First Acupuncture Treatment

Today, I received my first Acupuncture treatment.  Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese technique that incorporates tiny needles puncturing the skin, into the tissue of the body.  These needles are strategically placed by a trained Acupuncturist along the meridians of the body.  Acupuncture helps to treat many various forms of ailments, addictions and underlying emotional problems that an individual may have.  My visit started with seeking out another treatment, the Gua Sha.

I saw a video where Gua Sha was used on a person to help treat the pain they were experiencing.  Another Chinese technique was used by scraping the tissue with a spoon.  I became curious and wanted to experience this treatment.  I’ve tried cupping.  This one was a similar idea, to bring blood flow to the surface of the skin.  After watching the video, I Google searched for the nearest Gua Sha treatment and came across one close by me.  After I spoke to the friendly receptionist, it was determined that I needed to receive Acupuncture along with the Gua Sha (Gua Sha usually is not performed by itself).

I booked my Acupuncture visit and arrived to the Las Vegas Integrative Medicine with no expectations of what to experience.  I have never received Acupuncture but had been trained in Acupressure and knew about the meridians and the points that is used in Acupuncture.  With this knowledge going into the treatment, I knew that the chi within me was going to get treated.

Dr. Yoojin Lee-Seders, ND, OMD warmly greeted me when she walked into the room.  Very petite in frame, a soft-spoken voice and a genuine sincerity of wanting to know my medical history and current ailments, I felt at ease as we went through my consultation.  My main concern was my right neck, shoulder, hand and knee.  Everything on the right side of my body has been in discomfort.  She digested my information.  Before stepping out of the door, she directed me to put on a hospital gown when she is out of the room and to lay face up on the table.

As I was laying on the table in the hospital gown, I got a little butterflies in my stomach.  For the first time, I felt a little nervous.  She came back into the room, placed all the sterilized needles out on her work station, turned on some soothing ocean sounds (coincidentally, the same ocean sounds I listen to when I take a bath) and started to palpate the areas on my body that I had told her were causing pain.  Stating if the pain was either greater or less when she’d press into my body, she got a clearer vision as to where to place the needles.

After wiping my body down with a disinfecting alcohol wipe, she began to perform the Acupuncture needles, one-by-one into the meridian channels of my body opposite side from where I was feeling the pain.  It felt like a sting, a sharp pain in some areas and sometimes just a tiny poke.  There were two areas on my body that caused a deep, achy, almost unbearable pain.  One was on my left outer knee, the stomach meridian and the other was on the inside of my right heel, the kidney meridian.  Needle after needle were placed into my arms, legs, feet wrists and one in between my eyes.  She then asked how I was feeling before she placed another layer of cloth over my body and an infrared lamp at my feet.  Dr.  Lee-Seders then told me that I would be lying there for 3o minutes and she exited the room.

During this time, I was allowing my body to go through the motions.  I let go of all control and let the work of the needles puncturing the meridians go to work.  At times I could feel some throbbing pain but it only lasted seconds.  Tingling and numbing sensations came and went in waves throughout the 30 minutes.  At one point, I felt a heavy weight laying on my chest.  The weight got heavier, my ribs became compressed and my breathing grew shallow.  I reminded myself that I was letting go and allowing the work of the needles to perform their job within me.  Within a couple minutes, the heavy weight was lifted off my chest, my ribs expanded, my breathing became effortless, I felt like my body was a light weight of air.

The doctor came back into the room to check up on me, asking me if I was relaxed.  I was indeed relaxed, very relaxed, elated even.  She told me I had about 10-15 more minutes left and asked me I would be okay for that length of time, which replied, “Yes”.  I was very happy to hear that I could keep experiencing more work of the Acupuncture needles.  For the remainder of the time, I rested.  No pain, no discomfort, just complete uninterrupted rest from body and mind.

