LENA BLOG

Although I have written about the importance of eye creams in this blog, I wanted to include the eyes again for emphasis. I really feel the eye area is a Forgotten Place when it comes to proper skin care. Many of my clients have never used eye cream before. I must admit, up until I was 30 I hardly ever used eye cream. Then when I hit 35, I started to use it with greater frequency. And now I apply eye cream many times throughout the day. Sometimes youth is wasted on the young. It usually isn’t until the lines actually make their presence known that we decide to pay attention to this Forgotten Place. As I’ve said previously, you have no functioning oil glands directly under your eyes; therefore you need to use cream (sparingly) to keep that tissue soft. This will not erase wrinkles, but it will keep them from furrowing into the skin. Make your under-eyes a “remembered place.” As a visual reminder, I have eye cream everywhere. It’s on my nightstand, at my writing desk, ...

A head without hair is truly a neglected and Forgotten Place. I’m not going to tell you to exfoliate and moisturize this area, gentlemen (although those are not bad ideas). But it is extremely important to keep the sun off the top of your head . This is true whether you are shaving that area; perhaps you’re follicly challenged; or you are just losing or have lost the hair up top. You are literally a target for skin cancer if you don’t take precautions against sun exposure. The best and most obvious protection would be a hat. But if you can’t, don’t, or won’t wear one, applying sunscreen to your bald head would be wise. There are companies that have spray-on sunscreens, making it easy to get protection on those places where your hair might be thinning or absent. My strongest recommendation is to not fool around when it comes to the sun because in the end, the sun will win. For more information, see: Sunscreen: Toss it out! SUNSCREENS: The WHAT & WHY plus the importan...

We tend to worry about our hands (the tops of our hands) long after the damage has occurred, which makes this area one of The Forgotten Places. If you’re young, start now to take care of your hands, so they will reflect this care when you’re older. And even if you are older and haven’t taken very good care of this area, it’s never too late to start. Your skin will always reflect the care you give it. Here are a few suggestions. First, whenever you exfoliate your face and neck, exfoliate the tops of your hands . It’s a small area, so it doesn’t take much time (or product), but getting rid of the dead cells here will go a long way in keeping your hands looking youthful and feeling smooth. Next, after you have applied moisturizer to your face and neck, smooth any excess product on your hands. If they are chronically dry, apply a special hand cream or the cream you’re using on your body before you go to bed. Try to apply it as often as you can throughout the day as well. ...

The décolleté is the area below the neck and above the breasts. Most women don’t consider taking care of this skin until it is already damaged. Low-cut dresses show the décolleté. Bikinis expose the décolleté. And rarely, if ever, do we consider exfoliating, hydrating, or using sunscreen on this area. The décolleté definitely qualifies for one of The Forgotten Places. Because gravity pulls the breasts down (to the ground, unfortunately), the skin of the décolleté is also pulled down with age and time. In addition to this stretching, I also see a lot of sun damage on this area, which causes tissue to become flaccid and sag. Sun can also cause damage to the capillaries and blood vessels. What you might have after years of overexposure is a décolleté that is permanently freckled and brown with a slightly leathered look and a lot of broken capillaries. In other words, it has been damaged by the sun. Start by exfoliating your décolleté. It will help to reflect the healthy skin...

When was the last time you put anything on your elbows? This area is truly a Forgotten Place on many people — including those as young as teenagers. Moisturizing is the most important thing you can do to keep your elbows from looking like they just stepped off an elephant. If you have a special hand cream, smooth a little on your elbows as well. This skin needs attention and should become a part of your Forgotten Places routine. You can also exfoliate your elbows. It’s not something I personally subscribe to, but exfoliation certainly helps skin, no matter where it is located. Be careful while using an exfoliater on your elbows. Although this skin may feel tough, it is very thin skin and can be sensitive to too much abrasion. As far as sunscreen goes, when putting it on your arms, get some on your elbows too. But for the most part, moisturizing is the main step you want to include when taking care of your forgotten elbows. For more information, see: Do you have dry, ...