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Mariga: Posted on Friday, May 04, 2012 5:11 PM
All Skin Essentials by Mariga products are concentrated so a little goes a long way. This video will help you to determine exactly how much you should use. (Please excuse the bad lighting, I will work on that for the next one).
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Mariga Sheedy: Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2012 11:59 AM
 Oily skin is seems to be having a bit of a 'moment' right now. I've recently been sent a few questions about dealing with it and there are lots of blog posts on other Irish beauty blogs in the last few weeks dealing with the same issue. I have to say that I'm surprised by this because, while oily skin is a valid skin type, it is relatively rare in Irish/Northern European skins. In my salon I would not see a true oily skin type even once a week. This got me to thinking; are we suffering a sudden hostile takeover by this minority skin type? Maybe those few that have true oily skin are uniting as one voice to be heard? Or, just possibly, are lots of people mis-diagnosing their skin type or causing an oiliness rebound by using inappropriate products?
Personally I favor the last theory because this is something I see frequently. Clients often present for their first appointment complaining of oily skin, mid-day shine or make-up that won't stay on and nine times out of ten they do not have an oily skin type. (I'll deal with the one in ten that do below). What they do have is the mistaken idea that their skin is oily because they self-diagnose incorrectly or because they have past or present acne and assume this means their skin is oily.
Very often the "oily shine" they complain of is in fact water evaporating off the skin too rapidly due to a LACK of oil on the skin's surface. Yep, lack. In this instance a facial oil is prescribed to remedy the water loss and stimulate natural oil production. This is why sometimes you can drink gallons of water but still have dehydrated skin. With shine.
Some peoples skin is producing plenty of oil (as your skin should) but it is stagnating in the pores causing blemishes, flakiness and all sorts of havoc because many people use cleansing and exfoliation products that are too harsh or contain pore-irritating ingredients. This causes the pore to hold on to the produced oil in case you just come at it with paint stripper again to wipe it away! Your skin needs the oil and it knows that so it tries to protect it. All these harsh 'oil control' products do is dry out water from the epidermis and create a layer of dead cells that will keep oil stuck in the pores gathering bacteria and not doing it's job of protecting your skin. These people usually think that they have skin that is 'oily with dry patches'. Popularly known as combination skin. No such thing, trust me. It's a marketing term, not a skincare one.
Do you think you have oily skin but sometimes have dry or flaky patches too? This would never happen in a true oily skin type.
Acne skin is just as likely to be dehydrated for the same reasons so treating it with oil control products will just cause flakiness and have no effect whatsoever on the acne.
For those with a true oily skin the problems are usually enlarged pores, shine and make-up sliding off. Pores will rarely become blocked. Using appropriate products makes a huge difference in this case. You need vitamin C and salicylic acid to keep pores refined, all the necessary nutrients for skin health but without an emollient base, anti-ageing ingredients after a certain age that are not suspended in a greasy, silicone-based cream, and to help control the oil output you need....oil! My Lipid Repair Concentrate is designed to regulate sebum production and can be a lifesaver for oily skins.
The moral of my story, as it so often is, is to get a professional skin analysis done to determine exactly what you are dealing with. Then you can treat it appropriately and watch your problems disappear. Well, your skin problems anyway :)
Note: If your therapist does not examine your skin under some kind of UV scanning device such as a woods lamp or skin scanner then it is impossible to determine the level of oil in the skin. This is the one thing that no level of experience or expertise can tell without a diagnostic tool.
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Mariga Sheedy: Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012 10:17 AM
 This post was inspired by Sarah from Viva Adonis who kindly gave me a great review on her fab beauty blog.
In it she talks about facial oils in general and my Nourishing Oil in particular and how she subconsciously classifies them as ‘winter skincare’. I’m a huge fan of oils and use them daily for cleansing and all sorts of other purposes. This led me to thinking about how most people use facial oils and I thought I would set out the differences between the oils available in my Skin Essentials by Mariga range and how and when they should be used.
In a previous post here, I wrote about the difference between active and inactive ingredients and how active ones can change cell behaviour and inactive ones can just temporarily smooth or plump the surface of your skin. The same applies to different oils and combinations of oils. Generally (but not always) used for dryness of some kind, there are different types for different levels of dryness.
Nourishing Oil: This is one to use if you have occasional dryness and/or flaky patches but don’t suffer with dry skin year round. If your skin is temporarily dry, itchy, flaky or tight due to cold weather, reaction to a product or a late night with one too many drinks then this is the one for you. Use daily until the problem is gone and put it away again until the next time you need it. It can also be used as a weekly mask for prevention.