Time was up.  Dr. Lee-Seders began to remove the Acupuncture needles, one-by-one from my body.  I felt like I had just did an intense weight lifting session.  My body felt swollen but was not swollen at all.  She gave me after treatment instructions by using Castor Oil to rub into my skin on certain areas of the body.  The Castor oil helps to bring warmth and promote healing.  We discussed the Gua Sha and decided that she will perform in on me after my next visit.

I purchased some Homeopathic medicine to treat my sinus issues and inflammation in my body and purchased a package for treatment.  With a 5 session package purchase, she gave me the 6th treatment for free.  I now have my sessions booked and look forward to receiving more Acupuncture treatments with Dr. Lee-Seders.  This was a great experience and she was phenomenal.  A great doctor with patience, kindness and ease with performing her well-mastered Acupuncture.

 

 

The Acid Mantle

The skin is quite an amazing organ.  It has a natural layer on the epidermis called the “acid mantle”.  This organically, acidic, built-in layer on the skin helps to fight off bacteria, fungus and other contaminants from penetrating farther into the skin, protecting the body from harmful outside predators. 

As we age the acid mantle increases the pH on the skin.  People age 60 and over have a pH of 6.0+ depending on the depletion of their skin cells being able to turnover and produce more skin cells.  As the pH increases, the immunity the skin has to certain bacteria becomes suppressed and illnesses and viruses can arise because of this.

Beyond the acid mantle having an acidic pH of 4.5-5.5 naturally, what else is this thin layer on the epidermis comprised of?  It also contains lipids, fatty acids, lactic acid, amino acids and skin’s own natural moisturizing factor.  When any of these other constituents are altered, it leaves the skin susceptible to unwelcome bacteria, fungus and viruses.

To keep your acid mantle from changing, use products that are close to its pH.  This will enable a warm welcome allowing the skin to continue doing its job with continuity.

What’s Within a Kiss

“It’s just a kiss.”  How many times have those words been uttered?  To, Ingrid Bergman, a Swedish actress in the mid 1900’s, “A kiss is a secret told to the mouth instead of the ear; kisses are the messengers of love and tenderness”.

What’s within a kiss that creates so many feelings?  Why is it more than, “just a kiss”?  The tissue on the lips is the same tissue that comprises the genitalia and the nipples.  These three areas are interconnected to each other.  When the lips are kissed it heats up the body and sends signals throughout it heating up the erogenous zones.  The heating up of the erogenous zones creates a desire to allow the body to experience what the lips are feeling.

Men’s Health Magazine did a survey for both men and women.  In this survey, they asked the participant to rank 10 areas on their body on a scale of 1-10 that were most arousing.  Notice on the survey, a kiss for both male and female ranked number two on the survey, being outranked by the their genitalia which came in as number one.  The prelude of a kiss it what begins, in most cases, a sensory inflation within the body.   It is that particular tissue of the skin that creates the impulses to desire more.  It is the kiss that sustains the passion during sex and it is the kiss that concludes the act.

A kiss is 100 times more sensitive than your fingertips.

A kiss is 100 times more sensitive than your fingertips.  There is a reason for that.  A kiss is to be savored, to be reserved, to be longed for from someone deserving of its soft touch.  God was smart when he created the different skin cells for each area of the body.  It is this masterful design that creates yearning for one another.  The touch of a kiss is the peacemaker of relationships.

Hawaii is First in the World to Ban Certain Sunscreens

Planning on visiting Hawaii and spending time on the beach?  Make sure you have the right sunscreen packed in your beach bag.  Scientists have discovered that certain sunscreens are harming the coral reefs because of these two specific ingredients: octinoxate (octyl methoxycinnamate) and oxybenzone which are found in 70 percent of the sunscreens on the market.  Octinoxate has been shown to contribute to the bleaching of the coral reefs and oxybenzone exposure leads to the death of baby coral.

The coral reef is one of Hawaii’s largest attractions and Governor David Ige decided it was time to prevent more damage to the coral reefs by signing a ban on sunscreens containing octinoxate and oxybenzone.  The ban is the first in the world on selling sunscreens containing those two ingredients.  Although the ban does not go into effect until 2021, stores in Hawaii are pulling those sunscreens off the shelf and replacing them with sunscreens that contain zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.

