Plastic Sx. Definitely next up.

Nioxin or Rogaine?

This man is beautiful.

This woman is not.
So the question remains, Nioxin or Rogaine? I admit, I tried both. My case is not as bad as the two examples above, but I have been dealing with hair loss or thinning hair since my Accutane days. I didn't discuss on my Acne post but my acne was so bad that I did two rounds of Accutane with great facial skin results. I say facial because it actually destroyed my liver and kidneys. Accutane is extremely harmful and now women need to take a pregnancy test monthly and do blood tests just to make sure that you're not slowly dying (with great skin). It's super high dose of Vitamin A which is not a water soluble vitamin. Too much of anything is bad, lesson learned. Anyway, part of the side affect was hair loss for me. It's not very noticeable, but I also don't have the sex appeal of having a full bodied hair. Seriously, if you take close look at some women who you perceive as HOT, they really might not be, it might just be their nice head of hair. You will rarely find female celebrities with too little or thinning hair. It just doesn't complete the package without the big flowy hair.

So, Nioxin. First, read what I found as a review below:

5.0 out of 5 stars It works, March 30, 2009
By D. Childs (Northeastern USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
I am 49 and have been using this Nioxin products for as long as the
company has been around. I have a full head of hair. My brother
sneered at my use of this product 20 years ago but he has since gone
completely bald.

Another lesson learned. Listen to your siblings. They will tell you when you are balding.

Nioxin comes in 8 different "systems." I will only mention the ones that are not for chemically enhanced hair because you really shouldn't be doing that if you're balding anyway.

System 1: For Fine, Natural, Normal to Thin-Looking Hair

System 2: For Fine, Natural, Noticeably Thinning Hair

System 5: For Medium/Coarse, Natural, Normal to Thin-Looking Hair

system 6: For Medium/Coarse, Natural, Noticeably Thinning Hair

For systems 5 and 6 the website has a picture of black people. That's a side note. I've met plenty of Asians with coarse hair so since this blog aims to be racially sensitive, I thought I should add that.

Rogaine comes in two strengths: for men and women. FDA believed that women should not be using the strength as for men, but my dermatologist assured that it's ok now. Still, just to be safe, I would stick with the women Rx if you're a woman so that you can sue the company if something happens to you.

That being said, Rogaine really made my scalp itch. I used to faithfully for about 2 months and then all of a sudden I woke up 3 nights in a row because my scalp was so itchy! Once I discontinued using it the itchiness stopped. Maybe it's a sign that it's working but if you're scratching your head in the middle of the night, then first, your partner will no longer be attracted to you, and second, you might scratch all your hair off.

Rogaine is also a little difficult to use. The application tip kind of hurts.

So my pick is Nioxin. It has a nice pepperminty scent and I saw a noticeable difference in the amount of hair that no longer falls off. Even if you're not noticeably thinning, I think this shampoo and conditioner system is very good quality. I would recommend purchasing the large bottles on Amazon. They're pricier than like Pantene or Pert Plus or whatever you use, but if you think about the money you'll save on hair transplants, then it's worth it. Chump change.

Next up: Hairloss

Nioxin versus Rogaine. That is a good question.

Tired

Ok, I'm going to do a little research on this and post more later. I think everyone should figure out how their body and mind responds when they are tired (tiredness caused by lack of sleep, poor diet, and/or stress). Some people already shared that they either get dark circles around their eyes, lines underneath their eyes, and/or sappy yellowish skin. Please let me know but till then I'll share how my body responds and then hopefully others who experience the same thing can benefit from it.

When I get tired, my eyes and cheeks swell up. Sorta like this lady here, maybe not as bad.

By the way, the Asian girl in the previous post was not me. Someone asked me that and no offense to her because with 30 days with me I think I can revolutionize her. haha. jk. But not me. And this lady, def not me either.

I had to keep a track of when my eyes and cheeks tended to get swollen. Here's what I found:

1. Sleeping way past my regular sleeping time (our body doesn't like change)

2. Sleeping way earlier than my regular time (or sleeping too much)

3. Drinking too much water before bed

4. Eating salty or carb-y food within 2 hours of sleeping

5. Sleeping without a pillow

6. Crying the day before

7. Super low humidity

Ok. So some of these might be a little more obvious than others. For e.g., eating before sleep. But not all food makes you bloat. If you're starving, eat an apple or a kiwi, not the leftover Papa John's Pizza. Less obvious from the list is sleeping without a pillow. A slight elevation is important because this prevents water retention on your face. Don't believe me?

