By Rachel Lamont
Medical Esthetician and Owner of The Natural Art of Skin Care
As an Esthetician, people always ask me about skin stimulants, and I find there is little knowledge and understanding of the proper use of skin stimulants out there. Usually, an Eminence trained Esthetician will know how to choose a proper stimulate for you, because the Eminence line has so much to choose from and the Esthetician's that work with the Eminence line are trained to use them correctly and always end up falling in love with them!
The question of skin stimulation is a great one because when you properly, stimulants are a strong home regime or in-house treatment, and can be very beneficial for you.
So what are stimulants? Stimulants is a general term used for an umbrella of products and ingredients that increase circulation in the skin, similar to if we were talking about masques and cleansers. Stimulants can be added to any step of your skin care regime, depending on which one you use, what you want to work on and your desired outcome.
So why use a stimulant; what is good about using one? In the right situation, they can help flush a devitalized skin type and bring life back into the skin! For an acne client, this is a way we can flush the area as well, creating more oxygen and blood flow to the congestion area. Using hot and cold presses can also be used to kill bad bacteria that may be living in the skin, while still maintaining your skin's own natural oils, bacteria and acid mantel; this is called your skin's natural flora.
Contrary to popular belief, just bleaching acne, drying it out with over washing, and even using too much tea tree oil is not the only way to deal with breakouts! But remember, if you are stimulating your skin, you are always stimulating a purge, and this means that you and your qualified Esthetician will have to ensure you have proper extractions to help assist the purge through your skin and then up and out of your skin also. I suggest booking a facial and make sure you are ready for extractions!
On the subject of extractions, stimulants also make extractions easier. This is because they warm up the skin and therefore heat and soften the oils and dirt in your skin that is causing the congestion; congestion plugs are made up of oil and dirt. This is why heat is a great idea at this point! We have a saying in my industry; "If you bring up the pink and the blood flow in the skin, create some pink in the skin at the same time and they will flush and calm down at the same time." It also enables all the nutrients in the blood - as well as oxygen! - to flow to the target areas and assist with healing. But it's not all about acne! Stimulants are also great for flushing cellulite body tissues too! This is one of my personal favourites and I do it on myself on a regular basis.
So what kind of stimulating ingredients are out there? The organic Eminence line has a lot of them! Some of my personal favourites are listed below:
- The Hungarian Mud Treatment for acne-prone skin types (face or body), and contains cinnamon, paprika and a detoxifying mud.
- The Stimulating Lime Treatment for anti-aging (face and body) for rejuvenation and cellulite! This product contains large quantities of vitamin C.
- The Cinnamon Paprika Body Lotion (Hot) for cellulite treatments.
- The Eight Greens Masque (Hot) for hormonal acne and aging skin - this is my personal favourite!
- In-house products like a paprika treatment with a slow heat and lots of vitamin C, or a Herbal Cellulite Treatment and the Blueberry Detoxifying Peel, to name a few.
I love stimulants! I personally use them when my skin feels dull and I want it to produce a healthy glow! I am also a weekly user of some of the body products for cellulite prone areas that I mentioned above. Visit us at the spa and feel free to ask questions about the products that we carry or can order in for you. Let us help you pick a stimulant that you will love and can add to your skin care regime today.