Manufacturers of sunscreen containing octinoxate and oxybenzone that are on Hawaii’s ban list are not happy about the ban.  They are fighting back, claiming that without sunscreen, people will be susceptible to skin cancer which can develop with high amounts of unprotected sun exposure.  Hawaii wants its residents and tourists to wear sunscreen, just the right kind of sunscreen that won’t cause harm to their coral reefs.

2018, Year of Love

We are our own harshest critic.  Critiquing ourselves with how we look seems to becoming more and more prevalent with social media sites increasing in numbers.  We tend to compare ourselves with other’s posts.  Filters have deceived our eyes with the reality that truly exists within each post.  I know I am guilty of looking at another female’s picture wishing I could look so flawless like them.  Comparing ourselves to others will always exist.  We will always want a better physique, better skin, better hair, better makeup.

Human nature is competitive.  That innate desire to be better revolves around Darwin’s natural selection theory, that we choose to select things for ourselves based off of our own survival.  Appearance is one of the basic components to natural selection.  It only makes sense that we want to appear a certain way to others and filters, angles, lighting tend to aid us in our “flawless” appearance.

I chose the year of 2018 to be the year of love.  When you love yourself, you are able to accept more of who you are.  When you love yourself, you are able to love who you are without makeup, without the perfect body, without the perfect hair.  When you love yourself, you allow yourself to live more freely, creating more smiles within your day.  When you love yourself, you are able to share your love with others creating healthy and happy relationships.

This new year, year 2018, be that spiritual being full of love and see the anew joy it brings you.  Happy you, happy skin, happy life.  Love.

Fleuresse

Beautiful packaging with nothing to deliver.  When I first received Fleuresse, I was really impressed with how well everything was packaged.  From the outside in, it showed class and sophisticated elegance.  Wrapped in plastic, it guaranteed that only my hands would be touching what lays inside the package.  I felt special, thinking that I was about to experience pure luxury for my skin.  To my dismay, it was the complete opposite.

The Fleuresse Go Kit is developed for a 7 day (one week) use of night and day skincare treatments.  It consists of a cleanser, serum, day cream, night cream and an eye cream.  Fleuresse states on their website, “The Fleuresse skincare system, hydrates, nourishes and accelerates skin cell regeneration to reveal brighter, more youthful looking skin.”  They also state on their website, “Kyani combines the remarkable ingredients we have used for years in the Triangle of Health-Blueberry, Noni and Tocotrienol Vitamin E with plant stem cell extracts from a rare variety of Swiss apple”.  They also go on to state, “this blend of natural ingredients”, which would be great if those were the only ingredients used.  These ingredients that are used on their home page of the Flueresse as their opening statement are misleading.  Delving further into the ingredients of their products, I was utterly in shock by the lengthy list.  For the Fleuresse Day Crème Ingredient list, I counted 64 ingredients.  Sixty-four!  Never have I seen such a long list of ingredients, especially with the word “natural” being used to describe it. 

 

 

  Above is the ingredient list for Fleuresse Day Crème.  As you can see, it took me three screen shots to capture all of the listed ingredients.  Look closer at the ingredient list, particularly to the first five listed ingredients:

  1. Water
  2. Dimethicone
  3. Polysilicone-11
  4. Coco-Caprylate/Caprate
  5. Hexlyene Glycol

Two forms of chemically derived silicone are listed as number 2 and number 3.  What does this mean for your skin?  It is a great filler on your skin, helps to give your skin that smooth touch and smooth appearance by helping to “fill in” fine lines on your skin.  It also is a film on your skin and just sits there.  It does not penetrate into the skin and deliver amazing results that the other ingredients would that were listed in their Triangle of Health.  These two are great ingredients to use as a primer for your makeup but not for using as a skincare treatment intended to “hydrate, nourish and accelerate skin cell regeneration”.

