LENA BLOG

CREME 15 is a wonderful treatment cream for normal to oily and problem/acneic skin. I have recommended it for over 3 decades for my clients with problem skin, breakouts, and overall oil y skin conditions. I used it personally for over 20 years when my skin was younger and oilier — all with great results. Extracts of b urdock , sage , and birch help to balance and regulate sebaceous (oil) secretions . St. John’s Wort acts as an anti-inflammatory, helping to soothe the skin and take out redness. Due to the essential oil content as well as other balancing ingredients, Creme 15 can help keep problem spots from occurring and lessen their lifespan. Even if you don’t have problems with blemishes, yet have normal to oily skin, Creme 15 helps to balance sebaceous (oil) secretions and leaves your skin purified, softened, and balanced. Although labeled a “night cream, ” I have several clients who use Creme 15 morning and evening. I ’ m not a stickler (or true believer) in d...

Rosacea can occur in adults as young as 20 years old although it most often occurs in men and women well into their 30s up to their 50s and beyond. Women generally experience rosacea more than men, but this could be due to the fact that men tend not to complain or seek treatment for disorders with the same frequency (and tenacity) that women do. Rosacea frequently appears in the classic “butterfly” pattern on women, with redness fanning out on the cheeks and the nose; men usually find their noses to be the most affected and red place on their face. People with lighter complexions (fair skin) are more prone to getting rosacea. Fair skin types are more susceptible to many skin troubles just based on their coloring. UV rays, for instance, can penetrate much more readily into skin that doesn’t produce much pigment. Therefore redness and sunburn are more common for those of you with light skin. Your skin tends to be more sensitive than someone with more natural sun protection...

What do masks do? What types of masks are best for each skin type? Are they worthwhile? What a mask does depends on what kind of mask it is . Hydrating masks help to soften the skin by increasing the amount of moisture on the surface. Cleansing masks generally contain a large percentage of clay(s), which helps to clean out the pores. I am a proponent of clay masks for almost every skin type. Clay is beneficial for oily or problem skin, helping to soothe infections along with loosening debris held in the pores. For a drier skin type, although a hydrating mask would be fine, clay not only gets the skin clean but helps to step up circulation due to clay’s stimulating effects. I tell my clients that if they feel they need to use a hydrating mask, what they really need to do is exfoliate. Feeling dry on the surface is usually more a matter of dehydration than oil-dry skin. See Is Your Skin Truly Dry or Just Thirsty? (link below) to understand the difference between dehydrat...

UPDATE 4/2017:   OK, yet another change in the Y onka line.  Now Serum Vital is called ELIXIR VITAL. Same formulation and price, just (in my  opinion   unnecessary  and less appealing) a name change. I will keep this article as it is — just know  that  the name is the only thing that has changed with this product . Several years ago (2012), Yonka went through a package change as well as  removing parabens from all of th eir products.   O ne of my favorite products,  Mesonium 1 & 2 , also went through a change: they combined the two bottles into one and gav e it a new name:  SERUM VITAL ( now Elixir Vital) . I n the past, I called  Mesonium  “ a facial in a bottle. ”   When I used this product, usually in the  winter  months, I really felt it ma de my skin look as though I had just had a facial  treatment . I am happy to say that after using Serum (Elixir) Vital for a 2-week experimen...

Alternative medicine encompasses everything from homeopathy to herbal therapy, acupuncture to massage. To me, alternative or complementary medicine is anything that keeps my body well and on the road to balanced healing. Not to denigrate modern medicine, but many drugs that are commonplace today can actually cause imbalances and keep us from achieving our highest states of health. This, of course, is not always true (especially in cases where health is severely compromised), but on a day-to-day basis, I reach for the alternatives to the drugs and medicines you would find at the pharmacist or doctor’s office. Alternative medicine, to me, would more accurately be termed original medicine . If you read back in the annals of medical history, herbs, essential oils, and medicines that were completely organic were the norm for centuries. Granted, there were diseases and epidemics that ran rampant and ended lives by the thousands. I certainly wouldn’t want to go to the dentist or ...

Some skin specialists recommend using oil-free products, but others even advise not using moisturizers on enlarged pores to avoid shininess. What are your thoughts on this? Enlarged pores are one thing, clogged pores are another. The question you need to ask yourself is: are your pores just enlarged with no congestion, or are they filled with debris? Debris means anything that may be nestled in the pore, which could be oil and dead skin or environmental debris from the air. Congestion, therefore, is stuff (debris) clogging your pores. There isn’t much you can do about the enlargement that has already occurred. Once the pore is stretched, it can’t shrink down to a smaller size. However, using appropriate moisturizers can help cut down on future enlargement. If you are using a moisturizer, oil-free or not, that is too much for your pores to handle, you could cause enlargement to occur. If your pores are clogged, it will determine what type of moisturizer y...

I'm not a fan of the “dotting” method How to moisturize. When applying moisturizer, you may put dots of cream on different parts of your face and then smooth them in. I propose an alternate way to apply your moisturizer. Although it’s a small change, it can make a big difference. Put a peanut-sized dollop in the palm of one hand, then rub your hands together to emulsify and warm the cream. Smooth the cream over your entire face and neck using both your hands (palms), not just the tips of your fingers. Applying the moisturizer this way increases your chances of getting the cream on all parts of your face evenly. This is important. The connect-the-dot method can cause an uneven application; some areas will have a concentration of moisturizer while others will hardly have any. If your nose tends to get oily during the day, bypass it when applying the cream. Just lightly go over the nose area as you finish smoothing the cream over your face and neck. This should help to...