One Skin Does Not Fit All - Skin Types

Hello Everyone,

Skin Knowledge

As Esthetician's, it is our job to use our knowledge of the skins functions to help guide you on how to best look after your skin, by recommending the right product usage to establish what is the best skincare regime for you. When doing this we always recommend coming to see us for a Fern Facial, this is the time we take off all of your makeup, and have a good look at every inch of your skin under the bright light.  Scary, I know, but necessary!

Skin Type/Skin Conditions

Whilst we are analysing your skin, we are looking to determine two things - Skin Type and Skin Condition.  These are both very different things and over the next 2 blogs I am going to explain what they are, starting today with Skin Types.

The Four Skin Types

Your Skin Type is genetically pre-disposed (something you are born with) A Skin Type falls into 4 basic categories - Normal, Oily, Dry and Combination.  I am also going to add in Sensitive, as for some people this can be a permanent  skin condition.  So what do the different skin types look like?

Normal - very rarely do we find "normal" skin type, a bit like hunting for a four leaf clover! For those lucky few the T-zone (forehead, chin and nose) may be a bit oily, but overall sebum and moisture is balanced and the skin is neither too oily nor too dry.

Normal Skin has:

* fine pores

* good blood circulation

* a velvety, soft and smooth texture

* a fresh, rosy colour uniform transparency

* no blemishes 

Oily - ‘Oily’ is used to describe a skin type with heightened sebum production.

Oily Skin has:

* a glossy shine

* thicker, pale skin: blood vessels may not be visible

* enlarged, clearly visible pores

Dry -  Dry skin can feel tight, brittle, rough and look dull. Skin elasticity is also low.

Dry Skin has:

* a rough and blotchy appearance (sometimes it appears to be prematurely aged) 

* a feeling of tightness 

* possible itchiness 

* mild scaling or flakiness in patches 

Combination - In combination skin the skin types vary in the T-zone and the cheeks.  For example, and oily t-zone and normal/dry cheeks.

Combination Skin has:

* enlarged pores in this area perhaps with some impurities

* normal to dry cheeks

* an oily T-zone (forehead, chin and nose)

Sensitive - is skin that is easily irritated and is more reactive than normal skin.

Sensitive Skin can have:

* Redness/visible capillaries

* Rash

* Swelling

* Itching sensation

* Burning sensation

So if you find yourself unsure of your skin type, the next step to take is booking in for a Fern facial and beginning your skin journey.


Book online
https://fernskinclinic.mylocalsalon.com/onlinebooking/v7410/Steps/SiteSelection.aspx

Give us a call 0207 722 2002

Or pop in for a chat

We also have our new web-site up and running
www.fernskinclinic.com

Men are from Mars.......

The structure and composition of men's skin is very different to a women's. Men's skin tends to be more oily, making it more susceptible to acne related problems, blemishes and blackheads.  But on a more positive note, men's skin is much thicker than women's, making it less susceptible to UV damage such as pigmentation and ageing from the sun. However, skin suffers daily from air pollution, sweat and grit and dirt getting into pores.

Another big challenge a man's facial skin has to cope with (unless he is a bearded gent of course...) is having to drag a razor over the face on a regular basis.  This in turn can strip away essential moisture and break down the skins natural protective barrier, making the skin very sensitive, red and irritated.

So with all of this in mind, Fernskinclinic have designed and added a facial specifically for men to the treatment menu:  
The Men's Customized Facial Treatment.
A professional treatment with lots of good science built in. Only a trained therapist will be able to perform this and provide you with long lasting results.

This men's facial is a hard-working treatment whereby the complexion gets a welcome boost, whilst treating issues like acne, blackheads, skin redness or to just re-instate a youthful glow and relax. During the treatment the therapist will analyse your skin, decide what nourishment it needs and, using scientifically developed skin products, cleanse, exfoliate and nourish your skin.
You will have an enzyme mask combined with a steam treatment, extractions if necessary, a facial massage and a custom-made Alginate rubberising mask. Expect to leave with your skin feeling calm and clean. 