Using the cleanser, I felt like I was using a cheap lotion from the all-a-dollar store.  I never felt that I was getting a deep cleanse.  If it weren’t for the use of my Clarisonic with my cleanse, I would have felt that I was layering on cleanser after cleanser, day after day.  The serum had a nice glide to it but I had to use more of the product because it would dry up too fast.  Applying the Day Crème and the Night Crème on my skin, I felt like I was reapplying the cleanser.  There was no change in scent, texture or amount used for application.  The eye cream had a brightening color of pink hue which was my favorite choice out of the entire kit.

What I experienced with the Fleuresse Go Kit is that my skin got drier.  I never once saw a “brighter, more youthful” appearance on my skin as they state it will do.  It felt like I was applying silicone to my skin everyday.  Fleuresse created an illusion.  They began with the packaging, artistically creating an aesthetic appeal to the eye and for their product they filled it with silicone to help deceive the consumers eye for it delivers no benefits to the skin.

Flueresse Go Kit receives 2.0 stars.

raw honey SKIN CORRECTING NIGHT balm

Wearing raw honey SKIN CORRECTING night balm.

 

I am an absolute believer in raw ingredients delivering great results if:

a.) Formulated correctly.

b.) Natural preservatives are used for longer shelf life.

c.) They are ingredients found to have benefits for the skin.

 

 

Dr. Atif Munir Malik, MD & MD (H), has found a way to formulate 4 raw ingredients that have been proven throughout time to have lasting benefits for the skin and are comprised of my three main product criteria listed above.  Dr. Malik is Board Certified in Family Medicine and is also a  Homeopathic Physician.

In the raw honey SKIN CORRECTING night balm, Dr. Malik has been able to properly shift his formulation from the REAL Honey Ointment for spot treatment therapy to a facial balm using the same four ingredients of:

 

1.) Raw Honey

2.) Coconut Oil

3.) Beeswax

4.) Olive Oil

Raw Honey benefits the skin by helping to correct:

1.) Active acne.

*It’s anti-bacterial, properties help to rid the bacteria found within the follicle shaft which harbors acne.

2.) Redness.

*It’s anti-inflammatory properties help to de-red the skin from sun exposure, rosacea, acne, over consumption of alcohol and post laser treatments.

3.) Dryness.

*It is a natural humectant which helps to keep moisture within the skin.

4.) Uneven texture.

*It has natural exfoliating properties which help to combat dead skin cells delivering an even skin tone.

5.) Harshness.

*It’s natural emollient helps to keep your skin soft and supple, ridding the appearance of harsh wear and tear on the skin.

These five reasons alone from the RAW Honey are great reasons to use this facial balm for your skin benefit but it does not stop there.  The three additional ingredients of Coconut Oil, Beeswax and Olive Oil have similar benefits for the skin:

anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-oxidants and moisture-retention.

These benefits indeed make this facial balm a TRUE SKIN TREATMENT.

The most effective area on my face that I saw the greatest results were my eyes.  Not only did it help with minimizing the appearance of fine lines, it also helped to brighten the appearance of my eyes making them look more awake as well as help to reduce the appearance of dark circles under my eyes.  If you want a great eye treatment balm, this would be ideal.

Using the balm on my face was great for helping to lock in moisture.  It served similar to an ointment, creating an occlusive barrier to retain moisture within my skin.  This was great for my skin on days that I felt the harsh conditions of the weather were wearing on my skin.  The only downside to the balm was the sticky texture I would feel while applying but once when the balm warmed in my fingers and on my skin as I was applying it, the sticky texture began to dissipate as it dissolved onto my skin.

I found an added benefit to this facial balm as I used it.  I applied it at night for skin therapy as I slept, I also applied it during the day at times when I wanted more moisture on my skin.  I found it to be a perfect primer for that glowing, “dewy” look.  Applying it before makeup allowed my makeup to go on smoothly and evenly.  It held the makeup in place and kept my skin glowing the entire day.  I would highly recommend it as a skincare tip for achieving a “dewy”, youthful look, for nights out on the town or for a special event.  I assure you, your skin will look radiant and people may want to know your secret as to why it looks so radiant.

