Mapping Your Face...

Face mapping. East meets West to aid you in getting beautiful skin!

The Trusted Beauty Guide looks at Eastern philosophy to look beyond the skin's surface to find some answers.

Spots can occur at anytime in your life due to various different reasons. It seemed to be one of the most common skin complaints clients would to come to me with when I had the salon.

I was lucky enough to have had Dermalogica training which equipped me with some very helpful indications on why maybe the blemishes would occur in specific areas of the face. They use a method called 'Face Mapping', which is based on Chinese Face Reading. It's a way of looking beyond the surface of the skin. In the western world if you have a concern, you would see a

specialist who would look at and treat specific area of concern. In Chinese medicine, they look at the body as a whole.

It's all to do with energy, and for optimal health, energy must be able to flow freely through the Meridian network. Sometimes there can be blockages, which may cause too much energy in one area and a lack of energy in

another. This causes strain upon all connected organs, Chinese Doctors

treat the condition or problem by looking at the person and body as a whole. The face is often used as an indicator of health and disease.

Eastern ways of treating the body as a whole are becoming widely acceptable in the west, there are many other therapies which look and treat the person as a whole such as Aromatherapy, reflexology which have become popular.

When Face Mapping, the therapist looks at the skin through a magnifying glass and touches the skin feeling for any areas of excess heat. Any imbalances in this could indicate disharmony in specific areas of the body.

It's really interesting as the face is divided into 14 zones and each area correlates to an area of your body. The two areas I would find most concerns with in the salon would be around the sides of the chin and beneath the chin in the neck area of clients. The sides of the chin represents the Ovaries, apparently you can actually see which side you are ovulating from depending on which side you are breaking out. The area beneath your chin represents the Adrenal Glands. When you are stressed and under pressure these glands stimulate testosterone, this through a series of complicated chain reaction stimulates the oil production in the skin, which creates oilier skin often leading to blockages and breakouts.

There are many ways to treat breakouts in these areas, firstly I would recommend a facial every four weeks in a reputable salon, these are really important as it gives your therapist a chance to not only to deep cleanse and feed your skin with what it needs but to also review what you are using on your skin at home and how your products are working for you. It is equally as important to try to reduce your stress levels by taking regular time out from hectic schedules to relax and do something you really enjoy. I also find taking Evening Primrose supplements really helpful and many of my clients have reported great success with taking these supplements.

Although its aimed at teenagers, I noticed my husband slipping the Clean Start Wash off and Ready, Set, Scrub! into his gym bag. He told me he thought the products were fantastic for his skin as he frequently has breakouts due to sweating and thought he could take the products to his gym without feeling embarrassed about using skincare in front of his alpha male gym buddies. This had a lot to do with the packaging. He could be on the other hand be in denial about getting older and wants to feel like he is still in his teens. His skin rarely breaks out now though after three weeks of using the products. It is fantastic and I wish this was around when I had teenage acne, I am so happy my kids will have a solution when they reach their teens. As with all the Dermalogica products, the range contains no artificial fragrances, colors, mineral oil or SD Alcohol so there's no need to worry about it clogging or being harsh on the skin.

Another of my favourite's is Dermalogica's Medi-Bac Overnight Clearing Gel, which contains salicylic acid to help slough off dead skin cells and inhibit the growth of bacteria. This use to be known as Medicated Clearing Gel.

This use to be one of the biggest sellers in my salons.

1. Cleanse AM/PM, you must always use a cleanser which is right for your

skin. Some may be too drying on the skin others may not be

effective for your skin type.

2. Exfoliate two to three times per week, depending on

how sensitive your skin is.

3. Use a clay based mask to draw out impurities two to three times per week

4. Steer clear of mineral oil and petro-chemical based ingredients

I'd also recommend you visit a Dermalogica salon who offer's facemapping as you could find the results quite interesting, the therapist not only looks at areas of blemishes but at lines, dark circles and puffiness too.