August 26th, 2011 

Fight Sun damage and dehydration with three key ingredients found in the Green Tea Intense Hydrating Facial: Hylauronic Acid, Shea Butter & Green Tea.

Hylauronic Acid
Las Vegas weather can be pretty devastating to our skin. I have so many clients tell me that when they moved to Vegas their skin really started to show the fine lines and wrinkles. Much of this is due to the dry weather causing dehydration in our skin. As we age our skin starts losing its ability to hold water – this has a lot to do with sun damage and our skin slowing down in the creation of what’s call Hylauronic Acid. Hylauronic Acid is what attracts water to our skin (it actually holds 1,000 times it’s weight in water).

Shea Butter
Another excellent moisturizer is Shea Butter. The common misconception is Shea butter is too think to absorbe into the skin and will also clog pores. But in truth Shea Butter easily penetrates the skin allowing the skin to breathe and not clogging pores. It can deliver it’s nutritional payload better than other man-made moisturizers.

Shea Butter is like food for the skin containing Vitamins A, E and F. Vitamins A and E  are especially important when it comes to helping sun damaged skin heal. Vitamins A, E and F assist in staving off premature wrinkles and fine lines. Vitamin F serves to protect the skin as well assist in the healing process. It soothes rough, dry or chapped skin and helps soften dry or damaged hair. Shea Butter is high in unsaponifiables (a type of fat). Shea Butter contains somewhere between 7-12% unsaponifiables. To put that in perspective, avocado oil, a well known skin conditioner, has between 2-6%. It is this amount of unsaponifiables that is a contributing factor to Shea Butter being able to treat so many conditions. Shea Butter also naturally contains cinnamic acid, a natural sun screen. It actually does provide some degree of protection from the sun’s harmful rays (You will still need to wear sunblock).

Green Tea
There have been a number of encouraging studies about the effects Green Tea has on the skin. Studies have credibly demonstrated that topical green tea formulations reduce sun damage. Green tea appears to exert sun damage protection by quenching free radicals and reducing inflammation rather than by blocking UV rays. Therefore, green tea may synergistically enhance sun protection when used in addition to a sunscreen.  Green Tea also has well documented antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.  Topical green tea polyphenols are likely to slow down the development of some signs of aging.

Do it at Home!
The Le Mieux Hylauronic Shea Mask and Calming Gel are both available at Zen Body & Skin at a very resonable price. ($30 for the set) So you can incorporate the benefits of these three amazing ingredients right into your home regiment.