Those Pesky Peptides

Recommended. I need peptides. Presumably peptides help stimulate collagen production (When you age and your collagen breaks down you get wrinkled). With my allergies it was impossible to find a skin care product with peptides but without the super-duper preservatives that give me a rash. Enter Arcona. 

I've used several Arcona products. Some I found very good. Some were just so-so. The peptide wielding one I liked best is the Peptide Hydrating Complex. Besides the peptides, it also has a tiny bit of retinol in there, which in any quantity is very irritating. The other I tried and liked is the Magic Green Ice. Go for the hydrating complex if you have dry skin and Magic Green Ice if you have oily skin or want to use the solution under your regular moisturizer.
The downside of these products is their price. Bloody expensive. $52.00 U.S. for the Green Ice and a whopping $75.00 for the hydrating serum.

More about peptides: Actually, there are two uses of peptides in skin care products. Palmitoyl pentapeptide (Matrixyl), which is the collagen booster one. Sometimes these have copper attached, which seems to enhance the action and also have an anti-oxident effect. The other is a neuro-peptide (argireline), which depresses the release of neurotransmitters from nerves and keeps the muscle from contracting - like Botox. From what I've read, there's scant proof they work at all when applied topically, especially the neuro-peptides.

The Perfect, Safe Sunscreen

Long time no post, but I've decided to revive this blog because I've found so many great products.
Recommended:Since it's summer, I want to introduce you to the absolute best mineral-based (zinc oxide) sun screens. They are made by Devita (http://www.devitaskincare.com/).

I use the Solar Body Block on my body and the Solar Protective Moisturizer on my face. They disappear into the skin immediately - none of that thick, white stuff - no masking of skin tone. They moisturize and aren't greasy. Ingredients are just good for you stuff like glycerin, vitamin e, aloe and grape seed extract (a natural anti-oxident).

The Web site says they don't use nanotechnology. So, they're not changing the zinc oxide into something teeny tiny that can enter the blood stream and perhaps even cross the blood-brain barrier, which is one way to get sticky, gooey, zinc-oxide to behave. For more about this, see DeVita's own Independence Day blog (http://devitastyle.com/home/blog).

Follow up: I asked DeVita about how they manage the magic. Barbara Thomas, their Customer Service Director answered with, "... we use cutting-edge, Non-Nano, uncoated, nearly transparent Micronized Zinc Oxide. ...If you are reading old articles on how micronized zinc oxide cannot be nearly transparent etc, you are not up to speed on what is available now."
In other words, there are no down-sides to these products except the cost ( in the $25 - $30 dollar U.S. range). BTW: These sun screens aren't water proof.