Mens Facial Treatment 60min/£80
www.fernskinclinic.com

(images via pinterest)

Power of Touch

The beauty industry is awash with all kinds of the latest machines promising to help with everything from sun damage to cellulite. And this is all exciting stuff – we at Fernskinclinic even have a couple of super power machines to help with a number of skin conditions.
But at the core of Fernskinclinic's ethos is the power of touch. Hands on skin. Back to basics skincare is being overlooked in favor of fast tracking skin care.

At Fernskinclinic, before we even go near anyone with a machine, we advise our clients to let us help them with making sure their skins needs are being met right from start. Cleansing through to hydrating and protection. As soon as we lay our hands on a clients skin it starts to give us a good idea of what their skin requires.

Stress and our busy lifestyles also contribute to the skins general well-being. The power of touch during a fern facial does wonders to calm and relax, to slow down. It's therapy for the soul and our skin – which is where we at Fernskinclinc feel is the very best place for skincare to begin.

Fernfacial 60min - £72

Free Summer Up-Grade at Fernskinclinic

We would love to celebrate the arrival of summer with you, and in that spirit, we have designed a new collection of first-class facial upgrades as a FREE TOP-UP to your Fern Facial.

We are fanatical about skin health, and each treatment-topper has been formulated to support your complexion through the summer season.

The Summer Upgrade Top-Ups are as follows;

Rejuvenating Vit C Boost:
Reduces hyperpigmentation, brightening you complexion and targeting fine lines and wrinkles.

Complexion Protection:
Lactic20% works to repair damaged skin, fight inflammation and is also highly hydrating.

Decongesting Deep Clean:
Oil absorbing Sulphur Clay and anti-bacterial Tea Tree help to fight acne and reduce inflammation associated with breakouts.

Our new Skin Specialists, Margarita and Melinda are now available for Fern Facial bookings. With a combined tenure of 22 years in the industry, these experts know their stuff!  Be sure to let us know which Free Summer Upgrade you would like to add onto your next facial.


Your complimentary upgrade is available until the 31st August 2016. Please book online or give us a call.

Phone: 020 7722 2002

Online: Online

How often should I get a facial?

This is something clients ask all the time. We recommend seeing your skin care specialist every 4 to 6 weeks.

By getting in every 4-6 weeks, this allows your therapist to throughly assess your skin and to address any concerns that may be occurring.

What can a facial do for my skin?  Facials will throughly cleanse, exfoliate and plump (aid circulation) to your skin. We use a great range of active ingredients, peels, etc. and remember our treatments are always fully customised.

(image from pinterest)

Hyperpigmentation

Do you have hyperpigmentation? Do you understand what has caused it? Do you know what to do about it? At Fern we offer many treatments and products geared to help with this.

Glo Therapeutics has three serums specifically created to help with epidermal hyperpigmentation. Epidermal hyperpigmentation can be caused from UV damage, inflammation or trauma, oxidation.

If general brightness is what you desire:

1) The Brightening Serum is a great skin brightener. This serum targets skin discoloration with a full spectrum of natural brighteners.

Then there are two serums that can target and treat hyperpigmentation:

2) The Lightening Serum - this serum battles hyperpigmentation with a combination of lighteners, melanin inhibitors and a gentle exfoliant.

3) Triple Action Serum - a powerful serum to lighten hyperpigmentation and improve the texture of the skin. This serum contains 2% hydroquinone, an melanin inhibitor.

If you have dermal hyperpigmentation, often hormonally induced (melasma) but can also develop from Post inflammatory inflammation. This type of pigmentation is usually quite resistant. Treatment serums and peels can help but often needs something that can reach deeper. We have a great treatment, the Alma Laser that can specifically treat dermal hyperpigmentation.

Unsure of the cause of your hyperpigmentation or the depth of your hyperpigmentation? Book a skin consulation with us and one of our therapists can advise the best treatment protocol for you.

Our skin treatments

Here at Fern, we pride ourselves on our superior skin treatments. 
Every treatment is completely bespoke as we know every individual is different. And everybody's skin is different ...
Chose from 60, 75 and 90 minute treatments with either Glo-therapeutics, Skinceuticals or Suti. 
Regardless of which one you opt for, all our facials include a deep cleanse, exfoliation, extractions, facial massage, treatment mask and shoulder, arm and hand massage. The perfect way to treat your skin for the new year!

