Jeff’s Adventures in Europe

I’m back in the states, in New York’s JFK airport awaiting the final part of my journey home.My New Product Development partner Kristen and I had gone to Paris for the big annual cosmetic ingredients trade show. Once that was over (along with just a bit of shopping and Paris nightlife), we found ourselves with 7 extra days under a cloud of ashen uncertainty about when—and if—we would make it back to the States. After 5 extra days (including 3 canceled flights) sitting in the warm Paris sun for hours in bustling sidewalk cafes and the front steps of grand churches I realized there was a limit to how much wine and espresso my normally heavily sun screened, well-hydrated, constantly moving body could take. So after a 15 hour drive to clear-skied Madrid, and a 9 hour flight to NY, I am awaiting a final, almost certain, trip home to a clean pair of socks.

There is no doubt that I am a type A American, but I do feel I’ve gained a bit of maturity in my indefinite period of European exile. I already find myself walking more slowly, appreciating the journey more than focusing on the destination. Maybe I’ll start enjoying dessert more.

Dr. Murad’s Pitcher of Health….in sandwich form

I just returned from New York where I was reintroduced to one of the tastiest sandwiches ever invented. I first tried sabich on a visit to Israel, where it has become wildly popular, but it has yet to catch on in the rest of the world. It was so exciting to find a place that makes it here in the states (unfortunately over 2,000 miles from my house). It is a relatively recent creation that combines many of the centuries old traditional dishes of the Iraqi Jewish community that my father grew up in.

Sabich is a totally Murad sandwich. In addition to being the epitome of rich, creamy goodness (think the culinary version of Age Balancing Night Cream), and the ultimate combination of my ancestral cuisine, it is full of cellular water principle ingredients straight out of Murad’s Pitcher of Health and Dr. Murad’s Spices For Life spice rack.

This brilliant concoction is a pita bread slathered in garlicy hummus and tahini, and filled with savory sumac-seasoned Iraqi fried eggplant, Israeli diced veggie salad, and cell-fortifying, lecithin-rich Iraqi eggs baked for a full 24 hours until they are brown. Additional toppings include antioxidant-rich turmeric seasoned pickled mango (much tastier than it sounds – trust me), and circulatory-stimulating chili sauce.

For all of you in NY I heartily recommend checking it out at Taim in the West Village, and if anyone has any suggestions of where I can get some closer to LA, please let me know.

Become a Murad Advanced Skin Care Tester

Ever wonder how new Murad products get created? They begin with the initial concept or skin problem that Dr. Murad wants to solve. After the first prototype is made, it is then fine-tuned over the course of many months until it is perfect. During this trial period, we conduct efficacy tests on the formulas at our new state of the art testing facility at Murad Skin Research Labs overseen by our clinical expert Dr. Jasmina Jankicevic. Here we analyze the skin of our Advanced Skin Care Testers before and after product use. We use the latest in skin measurement technology to see how effective the new formulas are and if any changes need to be made. Our Advanced Skin Care Testers are compensated with their choice of Murad products (and sometimes cash too!—depending on the length of the trial).

Are you interested in getting a sneak preview of upcoming Murad formulas, and live in the LA area? If so, let us know and we will sign you up to test a new product targeted to your unique skin type. All you need to do is give us your valuable feedback. Get a sneak preview today by writing to clinicalresearch@murad.com.

Anxiety-Proof Suncare

I have a very relaxed attitude towards most things - some would say a bit too relaxed. I make up for it with my obsession with sun protection. I will reapply 4 times on cloudy days I spend indoors. I never know when some sneaky, DNA-damaging UVA ray will slip through my window onto my exposed hand. And good luck to anyone who has to have lunch with me when the only table available is under direct sunlight. I will squirm for the duration, and because all of my attention is being paid to the damage being done to my skin cells, I probably won’t hear a word of the conversation.