The raw honey SKIN CORRECTING night balm delivers in its name, it is precisely a balm that helps to correct the skin with its various imperfections but I don’t want the name, “balm”, to discourage anyone from using it on the face.  Although we may think of balm’s being designed for lips or spot treating small areas on the body only, this balm is designed for the skin on the face.  Your skin will receive wonderful benefits from using it on your face and eyes.

*Skincare Tip:

A little bit goes a long ways.  Warm balm in fingertips before applying a thin layer onto the skin.

Because this product does not come completely packaged with an application tool raw honey SKIN CORRECTING night balm receives  4.0 stars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Peter Pan Facial

The Peter Pan Facial.

Never Grow Up, well at least by a Perfectly Posh line where its motto is to “Stay forever young!”.  Of course, everyone would like to stay forever young, be like Peter Pan and never grow up.  Unfortunately, father time and mother nature act as parents reminding us children that eventually, we all have to grow up.

I gave myself a Perfectly Posh skincare treatment by the Never Grow Up line, intermixed with complimentary lines to the Never Grow Up theory.  I called it the Peter Pan Facial.

Bright Young Thang Face Wash by Perfectly Posh.

Beginning with the Bright Young Thang face wash, I performed a double cleanse.  The first cleanse was a good awakening to my senses with the spicy aroma of ginseng floating around the air.  The second cleanse awakened my skin with the energizing caffeine ingredient.  A nice clean scent, accompanied by an invigorating cleanse.  I was pleasantly surprised to notice that this cleanse was a combination of a milky cleanser and a foaming gel cleanser.  It was moisturizing on my skin and still offered the squeaky clean feel afterwards.  A little bit of this face wash goes a long ways so you get more usage per your dollar amount spent.

Bright Young Thang Face Wash by Perfectly Posh receives 5.0 Stars!

Pore Chores.

After the face wash comes the exfoliation and in this case, I used the Pore Chores as both the exfoliator and the face mask.  I chose to use this one product as a dynamic duo because it is time effective and has the capability to do both.  With the purifying clays, citrus ingredient from the Bergamot oil and lactic acid, this face mask, detoxified my skin and also helped to exfoliate the skin from the acids by eating away dead skin cells.

When I first put on the mask, I felt a warm tingling which is a common side effect from incorporating AHA’s (Alpha Hydroxy Acids) into a product.  After about 30 seconds the warm tingling subdued and I slowly started to feel the Kaolin and Illite clays take over by firming and tightening my skin.

Pore Chores Face Mask by Perfectly Posh.

As the face mask became more dry, my face became more tight and firm.  I rubbed my fingers over the face mask and it was like a dry layer of second skin, not one part of the mask transferred onto my finger.  After only about 7 minutes, the mask was completely dry and I took it off with a warm wet towel.  My skin had a radiant, even tone look.  The look I would expect to have after an exfoliation.

I would recommend using this face mask no more than 2x per week because of how active the ingredients are, it could possibly cause the skin to become irritated.  As with any clay mask, make sure to keep the lid sealed tight in between uses so the air won’t harden the clay.

Pore Chores Face Mask by Perfectly Posh receives 5.0 Stars!

Never Grow Up Anti-Aging Serum.

Next step for the Peter Pan Facial was the application of the Never Grow Up Anti-Aging Serum.  I was not fond of the scent as I was applying the serum to my skin.  It is strong in lavender which over the past 20 years of using it on different skin types has become one of my least favorite scents.  Although I am not a big fan of the scent of lavender, I am a big fan of its benefits for the skin.  Bypassing the scent, I liked the fluidity of application, it applied quick and fast onto my skin.  However, once when it dried on my skin, it created a tacky texture and felt like it was just resting on my skin, sticky like how soda pop feels when it has touched the skin.  It did create radiance on my skin which I liked but I would consider this a gel than more of a serum.

