Exfoliation: Why Less Is Sometimes More

What started decades ago with a humble plastic sponge has become the watchword in skincare. Exfoliation remains the key to the fresh, peach glow of a youthful complexion. But as the range of professional and at-home acid and enzyme peels, scrubs, and mechanical exfoliation devices continues to expand, skincare professionals are seeing the ugly side of the these facial treatments: the raw tomato-red of serious irritation.

The results of over-exfoliation aren’t just painful and unattractive—overaggressive skin stripping can actually do real damage. In addition to acne breakouts, people who get carried away can suffer broken capillaries, excessiveness dryness and scaling, and pigmentation changes—in other words exactly what you’re trying so hard to avoid: the visible signs of aging. The causes for these symptoms are rooted in the skin’s natural defense system—the inflammatory response.

Inflammation is the body’s response to injury. Removal of the superficial layer of skin (the stratum corneum) exposes the sensitive new skin underneath to a variety of assaults including bacteria, environmental pollutants, and solar radiation. But that doesn’t necessarily mean exfoliation is bad for your skin—in fact, done correctly, it’s one of best things you can do to revitalize your appearance. I’ll explain more of the hows and whys of exfoliation in future posts.

Rosemary: The Scent of Ageless Health and Beauty

I designed the elegant scent of my Lavie Organique professional skincare products to capture the essence of my balanced, synergistic approach to radiant health and beauty. Just as my special blend of natural and organic extracts works together to restore equilibrium to overstressed skin, the different fragrance notes that scent my proprietary formulas blend in perfect harmony to soothe and refresh your spirit.

Rosemary leaf (Rosemarinus officinalis) extract lends a tangy evergreen note to the scent of my plant-based formulas—and the healing properties of a time-honored folk remedy. Aromatherapists still treat stress and fatigue with its fragrant leaves, but its medicinal properties been revered throughout history. Ancient Romans believed rosemary improved memory and traditional herbalists have been cooking up rosemary teas to treat headaches and digestive disorders for centuries. Medieval Europeans relied on rosemary to freshen breath and to keep meat from spoiling. In fact, its effectiveness as a natural preservative is borne out by its presence in the tissues of Egyptian mummies that have lasted for thousands of years.

With a history like that, it’s not surprising that today’s scientists are searching for the facts behind rosemary’s fabled reputation. Researchers have discovered that rosemary is not only a natural antiseptic, but also a diuretic that reduces swelling, as well as a possible cancer fighter and liver stimulant. The same anti-inflammatories and antioxidants, such as carnosol and caffeic acid that make rosemary a potential weapon against disease also explain why many of today’s best natural skincare products include it in their anti-aging arsenal.

In 2008,the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed that rosemary extracts complied with its notoriously stringent safety and effectiveness standards for use as an antioxidant. A 2009 press release that announced certification of rosemary extracts by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), noted the particular suitability of water-soluble rosmarinic acid for water-based products such as creams, as well as its heat stability, which prevents its antioxidant activity from dissipating at high temperatures.

Like Queen of Hungary Water—one of Europe’s first alcohol-based perfumes and astringents—Lavie Organic Toner also contains rosemary. But without the brandy that 14^th century monks who invented it added to Elizabeth of Hungary’s signature cologne. Those monks obviously didn’t know much about the irritating effects of alcohols on sensitive skin!

Fragrance Overload: Too Much of a Good Thing

Rainwater Fresh fabric softer, Persian Lilac body scrub, Mint Mojito candles, Raspberry-Chocolate moisturizer… At some point, our natural urge to make ourselves and our environment smell yummy went into overdrive. Everywhere we go  now—subways and buses, the workplace, restaurants, homes—our senses are assaulted by a multitude of competing scents. I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to feel like I’m trapped inside a giant jar of potpourri!

Even so, the allure of perfumes and fragrances has persisted for thousands of years. The perfume lovers of the world still cherish the power of a signature scent to set a mood and make a unique statement about their image and identity.

During the creation my LaVie Organique product line I thought long and hard about not only about the health issues surrounding the fragrance debate but also the complexities of personal preferences. My goal was to create a skin care regimen that was not only safe for sensitive skin, but also a calming, soothing experience for the mind. But a question remained? How can I do all that and still create top-quality natural skincare products that would appeal to a multitude of tastes?

