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The Cool Girl's
Guide to Style
How to Shop Smart—And
Look Good in Everything
Surprise
SKIN SINS
Are juice fasts and Instagram binges bad for you? Yes—but not
necessarily in the way you might think. By joiene Edgar
B
ad skin habits have always
reflected the culture and
values of the time. A decade
ago—before the dawn of
Instagram—our complexions merely had to cope with
such misdeeds as overzealous scrubbing and skipping moisturizer:
How quaint. But modern life has ushered in
1
Staying Up With
Your Screen
"Too wired to sleep" used to be a metaphor; these days, it's simply a fact:
Ninety-five percent of us use electronics within the hour before bed
at least a few nights a week, according to a National Sleep Foundation
survey. "This cuts into sleep time
and alters our circadian rhythms,"
says Phyllis C. Zee, the director
of the Sleep Disorders Center at
Northwestern Memorial Hospital in
Chicago. Exposure to bright screens
after sunset suppresses melatonin,
236
a whole new pack of bad skin habits. And
stealthy ones, at that. Who would've guessed
that going on a health kick, complete with a
juice cleanse and daily Bikram yoga, could
mess up your skin? But there's no need to
panic. Dermatologists, sleep scientists, and
exercise experts have antidotes for your
(modern) skin-wrecking ways. Follow their
advice as though it were Miley's Twitter feed.
the hormone that influences our circadian rhythms and makes us sleepy.
And what matters is not only how
much you sleep, but when—and how
consistently. "Irregular sleep patterns
deprive you of deep sleep," which is
when the brain releases growth hormones needed for cellular repair, Zee
says. "And circadian disruption is
associated with higher inflammation;
decreased ability of tissue, including
skin, to use energy; and decreased
regeneration of tissues." Any woman
worth her undereyc concealer knows
that even just a few sleepless nights
can tank your looks. A new study
conducted by Estee Lauder found
that people who slept fewer than
five hours a night experienced more
water loss (indicating a compromised
skin barrier that can't hold moisture)
and took longer to recover from sunburns than those who logged more
than seven hours a night.
GOOD BEHAVIOR: Instead of
attempting to swear off technology,
make it work for you. Download
the f.lux app, which automatically
adjusts the color of your screen to a
mellower, less blue tone in the evening. "Our internal clocks are less
sensitive to the warmer red range of
light, so this can definitely help," says
Zee. When you lose sleep during the
week, don't try to catch up by napping
the entire day away on weekends. Zee
recommends extending weekend rest
by two hours a day, tops. To offset the
barrier-depleting effects of sleep loss,
drink plenty of water daily, and apply
a night cream with ceramides and
humectants before bed.
All those energy
drinks could be
making your skin
look tired.
Makeup colors:
ColorStay Eye Shadow
in Goddess, Powder
Blush in Softspoken
Pink, and ColorStay
Lipstick in Private
Viewing by Revlon. Hair:
Rita Marmor. Makeup:
Brigitte Reiss-Andersen.
Manicure: Elle. Prop
stylist: Mary Howard
Studio. Model: Brooklyn
Decker. Fashion editor:
Paul Cavaco. Details,
seeShoppi
1J -
Eighty-nine
percent of people
say their skin
suffers when they
pull an all-nighter.
—allure.com poll
PHOTOGRAPHED BY NICOLAS MOORE
*'
x-
2
The consequences
of being glued to
your smartphone
aren't always pretty.
Overheated
Workouts
Exercise trends have gone from "Never
let 'em see you sweat" to "Harder, better,
faster, stronger" in what seems like a
heartbeat. But today's extreme sweat is
often at least partly induced by outside
heat—like, say, a thermostat cranked
to 105 degrees Fahrenheit in a Bikram
shala or some Barre Method studios—
which has the potential to damage skin.
"Bodies packed in like sardines also
create a lot of heat," says Traci D. Mitchell, a personal trainer in Chicago. "Even
if your Spinning studio is 80 degrees,
your body is feeling close to triple digits. The mirrors in my SoulCycle class
fog up completely." A new study from
Avon found that exposing skin cells
to 107-degree temperatures generates
damaging free radicals. Becent research
also suggests that high heat can worsen
hyperpigmentation by stimulating
melanocytes, or pigment-producing
cells, says Jessica Wu, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at USC's
Keck School of Medicine, who urges
melasma patients to avoid hot classes.
(Those with rosacea should already be
avoiding heat; it increases blood flow,
which can lead to a red face.)
GOOD BEHAVIOR: Bring a bottle of
mineral-water spray, like Evian Facial
Spray (the minerals are cooling), to
your next hot-yoga class. Mist your
face every ten minutes or so during
your workout to "cool off and diminish redness," says Jeannette Graf, an
assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Medical Center
in New York City. Immediately afterward, drink a glass of ice water to cool
your core, suggests Doris Day, a clinical associate professor of dermatology at NYU Langone Medical Center.
When you're done, take a lukewarm—
not frigid—shower to lower your body
temperature gradually. Lightweight
serums, gels, or lotions with antiinflammatories, like green tea extract,
can help quell remaining redness (try
Olay Begenerist Begenerating Serum).
238
Your Smartphone Habit
Imagine if your iPhone automatically "checked in" wherever it went:
It's by the sink in the ladies' room! Being tapped by your just-touched-thesubway-pole fingers! And now...rubbing against your cheek. Ew.
A number of studies have looked at smartphones' incredible germ-carrying
potential: In one, British researchers noted a bacterial count that
rivaled the average public toilet seat. Another, published in the Journal of
Applied Microbiology, found that 2O to 30 percent of viruses can be
transferred from fingertips to touchscreens. "All that dirt, oil, and bacteria
can quickly break you out," says Joshua Zeichner, the director
of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Medical Center in
New York City, who sees cases of "smartphone acne" on either side of the
face, from the upper cheek to the jawline.
