Keep it cool.   Take a vinegar bath.  Run a tub as cool as you possibly can and add 1-2 gallons (yes, gallons!) of vinegar and soak.  The acetic acid in vinegar sooths the pain and moisturizes sunburned skin – just what you need to feel better now, and minimize unsightly peeling later.  Not practical to bathe right away?  Fill a spray bottle with vinegar and use it to apply to sunburned areas of your body.  Use a cotton ball to apply vinegar to your face.  Reapply every few hours as needed.

Take an aspirin.  Aspirin is an excellent anti-inflammatory.  Take it according to the label instructions until redness and soreness subside.  However, don’t give to children or teenagers as it may cause Reye’s syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal disease.

• Apply grapes!  Grape seed, that is.  Grape seed extract is an antioxidant superstar.  Studies published on the PubMed.com website have shown that skin treated with grape seed extract (GSPE) and other plant polyphenols can inhibit, reverse or retard the harmful effects of UV-damaged skin.  A-Cute Derm offers a pharmaceutical-grade Grape Seed Serum (99.9% pure) in a 96% grape seed concentration serum that will moisturize and begin healing your skin on contact. The additional ingredients…all antioxidants!  We also offer a Grape Seed Lotion in a 27% concentration of pharmaceutical-grade grape seed extract. This will also have a cooling effect on your skin.
• Another effective healing agent is our E2 Serum.  Emu oil has long been used for treating burns as it greatly accelerates the healing process. Guaranteed to keep your skin moist as it is loaded with Omega 3 fatty acids, something the skin absolutely craves!
• Leave Blisters intact.  If blisters form, don’t break them.  Not only will that slow the healing process but it also increases your risk of infection.
• Treat peeling skin gently.   Let your body exfoliate the damaged skin unassisted.  It is especially important to use good moisturizers like grape seed and EMU oil to keep peeling skin moist.
• Last, consult a doctor for treatment if  you have a severe sunburn that covers a large portion of your body with blisters,  if sunburn is accompanied by a high fever or severe pain, or if severe sunburn doesn’t begin to improve within a few days.

Most importantly, do everything you can to prevent future episodes of sunburn.  And if you did not wear a great, high quality sunscreen to start, better try our Pro-Tect Sunscreen before it happens again. You need to minimize your increased risk of skin cancer, which is cumulative over your life time.

Take advantage of convenience shopping:  If you are an Internet user, there are a number of shopping sites that ship right up to the day before Christmas. If not, take advantage of catalogs or your telephone. The most important gift you can share may be (your-delete) writing your feelings on a note or card, or make a phone call to someone to tell them how much they mean to you.

Make entertaining easier on yourself:  If you are hosting a party or Christmas Dinner, make it easier on yourself by asking friends and family to each bring a dish or component for the meal.   Even better, go out for dinner and let the restaurant host your holiday dinner.

Get out of the house.  Even if you don’t feel the holiday spirit this year, try to find people to share time with, even for a few hours.  Make the effort to accept invitations to parties or activities with friends and family.  Or, find a church or synagogue to join in some celebration.   Although you may want to pace yourself, being alone is especially difficult this time of year.  Try to enjoy a few activities that are important to you. Being with others is good for your soul.

Don’t try to hide your feelings.  People are so busy this time of year that they can be insensitive to what you are going through.  Don’t be afraid to share feelings with friends and family, or a professional.  Crying is allowed, Let it out and share your joys and concerns.  Letting others help you through rough emotional times is a blessing to both you and to them.

I know this is a cancer skincare site but we at A-Cute Derm care about you as a whole person.  Yes, taking care of your skin during the holidays will help you look and feel much better about yourself.  But most importantly, just take care of you.  Be easy on yourself and have a wonderful holiday season.

Although dragon boat teams are comprised of corporate, youth and community teams, a special emphasis was placed on Breast Cancer survivors & friends teams. Pink Phurree, a team comprised of breast cancer survivors said, “We are here to demonstrate that there is lots of life after breast cancer diagnosis and/or treatment”.