Get a nose job and sleep without a pillow. All the swelling around your nose will stay there for days unless you tilt your head up, thus causing the fluids to flow down. (small picture on right because the bigger version is really gross).

Super low humidity also makes me swell. To fix this problem, get a humidifier. I bought a cheap one at Walgreens and it sucks. Pay the extra ten bucks and get a better one. You can also get a medium size container, fill it with water and leave it close by your bed. Not as effective as a humidifier but at least there will be some moisture in the air. You'll be surprised how quickly the water evaporates especially in homes with radiators.

I think the best advice is to work out in the morning. I don't mean a light work out but even something for about 10 minutes that get you sweating. For e.g., jump rope for 10 minutes really does the trick. Sweating, I think, is the best way to reduce the swelling in your face quickly. You can also go to the sauna but why waste a sweat and shower session without losing a few calories? So work out hard to the point of sweat excretion. Your face will thank you.

Also, try facial yoga. It's ironic because I think moving your face like this would cause more wrinkles but it's training the muscles so seems like it could work. You try it and tell me if you get wrinkles or if it helps. If it helps, then I'll try it. hehe.

Jillian Michaels or P90X?

Here's another favorite topic of mine. Working out.

Please don't spread the word. I was a really really fat kid. shhh. Looked something like this, no offense kid.

I was voted the second fattest girl in elementary school. The fattest girl weighed five pounds more than me but she was also five inches taller than me. Every inch adds another five pounds? Never mind that.

So in eighth grade I began doing what all LA girls do: develop an eating disorder. Not to be funny, really, because it was actually extremely unhealthy. I survived on 2 apples a day and usually faked stomach aches to get out of eating. Sad consequence is a bad digestive system and disproportionately large hands and feet for my short height.

Fast forward to high school and I became addicted to working out. I should be the face of 24 Hour Fitness because I was there rain or shine seven days a week no matter what time of day or night. I guess all the stupid dieting as a child has sort of left me immune to slow paced work outs. I've tried all the great innovative and trying work outs and I have to say that cycling classes take home the cake. But, if you are not a part of a local gym that has classes or has sucky classes, then choosing an at-home video is the way to go.

Thanks to my bff who let me work up a sweat in her living room with Jillian Michaels, I was able to give this Biggest Loser hunkette a try.

Her series is actually quite a work out. She does more of the circuit training where you move from one move to the next and tries to incorporate multiple muscle groups all at once. Besides this creepy grin throughout the video, it's very time efficient and heart-pumpin'. The women on the videos who demonstrate with her also eerily have these fake smiles plastered on their face throughout the difficult work outs, but it gets the job well done. Try it! I highly recommend it. It also has the option of muting her voice so that there is no sound and no deep Jillian voice telling you to do one more rep. I personally like her deep voice; it's commanding.

I also tried P90X. Now this comes in a set of various videos that target different body groups in each work out video. Chest and arms, back and legs, etc. Let me just say here, I am not a fan of Tony Horton. He comes off as having ADD and if I met him at a local hip cafe in Hollywood, I would steer clear away from him. Here's why: google him. I'm having technical difficulties trying to attach his freaky photo.

Anyway, I never did the full 90 days and following the eating plan, like all work outs, is crucial. I don't have the luxury of going grocery shopping frequently so it's difficult to purchase all the necessary fresh food that they recommend. It also just gets pricey. The work outs are not easy but it is a good work out for someone who has the drive to complete the 50 minute videos. After a few sessions with Tony plus commitment, it does get easier to finish the work outs semi successfully. For this series, you'll need dumbells and ideally a pull-up bar. I altered some moves because I don't have the pull-up bar but it's still overall a good work out. Downfall to this video is that Tony just talks way too much. At first it's motivating but after a couple of sessions with him you just want to punch him in the mouth and hope that he doesn't say, "P90X!" If you cut out his non-sense chatter, then you can save 10 minutes. Unlike Jillian's ladies, Tony's people don't have a fake smile on, but they're also not as polished looking. Adds to the rawness of the video (whatever).

My conclusion: try both but I find Jillian Michaels much more sweat wrenching at a shorter period of time.

ACNE SKIN REGIMEN

Believe it or not, I had acne since I was in the 4th grade. Childhood friends, brother, mother and father will attest to this. My dad will probably say that he misses those days when I was chubby and pimply but that's because he can't handle his store customers from Inglewood asking me if I am ready to get down with chocolate. Then we would often get into a discussion of Kimora Lee and whether or not I abide by her philosophy in men. But I digress.

