The Scientific Revolution in Skin Care

by Hannah Sivak, Andrea Still (Editor), Claire Thomas (Illustrator)

Overview

Educate and empower yourself! Dr. Hannah Sivak earned her PhD in Biological Sciences and has worked as a scientist for over 45 years. She brings all of her expertise in botany, molecular biology, and biochemistry to the complex process of product formulation and has now written this book to encapsulate and share her knowledge.

This book will help you understand how your skin functions and changes. It will help you comprehend skin care ingredient lists, so you know what each ingredient does or doesn't do for you. It will provide you with a scientific understanding of skin care so you know what's possible, what's not, and when to ignore the marketing altogether. Quit buying ineffective products!

With The Scientific Revolution in Skin Care, you can take skin care into your own hands and feel confident that you know what you're doing.

- Excellent choice for skin care enthusiasts!

- Perfect for at-home/DIY formulators or ready-made "product junkies"!

- Beginner/intermediate/expert-level readers will all benefit from this book!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780998420509
Publisher:	Skin Actives Scientific
Publication date:	01/03/2017
Pages:	194
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.45(d)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Labels and ingredients lists
●How to look at an ingredient list. First: don't panic!
●Formulation aids by function
●Types of skin care products
●Labels 101
●Silly ingredient lists
●Color and scent
●"Label value"
●Limitations of the INCI nomenclature
●A preservative by any other name (or no name)...
●Ways to hide preservatives from the consumer
Chapter 2: The scientific revolution in skin care: from cold cream to cosmeceuticals
●How it all started
●Defining the word - cosmetic
●What is a cosmeceutical?
●What is Skin Actives Scientific? What do we mean by "active"?
●Thinking of plastic surgery? Try actives first
Chapter 3: Myths and legendsin the skin care industry
●Myth: Our skin is impermeable
●Myth: Preservatives are bad for you
●Myth: Your skin care products should be organic
●Myth: Natural is good, synthetic is bad
●Myth: Cleanse, tone, moisturize - you must have a perfect regimen
Chapter 4: The chemistry of skin care
●An origin myth about proteases
●Learn some chemistry to make better choices
●On the concentration and purity of actives in skin care formulations
●Label value = negligible amount
●Natural smells vs. added fragrances
●Some examples of chemistry subjects related to skin care
●Proteases
●Vitamin C
●Stereoisomers
●What is the difference between salicin and salicylic acid?
●Fatty acids
●Lectins and the skin
●Ceramides
●What is collagen?
●Standardized phytochemicals
●Faking the science
Chapter 5: Different: the Skin Actives Scientific way
●Myth: Expensive skin care products are better
●Do it yourself
●DIY or fancy store skin care?
●Deceptive labeling can increase consumer riskfor DIY adepts
●A commonly asked question
●WhatSkinActives Scientific can do for DIY fans
●Some good reasons and some bad ones to try DIY
●Tips for the DIY beginner
●The most frequently asked questions about DIY
●Do I need to add a preservative to my DIY serum?
●Do you sell the preservative grapefruit seed extract?
●What not to mix
Chapter 6: Skin, the environment and oxidation
●Myth: Your skin needs extra oxygen
●Our skin and the environment
●The skin barrier
●Sunlight is more than what we see
●Not everything UV light does to you is bad
●Oxidation and aging
●What is oxidative stress?
●Plus, More...
Chapter 7: Skin pigmentation
●Myth: Sunblock/sunscreen completely protects your skin
●Skin pigmentation, a brief overview
●What does skin pigment do?
●Does dark skin require special care?
●Main causes of uneven pigmentation
●Aging
●Melasma
●Sun damage
●Post-inflammatory pigmentation
●Vitiligo
●Dark under eye circles
●How to avoid uneven pigmentation
●What to do after the fact
●What not to do
●SAS Skin Brightening Cream addresses multiple factors
●Pigmentation modifiers to avoid
Chapter 8: Let us do no harm
●Primumestutnonnocere: in medicine and surgery "let us do no harm"
●Skin care: OK to do harm?
●Looking for magical herbs
●The price of skin care and the placebo effect
●Greenwashing
●Don't ask me to use Leuconostoc/radish root ferment filtrate!
●What were they thinking?
Chapter 9: The science of skin and hair care
●Myth: DNA from X and stem cells from Y will help your skin
●Stem cells
●Pores
●Plus, More...
Chapter 10: Skin problems
●Eczema and atopic dermatitis
●Acne
●Pores and acne
●How to "minimize" pores
●Rosacea
●Scarsand the complicated process of wound healing
Chapter 11: Skin non-problems
●Myth: Skin should be smooth
●Cellulite
Chapter 12: Good news: You can turn back the clock
●Myth: There's a magic bullet in skin care
●Plus, More..

