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Summer Beauty Tips From an L.A. Skin Care Guru
We talk to Ole Henriksen, facialist to the stars, about how to care for your skin through the summer months.
Can you imagine what it's like to pamper the faces of Leonardo DiCaprio, Eminem, or Mark Wahlberg? Ole (pronounced OOO-la) Henriksen knows. He's a Danish skin care guru who once had bad skin, but beat back his zits. Now he's out to conquer the skin problems of the rest of the world.
Ole has been a skin care specialist for 27 years and has a list of celebrity clients that includes Julia Stiles, Mena Suvari, and LeAnn Rimes. To top it off, he also has two day spas in Los Angeles and just launched a line of signature skin care products, Ole Henriksen Face/Body.
After we tried some of his products (the Sheer Transformation Creme, Fresh Lips Lip Treatment and Hands Forward Hand Creme are our favorites), we talked to Ole about how to look after your skin during the summer.
Ole's Top Five Summer Beauty Secrets 1. Be gentle with summer skin. "Skin is more tender in the summer due to excessive sun exposure. When your skin gets tan, it's actually a defense mechanism against the harmful rays — it's trying to create a protective shield by darkening. The skin also dries out more as the sun's rays go through many layers of skin, so you don't want to use aggressive products," explains Ole. His trick to soothe sunburned or irritated skin is to mix a pint of milk and a pint of cold water with a tray of ice cubes. Soak a washcloth in the mixture and apply it to your face for five minutes.
2. Drink lots of water. "Our body doesn't always tell us how much water we need. Our natural perspiration makes us lose a certain amount of fluid. If you ignore your need for fluid, you feel more tired, but you'll notice a glass of water makes you more energized, so it's a vital source of energy. Water also flushes the skin of toxic matter," says Ole. You should have an 8-ounce glass of water every hour during the daytime. If you don't like plain water, he suggests giving it a boost with lemon and cucumber slices, which enhance the flavor and quench your thirst.
3. Use eye cream. "You squint a lot in sunlight, even when you wear sunglasses," Ole says. As the skin around your eyes is especially delicate and can start to develop fine lines and wrinkles at an early age, Ole suggests using an eye cream like his Fresh Start Eye Creme. Dab it lightly under your eyes and smooth out toward the sides of your face.
4. Give yourself a face mask. Treat your skin to a mask once a week during the summer. "It's cooling, soothing, and gives your skin a pick-me-up," says Ole. A gentle clay mask like Ole's Firm Action Pore Refining Mask is great for oily skin. Ole's Blue/Blackberry Enzyme Mask is a good choice for tender, sensitive, and dry skin.
5. Exercise. Take advantage of the good weather and swim or play sports outside. "Your body's more limber from the heat," explains Ole. "Exercise is such an energizer, and when you have the proper fitness level your skin will benefit from it, too — exercise naturally enhances the oxygen flow throughout your body, especially to your face, speeding up the natural cleansing process."
When You're Out in the Sun... 1. Buy the right sun block. One of the best things you can do to protect your skin is buy an oil-free sun block. "It means that you get all the shielding with something that's totally greaseless," says Ole. Apply it after you've cleansed and toned, so it's in immediate contact with the skin. Wait a couple of minutes and put your regular moisturizer on top. Ole suggests his Herbal Day Creme SPF 15 or Skin Insulator, which is rich and good for dry skin.
2. Always wear it. Make sure that you put adequate layers of sun block on your body and your face (the rule of thumb: use enough to fill a shot glass) at least half an hour before you go out in the sun so it can bind with your skin. It's also a good idea to wear a hat or a visor that's big enough to shade the face. "That way you take precautions, but you still get a bit of a golden glow," Ole says. "The truth is there is nothing 100 percent protective against the sun rays unless you put on a thick layer of white zinc oxide," he says.
3. Don't go to a tanning salon. Seriously. Ole compares tanning salons to an oven where you roast yourself. "The rays used in tanning are the most harmful of the light spectrum. They break down your skin's connective tissue, which causes wrinkles and is cancer-inducing," he says. However, If you absolutely have to lie in the sun, cover your face with a hat or a towel. "The body is a little less exposed to the elements of nature, and it can handle more than the face," he explains.
4. Eat good foods. Have you heard the saying, "You are what you eat?" While that may be hard to imagine, Ole says you should be getting plenty of anti-oxidants like vitamin C, which is found in citrus fruits (like the lemon in your water). This strengthens the skin's immunity toward potential damage. The fat you get from eating seafood, sunflower seeds, almonds, and olive oil will help your skin maintain balance.
Ole Henriksen Face/Body products are available online at www.olehenriksen.com and www.sephora.com.
