalink Reply by Jodi on February 10, 2013 at 5:45am

I love anti-aging, this is where I want to specialize! Get him on a good home care routine, but remember, men won't use more than couple of products, so keep it simple. He needs to use an SPF daily, that will keep UV damage (our fastest ager) at bay. If he can tolerate it, I would get him on a night cream with retinol. Adding a Vitamin C serum would help even his pigment, but that might be too much for a man to want to follow. Circadia has great products for anti-aging home care. In the treatment room, microcurrent is great for aging issues. It lifts sagging skin, separates wrinkles, and with repeated use, helps build collagen for lasting results.

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Permalink Reply by Jodi on February 10, 2013 at 5:48am

I'll have to pick your brain about acne, I get acne clients and it scares me, and isn't my passion at all. You and I would be great in practice together, to handle both!

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Permalink Reply by Cindy Greenwood on February 10, 2013 at 5:49am

It's hard to tell for sure...

but there is a type of client who is overly concerned with their skin and see multiple service providers...

and don't tell that they do this.

I assume that you did go over current products and homecare routine.

I had one male client that (over)used a Clarisonic...which led to redness in his skin, and I also felt that he was overexfoliating (but since he was not forthcoming about everything he was doing, it was hard to tell).

With men, the laxity and loss of firmness comes much later in life than women.

But there are products that do help with this - a good peptide serum is a must, as is sun protection.

With technology, I would probably not use microdermabrasion on someone like this.

However I WOULD use LED, microcurrent, and I have a Radiancy FSD.

The hypo-pigmentation is a serious concern...which as far as I know cannot be treated.

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Permalink Reply by Deborah Kenney on February 10, 2013 at 11:10am

I haven't yet used my microcurrent/LED on clients, just really learning how to use it, for several sessions my massage trader and I used it on each other and really felt like we could see a difference. I just recently put it on my menu/

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Permalink Reply by Amy Lynn Scheele on February 10, 2013 at 11:38pm

look into the switch treatment, from circadia. there is nothing else like it. dr pugliese is amazing, his products are very innovative and use top actives, and newest technology.

the switch works, im starting my treatments soon, and have been doing them for over a year on clients. im very obsessed with this linevand compare everything to it to judge quality. the peels are my favorite. the mandelclear wiit a excellorator are great for all fitz types, for hyperpigmentation, and ageing. i adore his jessners. my favorite serum is the myocyte. its totally changed my skin. and the c reversal serum is made with the highest level of stable c i have found, in a hyralonic base. love it.