I realize that most people aren’t this neurotic (I like to think of it as “attentive”) about sun protection. Most do not use sunscreen at all. Of those who do, few reapply throughout the day, so their protection only lasts for a few hours. But even for those who are as “attentive” as I am, a high SPF does not ensure complete protection. A sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or above (I’ve seen some SPF 100 products recently) only filter about 97% of UVB rays while it remains on your skin (SPF 15 will filter about 93%). However, an SPF rating gives no assurance of UVA protection – and these are the rays that cause the majority of skin aging. My sincere but naïve hope is that the FDA will finally approve a rating system for UVA protection like the one in Japan and Europe. Until that happens, look for these FDA approved UVA protectors on your sunscreen’s label – Avobenzone, Zinc, and Titanium, to ensure that you are getting some broad spectrum protection.

But even if you are as attentive as possible, some of those damaging rays are going to slip by and harm your skin cells. That is why we add a cocktail of antioxidants and repair enhancers into all of our sunscreen formulas. These will serve to repair the damage done by the rays that your sunscreen cannot protect you from. Not only does their inclusion leave your skin looking and feeling healthy, they also allow me to stop obsessing over that slippery 3% of UV rays that I know are breaking through my armor.

Wedding Season

It finally happened sometime last year. I entered the adult version of “Bar Mitzvah season” from Junior High School (I grew up in West Los Angeles for those of you who can’t relate to that). Yes, I am getting old. All of my friends are getting married. I’m going to a new wedding every two months, and feel I’ve become somewhat of an expert. By now I’ve experienced all kinds – secular, Catholic, Jewish, Catholic and Jewish, Taiwanese and Jewish, and even a nominally religious ceremony led by a “priest” with a white collar and a mouth like a sailor (Aunt Ida was not amused). The wedding I just went to in New York for my freshman year college roommate Cy was definitely the coolest. As both the bride and groom are atheists, they were free to pick any style ceremony they wanted, and decided to get married in the Quaker tradition. For any of you who don’t know what this entails, I assume it was not dissimilar to Karl Marx’s wedding. This was truly the peoples wedding. There was no authority figure – secular or religious. Their friends read poems and sang songs after which the bride and groom read their own vows to each other and then felt free to kiss without anyone’s permission. No one had to ask them whether or not they “do.” Of course they did. After that they opened the floor up to spontaneous expressions of emotion from anyone in the audience who cared to share. It was quite moving. I know this is not the way a wedding is supposed to happen, but it made more sense to me than any other that I’ve been to. For all of you atheists and agnostics out there who are about to get married and don’t have pushy parents – yeah, both of you - I heartily endorse the Quaker wedding.

Little Murad Man

I’m surrounded by family in a room at the end of a labyrinthine hallway at the maternity ward of St. John’s hospital in Santa Monica. I’m alternately taking photos, keeping the excited new four-year-old big sister occupied, and holding the brand new buzzing baby boy with the softest skin imaginable. My other niece and nephew are en route. My parents and sister, the new mom, are of course glowing. It’s great to be here for little Travis’ big day, although I must say there is a bit more free talk of colostrums and circumcisions than I feel totally comfortable with. I do love being an uncle. It’s the best part-time job in the world. Among the chaotic scenes of ransacked purses, milk-drenched clothing, and not-too-subtle reminders that I’m “next,” I realize how happy I am for my parents – especially my dad who is a natural-born grandpa – that both of my big sisters are so “fruitable” as my Swedish girlfriend would say. I don’t think I’m ready to make this a full time gig quite yet.

Freezer Burn

If there is one thing that the creeping winter weather has made me realize it is that I truly love heat. Easily the best vacation of my life was an extended weekend on the Sinai coast of the Red Sea in the middle of August. There was not a single phone, computer or television for miles, so there was little to do but lie on comfy Middle-Eastern cushions on the sand, the overwhelming heat palpably melting away the stress, as I stared out into the beautiful sea and played backgammon with some of the local Bedouin. Of course, considering my intense fear of direct sunlight and UV damage, I never left the shade of the palm canopy.