GOOD BEHAVIOR: The Violight UV Cell Phone Sanitizer is a favorite
of Ava Shamban, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology
at UCLA; it "uses UV light and ozone to fry bacteria in less than five
minutes," she says. PhoneSoap, debuting this month, destroys
bacteria with UV light while simultaneously charging your device. And
antibacterial products made for electronics, like Wireless
Wipes and iKIenz Cleaner Solution, disinfect without harming delicate
screens. If the damage is done, apply a product containing
2 percent salicylic acid or 2.5 percent benzoyl peroxide twice a day
(try Philosophy Clear Days Ahead Spot Treatment) to eradicate zits.
X
o
4
Getting Juiced
One thing is certain: Fruits and vegetables are healthy. So subsisting on
their juices for a few days could
only be extra-healthy, right? Well,
the first problem with most overthe-counter juices is that they're
really high in sugar: BluePrint's
P.A.M. juice has 45 grams, and
Organic Avenue's Royal Red drink
contains 30 grams (a can of Coke
has 39 grams). When you drink
nothing but juice, explains Wu, "you
get a spike in blood sugar and insulin, which can trigger a cascade of
hormonal effects, including elevated androgens, the acne-causing
male hormones." This can affect
skin in as little as seven days. Sugar
molecules in the bloodstream can
also latch onto and degrade collagen and elastin fibers in a process
called glycation, which leads to
wrinkles and sagging. "This doesn't
translate to a 20-year-old suddenly
looking 90," concedes David Bank,
an assistant clinical professor at
Columbia Presbyterian Medical
Center in New York City. "But her
skin won't glow as it should, and it
may show early signs of aging, like
lines and loss of plumpness." A single cleanse won't wreck you; routine
sugar fluctuations will.
GOOD BEHAVIOR: Keep cleanses
short (one to three days) and infrequent (every other month, max).
Look for low-sugar vegetable-based
blends (LizzyJays makes a green
juice with only two grams of sugar;
Urban Remedy has several with seven). Or make your own in a Vitamix
blender, rather than a juicer, so
you get the benefits of fiber. ("It
can slow the absorption of sugar
into your system, so there's less of
an insulin effect, and in turn, less
acne and glycation," says Wu.) Start
with greens and add only enough
low-sugar fruit, like berries, melon,
or apple, to make the drink palatable, plus almond or cashew milk
for protein, suggests Graf. The skin
needs protein to build new collagen
and elastin, and nut-derived milks
are also rich in good fats—essential
for a healthy, hydrated skin barrier.
5
UV Amnesia
UV rays are bad for your skin: Duh.
So why are so many young women making a beeline for them?
"Millennials are tanning in droves,"
notes Boston dermatologist Ranella
Hirsch. The majority of women who
tan indoors are 18 to 25 years old.
As a result, "we're seeing enormous
numbers of very young women with
advanced melanomas," she adds. In
the past 40 years, melanoma rates in
women 18 to 34 have jumped 800 percent. That's not a typo: 800 percent.
And 31 percent of Americans say
they never wear sunscreen, according to a Consumer Reports National
Research Center poll. "They don't
realize sun damage is cumulative,"
says Karyn Grossman, chief of dermatology at St. John's Medical Center
in Santa Monica. "Bake in your teens
and 20s, and you'll increase your
cancer risk and start seeing little
lines and dark spots by 30."
GOOD BEHAVIOR: Nobody's saying you have to permanently
embrace being pale (although porcelain skin is a good look—just ask
Scarlett Johansson). Pretty much
everything we once hated about
self-tanners—the orange tint, the
smell, the streakiness—is a thing
of the past, now that products like
Jergens Natural Glow (and, if you're
a millionaire, La Mer The Face and
Body Gradual Tan) are available.
And how hard is it, really, to use a
face cream with SPF 30 every morning? (L'Oreal Paris Youth Code is a
nice, indulgent one.) Consider the
payoff: In a new Australian study,
participants who applied broadspectrum sunscreen daily showed
no measurable increase in skin
aging at the end of the four-and-ahalf-year trial.
6
Cocktail Hours
Indulging in alcohol isn't exactly
a new problem—no doubt there are
papyri buried somewhere showing
tiny figures stumbling and waving
as they walk like Egyptians. What's
changed is how often we indulge.
According to a Gallup poll, nearly
half of white women are regular
drinkers. But all those (very) happy
hours can lead to (very) dry skin,
a sign of the number-one side effect
of excessive drinking: dehydration.
"When skin's water level drops
below what's optimal, it turns dull
and dusky," says Bank. "And fine
lines become more evident when
skin isn't plumped with moisture."
A study in Skin Pharmacology and
Physiology also found that alcohol
decreases the concentration of
antioxidants in the skin, leaving it
more susceptible to sun damage
and premature aging. (No wonder
other studies have found that
drinking alcohol is associated with
an increased risk of sunburn and
melanoma.) Then there's the fact
that alcohol is a vasodilator,
meaning it aggravates rosacea.
Oh, and cocktails with added sugar
can cause the same acne and
glycation we mentioned earlier.
GOOD BEHAVIOR: Did all of the
above make you feel like you could
really use a drink? Well, no one's
going to tell you you can't have one.
Just try to keep it to one when
possible, and choose wisely at the
bar, especially if you're prone to
flushing or pimples. "Not all alcohol
is sugar," notes Wu. "It contains
varying amounts of carbohydrates,
depending on the drink, but alcohol
alone won't raise your bloodglucose level." It's the sweet tonic
in your G&T you need to watch
out for. Wu orders mojitos made
with club soda and only half
the usual sugar syrup. And try to
follow each drink with a glass
of water to curb dehydration.
239