They are one of hundreds of breast cancer dragon teams worldwide who promote awareness, inspire others, and support each other by encouraging a healthy lifestyle through dragon boating, providing a caring support system, encouraging team spirit, and demonstrating courage, and strength.

The weekend culminated in a moving and deeply spirited event Sunday afternoon when six boats of cancer survivors came together to remember those who lost their lives to cancer by each crew member throwing a carnation into the water, and also to celebrate their lives and hope for the future by raising their paddles.

The Reprev™ skin care line was developed specifically for the unique skin care needs of cancer patients, especially those undergoing chemotherapy and / or radiation. We were honored to be a part of this exciting, upbeat, and FUN weekend! Perhaps “All Hands Abreast” another Breast Cancer team for survivors and patients said it best, “We race to raise awareness and inspire others that through laughter and tears, we are strong, we are courageous and we will endure!”

Thank you to everyone for being such an inspiration to all of us!

To learn more about dragon boating, go to: http://www.texasdragonboat.com/links.asp

If you are aware of an event that you would like FabSkin247™ to participate in, please let us know! We want to be a part of the community and make others aware of the special line of skin care products that A-Cute Derm® provides.

One product that really had me stumped was the Grape Seed Serum.  Although I have used cooking grade Grape Seed oil in the kitchen, it never occurred to me to use it on my skin.  Turns out it has a multitude of uses for keeping your skin and hair healthy!  

• Natural Antioxidant.  This super-oil is 20x more potent than Vitamin C.  It is 50x more powerful than Vitamin E, and more potent in Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids than Olive Oil.  Plus it is absorbed through the skin rapidly and leaves your skin feeling silky smooth, not greasy at all.
• Natural Healing Agent for Skin.  Grape Seed Serum is anti-inflammatory; it accelerates the healing process and improves blood flow to the skin.
• Deep Hair Conditioner. I color my hair, so my hair and scalp tend to be very dry.  I massage Grape Seed Serum into my hair and scalp once or twice a week before washing, and let it absorb for 15 minutes.  Since Grape Seed molecules are tiny, they penetrate the hair shaft very quickly.  I then wash my hair as usual (Grape Seed serum is light and easy to remove).  What a difference!  My hair goes from dry and brittle to silky soft instantly.
• Take It Off. Grape Seed serum also makes an excellent makeup remover. Just dab a bit of Grape Seed oil on a tissue and swipe. It works wonders for eye shadow and eyeliner. Of course, be careful not to get any oil in your eye!
• Skin Soother:  The most important use for Grape Seed serum is as a wonderful antioxidant and year-round moisturizer for the skin.  Bill Davis, president and co-owner of A-Cute Derm, Inc. researched Grape Seed oil and found that it is the second most potent anti-oxidant in the world (the first, pomegranate is not cost effective to use).  It is light, absorbs quickly, and won’t leave your skin feeling greasy, just soft and smooth.    Just a few drops per day on your skin, and you will notice an immediate difference.  Want even more great news. Grape Seed Serum in virtually 100% natural antioxidants and you get 100% efficacy into the skin. No other antioxidant can make this claim!
• Sunburn Soother.  This mild mannered serum is a secret killer to free radical damage caused from over-exposure to the sun! Best to avoid sunburn in the first place by using a good quality sunscreen with an SPF of 20 or more.   But if you do sunburn, apply Grape Seed Serum immediately, and reapply every few hours.  The antioxidant properties in the sunscreen will quickly work to heal the burn.

A word of caution! I mentioned before that it is also a healthy cooking oil, but you wouldn’t want to use the same grade you cook with on your skin or hair.  Cooking grade Grape seed contains too many contaminants.  Grape Seed Serum by A-Cute Derm contains 96% pure (pharmaceutical grade, 99.9%) grape seed oil.  We add 4% Ho Leaf Extract, an antioxidant from the cinnamon plant, which gives you a lovely natural fragrance.  It was meant for your hair and skin. 