Why am I thinking about this now? It may have something to do with the fact that the central heating in my new apartment—the first central heating of my adult life I might add, recently stopped working. Sure space heaters are effective at staving off the frost in some corners of my place, but mostly they just build me up with a false sense of security, making the hair raising shock all the more unpleasant once I set that first step outside of my room in the morning.

There is a bright side to all of this—the winter weather, the faulty mechanics, the absence of slippers—I have discovered the joy of the living room fireplace. Yes, along with my first central heating came my first fireplace—and it works! It keeps both my mood and temperature up. The hot, soothing crackle induces an almost meditative state of relaxation. What am I thinking about while spacing out into that hypnotic warmth? Mostly that if I didn’t have one of my own, I would have to make fast friends with a fireplace owner. And if I could manage to find someone with their very own hot tub (or dare I dream— sauna), it might even be time to settle down.

Skincare Secret Weapon: A Good Night’s Sleep (Part 2)

In my last post, I attempted to scare you straight about the importance of a good night’s sleep for health and beauty. This time I will give a few tips on how to maximize these benefits to get the most out of the sleep you get. As someone who has had his share of insomnia, I’ve had time to give this topic plenty of thought.

1. Give your skin the tools it needs to repair and regenerate.
As I mentioned last time, sleep is when our bodies do all of their “re-“ activities (pair, generate, juvenate, build, store –all the good stuff). Make sure they have the tools needed to get the job done. It is best to take at least two doses of supplements a day to make sure you are getting a constant supply. Take one dose before bed, and make sure you include calcium, and antioxidants (pomegranate extract is an excellent one).

2. Water, Water, Water!
Your skin repairs itself at night, and it needs water to do this effectively. After you apply the treatment appropriate for your particular skin concern before bed, make sure you use a good moisturizer. This will help draw water from the environment and lock in your body’s own water to prevent loss through the skin (known as trans-epidermal water loss or TEWL). Plus, there are few things as pleasant as waking up with dewy soft skin.
If you live in a very dry climate, you may want to consider sleeping with a humidifier on, or leaving a pot of water on the radiator (for that more visually retro effect). This will also keep the membranes in your throat and nose moist to prevent illness.

3. Defy gravity whenever possible.
The main reason we all eventually start sagging (and I’m not just talking about our faces), is gravity. The longer we spend on this planet with gravity pulling down on our skin, the less it will be able to resist this force. During most of our waking hours, our skin is being pulled to the floor. The least we can do is pull it in a more promising direction when possible. If you sleep on your back every night, 33% of the time your skin will be pulled in the direction a face-lift attempts to emulate.

4. We all need a little help now and again.
Last time I mentioned two of our brains’ most important chemicals involved in sleep – the hormone melatonin, and the neurotransmitter GABA. As we get older we produce less and less of these natural relaxing agents. If you need some help, try boosting your brain’s own with melatonin and/or GABA supplements. They are very safe and most people find them highly effective.

Skincare Secret Weapon: A Good Night’s Sleep (Part 1)

There is quite a bit of attention paid to surgeries, fillers and treatments (both electronic and chemical) as a means to repair and prevent wrinkles and other signs of aging. However, one of the most important methods is right under our noses (and also above them) every night. Regular, good nights’ sleep is probably the best anti-aging treatment available. Anyone with children, homework, nightlife or plain old insomnia can attest to the effects poor sleep has on their complexion—puffy eyes, dark circles, sallow skin, and under-eye lines (this sort cannot be successfully filled the way laugh lines and crow’s feet can be) that result from poor sleep—not to mention the general unpleasant appearance that accompanies a sleep deprived disposition. But chronic lack of sleep has many other insidious long-term aging effects that are not noticeable day-to-day. Likewise, regular healthy rest can have wonderful long-term reparative benefits.