I've tried almost every product out there (e.g. Proactiv, Murad, Accutane, Retin-A). The list could go on and on but I think these are some of the more popular products or ingredients. Retin-A or retinoic acid is also commonly used to treat the appearance of wrinkles so that's probably the best product for more mature skin. Otherwise, follow these steps for at least 30 days and I will guarantee that your problem skin will improve. But first, here is a cheat sheet on various common ingredients.

Benzoyl peroxide: this comes in 2%-10% strength. This product is meant to dry up pustular pimples. It's very strong and very drying so ONLY use this as a spot treatment. When I wash my face, I feel for any pimple-in-the-making and dab on that area before bed. If you're home all day, I would dab on the area 3 times a day. It'll suck dry the pimple and the red bump-to-be will most likely not come to fruition.

I like Clean and Clear's Persa Gel. There are other products with Benzoyl peroxide but I prefer the one from Clean and Clear. Although the ingredient is the same, this one seemed to work the best. I'm using Clearasil B.P. 10% now to spot treat but I will probably switch back.

Salicylic Acid: this is less harsh so can be used all over the skin. Be careful though because some people are allergic to this. Try on a small amount on your neck and see if you react.

Triclosan: this is an anti-bacterial agent in soaps, mouthwashes, toothpaste, and more. My bro who is a dentist was surprised to see this ingredient in my roommate's Noxema facial cleanser. The typical things regarding anything anti-bacterial abide to this ingredient: if over used, you will develop bacterial resistance. I actually am not a huge fan and I haven't really seen it be highly effective.

Ok, so what you should be looking out for is products that are labeled as NON-COMEDOGENIC. Basically, this means non clogging. Be aware that if you are acne prone, then you should make sure that all products you put on your skin should say this. For this reason, I am very hesitant to try products from other countries because they often do not have this extra testing to see whether or not it is non-comedogenic. You might find that some products not labeled as such do not clog your pores but to be safe, stick to this label. Neutrogena, Aveeno, Clean and Clear are non-comedogenic. So make up such as MAC, Origins, Lancome, etc, should be used with caution. Also, do not blindly trust the make-up counter folks. They may say it's non clogging but unless it's labeled that way, they really don't know. They might say something like it's "hypoallergenic" or "for sensitive skin" but that doesn't mean it won't clog your pores.

A simple regimen is listed below. It's best to go to a dermatologist but sometimes they prescribe their own labels (their own line of products) because that's also how they make their money. The dermatologist I worked for was also guilty of this. She had a line where she simply approved of the ingredients and stamped her name on it. If it's safe and easy for you to purchase their products (or if it makes you feel better psychologically) then use it. But it won't be the simplest or cheapest method. Proactiv is a good example. The ingredients are proven to work but it gets expensive after their monthly shipments. You'll have boxes of unopened bottles sitting at the corner of your bathroom by the time you finish your first box and soon you'll be selling this on ebay.

Keep it simple

Morning wash: Cetaphil, Aveeno's Skin Brightening Scrub or just rinse with water

Evening wash: if you don't wear make up, Cetaphil. If you wear make up, try Neutrogena's Fresh Foaming Cleanser or I really like Shiseido's Pureness cleanser.

Treatment: Retin-a all over and benzoyl peroxide to spot treat. A strong retin-a content can only be prescribed but Neutrogena and other brands also have products with retin-a in it.

About once every 2-3 days, you should also use a scrub. This will help slough off any dead skin cells that may be sitting on your skin. Try Deep Clean Gentle Scrub.

I didn't mean to let this post get so long, but I guess I had a lot more to say regarding acne than I thought! I blame years of battling with this plague.... Future posts will assess other products for acne prone and sensitive skin.

Introduction: me

Due to popular demand (Mika and my frumpy alter ego) I am starting this blog on beauty and skincare tips. Let me first make a disclaimer, I am not a professional aesthetician or beauty consultant but I have worked at a very popular dermatology clinic in Beverly Hills (the 90210 zip code, not the wannabe 90211 or 90212). Then about 4 years ago, the clinic was sold to an up-and-coming plastic surgeon whom I will discuss on a future entry (patients including Kendra of the Playboy girls and 90% of the Hooters Restaurant waitresses in S. California). I like trying new products that are priced sensibly but I also am highly opinionated on people's appearances. Hopefully in a helpful way, not in a mean way (but if it's mean I am also quick to apologize so please read on).

Second disclaimer: I do not have great skin. But I guess that's also what makes me sympathetic to people who are not blessed with great skin. Additionally, if you know how bad my skin used to be, I think you'll appreciate my tips.

Please post any questions or comments! First up, the bane of my existence: acne.