Using Vitamin A on the skin

We are huge advocates of the Environ Skin Care Range  at CC Kat Aesthetics. Many people under estimate the importance of good skin care. Healthy skin is the icing on the cake after facelifts and maintains your results after surgery. Used alone Environ can prevent and improve lines, wrinkles, pigmentation, acne, rosacea and scarring.

Environ’s creator, Dr Des Fernandes, harnessed the normalising properties of Vitamin A to develop the range. The multitude of effects that Vitamin A has on the skin are vital to a young and flawless complexion.

So how does it work?

Retinyl palmitate is the form of Vitamin A used in the Environ AVST moisturiser and is the major form of Vitamin A in the epidermis of the skin. Our food generally contains retinyl palmitate and that’s how we store vitamin A in the liver. This means that our skin recognises it and knows how to use it in the skin’s core.

Vitamin A can be absorbed right down to the base of the skin to make physical changes to how your skin forms.  Vitamin A will repair the skin cells returning them to nice round, juicy cells and will increase the rate that they reproduce. This creates a very plump and healthy skin. Vitamin A will also stimulate the production of collagen and elastin in the skin helping to improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles leaving the skin supple and fresh.

It also has the capability to control the amount of pigment or skin colour that your skin produces. Pigmentation or tanning is a scar and a sign that your skin is trying to defend itself. By working within the cells that produce your colouring, Vitamin A can normalise the signals that it sends out to make pigment, returning the skin to its normal colour.

The oils and moisturiser that your skin naturally produces are important factors in a variety of conditions from acne to eczema. Regulating the quantities of these that the skin is producing can bring it back to a normal condition. The Vitamin A in the Environ products can do this as well as compressing the top layer of dead skin cells to create an even look  and to create a natural barrier so external factors cannot harm it.

Environ can address a number of skin conditions by topping up the natural aspects of our skins make up. We can boost the effects of the homecare by carrying out relaxing treatments in the clinic, tailored to each patient.

Our DF II Machine uses advanced technology to increase the penetration of Vitamin A and other active ingredients into the skin by 4400X (the equivalent of 3 months usage of the topical products). It is based on iontophoresis, specifically pulsed electrical current that  aids in the penetration of water soluble vitamins. It also utilises sonophoresis, low frequency sound waves that  transport molecules through the skin.

This blog was wrtten by my Skin Therapist, Lucy Billane, who carries out the DF II Machine treatments. I quote one of my patients who had a treatment with her – ‘ she has the hands of an angel ‘.

^{Mrs  CC Kat is a leading Midlands Consultant Plastic Surgeon specializing in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. She is a full member of both British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) and British Association of Aesthetic , Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (BAPRAS) as well as several international aesthetic surgery associations. She worked as a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust but now runs her private practice, CC Kat Aesthetics – Birmingham Laser, Skin and Cosmetic Clinic, full time. For more information, visit www.cckat.com or call 0121 456 7930.}