Skimping on sleep will not only cause the aforementioned negative effects on your complexion, it will actually increase your rate of aging. When you sleep, your body is able to reduce its concentration of cortisol, a hormone that is always present in our blood in some amount. Keeping the level of cortisol constantly high, as it is in the chronically sleep-deprived has numerous nasty side effects. Cortisol can increase our stress levels, which can lead to (among other things) increased facial tension which will eventually form deep wrinkles. Not only that, but cortisol is a diuretic, causing the loss of water from our bodies’ tissues. And we know from the science of Dr. Murad’s Cellular Water Principle, that maintaining a healthy amount of water in our cells and connective tissue is the most important component towards overall health and wellness. Not only that, but cortisol lowers our bodies’ immune functions, reducing their ability to fight off infection, inflammation and free-radicals. Sounds pretty bad, I know. And yet it gets worse—cortisol inhibits the body’s ability to produce collagen, meaning the rate at which skin wrinkles and loses its elasticity will increase.

The good news is, regular, healthy sleep will help you avoid these effects—while simultaneously providing some of the best anti-aging benefits money can buy (even if it doesn’t have to). Sleep is when the body undergoes much of its reparative processes. During sleep, when our bodies do not have to focus on the myriad of tasks we ask of them during waking hours, they are able to direct their attention towards restoration. Bodybuilders understand that if they want to bulk up, they need more sleep then most people. This is because they know that while they break down their muscles during the workout, the repair and building actually happens during resting periods—primarily during stage 4 (or delta) sleep cycles. Sleep is when the majority of the day’s accumulated free-radicals are disarmed as the brain releases anti-oxidant hormones such as melatonin, as well as reparative hormones such as Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and restorative neurotransmitters such as GABA. As skin is the human body’s largest organ, it stands to reason that it would receive the lion’s share of these anti-aging benefits. Not only does the body release and utilize these tools at night, but sleep is also when our bodies’ best absorbs the healing nutrients that we put in and on them. My father tells his patients to take their daily calcium before bed because that is when the best absorption occurs. This is also true of all of the other antioxidants, anti-inflammatories and hydrators we consume as supplements or apply as creams and lotions every day.

Deciding whether to invest in that fancy new face-lift? Maybe you should sleep on it first. Next time I will get into a few ways in which you can improve your sleep and optimize the skin benefits it provides.

A Close Shave

I’d like to take this opportunity to extol the joys of the pre-shave exfoliating mask. It’s an experience that I believe is little known and hence thoroughly under-utilized. Yes, I realize that masking (or at least admitting to it) is somewhat taboo amongst non-metro straight men. But masks need no longer be linked to the potentially disconcerting image of yourself in a bubble bath with cucumbers over your eyes.

Back in the day, when real men wore fedoras, they would often start their days with a trip to the local barber shop where they would receive an expert shave with a manly, no-frills straight-razor. The barber would prepare the customers’ skin by wrapping it in a piping hot towel for several minutes before applying shave lather with a thick bristled brush. The heat opened up the pores while the massaging of the brush’s badger hair served to loosen up the dead skin covering the hair shafts.

Nowadays the elegance and function of that pre-shave ritual can be experienced in the comfort of your own bathroom (or if you are in a rush, in the kitchen while you make coffee…) with a simple mask. (My personal favorites are Exfoliating Fruit Enzyme Mask and Intensive Resurfacing Peel). In fact, high quality masks are a great improvement on the towel and brush method. While they also prepare the skin for an excellent shave, good masks have a variety of additional benefits. Many will provide an antibacterial effect to prevent folliculitis, and infuse your skin with intense hydration, soothing ingredients and healthy antioxidants. In addition to supporting a smooth shave, a mask can therefore have the added benefits of evening skin tone, moisturizing, clearing pores and reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

I realize some of you may be harboring some reluctance to the experience, but for all of you uninitiated out there, trust me. Try it out. You’ll be glad you did.