Then of course, we can offer the added extra with the new Alma machine! Read more about this here ...

Five tips for glowing skin

As the party season approaches, we want our skin to be on tip-top form. If there's one thing we've perfected her at Fernskinclinic, it's skincare. Regular facial treatments ensure your skin is glowing at all times but we also find that these daily lifestyle tips help ....

1. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Good old H2O helps plump out the skin and allows the cells to operate efficiently.
2. Cold-pressed juice! We really notice the difference if we incorporate a few green juices into our diet.
3. Develop a good ski care regime ... we love the organic brand Suti, which we stock at Fernskinclinic.
4. Relax! Take a few deep breaths to help re-oxygenate the cells! And yes, ... we know, difficult in the run up to the end of the year!
5. Sleep! Every person is different, but aiming for as close to 8 hours will bring a noticeable difference to your skin!

Is your skin ready for this festive season?

We often get asked by clients what can we do to keep that glow in the skin like after a facial. We often suggest lots of water intake, a healthy diet, rest and limited alcohol. But during the holiday season some of those things can be hard to do enough of. So we have put together a list of our favourite serums you can easily incorporate into your skin routine.

1) Vitamin C - this is a must, a good antioxidant is the key to giving our skin that much needed protection. It will help protect the skin from wintery conditions, indoor heating and it's a natural UV protector. We have a selection of Vitamin C to choose from, it's best you chat with someone to advice on the correct one for you.

2) Glo Therapeutics Peptide & Defense - this is a powerful peptide rich protective treatment. This product provides free radical protection. It's a lightweight serum cream, perfect for under your makeup or as a light cream at night.

3) Glo Therapeutics Super Serum - this night time treatment contains retinol, one of the best anti-aging ingredients, peptides and growth factors.  This is a high performance anti-aging serum that helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. This serum can be used every night.

4) Glo Therapeutics Renew Serum - a brilliant night time treatment. This serum contains 1% salicylic acid, 1% retinol and 7% glycolic acid. Smooths fine lines, treats pigmentation and improve your skin texture. Use this serum every third night and wake to glowing skin.

So there you go, no excuses now. Get your serums while stock lasts!

By: Diana Augustoni

How to combat late nights!

There is no way around it - December usually equals late nights, too much food and a few too many drinks! All great at the time, but we don't always love how we end up feeling (and sometimes looking) the next morning. 

Our top tips for ensuring you remain radiant include making sure you are sufficiently hydrated and to remove your make-up before bed. Luke warm water with half a lemon squeezed into it in the evening and first thing in the morning will balance out your ph-levels and combat too much acidity in the stomach (just remember not to brush your teeth within half an hour after drinking in order to preserve your tooth enamel!).

And if the partying got the better of you, book in for a treatment and we will help to restore the glow to your skin!

Christmas at Fern!

We are starting to get into the festive spirit here at Fern! Decorations have gone up, or rather down in our case! 

With 23 days to go until Christmas, the countdown is on. Check out our decorations and book in for some pre-festive season pampering!

Votivo Candles or gift packs are for sale in the shop, just pop it!

Is That The Sun???

By:  Diana Augustoni

It’s been such a long time but is that the sun I’m seeing?  Could it be that Spring has sprung?  It’s lovely isn’t it?  Are you ready for spring? Longer days, brighter days....

We’re not sure if you’ve noticed but we have added a new treatment to our menu called Fern Instant Eye Lift.  What better way to spring into the season than a nice eye opening treatment.  We are incorporating some of our best individual treatments into this treatment.

We will start by using the CACI Ultra machine.  Your eyes will be gently exfoliated and plumped,  using ultra sound and laser techniques.  We will also incorporate micro-current to lift the eye area. But why stop there?  These eyes need to be truly brightened with all that sun!   So following the use of the CACI Ultra we will then apply the Alpha H Eye Perfector Power Patch.  This patch contains glycolic acid and will brighten those peeps by visibly reducing fine lines and wrinkles in just 20 minutes!  Seriously! The eye lift will be completed with the application of a powerful eye gel antioxidant.  And while you’re at it why not add a brow wax or brow tint?  Eyelash tint?  Any of these can be added to the treatment to brighten up even further.