 

Never Grow Up Anti-Aging Serum by Perfectly Posh receives 2.0 Stars.

Dawn On Me Daytime Facial Oil.

Following the serum, I then applied the Dawn On Me Daytime Facial Oil.  Facial oils are one of my favorite products.  Not too many companies add face oils into their product lines and I respect the ones that do.  I use a face oil on my skin everyday.  Being that I live in the desert and the air is very dry, the face oils add the moisture that I need to my skin.  I was really excited for this step in my facial.  I fell in love with the scent right away when I started to apply it on my skin.  The Citrus scent of lime is soft, not overbearing, as well as the ginger.

This facial oil has an accumulation of 15 oils.  That is very impressive and very hard to do when formulating a face oil.  The color of the face oil is almost transparent as if it were just one single oil.  It is a very light-weight oil that does not go on heavy or thick and this is where I want the face oil to shine, as in rise high in the stars and it does not.  Similar to the serum, it just rests on the skin.  I didn’t feel it penetrating the skin that I would like a face oil to do.  It creates the added shine that an oil naturally does but it didn’t create the ultra-moisturizing nourishment to the skin that an oil should do.  With all the wonderful anti-aging oils within the formulation of the product, I would’ve liked to have less of a slick application on my skin and more suppleness for my skin.

Dawn On Me Daytime Facial Oil by Perfectly Posh receives 2.0 Stars.

Never Grow Up Anti-Aging Face Creme.

The last step to this Peter Pan Facial was the Never Grow Up Anti-Aging Face Crème.  I liked the scent of this face cream, it brought me back to my childhood days when my grandmother would allow me to have a piece of her black licorice.  It is blended perfectly with citrus, floral and wood scents.  Coconut fruit juice takes place of the water and the rich moisture of shea butter are ideal for hydrating and moisturizing the skin.  It is a thin cream with a powerful punch because it delivers a knockout performance on the skin, not too heavy and not thin.  My skin didn’t have any extra residue on the skin which comes with a lot of ultra-moisturizing skin care creams.  The only reason I cannot give this great product 5 stars is because it does not come with a reusable applicator to retrieve the product out of its container.

Never Grow Up Anti-Aging Face Cream by Perfectly Posh receives 4.0 Stars.

Perfectly Posh is a fun skin care line.  I always enjoy reading the names for each product.  Very creative and a good play on words and a good play on sayings, phrases, and mottos.  It makes me feel like I’m reliving certain eras and trends.  When I read, Never Grow Up, I automatically knew that these products were going to be anti-aging products without even reading the ingredients list and that is what I love about Perfectly Posh, the names playfully speak for themselves.  This Peter Pan Facial was fun because it made me feel like I did never want to grow up and just “stay forever young!”.

 

 

Real Honey Ointment

Four ingredients:  Raw Honey, Coconut Oil, Beeswax and Olive Oil.  Sometimes it’s the simplicity within a product that is all your skin needs.  Developed and formulated by Dr. Atif M. Malik from my neighboring desert state of Arizona.  Dr. Malik, inspired by his patients and his passion for Chemistry, has developed a natural ointment that I would consider to be an important, medicinal staple for your medicine cabinet to help treat certain skin ailments.

I have 2 case studies of my own to share and the pictures speak for themselves.

 

 

Day 1

Case Study One.

My son, Maximus, is always coming home with a new story to tell of his football practices, scrimmages and games.  While at one of his scrimmages he obtained a large piece of his skin rubbed off by a big tackle on the field.  I thought I would use Dr. Malik’s REAL Honey Ointment to treat his skin.

Day 1.

Maximus’ skin had already gone through the scabbing and oozing stage of the initial injury.  This is approximately the third week after he first acquired the open wound on his arm from tackling his opponent onto the ground.  As you can see, the skin has been traumatized and hypopigmentation as well as a little hyperpigmentation has formed were his skin tissue was torn from his arm.

