Facial cleansers: How clean is clean enough?

Now, I know I wrote that I would have this post in a day or two ago but, hey, it's the holidays and I'm still waiting for a moment to get to the laundry, a growing mountain no one will scale for me. This is why we get married: I'll hose out the trash barrel while my mate folds t-shirts. Little hope of that for us singles unless you're lucky enough to have a doting mom around. Ah, love...

Facial cleansers, that's what I wanted to talk about. You probably have one. You might have several of them. Possibly, you have a dozen different ways to clean your face, including a few methods you don't want your friends to know about. You know what I mean, and just look hat it did for the shower tile! But, all you really want to do is something good for your skin that actually makes sense, starting with a thorough cleansing step before moving on to the next. How important is the cleansing process? Consider this:

• At night the skin perspires, pores receive nasty secretions from the lymphatic system, and all this is stuck in whatever hydrating products you used before going to bed.

• During the day everything in the air you pass through sticks to the daytime product, including pollutants, dust and dirt, dead skin flakes, plus bacterial buildup. Without turning this post into a physiology lesson you don't have time for just trust me—you don't want to keep this stuff on your face even if anti-aging isn't your worry du jour.

What to use: as far as I'm concerned many skin cleansers are simply over-formulated, meaning that there are lots of ingredients found in some of them that will have neither the time nor conditions present for them to perform their intended magic. Not that a finely formulated cleanser is a bad idea—it isn't. But, your larger investment in skincare will be better appreciated in treatment products that stay on the skin, those given a work shift that actually permits them to get the beauty-preserving job done. Select a product that fits your skin type, interest and budget but please stay away from the super cheapo varieties, those brightly colored, sickly scented do-all cleansers you find in drug and discount stores. Convenient 5-gallon tribal size containers is a clue. Sure, it's great on kids, pets, even driveways, but you are worth more than that. This is why mirrors were invented. I like products sold by skincare professionals (spas, estheticians, physicians, etc.) as these people have a great interest in obtaining the best possible results from their advice and products, and they've dedicated their careers to understanding how to achieve this—I being one of them. We're happy to help you evaluate your skin type, listen to your appearance desires and help lead you to a more beautiful tomorrow. Department store personnel tend to rely far more on company marketing lingo than actual hands-on science when it comes to understanding how skincare products work for the vastly differing individuals they advise. And if television commercials and infomercials are leading your buying decisions I wish you luck with that.

Some basic wisdom about skin cleansing:

• Avoid hot water at all costs! It dries up the skin, increases capillary dilation and can stimulate already over-working oil glands.

• Products with rough grains can be hard on delicate skin, especially when capillaries are a problem, and don't really work all that effectively in removing embedded debris or expired skin. Some popular electric skin cleansing brushes that gently agitate but don't spin are pretty efficient in loosening up unwanted material during cleansing. I own one though I don't always remember to use it, especially when Petey is demanding food and unread email is piled so high I can't close the laptop lid anymore.

• Rinse and rinse again (tepid to cool water, thank you) but don't follow instructions to double-cleanse unless you're just too lazy to do a good job the first time (and, if you are, you're certainly not going to go back for a repeat effort!) But, if you want to turn an 8 oz. bottle of cleanser into a 4 oz size, be my guest. Manufacturers will love you for caring about yourself that much.

Okay, now that you've performed this twice daily and great-feeling process we can move on to something of importance but often misunderstood: skin toner. This we'll save for next time.

Have a question? Just post it here or write to skinartz@gmail.com.

Wishing you all the best and beautiful New Year ever and please remember this as you glide into 2011:

Beauty is something that lives in the heart, not a reflection of the current perfection of our face or body. If that weren't true then we would lose our best human qualities along with our youth. The most beautiful people on earth are never the best looking, the youngest or the most glamorous—they are the ones with the deepest wisdom, those that display the greatest love toward all people and things, usually the older sages without a trace of cosmetic surgery or racks of Christian Louboutin shoes in assistance. When everything else we value eventually departs, a depart they will, may we hope that a radiant and generous heart eliminates the need for anything more. Because when it comes to making our world a decent place to live in a flat smooth brow won't do much to help.

You're beautiful,

Douglas Preston

The Preston Beauty Blog

Treatment products de-mystified!

