Oprahs' facialist shares ALL...

The amazing Jennifer is a cosmetic formulator. She’s an expert in skin analysis and oncology aesthetics. Thank you for joining us Jen. It’s so lovely to have you with us

Your work with LED is innovating and inspiring. So, I’m excited to share your knowledge with everybody that’s here with us today.

When MAX+ was created, the idea behind it was to have a device that was what we call a photo-biochemical effect. Right? So it’s the wavelength that’s absorbed, that creates excitement within a cell that gives off the heat and energy to the adjacent cells. But by doing so in a non-ablative way, in a non-thermal way, it makes that the skin stays healthy. It’s non-ionizing. It’s not dangerous.

The minute a device will emit a bit of heat, that’s where we’ve got to be a little bit more cautious. MAX+ was really designed to be safe for everyone and in any treatment, whether it be a stand alone or incorporated in a dermaviduals facial, so to speak.

So, we start with a 415nm, plus or minus two, which means it goes 417 or 413, violet light, and we go all the way to near infrared. So, to be very quick about the wavelengths, our violet will kill acne causing bacteria and it stop proliferation which is wonderful. But, it ensures that the rest of your skin stays intact. Right? Which is lovely, so you’re not killing all of the skin tissue. So, you’re really focusing on the bacteria.

We have a 450nm wavelength as well that works with intercellular communication and it helps relax the muscles. So for example, if you were under red light, that’s more of a rejuvenating kind of agitating kind of wavelength. Whereas blue is very relaxing. We also have a 525nm which is green, that helps with redness within the skin. It helps the angiogenesis process as well. We also have a 590 in MAX+ which is our amber, yellow light. This is go-to. So any pre-red carpet, weddings, speaking engagements, any time ladies or men, you want to glow? That yellow light is my go-to for everyone, anything celebrity-wise.

And then we have a 633 nm red, which helps with the collagen production, works with the mitochondria as well. And then we’ve got a 830 nm, sorry an 830 nm which is near infrared. So, it’s not the far infrared that is creating more of that heat. It’s really a near infrared. So, just slightly in there and it really helps with the inflammatory. So it’s a great wavelength to use for people with rosacea and lots of inflammation as well.

So that’s what your average LED are like. So, at the end of the day, what happens is it seems to be that the minute something becomes effective, or we see there’s a result, everyone wants to jump in on this waggon of let’s do LED. So, you, in your mind, you’re like, “Well, if it’s blue light, let’s just put blue light.” Or it looks like might be green.

So, no one is specifically really testing it out there, I would think and we’re seeing a lot of heat. So, we’ve been playing around right now with a thermal camera. This camera is wonderful, so we’re actually able to see how much heat is emitted off the skin. Because this is becoming an issue, because if you’re doing anything that will emit too much heat on the skin, you could have a photo-biochemical response, but also photosensitizing afterwards if the LED’s are not safe to be used. This is where it’s changed, because in 2003, I could say LED is safe for everyone. Now, it’ll be dependent on the device that you’re working with and the wavelengths they’re working with. So, some of the LEDs are also going in the UV wavelength spectrum, which could be touchy if you’re doing micro dermabrasion or peels, it could be a really bad thing to happen.

But if one LED is what we call a RGB, which means it could do all the different wavelengths at the same time, or if everything’s on at the same time, it sort of like if we were all having this conversation at the same time. The results just aren’t as phenomenal, which is why you would want to try to do one thing at a time. So, specifically for me, the question would be, “Well, if you have multiple wavelengths, are they all on at the same time, or are they individually used.” That would be a good indicator.

I would say that we still have that minor pimple that will pop up here and there, but I would say that they key is consistency. When I take on a new client, the first thing we do is we do a skin strategy. Then the skin strategy I will develop over the first six months. Then within six months I say, “Within six months, if you’re not happy with the results, then I’ll go with you and we’ll all get injections.” Which has not happened yet, might I add.

But at the end of the day, I think it’s okay to ask those questions. And I think that we really have to start with the basics, which is, what is your lifestyle life? Are you eating healthily? Are you drinking enough water? Are you taking your omegas? Are you taking your collagen supplements? And so on and so forth. So, we’ll start with the basics and then as we grow, we’ll add the dermal needling, and we’ll add different elements to their skin care.

But I think that when people begin to have very specific strategies on their skin from the home aspect of it and then coming in for treatment, when they see the results, I find women will be keener on using their products more regularly and they’ll come in more regularly into the treatment room as well, because they’re seeing results.

It’s become completely out of control. So what happens is, the day we have a bad hair day, we think it’s the end of the world because we’re comparing to something that’s completely unattainable. And we’re forgetting that we are ageing and how many women don’t get to age? How many women die from cancer, accidents, childbirth, so on. There are so many different things.

So, we tend to view the young population as so beautiful and vibrant, but you know what? We were them once. Now, these baby brains are fully developed and we’re strong, confident women and that’s what we should embrace and be like, “You know what? I’m 44 and I look good.”

And this is a good thing. Right? Then it’s all about, I’m going to eat properly. I’m going to keep myself moving, because that’s vital for women. We need to be lifting things, not just exercising, but muscle mass. There’s so many things we can be doing. So it’s a privilege, so I feel that if you wake up in the morning with the attitude of being like, “Look at me. I’m here today, it’s going to be a great day.” Even when it’s not a great day. It’s not about comparing ourselves to other women out there and I find that that’s the biggest challenge in today’s world. Because of social media, and there’s good and there’s bad to that, so let’s try to take the social media and change the conversation. Which is why I never use the … For me the AA word is like taboo, because you cannot AA, you can’t anti-age. We’re all going to age.

Skin care wise, I think we have to be much more careful about what ingredients we’re using in our products. It’s not just about natural as well. I think there’s a big discussion we could have at another time in regards to natural ingredients, because sometimes there’s that fine line between natural and synthetic and sometimes the synthetic version could be cleaner for the environment and safer than something natural. I think that there’s a lot of grey zones there.

But I always thinks, like if I’m going to put this in the water, and I’m going to kill some fish, why would we do that? So, I think that we all need to take a step back and really start to understand what’s in our ingredients, what’s in our products and that’s from everything. Right? From makeup to perfume to everything.

I don’t think I have a right to pollute today’s world, on Earth day, because in Montreal we’re still Sunday, and not be thoughtful for the future. So, everything I do, I try to think about it and honestly, I’m going to be very honest with you, I work with only companies here in Montreal whether it’s my jewellery from Exand, or anything else that is also sustainable and what we call slow fashion and you know. But it’s a lot harder because even the boxes, everything costs more. But, I think in the long run, if we all made that