So what is this powerful eye gel?  If you’re like me I’m always on the search for the great new eye product.  Well here’s one you will want to get.  It’s new from Skin Ceuticals and it’s called  AOX+ Eye Gel.  To start this is a serum to gel technology.  According to Skin Ceuticals it’s an open matrix formulation that enables actives to freely penetrate skin in a controlled manner for maximum bioavailability. The gel network remains on the surface, reinforcing the skin’s barrier.  Sounds amazing doesn’t it?  But you want to hear the key words you look for in an eye product, right?  So how about this, it contains 1% Phloretin, 5% Vitamin C and 0.5% Ferulic Acid, all in an eye product.  Whewee!   Anyone can use this product and is designed to treat both aging skin and fatigued eyes.  This is an eye treatment that is used daily but only needed to use once a day.  We at Fern like to use this eye gel as our day treatment.  It would be best to follow this with an eye cream or balm over the top to further the benefits.

Spring here we come!  Enjoy the sun!

New Year, New Cleansers

By: Diana Augustoni

It’s a new year and here at Fern we are making some changes.  We have always felt that it is the utmost importance to provide our clients with effective skincare.  We are very proud of the skincare options we offer for home use but have decided to change things around a bit.  We have always used Dermalogica skincare and will continue to carry the Ultra Calming Line but have decided to discontinue stock of their other cleansers.  Not to fret, you won’t be without great options!

We will continue to offer all of the cleanser options in the Alpha H range.  Both the Triple Action Cleanser and Balancing Cleanser will be available.  The Soothing and Calming Cleanser will be out of stock due to them reformulating that product.  As a result of that we have looked into our Skin Ceuticals range. 

Skin Ceuticals, as many of you know, is an amazing anti-aging range and we have chosen their best cleansers to offer to you now.  We will be carrying the Foaming Cleanser, Gentle Cleanser and the Blemish + Age Cleansing Gel. 

The Foaming Cleanser is a lightweight cleanser that deep cleans pores, removes excess oils and clears surface impurities.  A fragrance free cleanser containing gentle, non-allergenic ingredients to prevent irritation.  This cleanser contains extracts of Arnica, Ivy, Cucumber, Mallow, Lime Tree and Sambuccus (also known as Elder Extract). It’s mild and non-drying to the skin and perfect for removing make-up.  As in the name, this cleanser is a foaming cleanser that you will want to massage into skin thoroughly and then simply rinse off.  Those of you who liked the Special Cleansing Gel from Dermalogica will find this one a nice change.

The Gentle Cleanser is specifically designed for sensitive or dry skin.  This is a mild cleanser designed to remove excess impurities and oil without over drying. The Gentle Cleanser contains emollients and skin conditioners which calm and moisturise the skin.  Allantoin, a botanical extract with soothing properties believed to aid in fragile skin and Orange Oil known for its soothing properties.  You can simply massage this cleanser into the skin and rinse off with warm water or use a face cloth/muslin.  Many of you who like the Alpha H Soothing and Calming Cleansing Gel will like this one as an alternative or if you liked the Dermalogica Essential Cleansing Solution, we recommend trying this one.

The Blemish + Age Cleansing Gel is the newest cleanser to the Skin Ceuticals range.  This daily cleanser targets blemishes and photoaging.  This is an ideal cleanser for skin prone to breakouts and helps to address the concerns of aging skin as well.  This cleansing gel is non drying and has micro-exfoliating properties of  0.2% Capryloyl Salicylic Acid to decongest clogged pores, 0.2% Salicylic Acid to refine pores and reduce breakouts  and 3.5% Glycolic Acid to accelerate exfoliation, hydrate the skin and reduce the appearance of aging skin.  With this cleanser, you simply massage into the skin and rinse off with tepid water.  This cleanser is ideal for those of you who would choose Dermalogica’s  Dermal Clay Cleanser or the Skin Resurfacing Cleanser.

So there you have it, New Year, new cleansers!