You listened, you liked, you bought... what? I've heard it again and again: "I bought this thing that girl said was good for my skin but I really have no idea what I'm supposed to do with it." And there it sits in a bathroom drawer doing nothing, or almost nothing if what you've been doing with it isn't what you need to do to make it do anything for your skin. Or whatever. But, I know you meant well when you gave up your money for something to make your appearance, thus, your entire life a vision of beauty. And it's so close, too! Trouble is you're not sure exactly how to get the result you expected from that $49.99 ounce of, um, yeah that. Well, I am here to lead you to the promised land of good value by explaining how to properly understand and use your misunderstood and misused skincare products. Simple, easy, and correct. So, take stock of those pretty products that you're hoarding and learn to love 'em! Starting tomorrow we'll begin to make them our best friends.

You're beautiful,

Douglas Preston

The Preston Beauty Blog

A beautiful way to give

We know about Toys For Tots, the Salvation Army, food drives and other visible charitable efforts. But, little known is that shelters for women in crisis gladly need and welcome unused beauty and grooming products. You may have bath and shower items in storage you'll never use or those gifts with purchase of makeup and skincare products that just aren't right for you. These can be of great value to those in need. Over the years I have donated large stocks of sample skincare products and cosmetics to shelters and agencies that provide basic personal care goods to those they serve. So, while you're pulling packages of ramen and cans of chili for the donation barrel don't forget that personal care is an essential, too, and that there are people among us who cannot afford such luxuries.

Have a safe and happy New Year!

You're beautiful,

Douglas Preston

It still LOOKS good, but is it?

No, I'm not talking about the 3-day old tuna sandwich you left in the office fridge over the weekend which, since I brought it up, is probably not good. I'm referring to that multivitalhydronourishing face masque you just dug out of deepest, darkest bathroom drawer for a solo Friday night beauty bash. Things haven't been so great in the dating world and you're too broke to hit it downtown with your girl gang, so you're working with what you've got on hand, meaning, the stuff you've already paid for. You've got all the gear: half a bag of pita chips, the black walnut ice cream you don't love but will eat in a pinch, cat, terry throw, TV and the newly recovered beauty spread. It's going to be a great night after all!

But, wait a sec... How old is this thing you're about to ice your face and neck with? You can't remember even buying it much less when. There's some evidence of its possible age: uncorroded silver cap on the jar, nice rich color, a fuzz-free surface, and a web address on the back label. This is encouraging. It's just that smell, not necessarily a bad one, kind of familiar even, but did it smell like this when you first bought it and, if not, is this a sign of a facial disaster in the making? Will this be your last night on earth as a gaze-worthy woman? Will you end up looking like a cross between Jocelyn Wildenstein and a Denver omelet?

Here's one sure way to test the quality of any skincare product (or food product for that matter), especially those that, for all they appear, seem to be in good condition. Go to any art supply store or your own painting studio and open a can of artist's linseed oil. Take a deep whiff from the top and remember that odd metallic-like odor. What you are smelling is not the natural scent of linseed but, instead, a very rancid oil! Oils used for non-food purposes are often packed without preservatives and therefore spoil very quickly. Almost any natural oil will take on that very same smell once rancidity sets in, and rancidity (oxidization) is highly carcinogenic. You don't want to wear this product, even if it may not be an immediate health threat. But, open a pack of trail mix, a bag of potato chips or cookies, a bottle of cooking oil or anything capable of spoiling and get even the slightest hint of the artists linseed oil scent and it's time to toss it out. Do not ignore your senses and eat this thing! I will be very upset with you knowing you've read this. You need someone to care about you and keep you from being a reckless girl or boy. I am doing that for you right now.


So, go on and get your linseed lesson. Keep your skincare products fresh. Write the date of purchase on the label and for products like treatment masques which sometimes are used as often as gym memberships, store them in the refrigerator. Are we good? Good.


You're beautiful,


Douglas Preston
The Preston Beauty Blog

To live and be beautiful in LA

Okay, it's one thing to have an opinion about how the people we see might appear to us, but here in Los Angeles it seems to be a municipal duty to TELL others how they do and should look. I was having cocktails with a new friend at SLS when she determined that our 30-minutes of deep connection entitled her to give me some serious self-improvement advice. 

"You know, if you just got that neck tightened and your under-eyes fixed you'd look a lot better." She offered that as casually as telling me that her cosmo was weak. I know my neck is loose, I see it everyday in the mirror as I shave the damned thing. I'm a 57-year old redhead that was thrust out in the searing California sun almost two decades before sunblock was invented, my DNA being royally radiated and damaged for later appreciation failure. And my under-eyes? I used to look at my Cherokee forebears horrified at what genetics and whiskey could do to one's face, especially in producing flaccid flaps and folds below the eyelids. But, before moving to LA not a soul dared to rub the obvious about my face back into it. There we were, surrounded by Hollywood's most physically gifted, while I was being told why I should cover my head and crawl back to valet like a deformed Bernie Madoff. And for that enlightening moment I paid for a $28.00 drink, fortunately only the first round.