Once again, the good things of nature provided all the answers I needed. The all-natural plant-based ingredients and organic extracts in my Lavinia Borcau formulas lend a trace of subtly elegant fragrance to every step of your daily skin care regimen.

One of the sources of the clean, delicate scent of my prodcuts is citrus grandis (pink grapefruit) peel essential oil. In keeping with my holistic philosophy this ingredient is not merely a pleasant extra—it’s a vital contributor to the quality and functionality of my all-natural skin care products.

This fruit extract’s powers as an antiseptic and a detoxifer make this all-natural essential oil a vital component of my all my Lavinia Borcau proprietary formulas. A natural antibacterial, this nontoxic alternative to risky preservatives like methylparaben and other petroleum derivatives also protects your health and helps ensure the quality and safety of my products.

With all these benefits plus a light, refreshing scent that doesn’t linger, pink grapefruit oil offers a luxurious experience for men and women of every taste. But there’s more than one note to to the sensual delights of natural scents…I'll tell you more next time.    

Scented vs. Unscented: Making Sense of Cosmetic Labels

Have you ever been stuck next to someone whose cologne or aftershave made you literally sick? Well, anyone who thinks you’re exaggerating should read the EPA’s 1991 report on the most commonly used ingredients in synthetic fragrances. Even perfumes that smell fresher than a spring day and cost hundreds of dollars an ounce may contain up to 500 different synthetic chemicals. 


According to that EPA study, this industrial witch’s brew of cheap, evil-smelling petrochemicals, solvents, and coal tar derivatives is packed with health perils ranging from skin inflammation, fatigue, headaches, and nausea to potentially fatal asthma attacks, immunotoxicity, and central nervous system disorders.

For those who prefer to minimize their daily dose of toxic industrial waste products, unscented products seem like the logical, healthful alternative. It’s also logical to assume that words like scent-free, unscented, and fragrance-free on a product label signal safety from chemical irritants. But consumers who make this assumption are making the same mistake as Alice in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass. In the backwards, baffling world of cosmetic labeling, words can mean exactly what product manufacturers choose them to mean. 


The fact is, the FDA has never presented any legal definition of these terms in their compliance guidelines. As a result, manufacturers of fragrance-free products can and do use equally dangerous masking ingredients to hide the nasty chemical smell of their raw materials. So, unless you’ve researched every single ingredient on the product label, you have no way of knowing whether you’re choosing a truly scent-free alternative or merely the lesser of two evils.

Thanks to today’s burgeoning green revolution, however, you can choose a third alternative that's not only safe for sensitive skin, but also a delight for the senses. In my next post, I'll explain why all-natural plant-based scents and organic extracts are the best of all possible fragrances.

Can an Apple a Day Keep Age Spots Away?

While freckles or age spots may bother us, in the majority of cases, they’re perfectly harmless. As I explained in my last post, blotchy areas of darkened skin are most often the result of an interaction between solar radiation and the type of melanin cells we’ve inherited. Facial hyperpigmentation may also signal natural hormonal changes. Melasma, “the mask of pregnancy,” is one such benign condition that occurs in approximately 65% of expectant mothers. 

Nevertheless it’s important to be aware that not all brown spots are normal. Some may indicate serious health problems. A dark spot with irregular borders could, for instance, be a malignant melanoma. Among the many other serious diseases associated with hyperpigmentation are Addison’s disease, lupus, scleroderma, and diabetes. Any change in skin pigmentation that comes on suddenly or looks unusual warrants a visit to your physician.

If your areas of hyperpigmentation are the natural, normal kind, does that mean you just have to live with them? The fact is age spots are a stubborn—but far from hopeless—problem. While increased melanin production is the best-known contributor to the development of age spots, another culprit is implicated as well. Known as the “age pigment,” lipofuscin is make up of oxidized fat and other dark-colored wastes that accumulate in our cells as we grow older. Sun exposure and an unhealthy lifestyle also contribute to and hasten the buildup of these free radicals in aging cells. Scientific studies, including one on the effects of grape seed extract on lipofuscin formation, suggest that flavonoids, as well as vitamin E, and other antioxidants can help repair this damage.