Valerie Melgares
A-Cute Derm Inc.
1810 Cravens Road
Stafford, Texas 77477-3534
713 771 5018 x15
713 503 2876 cell

Reprev™ Cancer Skincare Line

Chemotherapy and radiation can create severe skincare problems including tissue burns, cracking tissue, chafing skin, severe nail changes and infection.  Therefore, it is important to use gentle products on your skin, minimize the use of ingredients, especially fragrance and drying alcohols (ethyl, isopropyl), and find items that offer significant improvement in moisture levels both short and long term. 

The basic program should be a simple regimen that includes cleansing, moisturizing, and most importantly protecting your skin to minimize embattled issues:

Cleansing:  Use a mild, gentle cleanser that is as close to pH neutral (‘balanced’ or pH 7.0) as possible. You should also have an antiseptic cleanser, also alcohol-free and preferably with maximum strength benzathonium chloride to kill virtually all bacteria on instant contact. Gentle cleansing 2 – 3 times daily; do not scrub to help hold the oils in your skin.

Moisturize: Add moisturizer to affected areas numerous times daily.  It should be light in feel and fragrance-free.  Consider a crème for the face, a lotion for the body, and oil or serum for more difficult areas. 

Protect: Radiation, chemotherapy and oral medicines contribute to increased photo-sensitivity on the skin. It is critical that all cancer patients and survivors wear a significantly high broad spectrum sunscreen (UVA and UVB) that is grease-less, fragrance-free, high broad-spectrum protection, does not break down when you perspire or go into water, should last all day without having to reapply, and contains moisturizing elements like Aloe Vera, which also calms your skin, and Vitamin E, which is also a potent antioxidant. High broad-spectrum does not mean a high SPF value. Call us for details.  

A-Cute Derm offers a complete line of skin care products called Reprev™ specifically designed for individuals who are being treated for cancer and post-care needs.   If you are a licensed skin care professional you can order Reprev™ directly from A-Cute Derm by contacting us.  If you are a retail customer you can go to www.estakronbergmd.com.  To learn more, visit our Cancer Skincare Guide.

Bill Davis, President of A-CuteDerm, Inc.

What Do You Know? 

Welcome to our first blockbuster blog. We are excited to be here so let me start by telling you a little about us, about me and why we are here. 

My name is Bill Davis. Fairly common name but you’ll get anything but common from me. I tell it like it is. I am president and co-founder of A-Cute Derm, Inc. We manufacture and distribute over 130 high quality, pharmaceutical-grade, skin care products, including 27 OTC drugs. I have been in manufacturing since 1974. We began manufacturing the A-Cute Derm line in 1989. My wife, Esta Kronberg, M.D., is a board certified dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon. She is one of the pioneers of cosmetic dermatology in the United States. She actually began performing cosmetic dermatology four years before the medical category came into existence.  

Today, we both serve on boards, organizations and institutions. We also love to educate on theory.  We take pride in what we teach and how we educate. It is the heart and soul of cause and effect of how the skin functions, what works and what doesn’t work and most importantly, why. We do not talk about products when we lecture because our products sell themselves. 

So what is our deal and why am I writing this blog? It is to address the issues of ingredients, protocols, product efficacy and overall benefits or lack of them to each and every one of us. It is to help educate everyone on what we, in manufacturing, medicine and science can offer to you. We hope that you enjoy the column and we welcome any questions or issues that you might like to have us discuss. We look forward to your comments and we will do our very best to address each and every one of them as quickly as possible. 

Key thoughts for today…
Do not be afraid to challenge companies for information and documentation.
Do not be afraid to ask questions about any product or ingredient
Do not fear asking to know something negative about anyone’s products.
If they tell you that there is nothing negative about their product, they just lied to you. 

Best Regards,
Bill