Now, you ask, what am I going to do about it? (not the girl but the crepey lunch meat hanging around my face...) What miracle products will I buy? Which surgical technique will I sign up for? What cliff will I leap from? The answer is simple: none of the above though the cliff option was attractive for for the first 10-minutes, but I knew my friend would struggle too hard to get her over it. The damage is too advanced for any topical anything to improve it much and I am just not ready for cut and stitch. More to the point, the flaws that exposed my friend to such public humiliation just don't bother me all that much, and isn't it how we respond to what we see that drives us to the cosmetics counter or operating table? Now, I don't love the way my eyes and neck have evolved, both definitely represent as the chief proof of my age and fair skin. But, neither make me feel badly enough to shell out the cash and endure the discomforts of their "correction." Instead, I try to be a person worthy of love regardless of the hideous imperfections that are posed to deny it. Yes, I apply glycolic serum to the offending areas. Yes, I wear sunblock as religiously as pants. And, yes, yes, yes I keep my skin hydrated and clean. Being single again after many years of marriage I have every incentive to look my best, but even more to be my best, and my best isn't a man fretting over every disappointing detail of his facial features. As it is I'm lucky not to carry a beer gut around or need to color my hair, hair that I still have! I could be a self-absorbed narcissist, plagued with a nasty temper or stand 5' 5" in Cuban heels. This is luck at its finest—why ruin the blessing with elective self-loathing? I passed on that.

The point of all this is to decide what's beautiful to and in you, and then to live faithfully according to what you feel is right. There's nothing wrong with improving your appearance regardless of how dramatic a method that improvement requires, but doing it for yourself, for your own sense of self-satisfaction is the only way to go. Do it because you love you, not to reduce self-rejection. And if you need reliable and honest advice about any of that I am here for you!

You're beautiful,

Douglas Preston

The Preston Beauty Blog

Welcome to the Preston Beauty Blog!

When did skincare and makeup become such serious business? Treatment products bursting with hyper-advanced technology, complicated application techniques and silly celebrity endorsements that aren't even remotely believable! And all we really want to do is to look and feel good for as long as possible. Is that so hard? Well, it depends on your appearance goal and the material you're starting with. I mean, if you've been living on the golf course or tennis court, spent your modeling years roasting on the bow of an Italian playboy's yacht you probably have some serious skin damage you're not loving. Loose neck and chest skin, that hated ruddiness and spots, lines, and... I won't go on. The cosmetics giants are ready to pounce on you like a fox on the turkey you think you've become. And you're ready game, too. Blowing your precious cash on promises, hope, illusion, even pretty lies you KNOW are lies but seduce so sweetly. Your youth and beauty are gone. You'll never attract anyone but an AARP recruiter. Cameras are beginning to automatically delete you from the images they capture. There is no longer any reason to go out, to enjoy life, to live even!


Now, let's be real.


You're an amazing, beautiful and potentially radiant individual who has been beaten down by an industry that makes its money on your insecurity and diminished self-esteem. And that industry is as much invested in promoting that sense of inadequacy as it is in offering you magical cures for it. But, fix one troubling thing and another year passes bringing ugly new reasons to hide face and body. And more cures! You're doomed to fix and failure, aren't you? 


No, you are not.


My Beauty Blog will help you understand what changes are taking place in you and how to best address them both cosmetically and personally, that is, through the beauty of what we see and what we think about what we're seeing. It's all about being in control of our total self and not being under the spell of standards and images we have neither the power to create or emulate. I, Preston, promise to be honest with you about what's possible, what's worth your time and money, and where you may want to focus more on self-acceptance than sweating the cost of the latest skin cooking procedure. Now, believe me, I love beauty products and procedures as much as anyone, but as options, not salvation. And we should be having fun with this, be able to laugh at the ridiculous as well as our ridiculous self for chasing a beauty we can neither keep or guarantee anyone else recognizes when we think we have it. 


I've been a skincare professional for almost 30-years now, the entire time enjoying the clients, the products and treatments that really can enhance one's appearance. I love people and am sympathetic to the signs and pains of aging. I've aged, experienced my own loss of youth and, thankfully, am only willing to go so far to retain what I can of it. This is a licensed skincare professional writing this.


I hope you'll enjoy my blog and visit it often. Got a question or comment? Please post!


You're beautiful,


Douglas Preston
The Preston Beauty Blog