Day 2

Day 2.

The skin has started to look a little more vibrant.  The pink tone that was in Maximus’ skin on Day 1 is almost diminished.  The hypopigmentation is starting to get pigment back into the skin.

Day 3

Day 3.

The skin keeps filling in with more pigment where the hypopigmentation is found.  The hyperpigmentation is slowly starting to fade, lessening excessive pigmentation on the skin.

 

Day 4

Day 4.

As each day passed, Maximus’ skin injury filled in two-thirds of pigment into his hypopigmentation.  The skin is ultra-moisturized allowing a safe barrier of oil to protect his skin from dryness.

Day 5

Day 5.

The skin by Day 5 has produced so much melanin production where the skin was traumatized by the injury which caused hypopigmentation.  The hyperpigmentation is starting to lessen, returning back to Maximus’ natural skin coloring.

Day 6

Day 6.

Within 6 days, Maximus’ injury had received three-fourths of his skin with pigmentation.  The skin looks like it is healing greatly from the terrible injury it had received a few weeks prior.  The skin does not irritate him because of the emollient the ointment has in it which helps to protect his skin from losing moisture.  Both the hypopigmentation and the hyperpigmentation are diminishing and it only took 6 days.

Day 30.

Current Day. Day 30.

Only one month later and Maximus’ injury looks almost completely healed.  Small spots on his arm with hypopigmentation linger with mild hyperpigmentation.  Looking at his arm from a distance and his injury looks unnoticeable.  The REAL Honey Ointment helped in the healing process of his skin which was traumatized by his football tackle.

Case Study Two.

This next case study was done on myself.  I saw the results that Maximus was receiving by using the ointment and chose to use it to treat irritated skin on my eyes.

*Disclaimer-This product is not recommended to use around the eyes or to be ingested.

Day 1

Day 1.

Look closely into the crease of my eyelids.  Both of my eyelids were suffering from acute dermatitis.  They were so irritated that even the skin had abrasions in the creases and caused mild pain on the lids.  I had treated them with an arnica gel and soothing eye cream and neither of those treatments were working.  A whole week had passed and my eyelids were not getting better, only worse.  That is when I chose to use the REAL Honey Ointment and applied it directly onto the irritated skin only.

Day 3

Day 3.

After only two nights of using the ointment on my eyes, not only did the pain go away but the acute dermatitis was gone.  My eyelids were completely healed from their irritation, the inflammation and the tiny abrasions.  With only two night treatments, I could not believe that the ointment was what finally healed them after multiple attempts from different, natural treatments.  It has been a month since I last treated my eyes with the ointment and have not received a reoccurrence of acute dermatitis on my eyelids.

As you can see from both case studies, the REAL Honey Ointment aided in treating both my son and myself.    Only a small amount of ointment was used during each application, leaving three-fourths of the ointment left in the 0.5 ounce container.  Dr. Atif M. Malik states that some of his clients have used his ointment for their dark spots and dermatitis and wonders if possibly it could be beneficial in treating stretch marks and scars.  I can definitely make the claim that it helped to treat hypopigmentation, hyperpigmentation, accelerated scarring healing and acute dermatitis.  This is truly a medicinal ointment that should be a staple must-have in the medicine cabinet.

REAL Honey Ointment by Dr. Atif M. Malik receives 5.o Stars.

APIVITA Bee Radiant

APIVITA’s Bee Radiant line illuminates your skin with that natural “dewy” look without making your skin feel super oily and overloaded with products.  What I truly love about this line is that it extracts the core foundation of  APIVITA’s nomenclature by bringing it into existence with products.  Derived from the Latin words Apis (bee) and Vita (life) which translates into APIVITA, “life of the bee”, the Bee Radiant collection in all three of their products contains their patented propolis extract.