So what’s my prescription for age spots? An all-natural skin care regime that includes plant-based antioxidants and exfoliants and a mineral sunblock. With my full range of LaVie Organique™ skin care products—from the gentle daily cleanser to the revitalizing mask you get all that and more: sun protection from the soothing sea salt zinc oxide, the gentle exfoliating action of ground walnuts; pure, unprocessed tocopherol (vitamin E); anti- inflammatory flavonoids, such as eucalyptus leaf oil and white tea—and the most famous folk remedy of all time—apples.

The remarkable organic compound that makes apples the perfect health food for your skin is malic acid, a potent antioxidant that’s also an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA). In my salon’s signature organic peels as well as in the LaVie Organique Exfoliating Mask, this double-duty skin rejuvenator helps refine the skin’s texture and restore a more uniform tone by stripping away the damaged outer layer of skin. Take advantage of the power of a professional skincare regime—at home or in the salon—and see for yourself what an apple a day can do for your skin. 

Freckles Part 1: Where Do They Come From?

On fresh, young skin, freckles can look downright adorable. But once skin loses it youthful glow that cute little sprinkling of polka dots becomes something else entirely: nasty old liver spots. Whether you call them age spots, sun spots, lentigo, or just plain freckles, these uneven deposits of melanin are a variation on a suntan. In both cases, the increased production of brown pigment is our skin’s attempt to protect itself from the sun’s UV-B rays.

Freckles are most commonly seen on fair-skinned people. Redheads and blondes are more likely to have freckles than dark-haired people, but many African Americans and Asians have them, too. In fact, when the Chinese-American actress Lucy Liu appeared in the movie Kill Bill with her freckles showing, she had trouble convincing people that they weren’t the handiwork of a clever make-up artist. Liu insists it’s the other way around—in earlier roles, a heavy layer of foundation masked the freckles she’s had since early childhood.

So, is it our genes or the sun that causes freckles? The answer is both. UV-B radiation activates melanocytes—the cells that produce melanin. The distribution of melanocytes in our skin determines the presence or absence of freckles. In freckled skin, these cells are clumped together rather than spread out evenly. Very fair skin without freckles indicates that very few melanocytes are present.

Freckles are also linked to the type of melanocytes you inherit. One type produces eumelanin, a black or brown pigment. In people with very dark, even skin tone, these cells are distributed evenly. The other type of melanocyte produces a yellowish or red pigment called pheomelanin. People who produce more pheomelanin than eumelanin will have freckles.

The causes of the larger, darker discolored areas that often develop as we age are usually decades of sun damage, the increased melanin production that can occur as we grow older, or a combination of the two.

In people of Northern European ancestry, the buildup of pheomelanin in the skin is associated with a defect in the melanocortin-1 receptor MC1R gene—a gene associated with not only your skin and hair color, but also your risk of developing melanoma. Recent scientific studies have also linked pale, freckled skin to a poorly functioning kit ligand gene, the gene associated with skin and hair color in East Asians.

Now that we know where age spots come from, what can we do about them? In my next post, I’ll discuss the serious skin care regimen needed to reduce the visibility and roughness of the scaly brown splotches that can afflict aging skin.

Cruel Isn’t Beautiful

Many consumers still believe that animal cruelty is the price of human health and safety. However, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act refutes the popular misconception that cosmetics must be tested on animals to comply with FDA safety regulations. In fact, the FDA strongly supports the development of cruelty-free alternatives to animal experimentation.

Lavinia Borcau Quality Standards specifically forbid the use of animal testing to demonstrate product safety or effectiveness. To ensure this cruelty-free development strategy never interferes with the safety and quality of my all-natural skincare line, my exacting product standards require that the Lavie Organique Proprietary Blend of natural and certified organic ingredients comply with both Environmental Working Group and Natural Product Association guidelines.

My belief in the gentleness and effectiveness of natural skincare is rooted in my traditional European heritage. Over the years as I’ve read the results of scientific studies on botanical ingredients and gained hands-on experience with plant-based professional skincare, my instinctive trust in the Old World beauty secrets of my Romanian grandmother has evolved into a firm conviction.

By designing a personal skin care regimen that’s kind to your skin without hurting other living creatures, I’ve also stayed true to my holistic philosophy. As part of the natural world, we’re inextricably connected to the plants and animals that share our environment. By showing respect and caring for every part of this environment, we can achieve a more balanced lifestyle. The result is healthier body and mind—and the natural glow of genuine, lasting beauty.