This is the one that Sarah talks about in her post and the way she used it was perfect. 15ml €15
Lipid Repair Concentrate: This is the one for people who have dry skin all the time. It works in two ways, first by mimicking the natural oils on the surface of the skin to give immediate comfort and protection, and over time it will stimulate your own oil production to normal levels. Used once a day under your day or night cream, this may be reduced over time as your skin’s natural systems become stronger. 30ml €55
Rosehip Seed Oil: This oil provides essential fatty acids and anti-oxidants to the skin. If your skin is not usually dry but suffers a little bit in the winter then this is the best oil to choose. Mixing a couple of drops a day with your regular cream or under your SPF will enhance it’s moisturising abilities without giving you a greasy feel or sitting on your skin. Use in cold weather or for outdoor exposure as necessary. 30ml €20
Note: Acne skin may also benefit from correct use of Lipid Repair Concentrate as it regulates the oil production to normal levels.
I hope this helps, remember a facial oil is for life not just for winter!
Have you tried facial oils yet?
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Mariga Sheedy: Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 4:19 PM
 The importance
of following your prescribed regime:
When you
embark on a new skincare regime it is usually accompanied by high hopes and
great intentions. Hope that this will be ‘the one’ and intentions to stick to
it this time. But many people give up when they don’t see immediate results. What is vital
to realise is that changes in the skin can takes weeks and even months to show
on the surface. The ravages of a lifetime of incorrect skincare/environmental
damage/hereditary conditions are going to take time to address. However, the good
news is that most skin conditions can be improved at the very least and often
reversed. Your skin
treatment is a two way street. Simply coming to the salon for analysis and
prescription isn’t enough, you must stick exactly to your programme to get the
results you want in the time that you expect. When I first see
a new client I am happy to spend as long as necessary at the consultation to
ensure that each person knows where they have been going wrong; how products,
medications, diet, lifestyle choices and their unique heredity have led their
skin to where it is now. I explain how
that can be changed and prescribe a homecare and professional course of
treatment as necessary. I follow up every month free of charge until we see the expected results to ensure that everything is going according to plan. Your
contribution to the plan is to use the products faithfully as described, keep
your follow up appointments, and make any necessary lifestyle changes. Without this
co-operation on both sides any skincare regime is doomed from the start. The
few failures that I see are inevitably down to lack of compliance with either
the homecare regime or follow up appointments. This is really such a waste of
time and money as sometimes (in the case of acne and rosacea treatment particularly)
you will have to start all over again.
Is it
possible to have the skin you always wanted? Yes – but like anything in life
worth having you have to put the work in first.
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Mariga Sheedy: Posted on Friday, February 17, 2012 4:14 PM
 Skin Essentials by Mariga FAQ’s
1.
Are Skin Essentials products suitable for
sensitive skin? Yes, the whole ethos behind the product
range is to create a line of products which are free from all known irritants.
All Skin Essentials by Mariga products are free from fragrance, sulphates and
colourants.
2. How do I know which products are right for me? I love to see as many people as I can personally
to analyse their skins needs and prescribe a tailored programme. My advanced
skin analysis service has been specially developed to comprehensively assess
your unique skin problems and solutions. Read about it here. For geographical or other reasons it is not
always possible to visit the salon so you will find a distance analysis form on
my website for those who can’t. Just fill it out and I will take it from there.
Prefer to talk to someone? You can always just give me a call to discuss you
skin concerns on 053 9145981.
3.When is the best time to apply my products? Any time! The important thing is to use them;
they won’t work in the bottle. I can make out a suggested homecare routine
taking into account your available time, lifestyle and commitment level. It doesn’t
matter whether you apply the products day or night except for SPF which must of
course be used during the day and Overnight Repair Cream which must only be
used at night.
4.In what order do I use them? Serums, if used, are always applied to a
freshly cleansed skin followed during the day by your SPF or at night by your
treatment cream. If using both water and oil based products, the water based
one must be used first with any oily or creamy product layered on top. It is
not necessary to wait between layers, Skin Essentials by Mariga products absorb
and get to work very quickly.
5.When can I expect to see changes in my skin? This varies between individuals and you
will be given guidelines at your assessment, but generally speaking surface
issues will be resolved within a couple of weeks, deeper changes such as
stimulating sluggish oil flow or boosting collagen production take up to 3
months and acne and rosacea take at least three months to correct. It is
necessary to be patient, a lifetime of incorrect treatment takes time to
correct but with compliance you will reap the benefits far into the future.
6.My skin feels dry, is this normal? In the first few weeks of your new regime
it is possible that your skin will go through a period of feeling dry or tight.
This is usually due to the fact that most mass market skincare is full of
surface conditioners such as silicones or mineral oil which sit on the surface
of the skin and while they feel nice, they can’t change any cellular dysfunction.
Skin Essentials by Mariga products are designed to absorb fully, penetrating
deeply into the epidermis where they can correct cellular function. Your skin
will miss the ‘greasy’ layer it is used to at first but as your skin becomes
hydrated from within, this feeling will go. To make your skin feel more comfortable
during this ‘withdrawal’ period I recommend layering your products onto a
still-damp face after cleansing as this will lock in water. For those with very
dry skin to start with I recommend using two drops of Nourishing Oil under
moisturiser until your skin is producing more oil by itself. Also, this can be
a sign that you are not drinking enough water so make sure you are getting your
eight glasses a day. |
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