Propolis comes from APIVITA’s own Beehives.  Being beekeepers of their 200 beehives,  APIVITA control’s the elements in which the bees are exposed.  Changing their locations twice a year to accommodate the seasonal shifts of blossoms among herbs, trees and trees bearing fruit.  This allows the bees to “produce honey, pollen and royal jelly free of pesticides, antibiotics and chemical residues” (APIVITA Beekeeping).  By controlling the environment the bees are exposed to, APIVITA creates products without all the pollutants that can damage your skin.

Bee Radiant Age Defense Illuminating Serum with orange stem cells & Vitamin C helps to penetrate into the skin, defending it against harmful environmental stressors that age the skin.  The serum, a thin, milky substance, resembling the texture, consistency and color of the inside of a milk thistle stem, glides on smoothly into the skin.  A strong, masculine aroma mixes well with the vitamin  C blends of bergamot, green tangerine, grapefruit and the orange stem cells that made my skin smell fresh as the products absorbed into my skin.  As soon as it touched the skin, it illuminated it, rid any dull, lackluster, tired looking skin from my face.  Designed to treat fine lines and combat external elements that prematurely age the skin, I knew my skin was in good hands.  It left my skin feeling moisturized and hydrated from the wild rose tea that is infused within it.

BEE RADIANT Age Defense Illuminating Serum receives 5.0 Stars!APIVITA 5-Action Eye Serum was tricky at first for me to use.  The serum was extremely thin the first few times that I pumped it out to use around my eyes.  I tried to catch the serum as it drizzled off of my pinky and placed it around the orbitals of my eyes.  My eyes didn’t look so tired and quickly awoke as I continued rubbing in the serum.  It didn’t take long for my eyes to soak in the serum.

APIVITA calls the eye serum 5-action because it delivers 5 actions to the skin:  1.)  Firmness 2.) Smoothed Wrinkles 3.)  Hydration  4.)  Signs of Fatigue and 5.)  Dark Circles.  The tackiness within the serum creates both the firmness around the eye and the adds the hydration to the eyes that they need.  The smoothness around the eyes is created by the copper complex ingredient that helps against aging the skin and helps to treat fine lines.  The tiredness and dark circles are treated by the white lily and ginseng that help to produce the illuminating look around the eyes.

I found by my third time I used the serum, to shake the bottle first.  After I shook the bottle, the ingredients blended together and when I pumped out the serum, it came out in a more thick, creamy substance which was ideal to apply around my eyes.

5-Action Eye Serum receives 4.0 Stars.

I really liked the ingredient components that made Bee Radiant Age Defense Illuminating Cream with Orange Stem Cells (Light Texture).  Made with the same ingredients as the Bee Radiant Age Defense Illuminating Serum with orange stem cells & vitamin C, the Illuminating Cream delivers the same age-defying properties that help to fight against environmental pollutants and premature aging and comes in both light texture for oily skin and rich texture for dry skin.

Milky in color, texture similar to pudding, the Bee Radiant Cream felt nice in my fingertips but once when I started applying it into my skin, the cream became harder to rub in.  I had to continue rubbing the cream, over and over into the skin, waiting for the heat from application to warm up the product to melt into my skin.  I used a smaller amount the second and third time for applying it and had the same result every time.  Although when it was once applied, my skin was radiant, illuminated in the mirror and felt like a matte texture on my fingers but looked dewy and glowed beautifully.

I love creams placed in jars because they look like the classic, retro “cold cream” the fashionable, glamour cream. APIVITA shines in elegance as always when it comes to packaging.  The only thing that was missing from this packaging was a reusable applicator.  I had an applicator that I used when I retrieved the product from the jar.  This keeps the product free from cross-contamination of using fingers.

Other than the hard application of the cream into the skin and a reusable applicator for sanitation purposes, this product stays true to its name and illuminated my skin with age defensive properties.

*Skincare tip: A little bit goes a long ways.  More bang for your buck!

BEE RADIANT Age Defense Illuminating Cream with Orange Stem Cells Light Texture

Receives 3.o Stars

The BEE RADIANT line is a great anti-aging line and the skin receives the best results by using all 3 products together.