New Year, New Skin

Some New Year’s resolutions are meant to be broken: get to bed by 11 pm, cut out carbs, spend less money on shoes, really??? But new healthy skin habits, that’s a no-brainer.

Healthier skin is possible for all skin types and skin tones, which is the premise of the ZO® Skin Health and ZO® Medical regimens. Instead of approaching troubling skin conditions like pigmentation, fine lines, acne, rosacea, wrinkles, and even sagging with an arsenal of injections, lasers, and radio frequency treatments, Dr. Obagi believes that the basic health of skin should be addressed.

And some of his approaches may be surprising. We are conditioned from a young age to believe that moisturizers are the cure-all to our skin care problems, but Dr. Zein Obagi believes that too much moisturizer can actually weaken skin, and make it more sensitive and lazy.

The ZO® approach is to focus on achieving optimal skin health through topical agents with high concentrations of active ingredients that are formulated to treat specific conditions and concerns. Your healthy skin regimen begins with identifying the proper ZO® Skin Health or ZO® Medical products that suit your needs. A dispensing physician or qualified skin professional can help you determine which protocols, daily skin care, anti-aging, or aggressive anti-aging program is right for you.

But with any of these programs, the first and most important step for getting and maintaining healthy skin, according to Dr. Obagi, is getting your skin ready.

The proper cleansers, polishes, sebum control pads, and toners are necessary to prep skin for your New Year’s skin care regimen. Dr. Obagi calls it “Getting Skin Ready”. Daily use of ZO® Skin Health Offects® Hydrating Cleanser or Offects® Exfoliating Cleanser, supplemented with a twice weekly use of Offects® Exfoliating Polish will prep skin for treating conditions ranging from lines and wrinkles to hyperpigmentation. Sebum is a major enemy of healthy skin and if you suffer from excessive oil or blemishes add twice daily use of Offects® TE-Pads Acne Pore Treatment.

Alternately, ZO® Medical offers three different daily cleansers: FOAMACLEANSE™ for all skin types, OILACLEANSE™ for normal to oily skin, and NORMACLEANSE™ for normal to dry skin types. VITASCRUB™ will exfoliate and sweep away dirt and grime, while CEBATROL™Oil Control Pads will remove unwanted sebum, and BALTONE™ Calming Toner pH Balancer will soothe dry, sensitive, and irritated skin.

With the proper prep, your skin will be on the right path for healthy, glowing skin in the New Year.