Editorial Reviews

"This is a fantastic book on skin and its care from the lead scientist behind the much-beloved company Skin Actives Scientific (SAS), a skin care (and actives) company renowned for its sound science, lack of smoke and mirrors, and reasonable prices. As I had hoped, this is a refreshingly down-to-earth, science-based book that is helpful in making most of skin care by: decoding ingredients, understanding a little chemistry, and choosing actives that have proven benefits. The ScientificRevolution in Skin Care is enjoyable to read in its entirety, yet for those who prefer to skip around to various topics of special interest, the chapters also are broken down into sub-sections, so readers can easily find what most applies to them. This makes the book a great reference to have on hand." "Throughout chapters, Dr. Sivak reveals several major, widely-believed skin care myths, based on misunderstanding or marketing ploys. Seeing past these myths is not only informative, but also will save most readers a lot of wasted money in the future! For instance, Dr. Sivak tells us there is no need to splurge on fancy "oxygenating" products or to pay $200+ for a stem cell cream. Also, she reminds us that "natural/organic" does not automatically equal saf; like anything, natural ingredients can be good or bad, depending on their action on skin. For those of us (myself included) guilty of paying major money for serums with "innovative delivery technology," Dr. Sivak lets us know that it's not necessary. This book offers straight-forward, no-nonsense truth, which is just what is missing in the skin care industry!" "If you want to understand what works in skincare, Dr Sivak is the real deal. Cut the marketing sleaze talk, full of promises, zoom into honesty & the how things work, many myths dispelled! I wished this book came out earlier! Dr Sivak teaches you how to save money, read ingredients, with her background (her IQ must be pretty high) and a geek. She was a scientist. Medical researcher who was blessed to be under the guidance of a nobel prize winner's specialising in bio-chemistry. With an impressive CV of being an expert in botany (plant extracts), proteins, bio-chemistry... ensuring that products work, Not harmful (no Hydroquinone or shortcuts), it's truly a marketer dream to have such a profile to market... but Skin Actives is sold with a solid science background, always backups to medical journals, no empty promises, no white washing, and she is always able to tell it like I am 5. I do not give up understanding the science because Dr Sivak really understands why and the chemistry of ingredients she put together, because she knows it, she can explain it. Unlike most times i give up understanding because I am out of my depth." "I was going to zoom into chapter 7 on pigmentation... but was pleased that she talked about Hydroquinone /arbutin prior she what works. Salicylic acid. Etc etc Is mineral oil good? Is SD alcohol good? Is it possible to have organic all natural no preservative product? Dr Sivak is outraged by pseudoscience and she teaches the reader to be discerning. I respect her honesty, integrity as it is rare in the world today, especially in skincare." "Being a scientist is different from a founder of a skincare company. I appreciate her science background and integrity. I understand her passion in her work and I do not have unreasonable expectations of her to speak like the marketing/customer service department. Despite having no science background, Dr Sivak's book is able to make simplify the skincare industry to me, how FDA work, INCI rules, why things are like so, marketing tricks, plant extracts (how using different parts of the same plant can have different effects) etc, products with little or no actives out there, being on the inside, she sees it all and the most rare part is she shares it. I have read bits here there, from not so reliable sources. So glad to read it all in one source from a reliable sources."

From the Publisher